Rowen was the first one through the door, of course. His legs were long and he had experience in running from places he shouldn't have been or people he shouldn't have upset. When I ran inside I heard a loud yell.

"OW! STOP!" It was my twin sister, Adriana. Rowen has made it his personal mission to annoy her as much as possible. She hated him and he felt the same. I found the rivalry funny. I walked into the living room to see a flustered girl holding her hair and glaring at a boy who seemed very pleased with himself.

"You're washing the dishes again, Chip!" He taunted. We had formed a complex program for dinner. Whoever was the last one home had to do the dishes and whoever was the first had to alternate with Adriana to help Mom with dinner. Whoever wasn't helping mom was watching my youngest sister, Brianna. Bri was eight, and if we didn't watch her she would probably destroy the entire house. Adriana and I were both sixteen, but I liked to say I was older, even though in reality it was only by a couple of minutes. Rowen was seventeen, and had been out of school for a long time. He dropped out in 8th grade, claiming that school was pointless. My mom would skin me if I ever dropped out. Once I had been grounded for a week for just skipping one class. Rowen didn't have any authority though, except the police, but he didn't really respect them either. Rowen did what he wanted, the world was a game and if he got caught by the cops the game was just paused. The rules don't exist to him. It was kind of inspiring, in a strange way. Though, it scared me at the same time, because I didn't like the idea of him getting in huge trouble and not getting out of it. I was always worried about him. But then again, I'm always worried about everything.

"Is Mom still at work?" I asked, turning to Adriana.

"Yeah, I think so. She called a bit ago and said she was going to be a little late." She sighed. "And you know 'a little late' to her is 2 hours in reality." I frowned. Our mom worked as a waitress at a diner not too far from our house. She had to work a lot of overtime to get some extra money, sometimes when she couldn't afford dinner she brought some ingredients from the diner and cooked them for us. Sometimes she just brought us to the diner to eat, since employees get discounts on meals. Our mom tried to be there for us, but just couldn't. I thought of the claims Travis had made and how much it would stress her out. My stomach tightened and I felt sick with anxiety. She had enough going on with three kids plus Rowen, who stayed with us for dinner since he had nowhere else to go, and having to take me to the doctor for medicine constantly. She tried her absolute hardest and has done an amazing job at raising us. No one could possibly think such a sweet lady would ever do a horrendous thing. I tried to brush the thought of it away, but to no avail. I felt awful.

"What's wrong, Chip?" Rowen looked at me, concerned.

"Nothing. I just haven't taken my medicine today, that's all." I lied.

"You haven't WHAT?!" I heard Adriana yell. That wasn't the best lie I could have told. "You know you're supposed to take those every day, how many times do we have to remind you? My lord, you're too old to forget such a simple thing!" She scolded. She sounded exactly like Mom.

"Okay, okay, I'll go take them." I grumbled, walking to the back of the small house to where my room was. Rowen followed me in as I shut the door behind me. I laid my books and backpack down on my bed.

"You didn't forget." Rowen said quietly.

"No shit. It's the Travis thing bothering me, that's all." I retorted, starting to get out my homework.

"Did you take them?" Adriana hollered across the house.

"Jesus-" I mumbled, "YES!" I hollered back. Rowen laughed.

"She may look like you, but you two act nothin' like each other." He said. He was right. We looked almost the exact same. We both had curly black hair, tannish skin, and dark eyes. We were both the same height and weighed almost the same. Her voice was like mine, only more girlish, of course. We acted completely different, though. She acted like Mom, calm and collected until you acted out, very mature, and understanding. I acted a bit like Mom, I was a bit too nice for my own good, but that was pretty much it. I had an anxiety problem, and had to go to the doctor because of it, and I wasn't very understanding. I jumped to conclusions quite a bit. I don't know if my dad acted like that, since I barely remember him. He wasn't around much and when he was he didn't pay attention to us. My mom loved him a lot, but I don't think he loved her quite as much. I hoped most of my personality was influenced by Rowen. That might sound strange to most people, but to me it is perfectly normal. 

Starting to realize I needed to get out of my head, I sat on my bed and started doing my homework. Rowen walked over to my old radio and started playing some music. He lay horizontally on the bed with his arms above his head, looking up at the ceiling.

After about an hour and a half I heard the front door open. I was barely getting through homework and Rowen had fallen asleep.

"I'm home!" I heard my mother's voice ring through the house. Adriana and Brianna both came out of their rooms to say hello. My stomach started to get queasy, which made me frustrated. It isn't true, why would I keep worrying? I looked over at Rowen. He was fast asleep, and I couldn't wake him up if I tried. He looked so peaceful. It would be impossible to know what he was actually like. It made me smile to myself. I ran my hand through his hair. It wasn't the best feeling, because his hair was dirty and stiff. I didn't mind it much, it still made my nerves settle. He let out a sigh as I took my hand away, which made me beam. I walked out of my room and wandered into the kitchen.

