1 Where it began

I'm just gonna say this, growing up I had a pretty good childhood a lot of toys and a mom and dad who loved me very much until my dad got hit by a drunk driver. I was six when that happened and I remembered being crushed when it did. The three of us were going for a walk in the park in broad daylight and when we crossed the street the drunk driver came by and almost hit me but my dad pushed me out of the way and it killed him instead. I remember his funeral, it was a closed casket so I couldn't even see him one last time. After that my mom was never the same, she turned to drugs and alcohol. She blamed me for it since I was the one that wanted to go to the park in the first place, she said that if I would've just wanted to stay home Dad would've still been here, and I believe her. I've been calling her Isabelle since I was twelve since I couldn't even call her my mom, just like she can't call me her daughter.

My name is Charlotte I'm 16 and I live alone in Galena, Illinois since my mom hates me so much. I've had a job since I was 14 and saved up so I could have my own life. I'm a junior in high school, well I'm about to be one. I moved far from my mom's home so I had to go to a new school. I emancipated myself and with the money I made I got a new life for my self. I'm even trying to get another job to earn some extra money. It wasn't easy my mom would always steal some from me so she could buy herself her "necessities."

Since I'm in a completely different school and know no one there I can get a new start, and maybe people will like me. Since my dad died I've been an outsider "the girl with no dad" in elementary school I couldn't even think about the father daughter dances because I didn't have one. I'm hoping that at this new school I can get a new life and not have to constantly think about my past. For most of it I felt unloved, like no one cared.