Sitting on this cold chair makes me even more nervous.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘪 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?
All these thoughts were racing through my mind, and the pain from my bruised body only made it worse.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice when a policeman and a woman entered the room. The woman cleared her throat to get my attention. I jolted, looking at them for a second before quickly lowering my head, realizing I’d broken a rule.
Rule number 1: NEVER LOOK IN THE EYES.
𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.
The woman sit infront of me and introduced herself
“Hello, honey. I’m your social worker. My name is Lila."
Ariana gave her a slight nod, still avoiding eye contact.
Lila took a deep breath, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Her fingers twisted together, her gaze hesitant before she finally looked at the girl with a softened expression. “I’m so sorry, honey. I have some difficult news…”
She waited, her breath held tight.
“Your parents were in an accident this afternoon. They didn’t make it.”
She didn’t look up. She froze as soon as Lila said it.A shiver ran through her spine.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵.... 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮? 𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘯𝘰... 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢.... 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.
She started scratching her hands until they bled. The sting grounded her, reminding her it wasn’t a dream.
“I know this is overwhelming, honey. But you’re strong, and you can overcome this,” she said.
Her words didn’t help, but I appreciated them. She didn’t know what I’d been through, so I couldn’t blame her.
Lila handed me a notepad and pen. A small sense of relief washed over me, she knew I couldn’t talk.
That was rule number two: NEVER TALK TO ANYONE.
The social worker asked her to write down anything she wanted to ask her.
Her hands trembled as she held the pen.
𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 - 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥.
𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘪 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦.", 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.
𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.
"What will happen to me now?" I managed to write it out with my trembling hand.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵.
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Silent Scars
Fiksi RemajaAfter enduring years of neglect and cruelty from her mother and stepfather, Ariana's life changes drastically when tragedy brings her under the guardianship of five brothers she's never met and they never even knew they had a sister. For her brother...
