Disclaimer: It's not mine, and it never will be, end of story. The only thing that I own would be the original character(s) I may or may not come up with for the story.
A/N: I'm going to try to keep this short and sweat for one of my author's notes, since I tend to ramble sometimes... There are a few things I'd like to point out about Bright Eyes before you start reading it: I have edited some things, such as the spellings of some names, some names entirely, and the ages of some of the characters in general. If there are any questions about this, please, do not hesitate to ask.
"Parker's left New York." Rebekah Cooper looked up from her report to see Sergeant Clara Goodwin leaning against the wall nearby. Beka frowned, blinking her blue-grey eyes at her fellow officer.
"What happened this time? Did he have a 'disagreement' with the chief there?" Beka asked. Goodwin shook her head.
"Nah. The reason he left isn't being released. I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine who works there," she told the younger woman. Beka snorted.
"He can't keep a job, can he?" Beka asked. Goodwin shook her head, just a hint of mirth in her eyes. "He's been in Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York in the last seven years, and has had a problem every time. I suppose we shouldn't find that amusing…" She continued. Goodwin shrugged.
"Eh. He can never get along with the officers or the chief. The funny part about that is that half of them are women, and he's known to be quiet the lady's man," Goodwin told her. Beka nodded.
"That is funny," she said with a grin. Then she glanced at the clock on her desk and started at the time on the display. "Oh, I have to go, if I don't get my sisters and brothers up, they'll be late for school. See you tonight, Clary," she said as she gathered up the things she needed to take home with her. She stuffed the report she had been working on in a folder, tossed her cold cup of coffee in the trash, and grabbed her purse and the bottle of water on her desk. She sighed as she let herself out of the building. As the door closed, Beka caught a glimpse of the Chicago Police Department logo on the door. She smiled slightly and walked over to where her car was parked.
Shifting slightly, she dug in her pocket for her car keys. She tossed everything into the passenger seat and let her hair out of the bun she had put it in. After glancing in the mirror, she secured her dark blond locks in a neat ponytail. She put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space.
Twenty minutes later, she was let herself into her apartment to find it a mess. Bags of chips and popcorn were scattered around the couch, along with soda cans and water bottles. The counter in the small kitchen was covered in the like with the addition of dirty dishes, and some debris. The rest of the main room was covered in similar trash. Beka made a very annoyed noise and closed the door behind her.
After putting the dishes in the sink and clearing off the counter, she went to wake the ones who had made such a mess. Much to her pleasure, the mess did not extend past the scene at the front door. That was really what she wanted – to clean up a mess when she needed sleep. Beka was not particularly pleased. She walked down the hallway to the bedrooms. It had been a little over two years since all four of her younger siblings had come to live with her. When their mother had died, she had left eighteen-year-old Diana to care for the three younger children when her and Beka's stepfather had walked out on them. Diana just hadn't been able to keep up with the younger teenagers, school, working to support the four of them.
"Diana, Lorine, it's time to get up," she said, knocking on the door to the room the girls shared.
"Go away," a voice called from inside.
"No. Get up," Beka ordered. She let herself into the room, only to be hit with a pillow Lorine threw at her. She sent a dirty look at her sister before shaking Diana. "Di, wake up. You've got class in an hour and a half." Diana rolled over and looked at her sister.
"You have got to be kidding me," she said. Beka shook her head.
"Nope. That's what you get for picking an early class. Now get up. You, too, Lorine." Sending a meaningful look at the younger of the two girls, Beka walked out of the room again, and headed to the room Will and Nilo shared.
"Boys, up," she said through the door after knocking. There was a yelp, followed by a thump, inside, which prompted Beka to open the door. What she found was rather funny – Nilo, who had the top bunk in their bunk bed, had climbed down and jumped on his brother. Now, they were wrestling on the floor by Will's bed, laughing. Beka grinned and watched as they attempted to right themselves, then Nilo jumped on Will and it began all over again. She laughed as she walked away from the room and back to the kitchen to make breakfast for herself and her siblings.
As Beka began getting things out, she discovered that, due to whatever had happened the night before, most of the pantry was empty. There was cereal, but that was about it. The refrigerator was mostly empty, as well, save for milk and a few other miscellaneous things. She sighed and pulled the milk out, putting it on the counter as Diana and Lorine appeared, now fully dressed.
"What happened last night to have caused such a big mess?" Beka asked, tilting her head just slightly as she watched them. Diana flushed and Lorine looked away. Beka raised her eyebrows and stared at her sisters.
"We, uh, had a party. Nothing big, just a few friends," Lorine finally admitted. Beka glanced at Diana, who nodded sheepishly. Beka shook her head.
"Whose idea was it, and did you get the boys involved?" Diana shook her head, and Lorine looked uncomfortable. They both knew they were in trouble.
"It was mine," Lorine said. "But, no, we didn't let them come. They were in their room all night." Beka gave them both very disappointed looks, brushing her long bangs behind her ears to keep them back from her face.
