If you know Tom Holland you know he's not great at keeping secrets. However if you know him really well then you know there is one secret he can keep. He's been keeping it for 11 years now. Hi I'm Shaylee Holland and I'm the one secret Tom could act...
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"Get up!" My head snapped towards the door where Dad and Harry were standing. Both were red faced with anger. Oh shit! What did I do?! "Hurry up girl," Harry hissed. I sprung out of my bed while Dad threw clothes at me. "Put those on," he ordered, I immediately complied. "What's going on?" I asked. "Someone called child services," Harry said.
I went wide eyed. No way! It's happening. It's actually happening. Oh shit! I'm getting taken away. "Hurry up, they'd like to speak with you and I'd like them out of our house," Dad whispered as he all but dragged me down the stairs. Sure enough, standing in the parlor was a young woman with beautiful red hair and green eyes. Next to her was a smirking Paddy, a glaring Sam, and a very uncomfortable Mum and Tom. But who even called child services?! Was it Paddy? I looked at Paddy who gave me a small head shake. Who else could it be?
"I'd like to speak with Shaylee alone," The woman said as soon as she saw me. I shrugged. "Okay," I mumbled. "Perhaps we could speak in your room," she suggested. I turned towards my parents who nodded anxiously. "Okay," I answered again, leading her to my room. I tried my hardest to ignore her angered muttering as I lead her to the attic.
"You sleep in the attic?" She asked me. "Yea, but I like it, it's cozy," I defended. "Hmm, and who's this little cutie?" She asked gesturing towards Lulu. "This is Lulu, my ferret," I explained before realization hit me. "Can I still keep Lulu if I get taken away?" I asked. "What makes you think you'd be taken away?" She asked me. I shrugged. "Do you want to be taken away?" She pressed. "I dunno," I sighed. "Well what do you want?" She asked me. "I want to keep Lulu forever, I want to keep going to the same school and the same friends, and I wanna keep modeling and making videos, and I wanna be able to see Paddy whenever I want," I ranted. "Hmm, you got a lot of wants," she said. I hmm in response.
"What's you name?" I asked suddenly. "Louise Plattson," she said, "I'm going to be your caseworker, do you know why I'm here?" I shook my head. "I'm here because someone was concerned about your wellbeing," she slowly explained. "You're wondering if I've been abused?" I asked. "Or neglected," she clarified, "there's many factors of your life that are concerning, but it's up to you if you want to tell me anything."
"What happens to them if you take me away?" I asked. "Your oldest brothers will go live with Tom while you and Paddy with go into foster care," she explained. "Can I still make videos there?" I asked, "and do modeling?" "You like those things?" She asked me, "videos and modeling?" I nodded, "I love it, it's fun," I explained, "it's entirely my own and I can do whatever I want and I don't have to hide when I do those things, I can be as silly and crazy and loud as I want." She nodded in thought. "We'll have that conversation with whomever fosters you if it's necessary," she assured me.
"And Lulu?" I asked as I stroked the ferret's fur. "I'll try, but if that doesn't work then we'll have to see about other options," she explained. "Other options?" I asked. "You can give her to your friend to stay with until you get adopted or you can put her up for adoption," she explained. "I can give her to friends?" I asked. She nodded. "Okay," I said softly. "Okay?" She asked.
"Sometimes Mum and Dad punish me," I said. "Punish how?" She asked. "They'll lock me in here without food or water, board up the windows, it's only supposed to be for a day or two, but they always forget I'm here and it ends up lasting for longer," I shrugged. "Hmm," she sighed, "is that what happened those week?" I nodded. "I had gotten suspended for tardiness and they locked me here and forgot about me for two weeks, they only remembered yesterday when I got suspended for not coming back after the suspension," I explained.
I ended up telling her more things and soon enough Mum and Dad were being locked in a cop car. I don't know how my day changed so fast, but now I'm going to be permanently out of this house. This is so odd. I put more clothes into my two largest suitcases. "Are you ready?" Louise asked. "I guess so," I shrugged. "What about you, Paddy?" She asked. He nodded. "You two are going to be separated for a bit, I need you both to understand that this is going to be very different from what you're used too, but you will both get through it," she explained. "Will we still go to the same school?" Paddy asked. "I believe so," she said. "Can we still see each other?" I asked. "I'll arrange for visits," she assured me. "And our brothers?" Paddy asked. "I'll see what I can do," Louise promised us as we walked to the car.
•••
The first thing we did was go to the hospital where they found out I was very malnourished. I wasn't surprised. They also found that all five of us had been abused at some point, although Paddy and I most recently. That was something that did surprise me. Mum and Dad hit them too? Why didn't Paddy tell me?!
The next thing we did was go to the Southerland's house where Lulu would be staying. She wasn't allowed to be with me or Paddy. When that was done we dropped off Paddy first. It was very tearful and Louise had to practically pull me off of him. I was almost numb by the time we got to where I was staying.
"This is it," she said. I grabbed my stuff and followed Louise into the house. "Ms. Kutcher this is Shaylee, your newest ward," she introduced. "She's so thin, how old is she?" She asked. "I'm 12," I answered monotonously. "She just got separated from her twin that's why she's so upset," Louise explained as if I wasn't right there. I sat next to Louise as they talked about things to do with me. Things that I no longer had control over.
The only good news from this meeting is that I'm allowed to keep up my life as much as possible. I can make videos and model and sing as much as she'll allow me. Only difference is now she has to monitor it. I also learned there were other kids here. 10 of them to be exact. First there was Walter (15), Marley (14), Avery (13), Avril (13), Christopher (12), Charlsie (10), Gavin (9), Damien (7), Jayden (6), and Charlotte (5).
Walter showed me my room that I shared with every other girl. Great, like a sleepover I don't want to attend. I slammed my bags onto my bed and began to unpack. My life's changing for good but I still have absolutely no say in it. Guess somethings never change after all.
~ A/N: imagine the new characters as whatever face claim you want. I'm too lazy to cast. But ignoring that! Hope you like this chapter! I know we've all been waiting for this.
