Reality is a Letdown
Chapter VI: Reality is a Letdown
“You stupid piece of shit!” a horrendous shriek fills the air before a bottle hits the wall next to my head, almost instantly shattering. It’s one of those nights again… One of those nights where mom had too much to drink. The dark and desolate place I call her room is filled with trash and needles, a few broken light bulbs lying around the mounds of junk. Even though it’s dark, I can still see the dark silhouette of her sitting on her dirty bed. If I get closer, I’m sure that I would be able to see the look of absolute hatred that is surely on her face.
It’s hard to move when something like this happens… Every muscle in my body makes me want to run, but I can’t move. Even if I ran, she would only take it out on them… I can already hear the soft cries coming from our room, knowing Sonata and Aria are scared for their lives once again. If I don’t deal with her, then they will end up with the consequences…
“I can look at the other dollar store,” I am barely able to say, my voice feeling like it will crack at a moment’s notice. I’m barely able to hide my shaking muscles. It takes every ounce of strength in myself to not cry. If I break down, she’ll get mad… Then I will have to endure the punishment for all three of us…
“Go get me a drink,” she tells me in a quieter voice, still seething with anger. For some reason, she’s willing to give me another chance… “NOW!”
Jolting upward, I look out into the dark room, realizing the layout is different. Everything feels so cold and I can’t stop myself from hyperventilating. Sweat drips from my forehead, the whole world feeling disorienting. There’s no broken glass or trash… No needles… It’s just my room. My bed. Quickly looking to my side, I see a small body sound asleep, holding onto her favorite stuffed animal. Her taco pajamas are barely visible in the darkness, but they calm my nerves somehow… Maybe seeing proof that it was a bad dream is enough to anchor me down.
Rubbing my forehead, I take a shaky breath, slowly leaning my head back down on the pillow. Even now, I still see her. Every detail of that place is burned into my memory. I can still see the needles on the dresser. Every bit of it is stuck in my head… I keep seeing her every now and again in my dreams. Even in my daily life, I see her influence. Her horrific screams can still be heard as clear as day, regardless of what I do. It’s almost enough to make someone go insane. I’m doing my best for them. I’m trying to hold myself together… Why am I still affected by her? Why do I still see her?
Sighing quietly, I gently rub Sonata’s shoulder before sitting up again, knowing damn well that I won’t be able to sleep again. That’s unfortunately the pattern when it comes to things like this… I have a dream of her and those eyes haunt me enough that I can’t sleep again. Shaking my head, I look at the small clock next to my bed, seeing that the sun should be up any minute now. I might as well get stuff ready… Hopefully, school goes well for the girls. I don’t want to be called to the school again, especially since we’re so close to the end of the year.
Standing up, I walk towards the door as quietly as I can, looking back to make sure Sonata is still asleep. She looks so peaceful that it makes me wish that she wouldn’t have to wake up in an hour. Closing the door behind me, I walk out into the living room and stretch my arms. The girls will definitely need their lunches packed at least. I would check their backpacks to see if their school supplies are still in there, but they keep them in their rooms. Maybe I’ll check Sonata’s before she leaves… She’s more likely to forget something than Aria is.
Walking inside the kitchen, I pull out a couple of plastic bags and four slices of bread, grabbing the peanut butter with a soft yawn. Despite how loud her screams are inside my mind, I never let that witch take me down… Her whole goal in life was to watch us burn, but I would never let that happen. I couldn’t care less if she broke me… It’s Sonata and Aria I worry about. I can’t let myself be broken by her for their sake. They need someone who is strong enough to help them through their own memories. Someone who they can use as an anchor when it gets tough.
Sliding the knife across the bread, I can’t help but chuckle out of the irony. If the girls have me when it gets tough for them, then who do I have? Not really anyone I guess… I’ve had to sacrifice friendships, a social life, and pretty much everything related to making relationships just so I could keep them safe. The worst thing that could happen is making friends with someone or getting in a relationship and they turn out to be terrible, hurting them even further. That’s why it’s better for me to just focus on raising them for now… I can focus on getting a social life when Sonata and Aria are grown up.
My hand stops halfway across the slice of bread, raising my eyebrow slightly. Even though Sonata is almost eleven, it is likely that they won’t stop relying on me until ten years from now… I’ll be in my mid thirties by then. I mean, they say forty is the new twenty, right? Still… Something about that thought makes me feel… out of time. Old. Should I be feeling that way…? I’m just in my mid twenties right now, but another ten years of this makes my mind feel exhausted.
Taking a deep breath, I finish the sandwiches and try to avoid those thoughts about the future. They tend to drag me down a rabbit hole at times… Instead, my thoughts drift to the present. Sonata hit another kid a bit ago, but she also had a playdate. Honestly, that last one is a huge improvement over her previous years since she is finally making friends. Nothing has really changed with Aria or me. Except for Sunset Shimmer…
That girl… Why does she want to be my friend? What drew her to me? It’s like she asked me to hang out from out of nowhere and I just blindly accepted. Why is she so optimistic? From the little we’ve talked, she always has an optimism for life and people in general. So many things are weird about her. I guess the only way to answer my questions is to hang out with her some more… One thing is for sure though… I’m not going to introduce her to Sonata and Aria. At least for a while… I am still wary of friendships to begin with, not to mention Sunset’s motives are unknown to me as of now.
