Chapter 1

Ever since my mother died last year i have been living with my father and IT IS A REAL PAIN IN THE NECK.

"You let in the stray cats!" 

"Put the left overs in the trash can!" 

"Are you chatting with your BOYFRIEND?!!" He asks.

"Believe me dad. i promise you i don't have one.single is my middle name" I assured.

"Well it doesn't suit you!" 

I look back on my laptop and rolled my eyes.

Yep, that's one of my life with dad part with him and it is driving me crazy! 

Ding dong!

"Ariella! Someone's at the door!" Shouts Dad.

"Coming" I say hurriedly running from my bedroom.

I look into our door's peephole.

"It's olivya dad."

"oh...you know the plan."

"gotcha"

I SIGH.

"Yes,what is it olivya?" 

"Can you spare me some money?"

"Olivya, i told you i dont have any."

"Please! i dont have anywhere else to live!"

"You can stay here."

"uhh...no,thanks!" 

"Your so choosy!"

"Hey listen, your horoscope today is so weird." She says in a troubling voice

"Why what's it say?" 

"You are going to stumble upon a strange person..A blast from the past perhaps?" 

"Creepy." I say eerily.

"Yeah.if i were you i'd follow it anyway can i have some shampoo and conditioner oh and some coffee."

I hand her a bag of things she usually needs. 

"here"

"Thank you so much ariella! i dont know what i would have done without you! Can i come in?"

"Uhh..not right now dad is kind of a...you know..uhhh..."

"In a rut?oh..well then i'll drop by some other time..."

"yeah."

"Okay ariella! See you soon! Remember your weird horoscope!" 

"Yeah. See ya." I chuckle

That was my cousin olivya. she's 30 and she's not married yet.our relatives keep setting her up for marriage but she always refuses until she is 'compatible' with the guy.

She has a huge interest in zodiac signs and looks at her horoscopes on the internet or in the bookstore's horoscope section.My relatives and her brother and sisters think she's crazy...i don't i think she's pretty cool. she's weird but weird is always good...kinda 

The downside is she keeps begging money from me even though i dont have any exept for my mom and dad's savings and me and mother's shared bank account. 

Well i do have some income..i'm a part time blogger and a full time artist. i sell my works on my blog and luckily people buy it. 

mom better thank me for always giving her things she need.

"did she leave?" Dad asks

"Yep" I say

After dad accused of aunt lorelei that she killed mom. Mom's side of the family isn't allowed in our house anymore. 

"What is it with your cousins lately.." Dad says

My cousin cynthia says rumors circulating around the family that mom left me a huge simoleon.that is quite true but i never confirmed it with my family and relatives. only a few know one of it was my aunt jenny who withdrew the money for me.i'm guessing she might've told them because she's the blabber mouth in the family..should've asked for my uncle tim to withdraw them.So now, my cousins who are in need of money come to me almost everyday to see and find out if i really have the big bucks. good thing they come on my drawing time so i show up in my rugged dirty artist' clothes.

i looked poor so they stopped coming exept for olivya. 

But i couldn't tell dad that. he might go too far than not letting in some of my cousins in this house. who knows what he'll do.

"ahh no customers what luck." My dad says. "You should help out in the store sometime."

"oh..yeahh i gotta go to school. see you later!" I hurriedly rushed out.  

My dad ever since i don't remember always tells me that i should tend the store. NO! okay! 

i would tend the store when i feel like it but i wont do it every single day like my brother.

I just wish he was here though. 

me and my briother never talk ever since i entered college.  

it was the lowest of low how we got into this situation.

"There's a monster in that room i tell ya!!" My brother shouted.

"STOP IT!!!I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shouted angrily at him while smashing the pillow really hard.

after that he never talked to me again.he pretends i'm a ghost.

Yes, that's how low it is.Don't judge my immaturity,that's what you call sibling rivalry.

After my mom died. he left. 

He never said a word to dad.  

I never asked dad anything about the incident or about my brother. 

We talk about him whenever my dad wants to. 

One of our workers bumped into my brothers friends.

He says he didn't know where he is.

I bet my brother told them to not say anything about him. 

Southeast university

8:30 am and still no prof. 

"HEY Ariel!~" says ivy 

"Yo." I say

This is Ivy. usually we hang out together with Den and some of our blockmates ever since the start of my second semester of my first year.

"okay class!! what? few people are only here? oh my goodness. well we'll wait for them for 15 miinutes just gotta get something downstairs." says prof. baldy err Prof. Dalton

Coffee actually. he's gonna get coffee. teachers here come from 1-2 hour drive from their houses most of them from SIM L. Beach. it's in the province. i question my mind how they don't quit and just work in their own town it's pretty convenient rather than waking up at 4am and driving to work for 2 hours with heavvy traffic jam in the morning.but they're teachers so what do i know.

"I'm hungry! let's go eat!" Suggest's ivy

it's better than staring at your classmates or endlessly gaze at the whiteboard.

"Last night i watched sim idol!"

"Oh really? who won?"

"You won't believe it! IT'S! IT'S! wait.. you won't belive whos coming this way."

TO BE CONTINUED