Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her bedroom was dark, and it was past ten o'clock, yet she couldn't sleep. Her mind was whirling, caught between her real-world life and the lives she lived between the covers. Her real-world problems that never got resolved and the problems that were solved on the arm of a swashbuckling hero.
Her mother had dumped more problems on her that day. Cleaning responsibilities, her mother's nighttime job, her father's back problems.
She had smiled and nodded and listened and tried not think.
Hot tears pressed against the back of her eyelids. She clenched her teeth, determined not to let them fall.
Only a few more years, she thought. Then I'll be eighteen and I can get out of here. I can do whatever I want.390Please respect copyright.PENANAxPE3hTLZzm
She opened her eyes, tears still hovering unshed. Whatever. I. Want.
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