Untold Truths

Chapter 3

After school Alex walked into her house, running into her foster-brother Rick. He was 17, with messy brown hair and blue eyes. "Uhh.. hey." Alex said awkwardly. "Hey." He said with a smile. Then he noticed the scratches on my arms. "Who did this?' He asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice.

It made her feel good to know that her foster family cares, which is saying more than a lot of other unfortunate kids.

She sighed, contemplating what to say. Finally, she decided to trust him. "Can we talk about it upstairs?" She whispered. Rick gave her a look, but followed her upstairs and into her room. She closed the door behind them.

Rick gave her an almost concerned look. "Alex, what happened." He asked. Alex took a deep breath. "Well, there's this kid, Zach..." She started, anger swelling inside of her at the thought of his name. "He pushed me into my locker yesterday and stole my backpack, and today he tried to beat me up." She said rather quickly, still a little uncomfortable to be sharing this with him.

Rick's face showed a hint of fierce anger. Then he smirked. "I can see he didn't really succeed." He said with satisfaction. Alex smiled a little. "Well he probably would have if Chase hadn't shown up and helped." She said quietly.

"Who's Chase?" He asked in a sing-songy sort of way. Alex punched him in the arm playfully. "Shut up." Alex sat on the bed next to him. "I don't even know the guy." She says defensively.

"Yeah okay." He said but left it at that. "Have you told anyone besides me?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern. Is this what having a brother feels like? "No." Alex said tentatively.

Rick gave her one of those looks adults sometimes give when you say something weird. "Look, I know it's hard, but you gotta tell someone." He said. "If you don't, it's only going to get worse." Alex sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone just yet?" Alex asks. Rick smiled. "Sure. If it happens again though, just tell me and I'll beat 'em up for you." He says getting up and tousling her hair.

Alex smiled, smacking his hand away. "Thanks." She said quietly. "No problem." He answered, leaving the room.

Alex sat in her bed for a while. She felt better after talking to Rick. He was the first person, besides Mack, she could really trust.

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Later that night she had another nightmare. She was running down an alley again, this time however, everything seemed clearer. She backed up against a wall, peering around the corner. Suddenly she felt a fierce pain in her jaw, like she had been punched. She fell to the ground. Then she felt another jolting pain in her side and screamed.

After a few seconds, she was lifted to her feet in front of a tall man with white hair and a twisted smile.

Then she woke up, drenched in sweat. She glanced at her alarm clock. It read 4:30. She sighed shakily and laid her head back on the pillow again. She felt achy, like she really had been running through an alley and gotten beat up.

She got out of bed, to restless to sleep. She opened her door and walked silently down the stairs, cringing as a wooden tile creaked beneath her feet. She walked into the dark kitchen.

She was surprised to see her foster mother, Amy, leaning against the counter, sipping a cup of coffee. "Alex?" She asked as Alex entered the kitchen. "What are you doing up so early." Her voice was soft and kind.

"I had a nightmare." Alex said briskly. "Do you want to tell me about it?" Amy asked gesturing her closer. "Uhh.. No thanks." Alex said in a polite manor.

She still felt like a stranger in this house. Amy nodded understandingly. Then she grabbed what looked like a slip of paper off the counter and handed it to her. "While your here, I signed the permission form for your trip. She said, handing it to Alex.

Alex took it and stuffed it into her pocket. "Thanks." Then she turned and left the kitchen, saying she was going back to bed.