"Turn that off or change the channel." I said to my sister Mel. She was glued to the TV watching our dad launch his campaign to be re-elected as a United States senator.

"Jeez I know you hate dad but this is a big day for him."

When I didn't respond, she kept staring at me, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"This is the part where you say, 'I don't hate dad Mel'."

I still said nothing. 

"Come on Caleb, I know you and dad don't get along well but you don't actually hate him do you? You know he took it badly after mom passed away." She looked so sad.

"I'm sorry ok? Today was a bad day. I'll just be in my room." I picked up my backpack and left.

When I entered my bedroom I fell backwards on my bed. I opened my backpack and took out the math test Mrs Owen returned that morning.

A giant red F on the front page of the test summed up my life in highschool. I was an average student at best, much to my dad's displeasure. He always said that I wasn't 'applying myself' enough. Whatever that meant.

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I stifle and yawned as I opened the front door. I was glad it was finally Friday, school was exhausting, the smell of dinner made my stomach crumble, I wondered what Paula, my housekeeper was cooking. It smelled delicious.

"Paula! I'm back, what are you...?"

I stopped when I saw the person standing in our kitchen.

"Mom? when did you get here?!" I said as I ran towards her.

My mom lived and worked abroad, she only came home three times a year.

"Oh Lilly, look how much you've grown." She cried as she embraced me.

"Mom I'm the same, you just saw me last month."

"Oh yeah, sorry. How was school?"

"Mom, why are you back so soon? Where's Paula?"

"I told her to take some leave. If I've known this was the welcome I'll get from you, I'd have not have asked for a month off to spend time with you."

"That made me feel guilty."

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The door flew open and Mom bolted inside. Startled, I jumped up from the sofa where I was watching the television.

“Alex, we need to trash the house to make it look like someone broke in” 

“Mom, why? Where’s Hunter?” 

Mom stared at me blankly, “Hunter got wounded and the police are on their way.’ Mom began to throw the cushions from the sofa on the floor. “The house needs to look trashed because I told them that when we opened the front door we were attacked.”

Without another word, Mom and I trashed the place. It wasn’t long before we heard sirens in the distance. Everything was a blur as police officers took pictures and dusted for evidence. Mom did all the talking as she said I was still in shock. After the officers left, Mom told me the owner of the house returned home early and Hunter jumped in front of Mom to protect her. 

Yeah, you may be wondering about that. The only way to get your answer is to continue watching till the end. 

I grew up in a family of thieves. Yup you heard correctly, thieves. We never stayed anywhere for more than a few months. Mom was the mastermind, Hunter was the brawn and I was the invisible son! I begged Mom to let me join them but she said I wasn’t ready. She never had time for me; she and Hunter were always planning their next heist. 

I was heartbroken when Hunter died a few days after his incident. Only Mom and I attended Hunter's funeral. After a fifteen minute sermon, the pastor left the room to give us a chance to say our last goodbyes.

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“Hey, Stanley!”

“Yes sir!”

“You’ll be doubling as a waiter tonight. So once you’re done cleaning, get dressed in a suit and get ready to serve the guests.”

“Uhm, sir. I’m supposed to close by 7pm, that’s the end of work hours for me, sir”.

“Well, not today! You’ll probably be here till tomorrow morning. One of the waiters fell ill so you’ll have to take his place”.

“Sir, does this mean I’ll be paid his wage instead, since he won’t be coming?”

The director burst into laughter.

“Dream on, Stan. You’re not getting paid a dime for the extra hours you’ll be working for. If you’re not happy with that, feel free to quit, there are millions of janitors happy to replace you and in case you don’t know, these people are happy to be paid half your salary for more work”.

“Half of $2 per hour?” I asked, surprised. Who in the world would want to be paid a dollar per hour? I only took this job because I was dying of hunger.

“Sir, could I get just a tiny little bit of money from you? You didn’t tell me about the event earlier so I didn’t bring anything decent to wear, I have to go back home, pick something and come back”.

He rolled his eyes and gave me my exact payment for the day, nothing for the transport to go home and return again on the same day. 

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“A hundred dollars!? You’re telling me that all you could make this month is a hundred dollars?! What kind of a man are you, Steven?!” Mom screamed throwing the money in my face. 

“A thirteen year old man!” I replied, making her give me a resounding slap. 

“It’s your fault we’re suffering like this. If your dad was alive, everything would’ve been much better!”

“I know, mom. And I’m very sorry”. 

“Shut up! You’re not sorry, but you will be!”

She walked towards me and picked up the money that she had previously thrown in my face before climbing the stairs, entering her room and banging the door. 

Hey! I’m Steven! Please hit the like and subscribe buttons below so we can go on with the story. 

Thank you! 

We used to be a very happy family. Before I was born, my dad was offered a life changing position in the United States and we moved. 

I was born into luxury and everything was set out for me. For people who haven’t lived this life, it may seem like the dream life but if you were born into it like I was, you’d understand that life quickly gets boring. 

