Adopted by Beetlejuice: The Cast

Chapter 5

Quinns POV

"Hell no, she was defending herself," Adam yells.

"We have the video recording from our security cameras, here look," Kerry says waving the recording in the man's face.

"Everyone calm down, a man was hurt and we believe Ms. Aizler was responsible. She won't be detained for long," the front desk man said, looking shaken up.

"In case you haven't noticed," Alex says, plucking Sophia off the couch we are sitting on "He did some damage to us too. She's an actress, she needs her voice." He gestures to Sophia's bruised neck.

"We are aware of that sir, that's why Mr. Aizler has been detained." Sophia sneaks back to us. Her hand brushes mine as she sits back down. I glance away.

Me, Presley, and Sophia were sitting on a couch in the police station exchanging glances as the adults scared the front desk man for life. I had been asked to come down to the police station because they wanted to throw me in jail for injuring my brother until the court case went through.

"Well you're not "detainting" Quinn until a poper court ruling has been run," Kerry says, putting her hands on her hips.

"Your court ruling is in 2 days, Ms, and if Quinn is indeed innocent as you say,then she will be released," the front desk man said nervously. He must have called someone without us knowing (or maybe it was just coincidence) because at that moment 2 officers show up.

"Is there an issue," Officer one asks. All the adults practically blow up but eventually Kerry makes it to the front with her recording. The officers exchange glances and one grabs the tape. They both disappear and then come back, handing the tape back to Kerry. Officer two whispers something to the front desk man. Everything is silent as the officers leave but then the front desk man looks at us grudgingly.

"You may leave, but please return for the court ruling in 2 days," he says looking directly at me.

"Oh, well uh, thank you," I say. I probably got off easy because of the mob of angry Broadway actors but whatever. Presley stands up and holds out her hands to me and Sophia. In a matter of a few seconds our strange looking crowd is heading back to the theater. The show wasn't running because of Sophia's throat and, though Presley could do it, it seemed like the right thing to do while we were dealing with this.

We had all been meeting at Winter Gardens at around 9 to meet with the lawyer over the court case. Things had escalated quickly in the last week and I was ready to put the whole thing behind me and I knew everyone else felt the same way. It had been decided that the main court battle would be over transferring custody from my parents to Kerry but we would have another trial to decided if me and my brother should go to jail. Him for harming Sophia and me for harming him. The main case was complicated since my parents weren't my abusers, they just stood by knowing what was happening to me. The security tape of my brother choking Sophia and holding a gun to her head in the lobby had been a strong piece of evidence but it was against my brother, not my parents. I had thought about telling them about The Website but it wasn't against my parents, it was against my brother. It wouldn't help. Right? All and all, finding evidence that my parents created an unstable household had been proven difficult.

Our case had come through rather quickly too. Much quicker than average court cases, which made it more difficult. It was most likely because we were in the public eye. It had been all over the news. "Sophia Anne Curaso assaulted in Lobby of Winter Gardens." "Beetlejuice: The musical on one month Hiatus" "Beetlejuice: The musical cast dealing with dangerous criminals" "Quinn Aizler, daughter of Lennon and Harmony Azlier, in court battle with the cast of Beetlejuice: the Musical." "Allegations of abuse against stock market star, Lennon Aizler" were just a few of the new headlines. It didn't help that my parents were in New York's high society and the police adored them for all their trillion dollar donations. It had become the scandal of the month. I, of course, felt terrible. None of this would have happened if I hadn't showed up. These people deserve to be recognized because of their talent not because of a messy court battle initiated by a girl who passed out in front of the theater.

Even worse, Sophia still could barely speak and, though she tried to hide it, we all new she was in pain. Sometimes I felt like seeing her in pain hurt me worse then it did her. Her doctor said it would take a few months to get the full usage of her voice back. I had dropped a lot of my college classes, not all of them, but a lot while I was trying to get through this. It wasn't to big of a deal sense I was still set to graduate at the end of the year, but I still felt bad. Not only that but everyone knew that if we didn't win the court ruling then in a week, I was headed right back into an abusive household. Basically, we were a mess.

I was sitting in Kerry's dressing room, I usually was here or in Sophia's room, when Kerry walked in. She sighs and sits down on the couch. They had just finished their meeting with the lawyer. All the kids had gone home but me, I insisted on staying here until the meeting was over. It was about me after all, plus Kerry was my ride. And my house and my food and pretty much my everything else right now. I had been to most of the meetings with the lawyer but she asked for just the adults this time.

"I'm sorry," I say to Kerry in a small voice.

"What?" she says.

"I'm sorry I'm doing this to you. I don't know why you're doing this, you could just pass me off the to someone else but instead you let me stay and Sophia got hurt and your show had to stop and you're dealing with the court case. I'm, I'm sorry." Kerry looks over at me and scoots herself closer to me.

"Don't apologize, please. We could have never left you or "passed you off". No one would trade this situation, as hard as it is, because you became our family, Quinn," she says reassuringly. I nod, even though I have tears in my eyes. Kerry puts her arms around me and I just lean into her for a moment. After I'm calmed down, Kerry squeezes me and then we get ready to go home. "Besides, I don't think Sophia would have let you leave," Kerry says jokingly as we leave the theater.

"What?" I ask.

"Well, when you first got here and we were all trying to figure out what to do with you, Sophia insisted that you stay with one of us. Naturally, we wern't really planning on, well, keeping you but she didn't want you to leave. I saw how much it meant to her and said you could stay with me. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first, but now we all want you, I'm the lucky one." She pokes my stomach as we get into the car and I giggle. Kerry begins to speak again. "I know she met you once before and I know the story she told us isn't the full truth but whatever happened, you made an impact on her. She's been, happier sense you got here."

About halfway through the drive home, Kerry insists we go get dinner out. I, of course, am completely ok with that. We go to a small diner and get burgers with milkshakes. Kerry tells bad jokes and we talk about the show. I laugh and have fun. I was lucky I had Kerry, she took care of me. On the way home I think about everything Kerry had told me when we where leaving the theater. Had I really made that much of an impact on Sophia. Segi and Suyama are asleep when we get home and I go right to bed with them. I lay peacefully thinking about everything Kerry had told me about Sophia and how much fun I had had at diner. I slip into sleep, feeling loved for the frist time in a long time.