Scarred

Chapter 20

When I arrived home (wow, I can't believe I'm calling Lee Anne's house home now), Lee Anne and Thomas were sitting in the living room, waiting for me. I set my backpack down next to the door and took my shoes off. "Are you two okay?" I asked warily. They never just sat in the living room.

"No," Lee Anne started. "We got a call from your guidance counselor, Mr. Sumner. He called to tell us that he was worried about your well being."

"What does he know about my well being?" I asked, trying to rid them of their concern.

"He said that you were cutting yourself, Quinn," Lee Anne said.

I laughed nervously. "I'm not cutting myself," I lied. "What does Mr. Sumner know? He's a liar. It's his job to lie to parents to get them concerned about something that doesn't even exist."

"Show me your arms, Quinn," Lee Anne said. I kept my jacket sleeves covering my scars.

"Why?" I asked. "I told you; he's lying."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem showing me your arms," Lee Anne pressed.

"I do have a problem," I continued. "I have a problem with you guys not trusting me."

"You were arrested, Quinn," Lee Anne accused. "Yeah, we have our doubts with your truth-telling skills. So, show me your arms."

"I told you no!" I exclaimed.

"You're not the boss around here, Quinn," Lee Anne yelled. "You may have been able to get away with whatever when you were on your own, but now you live under my roof, so you follow my rules. And that means that you do what I say when I say it!"

"I'll do what I want," I argued. I ran up to my room and locked the door behind me. I heard Lee Anne's foot steps follow me up the stairs. The pounding steps followed me across the hallway. Lee Anne pounded her fist against my door after trying, unsuccessfully, to open my door.

"Quinn Torres, open this door right now!" Lee Anne shouted.

"Make me," I shouted back. I could hear Lee Anne's exasperated sigh and her retreating steps. A moment later, she returned to the hallway with Thomas in tow.

"Quinley Marie Torres!" Thomas shouted. How did he know my name was short for Quinley? I thought. Even my records for school and stuff only show "Quinn". "Open this door right now, or else!"

"Or else what?" I challenged. "And how did you know Quinn was short for Quinley?"

"Your birth certificate," Thomas explained. "And if you don't open this door right now, I will pry it open!"

I unlocked and opened the door in one swift move, my hair fluttering in the breeze created by the swishing door. "You have my birth certificate?" I exclaimed.

"Yes," Thomas said slowly, taken aback. He was probably expecting more of a fight. I saw that he even had a crowbar in his hand, used for prying the door open.

"Can I see it?" I asked, full of hope. Lee Anne had a look of confusion on her face, matching Thomas's.

"Um, I guess," Thomas replied. "If you show me your arms." I squinted my eyes shut, blocking tears from escaping. I nodded, pulling my jacket sleeve up and putting my scars on display, like an artifact in a museum.

"Oh my god," Lee Anne said, shocked. "Mr. Sumner was right."

"October," I said, answering their unasked question. "I've been doing it since October."

"Why?" Lee Anne asked.

"Depression," I said simply. "High school is stressful. Now can I please see my birth certificate?"

Thomas nodded and led Lee Anne and I up another set of stairs, to the attic. He opened the attic door and a light bulb switched on. It illuminated stacks of paper and other junk that the two of them had been keeping. He headed over to a small carboard box, cutting it open with an Exacto-knife he found on a shelf nearby. Inside were several stacks of paper. He started going through them, looking for the one piece of paper that said everything about my birth. After a moment of looking, he finally pulled it out.

"What is all of that stuff?" I asked.

"That's all of the paperwork and other documents we needed to foster you," Lee Anne explained. Thomas handed me the birth certificate. I took it in, awestruck. I read it aloud.

"Birth certificate," I said, reading the title. "This certifies that Quinley Marie Torres was born to Marie Elizabeth Torres and Robert Ray Torres on October 23, 1999 at 3:29 a.m. weight: 6 lbs, length: 20 in at St. Mary's Hospital in Blue Springs, Missouri." Below all of my information was my mom and Robert's signatures. Tears welled up in my eyes. "Thank you," I whispered to Lee Anne and Thomas. "Thank you."