The rain steadily poured down in Bronx, New York.

Sixteen-year-old Stephoné Black twisted her brown hair around her finger. She was sitting at her desk, her hazel eyes gazing out the window blankly in her small room.

The gloomy and depressing look outside from the rainstorm matched her mood, which still lingered from that day in school.

She watched the water pellets roll down the glass of her window. Some rolled into other drops making them bigger, while others rolled down all by their lonesome.

Her eyes shifted to the white bandage around her wrist and sighed at the recalling of her stay in hospital. 'Why does everyone make me feel like I'm a problem and not a person?' Tears started to brim in her eyes as she thought about it.

'Goodness, I'm an awful daughter. I promised Mom I wouldn't hurt myself again and look at what I did? Turn to harming myself to cope with the pain, anxiety, emptiness, dread of going to school to hear the taunting and names over finding out I tried to end my life? It's too much to bare.' She thought, wiping the tears from her eyes.

'It's the the cycle over and over again, making more medical bills she has to struggle to pay off. It's insanity that I can't stop, no therapist or physiologist can fix me. I'm unfixable. I'm selfish. I'm so selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. I'm a horrible daughter. I can't even be called a daughter.' She thought to herself, hitting her head with her fisted hand.

'Sabrina is right. I'm weak. I'm pathetic. I'm selfish. I have no self control and it's going to get me killed one day, whether it's by my hand or someone else, hoping the latter if it ever - no, do not think like that.' She shook her head as if she was casting those thoughts away.

She shifted her gaze to her homework, she knew she had to get it done. Giving a sigh she picked up her pen and started to do her homework.

She folded her arms and rested them on the desk, closing her eyes after resting her head down on her arms. "Why is school so hard?" She mumbled to herself. "Why do we get so much homework . . . at least in a few months I will graduate and be done with school."

The sound of a car pulled into the driveway, followed by the sound of the garage opening.

A few minutes later the front door was unlocked and it was opened.

"Steph? I'm home." Lillian asked loudly, closing the door behind her. She took off her shoes and set them by the door before dropping her keys in the key bowl on the small table under the corkboard on the wall.

She pushed some loose strands of her brown hair behind her ears. Her brown eyes looked exhausted, yet she wasn't done with work yet.

Stephoné heard her mother's voice. "Hi Mom, I'm doing homework." She called back, looking down at her not even half-finished homework. "Trying to at least." Running a hand through her hair she glanced back out the window once more, watching the drops of water roll down the window.

She sighed and looked at the clock: 5:15 was the time it said. "I've been staring out my window for two hours. I need to get my head in the game." She mumbled, beginning to organize all the papers.

Lillian walked into the kitchen, she set down some leftovers from work on the counter then washed her hands. She disinfected the containers before opening the fridge and putting them in. Stacking the white styrofoam container on top of each other neatly to make more space. She closed the fridge with her hip, turning around.

Stephoné walked out of her room, after getting up from her seat at her desk then into the kitchen. She leaned against the small counter space, looking at her mother. "How was work?"

Lillian turned her head and looked up at her daughter, a light smile displayed across her lips. "It was good. Much better than yesterday. A whole day without someone complaining about the steak being too cooked or undercooked or even heaven forbid the mash potatoes touch the steak." She walked over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her resting her chin on her head. "How was school?"

Stephoné wrapped her arms around her mother, leaning her head against her chest. "Okay, I guess. Everyone was given extra homework. Ariana wanted to protest but Will and I stopped her from it. With the senior year closing in, the teachers seem to want to burden us with work."

Lilian gave a soft smile at her daughter's actions, she found them comforting. "That sounds like Ariana," She ran her fingers through her daughter's hair.

Stephoné pursed her lips leaning against the counter. "I am glad to have Ariana and Will as my friends. I have no idea what I would do without them." She mused with a tiny smile.

"Oh, Steph." Lillian said softly, rubbing her back softly. "I wish I could put you in a better school, I do, it's just-" She trailed off with a sigh, knowing her daughter would cut in.

"Mom, you have other things to worry about other than what school I go to." She gave a soft sigh, looking up at her mother with a soft look on her face. " "I'm fine, I am."

Lillian was having a hard time believing that. "Okay, just be safe and take care of yourself. I love you so much." She said, pressing a soft kiss on the top of her daughter's head.

Stephoné found this quite awkward so she tried to move away from the subject. "Uh . . . Mom, I'm hungry." She put her hands in her jeans.

Lillian ran a hand through her hair and rested her hand on the counter. "What would you like?" She then turned around and walked into the kitchen, which wasn't but a step from the living room.

She went over to the fridge and opened it up, looking at what was inside. "I just got some meatloaf leftover from yesterday."

Stephoné didn't care too much for meatloaf, but if it was food. "Sure, that sounds good Mom." She said, giving a nod resting her arms on the counter.