At the age of ten, I was already looking for excitement in places I shouldn’t have. This was when people started noticing how special I was. 

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Adan shared a look with Bradford and Kendrick as they sneered. 

“Me?” He repeated, “You want me, Adan Saltwater, to teach you math? Are you out of your mind?”

He looked at Bradford and Kendrick again, surprised. 

“Couldn’t you find any smart girl in our class to teach you?” He really couldn’t believe it. I looked scared and humble but deep down, I was cackling like an evil wizard. 

“You are the brightest and best student in math that I know of. You also have a special way of explaining things to people and no one can do it like you”, I said in a very calm, sweet way. 

He blushed for a second then quickly changed his facial expression to one of disgust once he noticed that his friends were looking at him. 

“Well, Uhm”, he was scratching his head, my sweet talk was working! “Let’s see if we can start on…”, he was about to agree when Bradford interrupted him.

“Adan will not be teaching you anything. Get out of here, will you?” He said in his British tongue, the accent that he used to deceive all the girls on campus. Jerk.

As they tried to drive off, I stepped in front of Adan’s car. Adan looked perplexed. 

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Yeah. I guess I have to admit it. I’m privileged. 

I am a higher middle class white American. 

But this isn’t where my privilege ends. Surprised? Don’t be. 

We are a family of beautiful people. I’m serious! We’re literally all beautiful. 

My Dad, My Mom, My Brothers and Me! 

Yeah, you might be like, “Are you supposed to call Men beautiful?” But what else can I say? The word, “Handsome” is not enough to describe the guys in my family. They are, in fact, beautiful. 

No one has to know. *Winks*

Now that you’ve done that, let’s move on.

Every one admired us and wanted to be like us. We weren’t just beautiful, we were smart, we aced all our classes, we all had leadership positions, in school, in church and in the community. Every one knew and worshipped our family. 

Everybody wanted to date one of us, even our exes bragged about us. 

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“MOOOM! I want more cake!”

“Sure honey.”

“MORE!”

“Okay, here you go honey!”

“I want a burger too!”

“Ok dear.”

“PIZZA! NOW!”

“Yes, honey.”

I was a really fat kid and I had no limits. I sorta looked like Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants. And what made it worse was that was actually my real name. None of this bothered me much when I was little because there’s not much peer pressure when you’re that young. Of course I got teased a bit at school but that didn’t matter to me. What mattered to me was that there was cake at home. And ice cream. So who cared if Karen “Junior” thought I was taking up too much space?

But that began to change through middle school. Middle school kids are worse and I began to feel self-conscious. I started looking at myself in the mirror and I felt very uncomfortable. Was that really me? I was bigger than a small dinosaur!

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“Mom! I got As in all my classes!”

“So what? You’re not the first person to get all As!”

“Mom! I’m sorry but I failed all my classes!”

“Oh honey! You should be proud of yourself. At least, you took the exams.”

“But what if I’m required to repeat a grade?”

“What!? Impossible! That can never happen! I will talk with your teachers and principal immediately. They’re doing such terrible work in that school.”

“The teachers?” I asked, confused. “They’re doing a terrible job? Your daughter, who refuses to ever study anything, unsurprisingly fails all her papers and ‘the teachers’ are to blame? You know who is to blame for her failures? You are! Yes, you! Don’t stare at me like you’re confused! I have had enough of you. You are to blame for every bad thing that happens to Claire! AND ME! AND DAD! Any bad thing that happens in this house is all your fault!”

“Alright, that’s enough”, Dad tried to carry me but I pushed him away.

“Don’t touch me, Dad! Don’t you dare. You just stand around and watch this evil woman make my life miserable! And you never do anything about it!”

“I try my best, honey”.

“Well, your best isn’t enough! I had sleepless nights, studying, trying to be the best so once, just once in my life, my mother would say she’s proud of me but instead, she still doesn’t give a hoot about me”, I burst into tears and Claire tried to comfort me. 

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"Hey Laura! Look this way!" A camera flash nearly blinded me. Whatever happened to personal space? I put on my best smile and posed. 

"You look fabulous tonight, just one more picture!"

 "I think you have enough for your tabloid Jeff." I said as I put my sunglasses back on. 

"It's a blog." 

"Gentlemen, that's enough." Alec, my driver, said as he placed himself between the bloodthirsty reporters and me. I expected them to push and shove him like they always did but their attention shifted to someone else.

"She's here."

I removed a pocket mirror from my purse and quickly checked my hair and makeup. I had to look perfect for her. 

Alec stood next to me as we watched her walk down the red carpet. We stood at attention like the loyal soldiers we were.

"Laura."

"Victoria."

"That dress makes you look two sizes bigger. Don't wear it again. Unless you want to spark pregnancy rumors. Now, smile."

She turned and waved at the cameras. She even blew them a few kisses.

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