• My name is Skylette Johnson. I have a twin sister and her name is Shaylee. We are fifteen years old. We are basically normal teenagers, but we have our differences. With an abusive dad and a mom addicted to drugs, Shaylee is the only thing keeping me from breaking down.
    At 6:00 a.m., the alarm went off. It's the first day of our sophomore year, and I'm so excited!
    "Wake us, Shaylee," I said as I got out of bed.
    "Ugh, It's six o'clock already?" She replied when I turned on the lights
    "Yeah, so hurry up and get out of bed."
    "Okay, okay, I'm comin'," she said as she got out of bed. We put on our outfits and did our hair, then we left for school.
    "Hey, Shaylee, come here for a second," My dad said to me before I walked out the door.
    "I'm not Shaylee," I said as I grabbed my bag, “I’m Skylette.". On our way we saw a group of guys beating up Alex Stewart. Alex is one of our best friends.
    "Well, looks like we gotta' go save Alex again," I said to Shaylee as we walked across the street.
    "Hey! Leave him alone!" Shaylee yelled. The boys stopped kicking him and walked away.
    "Are you okay, Alex?" I asked as Shaylee and I helped him up.
    "Yeah, I'm good," he replied, struggling to stand up straight.
    "We're gonna' walk you to the nurse's office," Shaylee said as we started walking. When we got there, the bell rang.
    "Well, we gotta go," I said to Alex, "Bye." When we got to class, we sat down in our seats without saying a word. The whole period, all I thought about was what had happened this morning. When the bell rang, I hurried up and went to my locker.
    "Hey, your name's Skylette, right?" A random guy asked. When I closed my locker, I noticed who it was. It was Blake Ballard, one of the cutest guys in the entire school. What does he want with me?
    "It's just Skye."
    "Oh, well, Skye, I just wanted to say hi. So.. hi."
    "Uh.. hi. Look, I don't know what you want with me, but I'm not fallin' for any of your games."
    "What are you talkin' about? I don't have any-"
    "Oh, really? I'm not that stupid." I said before I walked away. The rest of the school day went by so fast. After school, ma and Shaylee met up with Alex.
    "You feelin' better?" Shaylee asked Alex.
    "Yeah, I think so," he replied, "hey, Skye, I saw you talkin' to Blake Ballard today. What did he want with you?"
    "I'm not sure, I just told him I'm not fallin' for his games."
    "Good, 'cause he's no good."
    "I know. Well, anyway, we gotta' go. Bye.". We walked to the sidewalk and I saw a group of guys that didn't look so innocent.
    "Hey, Shay, let's go the other way," I said as we turned around. When we got home, our mom was passed out on the floor. Shaylee put her bag down and went to our room.
    "Shaylee, some here, I wanna' tell you something," My dad said.
    "This is the last time I'm gonna' tell you, I'm not Shaylee, I'm Skylette!"
    "You're whoever I say you are!" He said as he stood up, "and don't yell at me like that!"
    "I can do whatever the hell I want to!"
    "Not when you're in my house! Now go to your room!"
    "No! I don't have to listen to you!"
    "I'm your dad, you have to do whatever I say!"
    "You're not my dad! You're just a worthless piece of-" I screamed before he slapped me. The slap sent a tingle threw my body. Suddenly, I felt a tear fall down my face,
    "I hate you!" I yelled before I went in my room and slammed the door. When I walked in the room, I laid on my bed and looked at the ceiling.
    "Shay," I said.
    "Yeah?" She replied as she sat next to me.
    "Why does dad hate us?" I asked as my eyes began to water.
    "I don't know. Maybe we're not good enough for him."
    "Well, all I know is I want a new dad... a new life."
    "I know, Skye, so do I." She mumbled as her eyes also began to water. Suddenly, our door opened and our dad came in.
    "Here to apologize?" I asked.
    "You need to shut up!" He yelled.
    "Then what do you want?"
    "I just got y'all's phone bill."
    "And?" Shaylee asked.
    "It's three-hundred dollars!" That's too much money!
    "Dad, that is not too much money." I said.
    "Did I ask you?" he yelled as he pushed me against the wall and slapped me. That was the first time ha had slapped me that hard. But, why would he get so mad over money? It's not like we don't have it.
    Suddenly, I felt sharp pain in my cheek again, then he dragged me out of the room, slammed the door in my face, and locked it.
    "Dad! Stop!" Shaylee screamed. I heard the slaps and hits so clearly, I could tell you how many times he had hit her. "Dad! Quit! Get off me!"