Un-edited, and boring... But the Intro!!

I had easily learned to become invisible. My life wasn’t glamorous. Living in the shadow of another never made anything easy.

My name is Shiloh Pewitt. Ring a bell? The last name probably does. My mom is Beverly Pewitt. Ah. Didn’t you know she had a daughter? Of course you didn’t. Neither does the rest of the world. My total existance, all 16 years of it, had been hush-hushed. I was a love child; a black mark on her record, Record Deal that is.

If I had been as gorgeous and talented as her, it would have been easier. Instead, I got stuck wanting in the vocal category and no prospect on camera. I was also about five-foot-nothing and slight, with brown hair and brown eyes. I had been home schooled by a nanny my whole life, and this resulted in my one and only fast friendship.

I rarely ever saw my mother, and when I did, she was glued to her blackberry. Any word uttered to me was a complaint. “Sit up straighter,” or “You don’t really need to eat that much.” Every remark made me slouch lower, or pile on more. It was a nasty game, but she never noticed.

When I was younger, I loved to go to her shows and concerts to watch her perform but around age nine I realized they were just that, a show. Fake. Her people followed me around; shooing if I was in a room my mother had just entered. Kate, her manager used to try to put me in heels to seem taller, and had once put highlights in my hair, but I resisted, dying my hair back to brown, and wearing Converse with my dresses. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t accept me the way I was.

Now, sitting in the back of the car that was driving me to Nowheresville Texas, I was regretting every resistance I had ever made. I was being banished. Cindy, my life-long friend and nanny, had told me that I needed to graduate from a real high school, and my mother tracked down some of her long lost cousins. They had agreed to take me in. Here, I would go to the public high school, get a diploma and be out of her way.

“Oh my goodness! Honey, get out here! Y’all she’s here,” a skinny woman was shrieking, running to give me a huge hug as I got out of the car.

“Well, well, if it ain’t Shy Pewitt. How are ya darlin’?” A slightly graying yet sturdy looking man had ambled out of the house. I smiled at them hesitantly. I remember staying a week with them once, when I was five, but nothing else.

A stream of about six children came wandering out. Six kids!? I was slightly astounded. Their ages seemed to range from about fourteen to two, and the house looked barely big enough to house the two adults, much less six kids plus me.

“Welcome to Munday, Texas,” the man was saying, shaking my hand with too much gusto.

“Ah, Hank let her be. She’s probably tired from her trip. Come on Shy, let’s get you settled with Jenny, and then we can have supper,” the woman, who introduced herself as Sheryl while we walked through the door as a girl of about ten wandered after us. I assumed she was Jenny, the oldest girl.

Sheryl ushered me past a messy living room, cluttered hallway, and into a quaint bedroom. It was neat, but very small. There was a pair of bunk beds. Apparently I was going to share a room with more than just Jenny.

“Now I’m gunna get dinner finished. Jenny, help her unpack her bags and get settled in, then wash up and meet us outside,” and with that Sheryl bustled out of the room.

“Well,” Jenny started tentatively, “Katie and Sarah share with us too, they are seven and four. Benny, Dave, and Weston are across the hall. Benny is fourteen, Dave is eight, and Weston is two. The dresser in the corner is yours, and the bottom bunk with the blue quilt is yours too. ”

“Um, thank you,” I said softly, looking around. The walls were bare, and there was no music. Thank god I had brought my iPod and charger. I started to transfer things from my suitcase to a beat up dresser. I hadn’t brought very much other than clothes, books, and my laptop so it didn’t take very long to unpack.

When I finished, I glanced at Jenny. She was still very young, but was starting to get curves, barely visible beneath the shorts and t-shirt. At a closer look though, I could see a trail of bruises down her arm, and a welt across her cheek.

“What happened?” I asked, brushing her cheek lightly. She flinched away at my touch, and looked down.

“I fell,” she mumbled.

“Y’all ready?” Sheryl’s voice drifted in, breaking the awkward silence. Jenny got up without a word, and walked quickly out. I was a little confused, but followed wordlessly.