Chapter One
Apple
I'm standing in a river in the middle of a gorgeous forest with large green trees that grow out of the cleanest and healthiest soil. The skies are clear blue, with birds soaring through them. The air is fresh with not a single trace of pollution. I take a deep breath and hold it, to listen to the beautiful silence with the exception of the sounds of nature. I can hear the bees buzzing, birds chirping, leaves rustling as the wind blows. I feel so at peace. I close my eyes to soak it all in. It was just for a second but when I open my eyes everything has changed. The sky is black and all the trees are on fire. Instead of birds in the sky, there are demonic creatures screeching a painfully loud and horrifying sound. I look down at the river but instead of water, it's a deep red. Blood. I open my mouth to scream...
I gasp awake. My breathing is harsh and I'm covered in a cold sweat. I lay my hand on top of my chest in an attempt to slow my speeding heartbeat. I look around, sighing in relief as I see that I'm in my room, in my bed and not in a river full of blood. I've been having that same dream for as long as I remember, along with other night terrors, but it still terrifies me every time. I feel like it means something, but I don't know what.
I climb out of bed to get ready for school. The first thing to do is my hair. As much as I love my hair, I absolutely hate doing it. I have 4c hair, making it practically impossible to tame. I planned on blow drying it but that's going to take forever and I only have about an hour before I have to leave for school. I pull my hair into a high puff and quickly lay my edges. Next are my clothes. My outfit for today is a black spaghetti strap crop top with white ripped jeans and black ankle-length heel boots. Finally, just some lipgloss and a dash of mascara on my lashes and I are done. I head downstairs for some breakfast.
Downstairs, my parents and older sisters are already at the table eating breakfast.
"Good morning y'all," I say as I make my bowl. My dad nods in acknowledgment, while Mom smiles at me.
"Morning little sis," my older sister, Neveah says.
"Hi, little brat. I'm surprised you're actually up and ready on time," my other sister, Heaven says.
I roll my eyes. "Whatever. I've got to go early so that I can meet up with Grace. We're going to work on the sketches we're going to submit to this fashion contest Mrs. Raymond told us about. The top three winners' fashions are going to be featured in this huge fashion show in two weeks."
Mom opens her mouth to say something, but Dad beats her to it. "Again with this fashion stuff. You should be more focused on your schoolwork and your internship at the company. Things that will give you an actual future. This fashion nonsense is going to get you nowhere," he says. I sigh.
"Dad, the fashion industry is huge and I'm going to be apart of it. My future is in fashion. Not at CSR."
My dad, Richard Clemonte, is the CEO of CSR, Clemonte Science Research. It's a huge tech company that is worth billions of dollars. My mom is the co-funder. They founded CSR when they were both just 18 years old. They hoped that they're children, me and my sisters, would take over when the stepped down. Heaven and Neveah are the stars of the family. They were born with the same passion as my parents. Me? Nope. I'm the disappointment child. I was born with a passion for making fabulous clothes, which is nowhere near the science department. Mom told me that she was a little sad that I didn't share the same interests as her, but she loves that I have a passion for at least somethings. She's really supportive. Dad is a different story. Time and time again he has told me how disappointed he is that I don't want to take part in the family business. He's also constantly showing favoritism to my sisters but I stopped caring a long time ago.
"You haven't even tried to part take in CSR," Dad accuses. I have to stop my self from rolling my eyes at him or Mom would slap the crap out of me.
"Dad, I literally intern at CSR without pay, whereas Heaven and Neveah don't even actually work there but they get an employee's salary. I'm sorry you don't like what I do but I'm not going to change. Even for you. And you're being a huge hypocrite. You haven't even looked at any of my designs nor have you come to any pop-ups I've hosted. I've sold many of my designs to lots of people but you constantly choose to overlook that fact. Whether you believe me or not I didn't ask to be born the disappointment child," I say angrily.
"Apple, you are not the disappointment child. Why would you call yourself that?" Mom asks.
"Because it's true. Dad didn't even deny it," I say.
"Apple-" Mom starts.
"I've got to go," I interrupt, "I'll see you guys later." I grab my stuff and head outside to my car.