"Hey Potato Chip! How was your day?" Mom asked, she was already starting on dinner. The stupid nickname was given to me by Rowen, which my mom quickly adopted as well.

"It was fine. Why'd you stay at the diner so late?" I asked, sitting on the counter."Oh just some overtime work. Sorry, baby, I didn't know it would take this long."

"It's fine." She turned to me, her face sympathetic. She hugged me as a silent apology.

"Is Rowen here?" She asked, going back to cooking. I looked back towards my room. The door was hanging open, but no one came out.

"Yeah. He's asleep." I said, turning back to Mom.

"Well, wake him up. It's his week to help with dinner."

"I'll try." I said, leaping down from the counter. I went back into my room, Rowen was still fast asleep. I shook his shoulder a bit.

"Hey, Ro, wake up. Mom needs you in the kitchen." I said softly. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"What?" He said sleepily. I pointed to the kitchen. "Oh. Are you gonna ask her about earlier?" He asked while he got up and stretched.

"Er, no." I said.

"You should, it would put an end to your nerves." He suggested. We walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I decided to ask after dinner, so that we could all eat in peace. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat much, though. I couldn't eat when I was anxious or I would throw up. As Mom started to set out the food on the table I already felt nauseous.

"Adriana! Bri! Come in here, dinner's on the table!" Mom called. The two girls ran into the kitchen and quickly sat down. Rowen was already practically inhaling his food. He never got decent meals since he didn't have a job or a home. When I heard about this I insisted he come and eat dinner with us. Well, at first I asked him to live with us. That, of course, didn't work out. He didn't want to and my mom wouldn't let him. Mom asked why he wasn't in an orphanage once, and he said he would never be adopted and that he didn't want a family. That made me feel really bad for him. The worst thing was that I knew it didn't bother him. The world could burn down and he would feel nothing. He could be the only person in the world left and he wouldn't care. I honestly didn't know if that boy had any feelings for other people at all, he only ever showed genuine emotion to me. Sometimes I even wondered if he actually cared about me... I could see why everyone hated him or was scared of him. Rowen refused to be nice, pushed everyone away, and was just plain mean. He never acted like that to me though. I don't know why. He was a completely different person around me, or maybe that was what he was actually like. He seemed afraid of letting people see that side of him, I don't see why. Surprisingly, he was super sweet. His smile, his real smile, could make anyone feel better. When he would laugh his face would go slightly pink, and he would clench his teeth but his tongue would still poke through. Because of this, his laugh sounded more like a hiss than anything else. It was weird to me at first but after a while I got used to it. It was kind of adorable, in an abnormal way. Unfortunately, he didn't laugh much. Thinking of Rowen made feel slightly better.

"What do you two have for homework?" Mom asked Adriana and me, which jolted me back to reality.

"I have to read a few chapters in history. Other than that I have nothing." Adriana said between mouthfuls of food. She was extremely smart, and rarely had any homework. She was in almost every advanced class. I was surprised she wasn't ahead a few grades.

"I have math, science, English, and history." I said. I didn't do very well in school. It was hard to pay attention and I didn't get through things as quickly as everyone else did. None of the teachers really liked me either, and I was convinced that they all gave me extra homework as a result. Except Mrs. Bell. She was my favorite teacher, and I like to think she enjoyed me as well. She taught guitar, the only thing I seem to be good at. She reminded me of my mom, she was caring, nice, and soft spoken. 

"And how much in each of those?" Mom asked.

"Quite a lot in each.." I replied shamefully. I wish I was smart.

"Okay.. and have you gotten any done yet?" She continued.

"Yeah, some." I replied. She looked at me, concerned.

"Why aren't you eating? What's wrong?" She asked, leaning over to put her hand on my forehead. I pushed her away.

"Nothing, it's just.." I tried to think of an excuse, "..Rowen and I ate ice cream after school." I said, trying my best to sound believable.

"Well at least try to eat something." She said, still looking troubled. I nodded, and ate a few small bites.

After a while I gave up trying to eat and got up from the table. I started to head to my room when I heard Bri behind me.

"No! You have to wash the dishes, Chip!" She protested. I looked to her. She was wearing a pouty face and her arms were crossed. I wanted to kill her confidence by telling her there was bits of food remaining on her mouth, but decided to just silently walk over to the sink. Rowen and I were already finished with our meals, while Adriana and Mom were chatting and Bri tried to find a way to avoid eating her peas. After washing a few dishes Adriana walked over to me.

"I'll wash the dishes tonight." She said, taking the washcloth from my hands. "Go do your homework." I happily accepted her offer, and trotted toward my room. Rowen followed after me.

I can't post the rest of chapter 2 on the same page, so it will be split up, sorry ^^;