My name is Cassidy Williams, but my friends call me Cass. I am 17 years old and the mother of almost seven month old quads. Their names are Merdith, Danielle, Noah, and Tyler. I live with my dad and Fiancé in Washington DC. My dad is going to school part time to be a lawyer, but he watches the quads and my six month old sister, Amelia, before his classes. My fiancé, Mike, is the oldest of several children, and the captain of the wrestling and football team. The older of his two younger sisters and his mom are both pregnant.
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Cass's POV
"You got this Ash. Just walk through the door." I'm standing with my recently found twin sister Ash in front of the door to the guidance office. She reaches out for the door knob and then quickly pulls her hand back. I sigh.
"I can't do it Cass. I can't do it." I sigh again and grab her hand. I set it on the doorknob.
"Yes you can." I remove my hand as she finally turns the door knob and pushes open the door. We walk into the room. Mrs. Stewart smiles at us over her desk and beacons us toward her. Ash takes a deep breath as I pull her forward.
"Hello girls. How can I help you?" Ash goes to talk, fails miserably, then looks at me for help. I sigh and then look up at Mrs. Stewart.
"Is there anywhere more private that we can talk?" The smile slowly slides from Mrs. Stewarts face as she leads us into the smaller office. She sits down behind the desk, and me and Ash sit down across from her.
"Is everything alright, girls?" I elbow Ash, and she tries to talk again. No words come out, and I sigh.
"Come on Ash, you've made it this far." Ashley goes pale, and I sigh yet again. Mrs. Stewart sends Ash a reassuring smile.
"Why don't you start by telling me your name?" Ash takes a hesitant breath.
"I'm Ashley. Ashley Jarvis." She points at me. "This is my twin, Cassidy Williams. Our parents got divorced before we were born, and my mom won custody of me and our dad got custody of Cass. We actually just recently found out about each other." Mrs. Stewart nods, silently asking her to continue. She takes another deep breath, then can't say anymore. Mrs. Stewart looks at me.
"Why don't you take it from here?" I nod.
"Saturday night, or I guess it was really early Sunday morning, I got a text from Ash asking me to come pick her up. She didn't know we were sisters yet. I had just found out myself. However, even if we weren't related, I would have came. She wouldn't tell me why I had to pick her up. She just said to pick her up. So I came and brought her to my house and let her spend the night. It was like two in the morning so I wasn't being very observant. However, when I woke up the next morning, I asked her why I had to pick her up in the middle of the night, and..." I can't continue, and I reach into my backpack and pull out the pictures we took that morning. Ash closes her eyes as I hand them to Mrs. Stewart. She looks through them, her face growing more grave at each one. She looks over at Ash.
"Ashley, I need you to tell me what happened." Ashley takes a deep breath and looks at me. I grab her hand and squeeze.
"It was late Saturday night, I'm not sure what time. I was waiting for my mom to get home. It's worse if I'm asleep when she gets home." She takes another deep breath, and I squeeze her hand. It's the first time I've heard this story. "When she got home she said, she screamed 'Ashley. Ashley get your ass out here.'" She takes another jagged breath and continues. "I went out to the hallway where she was waiting for me, and she yelled 'You little bitch. Did you not think I'd find out?' I had no idea what she was talking about." My hatred starts to bubble up at the mother I never met. A single tear rolls down Ash's cheek. "So, so I said, I said 'I'm sorry mom.' and she yelled back at me, 'I'll make you sorry.' And then, and then she punches me square in the jaw." More tears roll down her cheek, and I realize that I've started to cry as well. She takes another deep breath. "She grabbed me by my hair so I couldn't run. She keep hitting me, and hitting me. Mynoise started poaring blood." She gasps for air. "Eventually, she let go of my hair and I fell to the floor. I, I started spitting as much blood out of my mouth as I could. She started kicking my, my stomach. I couldn't breath. I blacked out. When I came through, I texted Cass to come get me." I pull Ash into a hug as Mrs. stewart wipes the tears from her own eyes. She takes a deep, wavering breath.
"Alright, Ashley. You've taken the first step. You've told someone. And I know it's hard. However, you are going to have to tell that story so many more times today. I'm gonna go make some phone calls, but I have to ask you two questions first. First, when you where telling your story, it sounded like this has been going on for a while. Am I correct?" Ash nods.
"It's been going on as long as I can remember."
"Ok. Then, why haven't you told someone before now?" Ash takes another deep breath,
"I did try, when I was four. The teachers didn't believe me and the beatings. They just got worse." She gets really quiet again.
"Okay, I'm gonna go make some calls."
"Wait." I look over at Ash. "I have a half brother. His names Jeffery, Jeffery Jarvis. He's eleven years old. He's in the sixth grade, and I don't want him going home."
"Okay, I'll arange for him to come here." Mrs. Stewart leaves the room, and I pull Ash into another hug as she breaks down sobbing.
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Hey guys! This is the third book in The Truth About Love series. If you get bored, make sure you check out the two companion sereies, Trying to Hide the Obvious which about Cass while she's pregnant with the quads, and Cassandra's Story which is the story of Mike's mom. I really am trying to update this book and Cassandra's Story Book 1 every night so that they'll get done quicker, but we'll see how that ends. Oh also, in case no one's noticed yet, everything's named after a song. Anyway, have a great night and happy reading!
