Status: So... active for me apparently means years in between, I promise that's not the case this time. I hope.
Right to Choose
Resort
I never thought anyone would worry about me. Why would they? It’s not like anyone ever cared before. If they did, they would’ve have stopped me seeing my dad. So what if he fell in love with another man? It didn’t make him any less of a parent; it didn’t stop him being my dad. If anyone cared about me, they would’ve have taken me away from him. You can’t blame me for thinking no one cared after that, so you can’t really blame my shock at how close to me she was getting.
***
February 29th, 2012
“What can I do for you, hun?” Sam smiled reassuringly at the young girl standing awkwardly in the entranceway of the shelter.
“I just, um, I wondered if I could get some food,” the girl mumbled, shifting on her feet, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her oversized jumper and slightly baggy skinny leg jeans.
“Of course, hun, come this way and I’ll get you a sandwich,” Sam gestured for the girl to follow her, taking pity on her thin, lanky frame, “when was the last time you had a good meal?”
“Um, a few months ago. I can’t steal food anymore, this is kind of a last resort,” the girl mumbled again, pulling her hood further over her face as she shuffled after Sam.
“Oh hun, you at least have a place to stay, right? If you don’t, you can stay here, you’re over 18?” Sam bit her lip, struggling not to be worried for the girl now sitting in front of her.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” the girl glanced up, distracted. Her hood fell back with the sudden movement, the harsh artificial light in the kitchen showing her face properly, mottled green and yellow bruises covering her cheek and jaw in stark comparison to her usually pale skin.
“Wait a second, you’re… Cass, isn’t it?” Sam couldn’t help but stare in shock at the battered teenager in front of her, “Cass? What happened?”
“How do you know me?” Cass glared at Sam, fear creeping into her voice, “wait, you’re with Evans, aren’t you? Shit,” Cass dropped her sandwich, standing up quickly, “oh shit, shit, shit.”
“Cass, wait, what happened to you? I can help you, Kate can help you!” Sam stood, reaching a hand out to the distraught girl.
“No, fuck, you weren’t supposed to be here, I’m not supposed to be here! Fuck!” Cass shrugged off Sam’s hand, pulling her hood back up and running out of the kitchen, dodging around clients and volunteers as she made her way to the door, Sam following slightly slower behind her, “fuck!” Cass slammed the door behind her, running off down the street.
“Cass!” Sam wasn’t far behind, standing just outside the shelter, calling after the retreating girl’s back.
~~~
“Hey babe, how’s it going?” Evans dropped her uniform shirt over the back of the couch, leaning down to kiss Sam’s cheek.
“Hm? Oh, hi honey. Dinner’s in the microwave,” Sam turned her head slightly, her eyes not leaving the laptop open on the coffee table in front of her. Sam could hear Evans walking around in the kitchen while the microwave hummed.
“How was your day?” Evans asked a few minutes later as she settled on the couch next to Sam, putting her feet up on the coffee table as she poked at her dinner with a fork.
“Oh, you know…” Sam trailed off distractedly as she searched through hundreds of Facebook profiles.
“Are you Facebook stalking babe?” Evans stared at the laptop screen, trying not to laugh.
“Oh shut up Kate,” Sam threw a pillow at Evans, letting out a triumphant call as she found the profile she was searching for.
“Hang on, why are you stalking Cass?” Evans set her plate down on the table, leaning forwards to have a better look at the profile now up on the screen, “silly girl should make her things private,” she commented to herself, before looking up, “Sam?”
“I saw her today,” Sam sighed, moving away from the screen and leaning back into the couch, “at the shelter…”
“What was she doing there?” Evans frowned, knowing Cass wasn’t supposed to leave her house except for school.
“She came in looking for food. You should’ve seen her, Kate. She’s lost weight since the last time I saw her, and her face, my God, it looked like someone was giving her a good beating every day of the week,” Sam bit her lip worriedly.
“Something isn’t right…” Evans stood up, “she’s basically under house arrest, I’m going to go check on her. I’ll be back soon,” Evans leaned down to kiss Sam quickly before grabbing her keys and making her way to the front door, “I’ll be back in a little bit, babe.”
