When She Cries

The next morning, I didn't really feel like getting up, but I knew I had to. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already nine. I was surprised they had let me sleep in this long.

When I walked down stairs, I couldn't find anyone. Finally, when I walked into the kitchen, Brian was sitting there. He didn't look up from the magazine as he took a sip of his coffee.

I slowly walked over and sat next to him. "Are you mad at me too?" I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper.

He didn't answer me for a few minutes. "I'm not mad, Elle, I'm just disappointed." I squeezed my eyes shut. That was just the same.

I went out back and curled up in one of the lawn chairs. I guess all I can do is wait.

"Noelle, please come in here," Dad's voice startled me a little while later.

Everyone was here again. Damn, can't they do anything on their own? I stood in the kitchen, waiting for whatever Dad had to say to me.

"I picked up your things from school. You'll be going to a public school now, you start next Monday." My head shot up at this. Yes, I didn't want to go to the school at first. But now, it was my one place to escape. It was somewhere I had a full class period to just dance. Now he's taking that away from me? "From now on, you will not have a bedroom door until I can feel like I can trust you again. You will not go anywhere unless I say it's okay, and that won't be for a very long time." I don't know when the tears started to fall, but he was quick to call me on it. "Your tears aren't going to save you on this one, so don't try."

"I'm not trying to do anything," I said, trying to scrape up something that I had left in me.

His fist slammed down on the kitchen counter. "And the back talking will stop, too!"

"Why don't you just lock me in a cage?! That way you'll have a reason to treat me like an animal!" I yelled at him, before going up to my room. I furiously threw things around my room. I was at my breaking point.

"Come on, Elle, you need to stop," Val said, grabbing my hands and making me stand still.

"Why won't he listen to me? Why won't anyone just fucking listen to me?!" I cried, feeling like I was about to burst if I didn't get everything out.

Val didn't bother to say anything. She just held me like I was her daughter, like a mother I never really had for last few years...

*Zacky's P.O.V.*

"Matt, there's something more going on, something more than we can see," I said, trying to reason with him.

"And what the hell do you know, Baker?" He hissed.

"Look, I know I haven't been on that great of terms with her, lately. But, yesterday when I went to pick her up, she asked me if I've ever done anything that I didn't want to because I just gave up." Everyone gave me a confused look.

"Are you trying to tell me that she had that stash up there but didn't really want it?" Jimmy said, narrowing his eyes.

"Just think about. Has she shown any signs of doing drugs?"

"She had the damn things in her room, Zack!" Matt growled.

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Keep your voices down," Val hissed, coming back into the room. She sighed, running her hands down her face. "Matt, I think we need to take her to counseling."

"Why?"

She gave him a hard look. "I agree with Zack. There's something more going on. I just held her until she cried herself to sleep. She was obviously having a break down. Plus she kept asking me why no one would listen to her." Tears started to brim her eyes. "She might not be my daughter by blood, but I still treat her like one. It was heartbreaking to hear that and see what she's going through. You haven't been home a lot, lately. I've seen her every day after school. She just seems drained and lifeless."

"Hello, drugs," Jimmy snapped.

She sighed angrily. "I can see why she's so frustrated. You guys are too hard headed to actually listen to her!" She stormed off, the girls following her.

Matt looked down at the counter. "Why don't kids come with fucking warning labels?"

"Because then it would be too easy." He knew I was right.

Something is going on with her, something she won't tell us. I just hope we found the truth out soon before something too bad happens.