The sound of an opening door makes me look up towards the hallway entrance, somewhat surprised that one of the girls is awake. They don’t have to get ready for at least thirty minutes. Did I wake them…? After a few moments, the familiar purple teenager walks into the living room with a yawn, her pajamas wrinkled from a long night’s rest. She blinks her eyes a couple times before looking over at me, chuckling as she notices what I’m doing.
“Making sandwiches for us again?” Aria asks me with a laugh, shaking her head. Within a couple seconds, Aria walks inside the kitchen and sits on the counter, looking down at me with a smirk. “You really worry about us too much. How about you let us eat the school lunch for once?”
“Do you actually want to eat the school lunch?” I ask her with a knowing stare, her smirk instantly changing to a frown.
“No, but I am just saying you work too hard. You need to relax every now and then,” Aria tells me with a shrug, kicking her legs back and forth slowly. Instead of responding to her stupid statement, I just shake my head, placing the sandwiches into paper bags. Sometimes, I wish I could relax a little more, but she clearly doesn’t know how stressful this is. Every day, it’s a new catastrophe that I have to fix. I always have to be prepared to handle everything just in case they need me. She doesn’t understand that. “Anyway, you were out pretty late last night, weren’t you?” Aria asks me with a curious look. Walking into the living room, I place the bags on the coffee table and look at Aria, feeling a little confused.
“Yeah. I was out with a friend. What about it?” I can’t help but raise my eyebrow, finding Aria’s fascination confusing. Aria laughs slightly at my statement, shaking her head.
“When you said you were meeting someone, I thought you meant for work. Since when do YOU of all people have a friend?” Okay, ouch. Even my sister sees me as unlikeable enough that I wouldn’t have friends. Regardless, I’ve mainly kept my distance from people for her sake to begin with. “Is this a special friend? Did you finally get laid?” Aria asks me in a teasing laugh, making me jab her shoulder.
“Will you shut up? Sonata is still asleep. Besides, it wasn’t like that. You think way too much about sex.” Rolling my eyes slightly, I can’t help but find Aria’s crude statement annoying. All she does is think about partying and sex. I wouldn’t go out and do something like that when I have to focus on them for now.
“Maybe you don’t think about it enough,” Aria responds in an annoyed tone, shaking her head. After a few moments of silence, Aria hops off the counter, stretching herself once again. “Whatever. Be boring I guess. I need fifty dollars,” Aria states in a matter-of-fact tone, despite how absurd her request is. Fifty dollars. Why in the fuck would she need fifty dollars? We aren’t exactly flush with cash, so giving her fifty dollars isn’t going to be easy on me.
“Why the hell do you need fifty dollars?” I ask her quickly, turning to face her with crossed arms. If she broke something, I swear that I will… Ugh… Calm yourself. You don’t know what she needs it for. But I bet it’s for something bad.
“Calm down, dictator. Damn. I need it for a school project that’s due in a week. I need to buy the supplies. I thought you’d want to help me pursue my education.” Once again, Aria’s tone comes off as sarcastic and manipulative, but she seems like she’s telling the truth… Why would a school project cost fifty dollars to complete? God… I should really talk to Principal Celestia about this absurd cost. Shaking my head, I can’t help but sigh. Fifty dollars. If I don’t work overtime, there’s no way I can make it back before I need to pick up the prescriptions.
“Fine. But you have to pick up Sonata after school. That’s the deal.”
======================================================
Pushing the cart down an aisle, I force myself to keep my eyes open, restocking the shelves as much as I can. By now, the light outside has disappeared and I’ve been working for far longer than I should have, but those fifty dollars won’t make themselves back. Regardless, I’m almost done for the night. I can’t make it home in time to make dinner for the girls, but this should be the only night I will have to work this late. At least the girls are at home. Warm inside our apartment. I’ll have to go home in the cold and get seven hours of sleep before I have to go to work again. Life is… such a pain.
The ring of the entrance door makes me feel a little more alert, finding it funny that someone would come into the drugstore at this late of a time. The bar that serves ice cream is closed off for the night, so the only things a person could do here is buy something like medicine or some other essential thing. I guess it’s not my business to begin with, but still. I just wish I could close up shop sooner.
The sound of footsteps approaching me makes me perk up, looking to my left and down the aisle. The sight of fiery hair shining from the lights registers faster than everything else. It’s not very long after that I see the cyan eyes of a very familiar customer. My mouth forms into a smirk, surprised by this visiter at such a late hour.
“Well, if it isn’t the nosey customer,” I state with a raised eyebrow, seeing Sunset chuckle at my words.