~~~
Pulling up against the curb, Evans turned the key, killing the engine of her silver Subaru. Checking herself over in the mirror once, she opened the car door and stepped out, heading down the stairs to the front door of the quant family home in the quiet street. Knocking once on the wooden door quickly, she casually crossed her arms behind her back, looking around the front yard curiously.
“Uh, can I help you?” A masculine voice questioned, causing Evans to turn back to the now open front door.
“I’d just like to ask you a few questions about Cass, if you don’t mind, mister…?” Evans did a quick double take, not expecting a giant of a man to open the door, but brushed it off. He could be her brother or father for all she knew.
“Walker. Ryan Walker. Why do you want to know about Cass? Is she in trouble or something?” Ryan opened the door fully, leaning on the frame as he looked down at the police officer in front of him, “and since when have the copshop uniforms been so… relaxed?” Ryan raised an eyebrow as he stared at the plain black t-shirt with “police” on the neck, and black cargo pants.
“Walker? I thought Cass’s surname was Williams,” Evans asked, her brow furrowed in confusion, “and I’m off duty. There’s a shirt, obviously. I’m just worried about Cass. Is she here? I’d like to talk to her,” Evans tried to peer around the giant of a man in the door, as if she could glimpse the girl she was after.
“Yeah, it is. Why would she be here though?”
“This is where she lives, is it not?” Cass snapped her gaze back to Ryan, realisation slowly dawning on her.
“No, she never lived here. She used to hang around a fair bit though, my little sister, Alexis, is her best friend. Al moved to our parent’s place a few months ago though. Haven’t seen Cass around since she left,” Ryan causally answered the officer, “if you don’t mind though, I’d like to get back to what I was doing, if that’s all you needed. I have a lot of packing to do.”
“What? Oh, no, that’s fine. Thank you for your time, Mr Walker,” Evans dismissed Ryan distractedly as she turned and headed up the front steps to her car again, her mind going on overdrive, trying to work out where Cass could be.
Pulling into her own driveway fifteen minutes later, Evans turned the ignition off and sat, her mind still on overdrive. Realisation suddenly dawning on her, Evans snapped upright, staring straight ahead.
“She lied to me!”
***
February 29th, 2012
“What can I do for you, hun?” Sam smiled reassuringly at the young girl standing awkwardly in the entranceway of the shelter.
“I just, um, I wondered if I could get some food,” the girl mumbled, shifting on her feet, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her oversized jumper and slightly baggy skinny leg jeans.
“Of course, hun, come this way and I’ll get you a sandwich,” Sam gestured for the girl to follow her, taking pity on her thin, lanky frame, “when was the last time you had a good meal?”
“Um, a few months ago. I can’t steal food anymore, this is kind of a last resort,” the girl mumbled again, pulling her hood further over her face as she shuffled after Sam.
“Oh hun, you at least have a place to stay, right? If you don’t, you can stay here, you’re over 18?” Sam bit her lip, struggling not to be worried for the girl now sitting in front of her.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” the girl glanced up, distracted. Her hood fell back with the sudden movement, the harsh artificial light in the kitchen showing her face properly, mottled green and yellow bruises covering her cheek and jaw in stark comparison to her usually pale skin.
“Wait a second, you’re… Cass, isn’t it?” Sam couldn’t help but stare in shock at the battered teenager in front of her, “Cass? What happened?”
“How do you know me?” Cass glared at Sam, fear creeping into her voice, “wait, you’re with Evans, aren’t you? Shit,” Cass dropped her sandwich, standing up quickly, “oh shit, shit, shit.”
“Cass, wait, what happened to you? I can help you, Kate can help you!” Sam stood, reaching a hand out to the distraught girl.
“No, fuck, you weren’t supposed to be here, I’m not supposed to be here! Fuck!” Cass shrugged off Sam’s hand, pulling her hood back up and running out of the kitchen, dodging around clients and volunteers as she made her way to the door, Sam following slightly slower behind her, “fuck!” Cass slammed the door behind her, running off down the street.
