~Lily

Dad came home a few hours later, stumbling into the front door. Drunk already. Great.

The second he walked into the living room, I sprang up from the couch and bolted upstairs as fast as I could.

I slammed my bedroom door and locked it, and sat on my bed just as there was a knock on my door.

"Nattie it's me, open up!" Jimmy called. I sighed with relief and opened the door for him.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Jimmy asked, pulling me into a warm, comforting hug tightly.

I shook my head before saying, "He's home and he's drunk already." Jimmy sighed and hugged me tighter.

True to Mom's word, I fell asleep before she came home. I stayed locked in my room the whole night, Jimmy by my side.

That whole night, I thought about the new girl at school- Ana. Why would she only eat Tic-Tacs? You need more than that to be healthy.

Sure I'm not the healthiest eater when it comes to eating vegetables and stuff, but at least I actually eat, whereas Ana apparently doesn't.

When I woke up the next morning, Jimmy was sleeping on my floor, snoring softly. Poor guy.

"Jimmy, Jimmy wake up." I tried, shaking him ever so lightly. He groaned and turned away from me.

I figured he was awake most of the night and decided to let him sleep longer while I went and checked on Mom.

I carefully and quietly opened the door to her room, only to find that she was missing from it.

Oh God, please no. Please don't let her be gone, please!

I hurried out and checked the bathroom, and luckily she was there. She was cleaning up a cut on her face.

"Mommy?" I asked quietly. She jumped in fear before realizing it was me and not my dad.

"Natalie, what is it?" she asked worriedly, looking me up and down. "I wanted to make sure you were...."

My voice was cut off by the lump in my throat as I desperately fought back tears. I hated watching her go through this.

She sighed and pulled me into her embrace, though I could tell it pained her. "I'm not going anywhere Natalie, I'm right here."

I nodded as I pulled away from her, knowing if she held me any longer I would wind up crying.

"How's your brother?" she questioned. "He's alright. He's sleeping." I answered. She gave a tiny smile before turning back to the mirror.

"It's not... TOO bad, is it?" Mom asked quietly. I grimaced as I answered, "He's done worse..."

Mom sighed and pulled her makeup out of her drawer. "Why don't you and your brother start getting ready for school?" she suggested, her voice cracking.

After hesitating a moment longer, I went back to my room to wake up Jimmy. I kneeled next to him and gently shook him awake.

"Nooooo...." he groaned, trying to scoot underneath my bed. I giggled slightly at him. "Come on, Mom says we gotta get ready."

He sat up real fast then. "How is she?" He questioned worriedly. Tears flooded my eyes again, and I was unable to speak.

Jimmy sighed with a nod before standing, and then pulled me up to my feet and hugged me. "Come on kid, let's get moving."

He headed out to his room, while I searched through my closet and dresser for an outfit.

I settled on a black and blue plaid skirt with long black leggings and a grey low-cut T-shirt.

I changed quickly, then slipped into the bathroom with Mom once more so I could brush my teeth.

The cut on her face was clean, but you could still see the bruise left there. I had to force myself to keep my eyes down so I wouldn't cry.