Free Fae Star by Sara Brock Page A

that had forcibly removed one of my earbuds, but she had already dialed the number of one of her friends and was chatting about what shoes they were going to wear to school tomorrow. She carried the pizza up to her room, and I ate by myself in the dining room, my plate of pizza placed on top of a pile of mail that no one has opened.
     

 
    Chapter 2
    The next evening was even worse. The dog was barking, my brothers were fighting, and I had a mountain of homework to do, as usual.
    “Julia, can you let Snickers out?” I was busy trying to calm my brothers down.
    “Sorry, I just painted my nails,” Julia said.
    I walked away from my dueling brothers to let the dog out myself.
    “While you’re up, can you bring me a diet Coke?” Julia asked.
    Joey threw a plate at Stephen and it hit the wall behind him.
    Julia jumped at the noise, spilling her bottle of fuchsia nail polish on the couch.
    Snickers had stopped barking. I looked over and realized that he was eating the dinner that I had cooked for the family.
    I started shaking, like, really shaking. I felt weak and my vision was a little blurry.
    “That’s it!” I shouted, “You people… figure it out!” I ran up to my room and slammed the door. I was glad no one could see the tears dripping down my face. I just sat there crying for the longest time and eventually, I fell asleep on the floor.
    I woke up a couple hours later and opened the door. There was a vase full of exotic flowers with a card that said, “Everything is going to be alright.”
    I went out into the house, expecting a mess, but to my amazement, everything was pristine.
    “Thank you for the flowers,” I said to Julia, “and for cleaning the house.”
    “Those aren’t from me!” Julia said excitedly, “This really hot guy came over and said he was your friend. He made us stop fighting and clean the whole house! I bet the flowers are from him!”
    “You let a stranger into our house?!” I exclaimed.
    “He wasn’t a stranger - you knew him,” Julia said, not even giving me the satisfaction of getting angry back.
    “I don’t know anyone that nice!” I said, “I don’t know anyone who would do that for me!”
    I really didn’t know anyone that nice, which led me to the conclusion that Julia must be lying. She must have done all this for me and then covered it up so that I wouldn’t know she cared. I silently thanked her and headed back upstairs.
     

 
     
    Chapter 3
    I rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes. Getting Stephen and Joey ready for school was the worst part of my day. I knocked on the door of their bedroom,
    “Get up!”
    I heard some movement in the bedroom, so I decided to jump in the shower. I got dressed, combed my hair, and put on just a touch of mascara and pink lip gloss before checking on them again. They were awake alright, but they were playing some army video game and they were still in their pajamas.
    I unplugged the TV and my brothers stared at me is horror.
    “Time to get ready,” I said, “Meet me downstairs.”
    Next, I knocked on Julia’s door. I knew she would already be up because she likes to spend upwards of an hour and a half putting on makeup and making sure her hair is perfect.
    “Ahhhhhchooooo!” Julia let out a massive sneeze.
    “Time for breakfast,” I said, opening the door.
    “I can’t go to school like this!” Julia said, “I’m sick! Just look at my face! People will laugh at me!”
    I stared at Julia, trying to figure out what was wrong with her face. Her nose was a little red. Maybe that was it. I shrugged and went downstairs to pour cold cereal for my brothers and me.
    After sending my brothers out the door to the bus stop, I hopped into my beat-up sedan and hit the gas. I had the oddest sense I was being watched, but I ignored it. About four blocks from my house, a voice spoke from my backseat.
    “You have to listen to me now.”
    I am not ashamed to admit that at this point, I let out an earsplitting scream. I cut across the