Skylar

"Ohana means family; and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten"

My eyes were glued to the screen as the ending of Lilo and Stitch continued playing. The famous quote was beautiful; but it was bullshit. People have too much faith in family. Family will always be there for you. Family will support you. Family will love you. It's lies. Or at least, it's all lies for me.

People question how could I even dislike my family. People tell me that I'm just taking them for granted. People say I can't hate someone who has given me life. But those people haven't been through what I have. My family isn't special. We aren't rich. We're normal. There's my mom, my dad, my older sister, my younger brother, my uncle, and myself. We all live in a one-story, three bedroom house that only has two bathrooms- one of which are in my parents' bedroom. My sister and I share a room; my parents have the master bedroom; my brother has his own bedroom; and my uncle sleeps on the couch. Needless to say, the house is crowded.

But that isn't why we don't get along. A lot of things have happened throughout my life. It's complicated. It's a long story. It's something that only one person- besides myself- knows. My life story isn't something that I just blab around. I don't think many people would be interested anyway. "Skylar! Dinner!" Mom shouted, interrupting my thoughts. I got up and began changing the movie as I yelled about not being hungry. After I pressed play, Mulan began. My bedroom door opened, and I paused the movie. "I said dinner is done" Mom reminded me, annoyance evident in her tone.

I looked up at her. "I said I'm not hungry" I reminded her.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Drop the attitude, Skylar" she demanded before slamming my door shut. I shrugged her off and played the movie. It wasn't anything new with my mom. I say something, and I somehow always have an attitude. It doesn't faze me anymore. The door opened again. With a sigh, I paused my movie and saw Phoebe standing in the doorway.

My sister quickly closed the door and crossed her arms over her chest. "You just made Mom in a bad mood" she chastised me. I pursed my lips to hold in my groan. "Why can't you just be nice for once? She made dinner. Go eat" Phoebe demanded.

"I'm not hungry" I repeated for the third time. Phoebe muttered insults about my ungratefullness as she turned around and left our bedroom. I felt a pang of hurt just like any other time. These little disputes were also a normality; but I never got used to them. No longer wanting to watch my movie, I turned off the television and grabbed a book from my shelf. I couldn't even read without my mind drifting back to the stupid stuff that Phoebe said. With a sigh, I called my best friend, Alexia. "Hey, girl" I greeted, pushing my book aside and sitting with my legs crossed.

She told me to wait before there was shuffling on the other end. "What's your idiotic family do this time?" she asked, getting straight to the point. I relayed the situation to her, ranting about how I felt. "Oh, Larry" she cooed, her tone sad. Regardless of the situation, she still used my nickname. Since I'm not lady-like, she gave me a manly nickname. "Don't listen to your sister. She's always a bitch. As for your mom, I have nothing to say to that. Just ignore them" Alexia suggested. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "You wanna sleep over tomorrow?" she asked. Tomorrow is Friday, so I could go to Alexia's house right after school.

I quickly accepted, but frowned when I realized I would have to ask my parents. "I'll ask right now and text you after" I stated. She said a quick goodbye before I hung up. I walked out of my bedroom at the same time that Jason, my younger brother, walked out of the bathroom. "Excuse me" I wanted to get past him. He was walking way too slow. Jason glanced back at me, so he must've heard me; but he chose to ignore me. "Jason. Move" I said more forcefully. Rolling his eyes, he turned around and shoved me to the wall before walking away.

He's two years younger than me; but he's taller and stronger. Groaning, I rubbed my shoulder blade and shook off the pain. I rotated my shoulder a few times before I continued going to the living room, where I knew my parents were. "Hey, Dad?" He looked up from his phone and raised his eyebrows at me. "Can I sleep over at Alexia's house tomorrow?" I asked. I wasn't going to bother with a puppy dog face or even bat my eyelashes. That stuff honestly looks stupid to me.

He shrugged before telling me to ask my mom. I held in my groan. "Mom?" She hummed in response. "Can I sleep over at Alexia's house tomorrow?" I repeated. She continued playing some puzzle game on her tablet. "Mom" I said, trying to get her attention. She hummed again. "Can I sleep at Alexia's house tomorrow?"

