Hey readers, this is the first chapter of a book I started writing a while back when I met a recovered addict who was one of the best people I had ever met. I decided to start this book that I’ll likely never finish to make people change their perspectives, people aren’t all bad or all good. Often times they’re better than you think, you just don’t know their story, because of this I titled this story “called her shady” and started with a character before they became an addict. Here’s chapter 1
Steen was excited for her first day of senior year. Though she paced in anticipation with her planner in hand and bag ready, not once did she prompt her little sister Bella to rush tying her hair ribbons for the fifteenth time. Steen remembered her first day of middle school. Like her sister, she had wanted to make a good impression.
Finally Bella was ready to head to school.Steen slid into the driver's seat of their Dad’s old truck. He worked night shifts, so Steen was allowed to use the truck for school as long as she acted as chauffeur for Bella. Steen found that fair enough. She hugged Bella and wished her a good first day. As Steen watched her sister run excitedly in the school doors she thought of how lucky she was to have Bella. Bella was the family’s “miracle child”. There had been complications at the birth, the doctors though that they were going to loose mother and child, but Bella wouldn’t accept that, she had too much life in her. When Steen looked at Bella, she saw their mom smiling down from heaven through her. Steen looked after her little sister like a mom watches over her child.
Eventually, Steen pulled off to her own first day of school. She was announced president of the Key Club, which is like the high school level of UNICEF. Steen couldn’t have had a better first day. Steen wasn’t necessarily the top of the class, nor was she the bottom. One thing that defined Steen was her compassion. She was the one who’d talk to the kid sitting alone, because of this she basically was friends with everyone in the school from stoner to nerd to athletes.
After school Sten went to pick up Bella from school. Bella marched out of the middle school with about 5 other girls and 3 boys. They were all laughing hard. Steen loved to see Bella laugh. You’d think being seven years apart, for Steen was old for a senior having been held back the year after they lost their mother, they wouldn’t be very close, but Steen and Bella were as close as siblings can get.
That Semester seemed to pass by quick as a blink of an eye, but Steen remembered every detail. Bella had her first boyfriend, and first break up. Steen remembered wanting to bash his head in after he broke Bella’s heart. Bella got straight A’s, she was the student every parent wants their kid to be, as bright as it gets. Steen got mostly C’s and a few B’s, managing to pass everything that term. Steen headed a beach clean-up, where all the cans and bottles they picked up were recycled and the money went to the local homeless shelter. Bella started volunteering with Steen at the local soup kitchen. Steen couldn’t have been prouder of her little sister. Steen made it a sort of tradition to take Bella out for ice cream every Wednesday night, with the babysitting money she got from the neighbors, after they got done volunteering at the soup kitchen.
Christmas break was finally here! Steen didn’t have enough money from babysitting and recycling bottles to get Bella the dress she had been oogling over at the mall. She had asked her Dad if he could loan her the money, but he told her he barely had enough extra to get the makings for the Christmas dinner. This didn’t dissuade Steen, she was going to get Bella that dress! The only question was...how?
Steen rummaged through her things in her room trying to figure out what she had that was worth selling… she threw her head on her bed in dismay. Steen ran her hands through her hair to calm herself. Steen believed her hair to be her most becoming quality. It was a deep chestnut, and it read over halfway down her back.
All a sudden Steen remembered hearing somewhere that you can sell your hair. She began looking it up online. She found a place she could sell it. Steen ran her hands through her hair one last time. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t help but shed a tear. Her nose was too big, her ears too small, and her eyes an ugly shade of hazel, but it all seemed to pull together somehow with her lovely mane.
“Hair is just hair. It’ll grow back” She told her reflection.
With that she found a pair of scissors, held her hair even, and cut off her precious locks. She tied it together with a band and put it in a bag. She drove down to the drop off location. She dared not look in a mirror as she exchanged her hair for 100 dollars. She took the money directly to the mall. There it was, the dress Bella said was like something out of her dreams. There was a red lace trim at the bottom, a deep blue dress with floral patterns covering it. It drew in slightly at the waist and had slightly “puffed sleeves” like Anne of Green Gables always wanted. Bella had recently read that book and fallen in love with it. She was sure she was going to be just like Anne one day. The dress cost 35 dollars, but Steen paid it without hesitation.
