My initial instinct is to throw back a snarky retort, but I know better than to do that while my uncle’s home. So, I take a deep breath before calling out, “I’m just about ready.”

She doesn’t say anything to me directly, but I hear her tell my uncle, “That damn girl is really getting on my nerves. She’s always late. And don’t even get me started on how much trouble she gets into. And the mouth on her … I don’t understand why we can’t kick her butt out when she turns eighteen. I don’t think I can put up with her crap until graduation.”

“I agreed when I took her in, Beth. She’s going to live with us until she graduates from high school, and that’s final,” my uncle Don replies in a cold tone.

He’s my dad’s brother but, where my dad was a nice, caring man, my uncle is frigid and angry all the time, especially with me. Although there are occasions when he seems almost thrilled to be around me, but that’s never a good thing.

“Now, go make me my breakfast. It’s my first day, and I’m not going to be late.”

I roll my eyes as my aunt says, “Of course, dear.”

My aunt usually does what she’s told, at least when it comes to my uncle. She stays home, where she cooks, cleans, and has dinner on the table every night when he gets home from work. I swear it’s like they still think it’s the 1950s or something. If I didn’t despise my aunt so much, I might try to encourage her not to be such a doormat. But if I tried to tell her that, not only would my aunt ground my ass, my uncle would smack me a good one.

He’s been doing that kind of shit since I moved in with them. At first, I put up a fight, trying to battle back, but a shit-ton of good that did. I quickly learned that fighting back meant more hits. So, I learned to swallow my pride and keep my mouth shut when I’m around my uncle. All bets are off, though, with everyone else.

I wish I had another choice. Wish I could turn him in. I thought about doing so when he first started smacking me around. The problem is that he’s a cop. And I’m the rebel, piece of shit niece that they so kindly took in after she did horrible things. At least, that’s how everyone sees it.

And I have a feeling things with my uncle are about to get even worse now that he’s officially the sheriff of Honeyton, the small town that we moved to.

The place is out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills that give a sense of seclusion and friendliness. Well, that’s the bullshit my uncle told us when he announced we were moving. Personally, I’m not buying it. I took a walk around town yesterday, and the looks I got from the townspeople were less than friendly. I could practically smell the judgment and snobbery lacing the crisp fall air and feel my impending outcast title waiting for me today when I enter the hallways of my new school. I do look kind of intimidating, though.