Maria

I woke up to the usual sounds of arguing downstairs. Dad was yelling at Ella again over something minor. He always found an excuse to lash out at us most especially when he's drunk.

"Get me another bottle, if you want to go to school." I overheard him him yelling at her.

With a sigh, I dragged myself out of bed, bracing for another miserable day.

In the kitchen, Dad didn't even look up from his newspaper as I quietly made some toast for us to had breakfast.

He hadn't directly addressed me in weeks. Ever since for a long time now, it was like I ceased to exist...