"Huh?" she uttered, still engrossed in her game. I repeated my question for the fourth time. "Yeah, sure" Mom said half-heartedly before waving me off. Shrugging, I walked out of the living room and back to my bedroom. I sent a quick text to Alexia before grabbing my book again. "Skylar!" Mom shouted. I put my bookmark in and walked out of my bedroom. "Go wash the dishes" she demanded.

It was Jason's turn, but I didn't want to say anything to piss her off. Wordlessly, I walked into the kitchen and began washing the dishes. "Stop making so much noise!" Dad snapped from the couch. I jumped at the sudden noise before I started moving slower so dishes wouldn't clank together. "You're running the water. That's like a hundred dollars you're wasting" I quickly turned off the faucet and continued to soap the dishes. "Don't forget my container for lunch"

Knowing that I might forget, I grabbed the container and quickly washed it before setting it on the drying rack. "Skylar!" I washed my hands before following Phoebe's voice to our bedroom. "Did you wash my black shorts?" she asked. I shook my head and she groaned. "The one time I actually need something and you don't wash it. What's the point in doing laundry if you don't do all of it?" she grumbled.

I apologized before slipping out of the room. "You left soapy dishes in the sink" Mom pointed out with one hand on her hip.

Nodding my head, I moved over to the sink. "Phoebe needed something" I explained. Without a response, she grabbed something from the fridge and left the kitchen. I finished the rest of the dishes without a disturbance from the others.

While I dried off my hands, Jason came into the kitchen with a smirk on his face. "You missed one" he dropped his cup into the sink, making a loud noise. Dad shot up from the couch and narrowed his eyes at me. "Whoops" Jason whispered, knowing that Dad would blame me. My brother slipped out of the kitchen unnoticed.

"I told you to stop making noise!" he shouted. I flinched and froze, unable to say anything. "When I say to shut up, you shut the fuck up!" Dad demanded. I quickly nodded in understanding and muttered an apology; despite the fact he wanted me to be quiet. He marched out of the living room and I thought he would come into the kitchen; but he moved right through the hall and to his bedroom. "Fuck!" he yelled before his bedroom door slammed shut.

I squeaked at the loud noise as a shudder ran through my body. Jason peeked out from around the corner with a mischievous look on his face. I refrained from yelling at him as I made my way to my bedroom. Unfortunately, I didn't get to my destination. "What did you do to your father?!" Mom asked angrily.

Cringing, I slowly turned around to face the angry woman. "Jason dropped a dish and Dad said it was too loud" I informed her. "I didn't mean for him to get mad" I added quickly.

Her anger didn't falter. "I want you to clean the house tomorrow. The stove, the floors, the microwave, the living room- everything. You can forget about going to your friends house" Mom spun around and began walking to her bedroom.

"But, Mom. It wasn't my fault. Jason did it!" I blurted in a desperate plea so I could go to Alexia's house.

She turned around and narrowed her eyes at me. "Do not blame this on your brother" she demanded, pointing a finger at me. I flinched and looked away. "Go to your room. I don't want to hear another word from you"

Nodding my head, I trudged into my bedroom. When Phoebe saw me, she glared. "God, Skylar. Why do you always have to make them mad?" my sister spat.

I slowly closed the door and moved over to my bed. "I didn't mean to" I said in a soft voice. She rolled her eyes before stuffing her earbuds into her ears. I sighed and subconsciously rubbed my arms. A few tears escaped my eyes and I quickly wiped them away. Biting my lip, I grabbed my phone and earbuds before walking out of the room. Jason was sitting at the dining table with his gaming laptop in his face. He glanced up at me, but didn't say anything.

Walking past him, I plugged in my earbuds and curled on the couch. I put on some music and eventually fell asleep.

***

"Sky" I blinked my eyes open, until my uncle's face was no longer blurry. "Why are you sleeping out here?" he wondered. My eyes drifted to the clock. It was three a.m. He probably just got home since he works night shifts.

