When She Cries

"Noelle! Get down here!" Guess they’re home...

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw a baby girl in Mom‘s arms.

"Noelle, this is your new sister, Clarissa. Say hello," Mom said, looking at the tiny girl. I smiled, but I couldn't hide the confusion written on my face.

I couldn't help but notice how much she looked like him, and how much I... Didn't. I've always been different from my family, and they've always looked down upon me because of that.

"Clarissa will be taking your room, so pack your things and move them to the basement," Mom said, saying it as if it was nothing as she brushed past me and went up stairs.

Yep, this was my life.

I would kill to have my mother back... She used to always be so caring and we would do everything together. Ever since we moved to Michigan, it's like she hated me. Like I was some horrible disease.

Things began to get worse and worse, and soon, they took their pent up anger out on me. I was used to this by now. When it happened, I was almost to the point where I was numb and didn't care.

I must have done something horrible to deserve it. I just hadn't figured that part out yet...

The door bell ringing pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked out the window into the pouring rain, to see who was at the door. The lights of a cop car confused me.

"Noelle?" The officer asked me after I opened the door.

"May I help you?" I asked, a little scared as to why he was here.

"Sweetie, I have some bad news for you." When he held up my mother's bloody sweatshirt, I knew what he was going to say. I took the sweatshirt from his hands as my knees buckled under me. "I'm sorry, Sweetie... But, you're going to need to come with me." I looked up at him through watery eyes as he held his hand out for me to take.

I shook my head no and got up, slamming the door shut. He knocked frantically as I locked the door and ran back down to my room in the basement.

My mom and I may not have had a horrible relationship these past years, but I forgot about those as I clutched the sweatshirt to my chest.

I used to be her little girl... Everything used to be perfect, until the one day that we pick up and move. Everything had changed after that...

***

Today was their funeral; Mom, Dad and Clarissa's. They apparently had been hit by a drunk driver. He was in jail and was facing hard charges, most likely Life.

The rain continued to pour as their bodies were lowered into the ground. There were some of their friends around, trying to comfort me, but I shunned away from them. I kept my arms wrapped around my waist as I stared blankly at the three coffins.

After all of the pain and agony... This was it? This was how it was going to end?

None of it made sense to me...

"Noelle, sweetie, where are you staying tonight?" One of my mother's friends asked me.

I looked up at her with the same blank eyes. "My home," I said, before walking away in the rain.

It was a good three mile walk, but I didn't care. It gave me time to think.

*No P.O.V.*

Officer Nate had been on Noelle's case since she had found out her parents were dead. They had found something that could help her out. Apparently, she had a biological father.

Nate was relieved to find this. His heart broke when he told the poor girl the horrible news. He just wanted to pick her up and hold her, take away all her pain, but she, of course, slammed the door in his face.

"Whoever this is better have a good damn reason for calling me at this time of night," the gruff voice mumbled on the other line.

"Is this Matt Sanders?" Nate asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"Officer Nate. Matt, did you ever know a Nataly Emerson?"

There was movement in the background as Matt got out of bed. "Yes, I knew Nat. What's she have to do with this?"

"Recently her, her husband and her husband's daughter were in a fatal car accident. They didn't survive."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but, what do I have to do with this?"

"Well, Nataly had a daughter, who wasn't in the car with them. Her daughter is also your biological daughter..."

There was silence on Matt's end of the phone, until he finally spoke. "I'm on my way."