XX

"If you want it, take it, I should have said it before, tried to hide it, fake it, I can't pretend anymore."

I leaned my head back against the stack of pillows piled against the headboard of my bed. My eyes were closed and my hands were placed over my torso. My earphones were blaring Ariana Grande's 'Break it Free' and I was tapping my fingers against my stomach in time to the beat. A smile found it's way to my mouth as I sang the next line, "I only want to die alive, never by the hands of a broken heart ..."

"Kenzie! Kenzie! Come play with me!" the high-pitched whine of my younger brother suddenly penetrated through the door to my room, interrupting my usual afternoon karaoke session.

Frowning, I plucked out my earphones and swung my feet over the side of my bed. "What do you want Jug?" I yelled out, annoyed.

"Mummy just got me a new car from the chops!" Jug answered. "Do you wanna come play with me?"

The chops? Da hell?

"Oh. Do you mean the shops?" I corrected him, stuffing my feet into the white fluffy rabbit slippers that were lying on the mat next to my bed. I shuffled over to the door and swung it wide open so I could gaze down at my sibling.

Jug shrugged as he made a "zvoom zvoom" sound with his mouth. He flailed his arms around as he flung his new car through the air.

I rolled my eyes. "Be careful, Jug, you'll break it."

"No I won't," Jug huffed, sending me a fierce frown, well, as fierce as his cute, dimpled little face could muster.

I chuckled, just about to rebuff him with another statement when a sharp yell and a loud crash sounded from outside.

"W-what was that ... ?" Jug whispered, his lower lip beginning to tremble in fear.

I shook my head as I held out a soothing hand. "It's  - er - it's probably nothing, Jug. Stay here. I'll see what's going on."

Jug nodded his curly dark head, his eyes as big as saucers and his mouth opened in the shape of an O.

Slowly, cautiously, and feeling like a total badass, I crept over to the nearest window and peered out from amidst the colourful drapes. As my head peeked over the sill, my eyebrows flew up in shock.

Dad and Mum were standing in the front garden, screaming and yelling at each other. Mum was shaking her finger in Dad's face and Dad was throwing all the clothes that had once been on the washing line at her.

"You can't do this!" Mum was shrieking, spit flying out of her mouth and fury flashing in her eyes.

"I can damn well do it!" Dad shouted back in response. "This is my house. Those are my kids and you're never going near them again. Go prancing back off to the city in those fancy high-heels of yours. I don't want you here, ruining my children's lives!"

A cry rose up from the baby monitor that was situated on the dining room table. Hurriedly, I ducked my head down below the window sill and turned back to Jug, who now had tears running down his chubby cheeks.

"T-that's Jellybean!" he gulped. "She's upset."

"I know, I know," I mumbled, running my fingers through Jug's thick locks. "I'll go rock her back to sleep. Just wait here ..."

"Don't you do it, Gladys, don't you frickin doing it!" Dad's shout of horror and rage cut through the air, stopping me right in my tracks.

BAM.

The front door slammed open and Mum stormed furiously into the house. Her eyes roved around the room until they landed on me. "Mackenzie, pack your things," she ordered, her tone laced with anger and urgency. "We're leaving. Right now."

"B-but what about Juggie and - and Jellybean?" I cried, almost on the brink of tears.