After stretching out my arms, I sat up. "I got in trouble again and everyone was mad at me" I informed him. He sighed and sat next to me. I knew he wanted a deeper explanation. "Mom got mad first because I had an attitude-"

"Nothing new there" he interrupted.

I smiled and let out a small laugh. "Then I was too loud doing dishes and Jason dropped a cup into the sink and got me in trouble by Dad. He yelled at me then went to his room. Then Mom yelled at me for making Dad angry. Then Phoebe got mad at me because I made Mom and Dad mad" I explained.

He slowly nodded his head. "Your brother is always a dick" Uncle Trent pointed out. I smiled and nodded in agreement. "Your parents probably had bad days at work. It'll be fine tomorrow" he mused. I groaned at the mention of tomorrow- which was technically today since it's three a.m. "Your mom gave you a punishment?" he guessed.

I nodded my head and lightly leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around me as I sighed. "I have to clean the whole house. You know she'll find everything wrong and it will take me all day" I ranted.

He hushed me. "It'll be fine. Come on. We'll go get some fries" he suggested. I shot up straight with an excited look on my face. Potatoes are my weakness. I quickly nodded my head and he chuckled as we both got up. I slipped on a pair of shoes before we got into his car. "I'm off tomorrow. When you get done with cleaning, we'll have one of our road trips" he offered.

Smiling, I nodded my head. Our road trips are basically driving in one direction for a really long time until we get hungry or find something interesting. We never go out of state, but it's still fun. Any time spent out of that house is fun. "You want coffee?" Uncle Trent asked. My eyes widened as I happily nodded my head. Coffee is the next best thing after potatoes. Uncle Trent knows all my weaknesses so I would stop fronting about my mom.

We stopped by a fast food place and got our fries. I was happily munching on them when we ordered our coffees too. "How was work?" I wondered.

I slightly turned so I could see a small smile on his face. "I just drove around the forklift for a new guy that I'm training" he said with a laugh. Uncle Trent works at some inventory place for doors. They basically take them off of shelves and load them into big trucks. "I'll probably be doing that for the next couple weeks. I'm just getting paid to drive around" he chuckled. I smiled and sipped on my blended coffee drink. "You should go back to sleep when we get home" he stated, looking at the clock. It read 4:30.

Shrugging, I put my coffee back into the cup holder. "I have coffee. I'll be fine" I waved him off. He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his own coffee before groaning about how it was so amazing. I laughed as he turned up his radio to the country station. The only time I listen to country is with my Uncle Trent.

He glanced at me and at the same time we started singing. "Keep playing them songs, keep singing along, keeping leaning it on in closer. Keep salting the rim, getting even with her and with him before the night is over. That first kiss was like a Colorado hit; we better keep on keeping it lit. 'Til we can't remember- can't remember what we came here to forget!" We burst into laughter as the song continued to play.

Uncle Trent leaned forward to lower it a little as I attempted to look through the sunroof, but it was closed. "I'm opening the moonroof" I stated. We call the sunroof a moonroof because we don't really have it open during the day. It's mostly at night so we could look at all the stars and dark sky. He shrugged before I reached up and held down the button. I looked up at the little white dots scattered around the sky. It was a beautiful night.

Eventually, our fun came to an end as we got back home. "Thanks, Uncle Trent" I said gratefully while leaning into his side and wrapping an arm around his waist.

His arms squeezed me closer. "Anything for my goddaughter" he replied. I smiled before pulling away and sitting on the couch. I slipped off my shoes and sat with my legs cross as I grabbed the remote and turned on a show. It was a regular thing for us to do. We watch one of those shows that plays videos of people getting hurt by doing stupid stuff. On the screen, a teenage boy was standing in the middle of a yard. He kicked a soccer ball against his house. It bounced back and hit him where the sun doesn't shine. My uncle cringed before he sat down at the other end of the couch.

We sat like that for hours. Our eyes glued to the screen. I was content. Our little late night getaways could make me forget about anything.

_______________

"The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express"

-Francis Bacon

So, new story! Yay! Hope you guys like it!

Kayyyzzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.