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Chapter 10

Upstate New York 5 Years Ago

Lauren was suffocating, that was sure. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move and she certainly couldn't escape. With every passing moment she inched closer to blacking out for good.

"Harry! Put her down!" Marielle demanded. The hulking giant, clearly not aware of his own strength, released her from the bear hug and Lauren gulped down air as fast as possible. "Oh sweet Jesus Christ it really is you." Marielle walked over and touched Lauren's face in disbelief before pulling her into a much gentler, less suffocating hug.

"How are you doing?" Lauren asked.

"Oh, you know, losing the baby weight. We're all wonderful though." Marielle pulled away and studied her face. "You look so thin! What have your parents been feeding you?"

"Well, it's a long story actually." Lauren replied but she didn't have any intention of pursuing the matter further.

"Is Camila with you?" Lauren felt the pain sink in instantaneously. She looked down at her feet, stifling a sob. Marielle noticed her downcast expression but she also heard her daughter start crying in the kitchen. She knew her daughter was probably fine, more than likely she spilled her cheerios again. Lauren, however, did not look fine.

"Harry, could you please go take care of Laney?" Marielle said, never taking her eyes off of the girl standing in their entry way. Harry, not thinking too much of it, ambled off to quiet the one year old. Marielle studied her face.

"Honey, is everything okay? Something tells me this trip wasn't particularly planned."

"Can I stay here? Just for tonight." Lauren said.

"Of course, you can stay as long as you need, sweetie. But I need you to tell me if you're in some kind of trouble." Lauren decided she shouldn't hide the fact that she wasn't supposed to be there. It was their choice whether they wanted to house a mess of a girl.

"I mean, I was supposed to go home today. My parents don't know where I am right now." She admitted. "But I wasn't ready to go home." A thousand questions swam through Marielle's mind but she could tell that Lauren was in no condition to explain her situation.

"I won't ask why." She replied. "And I still stand by what I said before about you staying for as long as you need. But I only ask that you call your parents and tell them that you're safe. If they need to talk to me, so be it but I want you to call them now." Lauren hesitated for a moment. If she called her parents, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't drive to the farm themselves and take her home. But she owed it to Marielle to do this one thing. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the screen. There were 20 voice mails and even more missed calls, all coming from her home phone. She hit "redial" and waited. It only took one ring before her mother answered.

"Lauren?" Her mother asked.

"Hi mom."

"Oh thank god." Her mother sighed. "Where are you? Your father and I have been worried to death."

"I'm safe, mom. I'm actually staying with a friend for the night."

"And you couldn't damn well tell us before hand?" She heard her father shout in the background.

"Hush!" Lauren's mom said. "Mija, where are you?"

"I'm staying with a friend, mom. Please try to understand."

"All we've been doing is understanding!" Her father yelled again. "It's about damn time she grew up!" Lauren looked over at Marielle who could hear everything clearly. The woman motioned to take the phone and Lauren handed it over.