The next stop on her agenda was a christmas tree. She wanted to give Bella a real Christmas. She only had a few hours till Dad needed the truck, so she spent 25 dollars of her hair money grabbing a tree quickly from the lot outside the mall. Steen rushed home just in time to pass off the truck and grab the tree out of the back. Steen told Bella she sold her hair so she could get them a Christmas tree when Bella asked about her hair. After all Bella couldn’t not ask as it was very obvious that Steen’s hair was gone, and Steen couldn’t tell her about the dress. Bella was so excited about the tree she didn’t notice Steen slip away to hide the dress under her bed.
The girls found all the old Christmas decorations in the attic. They spent the rest of the evening decorating the tree and the house. Bella insisted that Steen had the honor of putting the angel on the top. The whole evening was full of laughter and love. They had hot chocolate and put up stockings. Bella insisted that they put up mistletoe, just in case they had cute boys over. They hadn’t bothered to wait for their father to decorate, because though he financially supported them, he hadn’t been very involved since the death of their mother he just kinda kept to himself.
Christmas came shortly after. Christmas Eve Steen has decided to pass down a pair of earrings her mother had given her to go with the dress for Bella. Steen got joy from the gifts she was going to give her sister more than she ever could any gift for herself. Christmas morning came and Bella was surprised to see a present under the tree as they didn’t always have money for gifts. Steen had made sure to include in the present a note saying how those earrings were their mother’s. Bella’s eyes lit up, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she saw the dress and read the note about the earrings.
Bella raced into her room to get changed into the dress. She came out with earrings and dress on minutes later. She pranced about showing off, to Steen she looked like a princess.
“Very Beautiful honey, you look lovely” their father said.
“You look just like Mom” Steen echoed.
“Thank you so much Steen! It even has puffed sleeves!!! I can’t believe you remembered, how could you afford it?” Bella admired.
“I have my ways” Steen avoided telling Bella.
“I have something for you too!” Bella exclaimed running to her room.
Bella returned with a thin envelope. Steen pulled out a painting, in each corner of it was taped a picture of Bella and Steen growing up. In the center in calligraphy letters was “You can’t mess with BS”. Steen teared up remembering how Bella and Steen had realized if they put together their first initials that it was “BS”, they had gone around for years saying that anytime that they’d get into mischief. Steen pulled her sister in for the biggest hug, was the best gift her sister could have given her. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.
“ I know it’s nothing like this amazing dress and Mama’s earrings, but it’s what I could do with what the teachers at school would lend me. Mrs. Draper was so kind to let me use the art supplies and keep the canvas” Bella explained.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of happiness. New Year’s eve happened to fall on a Wednesday that year. Steen was weary of going to volunteer at the soup kitchen that night because it’s a night when people often aren't smart about not driving after drinking. Bella had insisted that they should finish the year right by helping people. So like any other Wednesday Steen and Bella went to the soup kitchen. Like always, Bella greeted everyone with her infectious smile. And like always, Bella and Steen went out for ice cream afterwards. As Steen and Bella were driving home, they were in a line of traffic waiting at the stoplight.
Steen looked down the alleyway to their right, there was a car that didn’t appear to be slowing down as it approached the road. Steen looked forward but there were cars so she couldn’t pull forward, she looked back and had cars behind her so she couldn’t back up. Steen thought to herself, surely the car will stop before it reaches the road. Steen didn’t want to scare Bella for no good reason. Steen started to get impatient with the red light. The car seemed to be speeding up.
“Bella!...” was all Steen managed to holler as she threw herself over her sister.
Crash! Steen remembered seeing some fire, and there was blood coming from somewhere, but she couldn’t investigate where before everything went black. As she passed out all she could mutter was “Bella”.
When Steen woke up she didn’t know how long it had been. She glanced around, everything still seemed a bit foggy. She tried to lift her arm and felt a tug at it, she looked down to find an IV in her arm so she rested it again. What had happened? Steen was having trouble remembering. She heard doctors outside her room. They were whispering, but Steen listened in.
“Now if she wakes, we’ll want to wait a while before mentioning Bella’s death, she’s fragile and that kind of news could put too much stress on her body” the doctor whispered.
It all came rushing back to Steen in a matter of seconds. The helplessness to stop it, the seeing it coming. Throwing herself over Bella. She couldn’t wrap her head around it, how was Bella gone and not her? She threw herself over to try to save her. It was all in vain. Steen could feel her pulse quicken. A beeping started on her monitors, nurses and doctors came rushing in but as they were doing so Steen passed back out.
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