Read I Rize for Free Online

“What did they say?”
    “Terri said that she doesn’t want Adny to come back home.”
    She pulled Darla in closer to her chest. “Don’t worry about anything she says. I know Adny will come home again. Now try and get some sleep for school tomorrow. Mommy loves you.”
    “Goodnight, Momma.”
    She stayed in the room until Darla closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Beside Darla’s room was Terri’s. She walked in, and Shandi and Terri were sound asleep at opposite ends of the bed. A blinking light flickering from the front of Terri’s laptop caught her attention.
    She looked at the screen and saw a picture in multiple tiles formed on the background. It was edited and cropped with the phrase, ‘ Adny is a slut’ covering it entirely. The picture showed a girl with her back turned, performing an obscene act with one of the football players. She closed closed the laptop and left the room.
    She walked out into the dark hall, peering through Adny’s room. The alarm clock was still stuck on 8:30. When the door was slammed shut, her hand remained on the doorknob as she repeated the phrase, “This can’t be real. Baby, please come back to me.”
     
    J unior heard a door slamming through the thin walls. He stood from his bed, startled. The bedroom door was locked, and he placed his headphones on to watch a new video.
    Poem of Rage
    September 15, 2008
    My first couple weeks of sophomore year have started off horribly. I’m not surprised. Since Terri came to live with us this summer, my life has not just been hell, but pure freaking hell on fire.
    I thought she was only going to stay for a couple months during the summer. But apparently, she is going to finish school here. And apparently, I missed the memo.
    I guess the marriage between her dad and my mom makes us stepsisters now. She has to call my mom Michelle. I despise the sound of my mom’s name out of her mouth. Why do the forces beyond me have to make us related?
    He laughed to himself. “You are the same old spunky kindergartner. Nothing has changed.”
    Wait a second.
    There was one good day this week when my mom took Darla and me, but unfortunately also Terri, to a new clothing store that opened in the downtown district. I love walking down those streets during the day, because the buildings are dainty, and it just feels so nostalgic.
    There was this cute shirt that we both grabbed at the same time. She knew she couldn’t wear a size two but, of course, snatched it from my hand and went on her merry way into the dressing room. Try to imagine a plus size girl who should be wearing a size twenty, fitting into a size two.
    I guess it was her funny way to spite me. I laughed at the thought of it, which was the only highlight of my week.
    Junior could hear bodies rustling in the room next to him as his laughter ignited nearly as loudly as a lion’s roar.
    This morning before school, Shandi and Terri were both in her room laughing loudly. You were downstairs eating breakfast, I think.
    Do you remember Shandi? She lives in one of the decrepit, broken down apartments where the homeless people usually live in the winter. I don’t know how they met, but they are both even more miserable together. Shandi acts more like her little lapdog to me, following her around, barking at her every command.
    “Yeah, can’t forget that troubled girl.”
    The laughing was getting annoying, so I stormed in after an hour of being completely annoyed. When I walked in, their eyes were glued to the computer screen as if it was their only source of life.
    The pictures were all over Facebook. They were clearly edited, because I would never take a pose like that. The pictures had ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ typed all over them. They portrayed a girl with black hair in a compromising position with one of the football players.
    I’m sure my hopeless crush Jace Rivers has already seen them.
    Crap.
    Look, here is one. We both know this isn’t me.
    Junior looked as she put up the