On the evening of homecoming, I walked down the neighborhood, hands shoved in my hoodie pocket while I listened to music on my headphone. The air was cool and very soothing that as I dragged in each breath, my chest heaved in appreciation. The street was empty as usual, except for the occasional traces of expensive cars driving past, windows rolled up with people minding their businesses. That was one of the disadvantages of living in the expensive segment of town where no kids rode bicycles or ran around playing and giggling in excitement. The street was filled with sprawling mansions with manicured lawns and often extremely tall irons gates to keep intruders off.My head was filled with thoughts. I imagined what fun my friends were all going to be having watching the game without me but shook out the imaginations before they lasted too long. Dragging down my headphone to rest on my neck and exhaling deeply, I stopped in front of the mansion that had alwa

Haze of lazy smoke slowly spiralled their way up the ceiling, escaping through the small hole in his parted lips. Baylor Allantoi could tell his sister was subtly watching him from across the living room where she cuddled with her stuffed animals and the kitten in front of the fire place that sparked and burned with just the right amount of fire to keep she and the calico kittens warm. He'd set it up and burning few moments ago before he retired to seating across the room from his sister while some TV program was going on. The cute kitten meows filled the air and Baylor couldn't help but be amused at how Elle coddled them like they truly were her kids. They swindled around her, purring contendedly. His sister was seating cross-legged, her hair falling against her shoulders and forming curtains of sandy blonde silkiness against her face.    Suddenly, she looked up, and caught his eyes just as she grabbed one of the kittens and stroke its fur tenderly, clutch

The night of the homecoming dance, the autumn cold whistled loudly and battled hard outside the house. I shuddered and shivered inside the strapless lavender gown I'd gotten over the past days, arms hugging my shoulders the moment I stepped outside the house's front door. "Can I meet him?" Mom demanded in a small voice. "Just for once."The front door hung open and my mother stood there, draped around her body was dad's old ABU jacket that looked sincerely too oversized on her. We both stood beneath and within the reach of the glaring fluorescent light over the porch. Mom's hair hung in loose, sticky threads onto her forehead and temples and she had a withering smile on her pale, chapped lips. Two days ago, I was the sick one with the thumping headache, but now, she was so sick she couldn't even bare to go to work that day and for some really odd reasons, I saw that as a blessing in disguise. She had done my makeup and insisted on my wearing her amethyst earrings with long dangling g