Hey guys! I'm so so so sorry about this constantly being deleted. :( Hope you guys love it.

Chapter 1

"Everyone's got a dark side. Everybody's got habits we might not appreciate, but you've got to forgive. Everyone makes hundreds of mistakes." This was what my mother said to me the first time her boyfriend hit me.

It was a slap on the face because I didn't hand him the remote. When my mom saw, she told me to stop being such a baby and she said "Maybe I should hit you more often so that you get used to it." She was drunk. When he left and she was sober, she hugged me but never apologized.

That's when she told me to learn to forgive. I thought she was the wisest woman in the world. She was, no doubt the most beautiful. I didn't argue. If she said I had to forgive, that's what I did. No questions asked.

It's strange. At eight years old your whole world can change. The second time he hit me, I went to my room, and cried. But when my mom called me for dinner, I washed my face, and made sure I looked fine.

I had to show her that I listened to every word she said. If she didn't think it was a big deal, then obviously I was just being a baby. I wanted him gone, though. I don't remember his name now, it's hard to keep track. But he and mom dated for a month before I heard screaming and slamming of doors, until finally, I never saw him again.

Another one came a week later. He never hit me. Soon enough, the screaming came and he was gone. Another one came a week later. That's how it is with mom.

She's beautiful, Stunning. She could have any guy she wanted. And she did. Even ugly ones that I never understood why she dated. I remember every time we went to the super market, the cashier would wink at her. Guys would ask for her phone number.

I always wished I could be that beautiful. Thick, glossy, straight dark hair, with just enough volume. Almond shaped blue eyes with long, thick eyelashes, a perfect nose, and plump, pink lips. I inherited all her features, except to my disappointment, my skin was ghostly, pale white, while hers was rosy. My lips were red instead of pink. I was bony, while she had the perfect body.

At the age of eight, during one of mom's what I now call "mating season" s, (Right after a break up when she gets drunk and whiny and desperate looking for a new guy.) she was whining about how all guys want is fun and they don't care about you, genuinely, when the doorbell rang.

Glad to get away from there, I ran to open it and outside stood a decent-looking man, and a girl who looked two years older than me. She had a nose piercing and a bored expression. I was intrigued. The first thing she said was

"Nathan, do you want me to end up anorexic? Look at this kid. Do you think Liz even feeds her?"

Liz. That's my mom's name. I didn't know what anorexic meant but I knew that I didn't want to be called a "kid" by someone who looked about my age herself. So I said what I learnt you say when you don't like something.

"Fuck you."

They both started laughing like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. The man crouched down to be the same height as me and asked if I knew that was a bad word. I didn't.
He smiled and said

"Okay, well, I'm Nathan. I used to know you when you were a baby. Is your mommy home?"

I nodded and called my mom. She had me sit down and describe both of them to her. Then she whispered "Fuck, fuck, fuck." And told me to tell them to sit down and she'd be right with them. So that's what I did. They waited for half an hour. I got them some juice.

Nathan asked how old I was and I told him eight. He told me it was impressive that I was so responsible for my age. I told him I got it from my mom and he laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. –Again.

The girl with him was introduced as his daughter, Kim. She said she was ten years old. I knew it. Two years older.
The door opened and mom came in. She was wearing a black dress and had her hair up in a fancy knot. She had on make-up and her formal high heels. She looked gorgeous and the look on Nathan's face said that he agreed. Kim's was a look of disgust as she eyed the low cut neck.

"Liz."

"Nathan, hi!" She sounded like a teenager.

Whenever one of mom's boyfriends came over, I had learnt to go to my room, and that's what I did. Only, I called Kim to come with me.

She looked around at my things, fingering a huge teddy bear my mom's friend gave me. I asked her why she was here.

Her expression changed from annoyed to amused.

"You seriously don't know who I am?"

I shook my head.

"I'm Liz's daughter. Your half-sister. She sleeps around a lot, huh?"

I didn't completely understand. She rolled her eyes and explained how we could be related with different dads.

I looked at her. The only things that she seemed to inherit from mom were the blue eyes and rosy cheeks. But she had blonde hair. Something I'd always wanted.
"So why are you back now?"

"Your mom is a whore and gave me to an orphanage because she couldn't afford the adoption process back then. She lied, claiming she had cancer and wouldn't be able to care for me. I was adopted by Nathan and I have to come back now and the orphanage has discovered that Liz is alive and well. She could have been arrested if Nathan didn't pay them not to press charges.

None of this really made any sense apart from one thing.

"Why didn't she give me up?"

Kim rolled her eyes. She did that a lot.

"I wouldn't feel so special if I was you. The only reason she didn't throw you away was because she loved your dad too much."

I felt stupid. My dad. It had never occurred to me that I had had a dad.

She seemed to have read my expression.

"He's dead, dumb fuck."

It's a lot to take in, in fifteen minutes so I'm lucky that I didn't understand half of it or else my brain would have exploded.

"Is your real dad dead, too?"

"Nope, but he's not coming back. And if he did, I'd beat him until he left again."

"I've always wanted a sister."

"Half-sister. And ew. I hate you and your mom. I wish Nathan wouldn't leave me here."

"She's your mom too. And he doesn't have to."

"He does. I can't leave the country with him because I have a legal guardian alive over here. And he's got a job offer in Switzerland."

We talked for a while. I discovered that my mom and Nathan used to have a fling. He still loved her, apparently.

"It won't be that bad." I promised.

"I know it won't. I'm just here eating and sleeping here. I'm not a part of this family. I'll be fine."

"You're using the bathroom here, too." I giggled. I don't know why I found that funny. I was a dork.

Kim didn't seem that calm when Nathan was leaving. She cried her eyes out. Mom promised Nathan that she'd take care of Kim. They discussed important things that I didn't understand and finally, Nathan hugged Kim, ruffled my hair, kissed mom on the cheek, and left.

Mom stared at Kim.

"I'm glad Grace will have somebody to play with."

And with that, she left. Almost as if she didn't notice the tears running down Kim's face.

"What a bitch." Kim wiped her face and shut the door to my room.

If I get feedback, I'll post chapter 2. Review, review, review!