“Cass!” Sam wasn’t far behind, standing just outside the shelter, calling after the retreating girl’s back.
~~~
“Hey babe, how’s it going?” Evans dropped her uniform shirt over the back of the couch, leaning down to kiss Sam’s cheek.
“Hm? Oh, hi honey. Dinner’s in the microwave,” Sam turned her head slightly, her eyes not leaving the laptop open on the coffee table in front of her. Sam could hear Evans walking around in the kitchen while the microwave hummed.
“How was your day?” Evans asked a few minutes later as she settled on the couch next to Sam, putting her feet up on the coffee table as she poked at her dinner with a fork.
“Oh, you know…” Sam trailed off distractedly as she searched through hundreds of Facebook profiles.
“Are you Facebook stalking babe?” Evans stared at the laptop screen, trying not to laugh.
“Oh shut up Kate,” Sam threw a pillow at Evans, letting out a triumphant call as she found the profile she was searching for.
“Hang on, why are you stalking Cass?” Evans set her plate down on the table, leaning forwards to have a better look at the profile now up on the screen, “silly girl should make her things private,” she commented to herself, before looking up, “Sam?”
“I saw her today,” Sam sighed, moving away from the screen and leaning back into the couch, “at the shelter…”
“What was she doing there?” Evans frowned, knowing Cass wasn’t supposed to leave her house except for school.
“She came in looking for food. You should’ve seen her, Kate. She’s lost weight since the last time I saw her, and her face, my God, it looked like someone was giving her a good beating every day of the week,” Sam bit her lip worriedly.
“Something isn’t right…” Evans stood up, “she’s basically under house arrest, I’m going to go check on her. I’ll be back soon,” Evans leaned down to kiss Sam quickly before grabbing her keys and making her way to the front door, “I’ll be back in a little bit, babe.”
~~~
Pulling up against the curb, Evans turned the key, killing the engine of her silver Subaru. Checking herself over in the mirror once, she opened the car door and stepped out, heading down the stairs to the front door of the quant family home in the quiet street. Knocking once on the wooden door quickly, she casually crossed her arms behind her back, looking around the front yard curiously.
“Uh, can I help you?” A masculine voice questioned, causing Evans to turn back to the now open front door.
“I’d just like to ask you a few questions about Cass, if you don’t mind, mister…?” Evans did a quick double take, not expecting a giant of a man to open the door, but brushed it off. He could be her brother or father for all she knew.
“Walker. Ryan Walker. Why do you want to know about Cass? Is she in trouble or something?” Ryan opened the door fully, leaning on the frame as he looked down at the police officer in front of him, “and since when have the copshop uniforms been so… relaxed?” Ryan raised an eyebrow as he stared at the plain black t-shirt with “police” on the neck, and black cargo pants.
“Walker? I thought Cass’s surname was Williams,” Evans asked, her brow furrowed in confusion, “and I’m off duty. There’s a shirt, obviously. I’m just worried about Cass. Is she here? I’d like to talk to her,” Evans tried to peer around the giant of a man in the door, as if she could glimpse the girl she was after.
“Yeah, it is. Why would she be here though?”
“This is where she lives, is it not?” Cass snapped her gaze back to Ryan, realisation slowly dawning on her.
“No, she never lived here. She used to hang around a fair bit though, my little sister, Alexis, is her best friend. Al moved to our parent’s place a few months ago though. Haven’t seen Cass around since she left,” Ryan causally answered the officer, “if you don’t mind though, I’d like to get back to what I was doing, if that’s all you needed. I have a lot of packing to do.”
“What? Oh, no, that’s fine. Thank you for your time, Mr Walker,” Evans dismissed Ryan distractedly as she turned and headed up the front steps to her car again, her mind going on overdrive, trying to work out where Cass could be.
Pulling into her own driveway fifteen minutes later, Evans turned the ignition off and sat, her mind still on overdrive. Realisation suddenly dawning on her, Evans snapped upright, staring straight ahead.
“She lied to me!”