Billionaire's Son

Her alarm went off ten times before she reached over and turned it off.

Courage sat up and tossed the covers off. The cool air in the room chilled her legs.

She pushed from her bed and walked over to her closed closet, baring her teeth at the mirror that hung there.

Courage hated everything about her appearance. She had white-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and pale skin.

She threw open the closet door and pulled out the first outfit she saw. A rap at her door startled her, and she yelped.

"Well, look who's up bright and early." Her stepmother snarled through the door. "Quickly, get changed. I need you to make my daughter's birthday breakfast."

Courage groaned and tossed the outfit on her bed.

Her stepmother snapped. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You've got two minutes starting now."

Courage slipped into the black shirt and jeans before heading into the kitchen to get started on breakfast. Her stepmother was sitting on the couch, flipping through a newspaper.

She headed into the kitchen and pulled a carton of eggs from the fridge.

Courage was flipping a strip of bacon by the time her stepsisters came down. They were both a year older than her.

Janice Fuentes was tall and skinny, with green eyes and flawless dark hair. She hates burnt food and will only eat her eggs if they have no cheese. She likes her bacon to be crisp.

Karina Fuentes was also tall but was a little plumper. She doesn't care how her food is prepared as long as the food is ready to be eaten.

"Looks who's up, Kari." Janice hissed. "How sweet! Are you making our birthday breakfast?"

Courage dumped the bacon on a plate. "Yeah. Janice, your eggs are in the oven. And I just finished the bacon."

Karina put her hands on her hips. "And where's my food?"

"Also in the oven. Yours is on the silver plate."

While the girls rushed to the oven to attack the food inside, Courage slipped out and grabbed her backpack by the door.

"Hurry, my darlings! School starts soon!" her stepmother chirped from the living room. "I have pretty dresses I want you to try on!"

Courage pulled on her plain white slip-on shoes and stepped out into the cool air.

Since her stepsisters have a car, they drive to school, but Courage takes the bus.

When she was five, her parents spilt, and her father remarried. Her mother moved to New York, and she never saw her again. Until a few months ago.

Her father passed. The sorrow would sometimes overwhelm her, and she'd collapse onto the ground, sobbing.

But as time went by, his death became easier to bear.

A week after the funeral, her mother came down with her new family to give her condolences.

Her mom had remarried to a lawyer and said she loved it up in New York. Her two kids were twins.

All Courage felt when she saw them was betrayal. She'd been replaced by two screaming six-year-olds.

When the bus stopped in front of the neighborhood, Courage climbed on and sat in the front.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a black hoodie that she slipped on. Courage pulled the hood over her head and slumped down in the seat.

She closed her eyes as the bus drove her to the hellhole called school.