Mum gritted her teeth together as she glared down at me. "They're staying here ... with your father. Now do as I say and pack your things. We're leaving Riverdale and we're never coming back."

~~~~

KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP.

My forehead, which had been pressed sleepily against the grimy window-pane, jerked upwards with a start. With a slight groan, I rubbed sleepily at my eyes as I leaned back against the torn, uncomfortable cushioning of my seat. Wait ... had I been asleep?

KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP.

The train rumbled loudly over the metallic tracks, sending off vibrations that shook the long line of coaches mercilessly.

KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP.

I craned my neck to one side, wincing as I stretched my sore and stiff muscles. I passed a hand over my throat, noting that I was thoroughly parched as well as starving.

KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP. KA-THUMP.

"Urgh," I grumbled as I slouched down in my seat and pouted at the navy green duffel bag that was lying near my outstretched feet. I can't believe how long this is taking ...

The shrill whistle of the train blared through the air, causing me to jump nearly fifty metres into the air. As the large contraption began to slow down, causing hisses of steam to erupt from it's large, hot engine, a feeling of dread settled over me.

Ever since I had left Riverdale at the tender age of seven, I had never once dreamt that I'd ever set foot in the place again. Mum severed all ties with Dad, Jellybean and Jughead and I was allowed no contact with any of them. We moved to the big city, hundreds of miles away from the small, quiet, country town of Riverdale.

It was only when I was much older did I learn that Mum had had an affair with a wealthy banker and Dad found out about it. He had kicked her out of the house and she had dragged me along with her. I never knew why she had chosen to take me and not Jelly or Jug. I supposed she wanted someone she could fall back on when times were hard and let me assure you, times got bloody hard.

Mum's banker ran off before she could reach the city and vanished from the face of the earth. All of the money that she was expecting never came. She had to abandon all her hopes and dreams and take up three jobs at once to support herself and me. She was a proud woman and refused to go back begging to Dad, even though I was sure he would be kind enough to help her out.

I was placed in a public school and bullied on a everyday basis ... that is, until about the age of ten, when I face-palmed the main perpetuator of my personal space. No one dared bother me again. All through high school I was considered, not only a loner, but a violent person that should be avoided at all costs. I had never intentionally hurt anyone ... well, except for that one bully. But the stories and rumours of my supposed 'violence' continued to escalate. People were too afraid to approach me, to become my friend, to even try.

I was angry, angry at Mum, angry at the people at school, angry at the world. Everything that was comfortable and safe and stable in my life had been completely ripped away from me. Everyone that I loved was gone. Including him ... the boy I had shared my first childhood kiss with, the boy who had promised to always look out for me, the boy who had promised that he would never leave me ...

He hadn't broken any of those promises. But I had. I had left him ... alone and heartbroken. It was my fault, my fault that everything was the way it was, my fault that I just let my mum take me away, my fault that I'd never even tried to contact my family ...

And then, right out of the blue, I get a phone-call from our land-line. It's Dad. After years of searching us up, he finally got a hold of our number. He wants me to come back to Riverdale to see him, Jelly and Jug - just for the summer.

If I had been any younger, Mum would have flat-out refused to let me go. But I had my license, a phone and a lot of responsibility and maturity on my shoulders. It had to come to this sooner or later, so why not go now?

When I had left the city, over eight hours ago, I had been full of excitement and curiosity. I couldn't wait to see Jughead and Jellybean. I couldn't wait to see if the town of Riverdale, in itself, had changed at all. I couldn't wait to give my dad a great big hug and have him look at me and tell me how proud he was of me. But, most of all, I couldn't wait to see him.

I heaved a deep breath as the train pulled up alongside the station platform. My fingers closed tightly around the handle of my duffel bag and my heart hammered wildly.

Come on, Mackenzie, you can do this! It's just for the summer ... It's not like you're going to be staying here forever, like, seriously.

I willed myself to breathe normally, to calm down, to stop shaking. But, come on, I hadn't seen my Dad or my siblings in ten years ...

What was I supposed to expect?

Gif: Mackenzie as she sits in the train.

* PLEASE REMEMBER to give this chapter a vote if you enjoyed and I'd love to hear any feedback from my readers; so pepper me with questions. If you're confused, I'll try and clarify it for you. If you want more information on a certain point, I'll do my best not to give you spoilers. If you just wanna chat 'bout random stuff, then I'm in *

Can't wait to see you in the next chapter .... btw, sorry that this is a bit long :/

Q: If you had had a choice in the matter, would you have chosen to stay in Riverdale with your father or go to the big city with your mother?