Lillian nodded, taking out the meatloaf then putting it on a plate and sticking it in the small confectioner's oven. "Steph, when did your uncle say he could come over and fix the oven?" She asked, looking up from closing the small oven door, then looking back and turning it on to warm it up.

Stephoné frowned a bit, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "Um, two days from now, I think." She said, biting her lip a bit. "He said it could be later because of the case he is working on is high profile."

Lillian sighed and ran her hands through her hair, messing up the already loose ponytail. "Great, just great." She muttered, sighing, the sigh was out of frustration. "At least it's not the fridge this time."

Stephoné nodded softly at her mother's words, quite sad to know it would still not be fixed. "Yeah, that's true." She played with some of her hair, and she knew it was a good thing it wasn't the fridge.

Lillian rested her hand on the counter once again and tapped her nails for a moment on it. "Oh, and I did get those little eclairs you like that you can have for breakfast tomorrow." She knew how much her daughter enjoyed those French pastries.

Stephoné bit her lip softly, a little nervous about the question she would be asking her mom. "Mom," She asked, after letting a bit of silence sit between them then rested her hands on the counter.

Lillian set out on the table: two plates, two glasses, two spoons, and two forks. "Yes, Steph?" She looked up at her as she rested her hand on the back of the chair.

Stephoné bit her lip a bit, debating on whether to ask for a picture of father. "Um, never mind, it was just a stupid question anyway." She pushed her hair from her face, continuing to bite her lip.

Lillian pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes and expecting what her daughter had asked her. "Are you sure honey?" She asked, making sure that her daughter was sure.

Stephone nodded her head at her mother's words, confirming that she was sure. "Yeah, I'm sure mom. Besides, I already know what I need." She said softly, tugging at her sleeves.

Lillian nodded to what her daughter had said. "Okay, just you know, whatever it is, you can come to me right?" She asked knowing her daughter didn't always come to her like she wanted.

Stephoné nodded her head. "Yes Mom, this is just something for school and I know what I am looking for." She lied, slightly raised the corners of her mouth before letting it all fall off.

"All right." Lillian let it go and turned her attention back to keeping an eye on the food in the oven. "Heat up your stupid thing," She mumbled, tapping the side of the confection oven.

Stephoné silently turned around and started for the front door. Putting her hand in her jean pockets, she opened up the front door and walked out, closing it behind her.

She walked up to the door on the side of the house to the garage. She wiggled the doorknob and pushed it open. She stumbled into the garage and reached for the light, flicking it on.

She stood on her tippy toes, reaching up and grabbing onto the tub sides, tipping it down so she could grab the handles. "Perfect, now it is just a matter of going through them all." She gave a sigh slowly continuing to pull it down off the tool cart.

It hit the ground with a thud, barely managing to jump back so it barely missed her toes. She gave a long sigh of relief as took off the lid, setting it on the ground beside her and kneeling on her knees.

Going through all the albums, she forgot what the one which had the picture looked like since the gold letters for the year had been almost rubbed off.

She finally found the yearbook she was looking for, the last one of her mom's high school years. "I wish I could look at these pictures and just have a feeling of who my father is." She mumbled, hesitating opening up the yearbook.

She put the lid back on then she began to struggle to get it back up on the cart. 'Forget it. He abandoned Mom and me. I don't want to know who he is, he didn't want me.' She thought to herself, her heart weighing heavy.

Once it was back up there she turned around and made her way to the door, stopping to rub her eye. She went inside the house, straight into her room, closed the door, and walked over to her desk.

"Let's get this homework over with," She mumbled, sitting at her desk and picking up her pencil.

〰❦〰

A half an hour later, her mother knocked on the door.

"Steph, it is time for dinner, you can finish homework after." Lillian said, through the door, before walking back into the kitchen and pulling out the meatloaf.

She looked up as she saw her daughter come into the room, she sat down in the chair and waited for her daughter to do the same.

"I was thinking, maybe this weekend we could do something together, only if I get the day off." She suggested hoping her daughter would be open to it.

Stephoné sat down and looked up at her mother, hearing what she had said, and pushing her hair behind her ear. "Oh, that sounds nice Mom." She poked at her food before sticking some of it into her mouth and chewing it up. "Do you have an idea of what we can do?"

Lillian sighed softly, setting down her fork and looked up at her daughter. "How about the zoo? You do love to take pictures and videos of the animals there, and it's free."

Stephoné nodded her head, shifting her eyes back down to her plate and poking at the meatloaf before eating a little bit of it. "Sounds good, hopefully you can get the weekend off." She looked back up at her mom, pushing her hair behind her ear and chewing on the inside of her lip.