“Hello there~ I wasn’t expecting to see you working this late,” Sunset tells me with surprise, walking up to my cart and examining the supplies I still have yet to put up. “I was just here to pick up some toothpaste, but it seems you have bigger problems than me,” Sunset says in a joking tone, her smile showing just how sincere she is.
“Toothpaste? Did you run out and not realize it?” I ask her with a slight chuckle, finding the whole situation a little funny. Honestly, something similar happened to me with Sonata a year ago, but I figured it was just a child issue.
“Yeah, actually. Air-headed of me, I know. Though, I could keep you company if you’d like?” Sunset asks with a sweet smile, making me almost consider her offer.
“No. You should go home. I’ll be heading home in a little bit as well, so don’t feel obligated to stay here.” Even though I don’t consider her a friend yet, Sunset is really kind and goes out of her way to be hospitable and generous.
“I don’t feel obligated~ Really~” Sunset pats my shoulder in an attempt to reassure me before leaning against one of the shelves next to me, clearly committing to this. I doubt I could pressure her to leave even if I wanted to, but… having someone to talk to in the last hour of my shift is kind of nice. What is with you, Shimmer? You’re such an odd woman…
“You’re so weird,” I state with a roll of my eyes, pretending to find her gesture annoying. Sunset simply smiles and giggles to my action, once again looking inside the cart as I restock the shelf.
“Am I weird enough to convince you to come to a parade with me tomorrow? It’s going to be fun and I figured we could hang out again~” Stopping momentarily, I look at Sunset with a conflicted feeling.
“That… does sound fun, but I can’t. I’m not the type of person who can do things without planning in advance. You know I have two sisters to take care of,” I explain slowly, feeling sad that I have to turn down the offer.
“Oh, I know. I just figured that maybe you could bring your sisters along~ Then we can hang out without you worrying about a babysitter for Sonata.” Once again, Sunset’s words stop me in the middle of my work, making me raise my eyebrow slowly… I wouldn’t be able to do that… I don’t even know if I can trust her around my sisters just yet. She’s just someone I started to hang out with…
“Sunset, I-” Before I can say another word, a loud cell phone ringing emanates from my pocket, making both Sunset and I take on surprised expressions. I’m not used to getting calls this late… “Hold on.” Pulling out my cell phone, I quickly answer it, clearing my throat. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this the primary guardian of Aria Blaze?” a feminine voice asks me over the phone, instantly making my nerves sky rocket. What the hell is going on here…? My eyes briefly look at Sunset, giving her a quick smile to try and reassure her.
“This is she.”
“Hi, this is Sharon with the Police Department. We wanted to tell you that Aria Blaze is being held in one of our holding cells and we hope you can come down to get her.” The woman’s voice tells me a few more things, but every other word goes right through me. I can’t help but feel dizzy, the news repeating itself in my head over and over again. What happened this time…?
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Thank you for the update.
Ho shit
Baymax:”oh no”
You said it baymax, you said it.
And shit, what in the name of luna did aria get herself into now.
Why does she have needles in her messy room?
And it'll be just another few years til Adagio will get her wish.
At least it's not all bad.
Damn it Aria why!?!?
Who would event want to think that almost every day.
I hope it's an actual project and not a lie of hers.
I knew it was gonna end badly.
11476240
Indeed~
11476245
Well, I never really thought about their mother much more than the fact that he isn't involved either. So, think about it as much as you want~
11476256
What did she get herself into?
Exactly~
11476337
You're so angry at Aria XD I can't help but chuckle a bit at that~
11476445
yeah...
This is a lovely cliff, I shall hang from it until the next episode! Spectacular view.
11480529
I'm glad you think the view is nice~ It is a very high cliff~
Still so hard to experience, but so well done its compelling. Adagio isn't going to be able to keep her sisters away from Sunset now. She needs a friend Sunset probably won't take no for an answer. I just hope she learned from before and doesn't assume the worst. Aria is going to need support right now I'm guessing.
11480523
Most likely the second thing happen
11487325
There definitely will be more of this story in the future~ It may be slow updates, but I will write more when I get ideas~
DANG IT ARIA!
Nice I await more with bated breath.
Me agrado mucho esta historia, bastante a decir verdad ¿Cuando habrá una actualización? Muero de ansias por saber que más pasará con Adagio y sus hermanas. Felicitaciones por esta historia 😃
11804218
¡Gracias por sus amables palabras! Probablemente haré una actualización de esta historia en los próximos meses. Realmente depende de dónde me encuentre en mi serie principal para entonces.
Pls update soon. I have just become really invested in this story. It's really well written, something you don't find too often on this site. I really want to know if it's a completely different universe or if this version of the dazzlings are the human counterparts to the sirens. Keep up the good work :)
11838743
These are the human counterparts of the sirens, just with a couple of differences~ I have no plan on leaving this story unfinished, so I will definitely update! I'm just not sure when.