"You two are in serious trouble. Lorine, you know the rules – no parties without my permission and supervision. And you know how tight my budget is right now. If it hadn't been for the fact that I'm still paying for the damage you did to my car when you rear-ended that SUV last month, I wouldn't be as upset. You can't have parties that could get me in trouble with my landlady and demolish the pantry." She glanced at Diana, who was trying to sneak out the door with her backpack. "And don't think you're off the hook, Di. You let it happen," she told her sister. She turned back to Lorine. "You're grounded for a month, and you and Diana are going to clean this up," she said. Lorine gave her a horrified look.
"Beka! You can't do that – Leslie's party is this weekend! If I don't go, I'll be the ridicule of the school!" She wailed. Beka crossed her arms over her chest.
"You should have thought about that before you had that party," she informed Lorine. The younger girl turned bright red and glared at Beka.
"Mama would have let me go," she said venomously. Beka glared right back at her.
"Mom isn't here, Lorine. While you live with me, you listen to me," she said. Lorine's glare turned hateful.
"You're not in charge of me, Beka. Quit acting like Mama." With that, Lorine turned tail and fled to the room she shared with Diana. Beka glanced at the door, where her other sister stood frozen.
"Go ahead and have some breakfast, Di. If the boys come out, have them eat, too. I want to get out of my uniform," she said. Diana nodded and put her backpack down as Beka disappeared down the hall to her room.
Beka sat down on her bed once she had closed the door. Was that really how Lorine thought she was acting? She was just trying to do what was best for them and watch out for them. Before their mother had died, Lorine had never acted like that. In the last two years, though, her behavior had become somewhat rebellious. More than somewhat rebellious, Beka thought bluntly. It was almost odd, since it was Diana who Beka had had trouble with before she had gone off to school. Whenever Beka had visited after that, Diana had been ecstatic to see her older sister.
Finally, Beka sighed and slipped out of her uniform. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a grey CPD t-shirt before hanging the uniform up and yawning. A mew sounded from behind her and she turned to see her cat, Pounce, appearing from under the bed. He jumped onto the simple blue comforter on her bed and demanded to be petted. Beka smiled and obediently scratched behind his ears. She studied her cat for a moment, running her hand along his silky black fur.
Pounce was an unusual cat, and not just because he had strange tendencies. Among his peculiarities were his eyes: they were purple. He had attached himself to her on her first day at work and had refused to be separated from her. He had been little more than a kitten then. Now, he was a large cat who insisted on eating both his own food, and whatever human food Beka would let him have.
"Have I really done that badly, Pounce? Badly enough for Lorine to hate me? I'm not trying to be Mom, but I still want what's best for her, for all of them," she told the cat. He meowed again and rubbed his head against her arm affectionately, as if trying to reassure her. Not for the first time, Beka was exceedingly thankful that she had Pounce.
When she returned to the kitchen, Will and Nilo were eating cereal, and Diana was munching on a piece of toast while reading one of her textbooks. There was an empty bowl by the sink, and Lorine was nowhere to be found. Diana looked up when she heard her sister.
"Lorine ate and left for school. She said to tell you she was sorry," Diana said. Beka nodded while she poured some cereal – Cheerios – into a bowl.
"Did you two finish your homework?" She asked Will and Nilo. They nodded. "Good. Anything you need signed or help with?" They shook their heads. "Alright, here's some money for lunch," she said, pulling out her wallet and passing each of them the appropriate amount.
"Thanks, Beka," Will said. Nilo nodded, but refrained from speaking as his mouth was crammed with cereal. Beka raised an eyebrow at Nilo, who grinned as best he could around the cereal. She grinned back at him and ruffled his hair. She wolfed down her bowl of cereal while they finished up, and took their bowls and put them in the sink once they were done. Diana slipped her textbook back in her messenger bag as Will and Nilo grabbed their backpacks. She waved to her older sister and followed the boys out the door.
Beka waved back, yawning again, and headed back to her bedroom to get some sleep.
The first thing Beka became aware of was her alarm clock screaming at her that it was time to get up. She rolled over and looked at the numbers on the digital display. It was three o'clock. Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed. She grabbed her hairbrush and let her hair down from the morning's ponytail without even looking at the mirror. After pulling her hair back up again, she padded to her bathroom and began what would be her morning routine – as if it was morning.
Once she was done, she let herself out of her room, allowing Pounce to follow her, and walked down the hall. When she reached the main room, she found Diana at the counter, again with her textbook open. Diana grinned at Beka when she saw her.
"Sleep well?" She asked. Beka nodded, sighing.
"Yes, but I'm going to have to run to the store, since there's practically nothing left," she said. Diana winced when Beka unconsciously mentioned the party that had occurred the previous night. Beka sighed again before grabbing a pair of clean socks from the pile of laundry she had done the day before. She put on a pair of slip-on tennis shoes, grabbed her purse, stuck her wallet inside, and opened the door.
"See you later, Di," she told her sister, who raised a hand in farewell.
A/N: Don't forget to leave me a review to tell me what you think! The next chapter's already done, so I'll try to update in about a week or so...