Lillian once again smiled at her daughter. "I'll try my best. We unfortunately had one of my coworkers quit because she couldn't handle dealing with our boss and his little outbursts anymore. I'm filling in her position until we hire someone else."

Stephoné slowly nodded, listening to her valid excuse on why she was working extra hours and possibly couldn't get off of work. "How do you put up with him?" She inquired quickly, nibbling on the meatloaf on her fork.

Lillian chewed the meatloaf in her mouth before swallowing. "Well," She began, cutting a sliver off. "I have too. He's decent, most of the time when his family issues don't affect him. He's lenient and understanding when I have to take off work and he pays me for doing someone else's job that couldn't do it, like my coworker who quit."

'At least she's being treated right,' Stephoné thought, taking another bite and chewing it slowly. "That's good," She mused, falling silent, creating an uncomfortable silent diner.

Lillian felt unbearable in the uncomfortable silence. "How is things going at school?" She asked, knowing it was a touchy subject but wanted to know nonetheless.

Stephoné picked up her glass of water and took a sip from it. "It's good. My teachers offered to be my recommendations for Harvard . . ." She trailed off stuffing some meatloaf in her mouth.

Lillian's eyes widened, setting her fork down she rested her hands on her lap. "That's great, Steph. Are you sure you want to become a lawyer like my whole family is?" She asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Stephoné hesitated with her reply, chewing her food slowly. 'I can't lie and say no, because she'd find out that Grandma is pressuring me into becoming a lawyer to make up for Mom not getting a chance to become a law student. They just started talking again, I'm not going to mess up their relationship over this.' She thought to herself as she nodded. "Hmm,"

Lillian smiled softly, picking her fork back up and eating some of her meatloaf. "Steph, if you don't want to be a lawyer, you don't have too. You can he anything you want to be, I just want you to be happy."

'Happy,' Stephoné thought, her heart growing heavy. "I am happy Mom, er, working my way towards happy that is. I-I want too," She flashed a smile, her heard simply not in her words.

Lillian wasn't going to insist, taking her daughter's word for it. "I'm glad, now, how about I see if I can bring home something other than meatloaf? It's kinda dry isn't it?" She asked, stabbing her sliver of meatloaf.

Stephoné cracked a smile for a brief moment. "Heh, yeah, it is kinda dry," She agreed, standing up and grabbing the ketchup from the fridge. She walked back to her seat and sad down, squeezing some on top of the meat loaf. "Maybe it'll taste better with more ketchup?"

Lillian nodded, taking the bottle from Stephoné and drenching her own meatloaf in it. "Carl is not up on his game lately, his food just doesn't have heart in it." She mused, setting the bottle in the middle of the table.

"Carl?" Stephoné asked, furrowing her brows and wracking her brain on who he was. It finally hit her who she was talking about: the diners chef. "Oh no, what's going on?" She asked, concern laced her voice.

Lillian sighed softly, cutting a piece of her meatloaf off. "He mentioned he's having family issues, but I didn't press the matter. I feel bad for him, he looks like a zombie someday, just cooking by muscle memory." She frowned, shaking her head.

"I'm sure things will turn up for him, Ariana aways says brighter days are ahead." Stephoné said, eating her meatloaf quietly as the rest of dinner was now in a comfortable silence.

〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰

A/N:
So, I'm taking off all the personalities since I now I'm not really wanting them to be put up, since over time they can and probably will change, so, just ignore them if you have already read them before I got this published, because I had taken them out. But I did save them all so that I can use them for ocs and so forth.

And I know this isn't as long as I hoped, I will add more later, I just wanted to get it published since it has been a long time coming, and I am doing some editing on the prologue, which is mainly just fixing all the 'saids' and taken them out, putting something at the beginning on each paragraph. Plus I ended it on a good note, and it seems like the end, but I can always add more later, like I keep saying I will XD

I have a bunch of inspiration so prepare for some mass updates for my books (even if they aren't the normal length I like) I just want to get them up and I can always add more later, but thanks to Pinterest, I am gonna update this one more often!

While you guys are waiting for this to be updated, go and read some of my other books while you are waiting, Mute is one I am beginning to update more often only because it is shorter than this and The Haunting of Briarwood Manor, which I adore long chapters. And Missing Autumn I am working on the chapter, will post that soon along with two new books and maybe some old ones I gotten off my laptop, but only when I edit them a bit, hehe, pretty cringe XD

Stephone was an oc I used in PJO/HoO rps, so I kinda took her and put her into this story a long time ago since I loved her as a character. It had taken months to get her to how she is now (in my oc book) she is one of my most favorite ocs. Because I can kinda understand how she is feeling and everything.

Chapter Talk:
So we get a little back story to Stephone. And a little bit less to Will, which we will get to know more about in the next chapter. I don't have much to talk about with this chapter, but Steph plays a major part in our story, so does her half-brother.

Thanks for reading!