Desperate Hiding

Vanessa was watching a touching scene between a mother and a daughter in a movie. She bit her lip and said "It's times like these I miss mom."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Wait, do you really think that she will be like this mom?"

"Oh come on, you know that mom loved us." Vanessa gave her sister a weird look.

"Did you really think that mom loved us?" Rachel sat straighter. "Mom didn't love us."

"Rachel, she did." Vanessa was confused.

"Don't you remember what she did?" Rachel gave her sister a incredulous look.

"Rachel!" Nick called sharply. "Shut up."

"No, wait-" She turned to her brother. "She doesn't know?"

"WHAT?!?! Tell me!" Vanessa called out, frustrated.

Nick acted like Vanessa wasn't there "No. And she shouldn't." Nick replied to Rachel.

"OK...." Rachel turned back to the screen.

"Wait, guys, tell me!" Vanessa half yelled.

"Nevermind. It's nothing." Janice focused on the TV.

"Wait, but you said Mom didn't love me." Vanessa said.

"Oh, she loved you." Rachel blinked.

"Rachel! Stop it!" Nick gave her a look.

"Sheesh, fine."

"Guys!" Vanessa pleaded.

"I don't feel like watching TV anymore." Rachel got up and walked to her room.

Vanessa and Nick watched her leave. "What's up with her?" Vanessa asked her brother.

"Nothing." He swallowed hard. "I'll be back." He went after Rachel.

Vanessa just stood there, confused. She walked up to her other brother's room. She knocked lightly. "Matt?" She called out softly.

"Yeah?"

Vanessa walked in to see her brother on his computer. "What?" He turned to her.

"Something's wrong." She whispered. "Very wrong."

Matt rolled his eyes at Vanessa. "Right...." He turned back to the computer.

"No, today, Rachel said that Mom doesn't love us... What did she mean?" Vanessa sat on his bed.

"Oh, she meant-" He turned to her and searched her eyes. "Uh, she probably just... feeling weird."

"What?" She grabbed his collar. "You know!" She was shouting now. "Tell me!"

"Vanessa... chill. I don't." Vanessa looked in his eyes and knew he was lying. But there was nothing she could do about it.

"Fine." She snarled. "I'll be back." She left the room with a swish.

Matt stared after her and sighed. Some secrets were better kept secret.

Rachel was frantic. "She doesn't know?"

Nick nodded. "She forgot, I guess."

"Great. Now she thinks that she had great mom." Rachel gasped. "What if she pulls out a memory from one of us and finds out?

Nick groaned. "She'll find out, sooner or later."

"Wait..." Rachel paused. "If she knows how mom and dad died, then she should know, right? At least a little. Right?"

"No. We told her that it was a car crash, but that's it. She thinks that they were out shopping."

Rachel laughed bitterly. "Right... she should be happy I saved her from going with them."

Nick snorted. "No, you took her for revenge against Mom."

" It saved her life, didn't it?"

"Hey, mom loved her. Don't let her think otherwise." Nick warned.

"Mom loved her for all the wrong reasons." Rachel spat out the word 'mom' with hate.

"Hey..." Nick grabbed her shoulders. "I understand. Mom wasn't a big fan of me either."

"But she didn't hate you!"

They heard a noise behind them.

"Guys?" It was Ashley. "Are you fighting?"

Rachel swallowed. "No. Go back to bed, Ash."

"I heard yelling." Ashley looked worried.

"Yeah? Well you heard wrong. Go to sleep." Rachel crossed her arms.

"Sleep? It's 7:00 at night." Ashley pointed at the clock.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Ashley, I know you're making me see things. Go to sleep. Now."

Ashley frowned and left to her room. The clock went back to 11:00.

Nick looked up at Rachel. "Don't get too mad. We both know what's going to happen if you do." He put a hand on her shoulder.

Rachel nodded and left the room.

Nick sighed. He was tired. The family was falling apart, Rachel and Vanessa were always fighting, Matt was constantly quiet, and Ashley was starting to like boys, something he didn't like AT ALL.

He glanced at a picture of his deceased parents, and clenched his fists. It was all their fault. If they just actually cared, if they loved them, if they didn't die, maybe life would be better. He gritted his teeth and smashed the glass frame with his fist.

Just then, he heard the bedroom door open.

"Nick! I heard broken glass!" Vanessa rushed in. "What happened?" She gasped when she saw the picture. "Nick, what's wrong with you?" She picked up the picture off the ground.

"Nothing." Nick stared at the cracked frame. "Just..." He stiffened his jaw. "Just an accident. It's fine." He looked down and shuffled his feet. "I'm going to take this up to Matt. To, you know, heal." and with that he left to room.

Vanessa stared at the broken glass, then back at Nick. Everyone was acting weird tonight.