Not so Natural

Chapter Seventeen -Scars of the Past-

Hours later the shorter of the two sets of siblings, woke up. “Hey Ceel?” Alex asked pushing some hair out of Cecilia’s face. She made a small addressing noise. “How did you get that scar?” he asked touching it. She flinched away from the contact.

 “I had an accident when I was a kid,” she replied turning away. Cecilia got up and walked out of the room not even glancing back. “You really should not ask about that scar. But, now that you did, she’ll tell you later,” Cassadee told Alex from the doorway. Daniel walked past his girlfriend and cuffed his brother over the back of the head, “Good job dipshit!” The younger couple strode back out of the room with disgruntled looks.

 Half an hour after her storm off, Cecilia came back in wrapped in a towel. “I’m sorry I left you alone in here,” she informed him. He turned away when she gestured dropping her towel. When she had her undergarments on she told him he could turn around. “What the hell?” Alex said under his breath. He reached a hand out and ran it over the scars on Cecilia’s back.

“I got beat up by the football team in high school. And I had an accident as a little kid,” Cecilia said sitting down. "Can you tell me?" Alex asked still not looking up. "There is a whole, long story. And it ain't a nice one either," said Cecilia with a small sigh.

 "My parents had a kid before me, another girl, and she went to stay with our grandmother. Well, her grandmother. Our parents put a bomb under a deck and when someone threw their cigarette away it made the bomb blow. Our parents were caught and were put on death row around the time our mom was pregnant again. Our mom had her second kid and our parents were put to death. They tried to have Grandmother take her other granddaughter, but she only wanted my 'older sister'. They sent me to a coed orphanage, but I didn't get along with the girls. So, they put me in with the boys when I was two," she continued staring off and tapping her fingers on one hand together.

 Alex opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off, "I was shy and didn't talk and wouldn't accept help unless I asked. They put me in with a boy twelve years older than me. His name was Logan. He made sure I ate and eventually found out I'm a girl. We found a medal with St. Cecilia that we put on a chain for me to wear and they called me that. That's why my name is Cecilia. We ran away when Logan was sixteen. We went to New York where we broke into a house. We got caught by none other than the Moore's. We were looking for food so Logan begged for the family to keep me. I wouldn't calm down when he left me. I screamed for hours." Alex took her hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

Cassadee sat next to her sister when she came into the area, "I remember how you screamed and fought. You were a wild little thing." The younger of the sisters stood and left the pair to their privacy.

"They adopted me a few days later. The family already had a daughter who rejected the new member. Cassie hated me for so long. When she was twelve she was having a sleepover and I came down to grab my inhaler and some candy. She blew up at me in front of all her friends and smashed my inhaler on the ground. I told our parents that I was on the balcony and I was messing around and dropped it. I got grounded for three weeks," Cecilia said picking her nails. "Then when we were in high school we were at school and Cassie saw me sitting in front of my locker crying. Cassie picked up the notes surrounding me and beat the hell out of the boys who put them in my locker. She got suspended. So my little sister wouldn't get full anger of our parents, I spray painted the boys' lockers with a message and got suspended. Together we got ice cream and went home. After we came back from suspension, the whole football team ganged up on me because the boys were on the team. They beat me pretty badly and they were going to do something even worse, but my friend, Steve, and his boyfriend, Hector, broke it up. Before my friends could break it up, they team carved angel wings into my back," she told him  with tears in her eyes.

          "So how did you get the scar on your face?" Alex asked. Cecilia wiped the tears from her eyes and took a breath before speaking, " When I first came to the Moore's, I was playing in the yard and Cassie got mad at me for playing with her ball and she pushed me. I fell into the street right in front of a car. I got hit, actually my face took the impact. They rushed me to the hospital and the doctors told them it was a miracle I was alive. Unfortunately, I had irreparable damage to my face and eyes." "Wait, look at me. Your eyes look fine to me," Alex said turning Cecilia's face with a hand.

           "Alex. I was born with eyes that were the color of honey. Look at my pupils, see how they're greyish?"  Cecilia said leaning closer. Alex's hand slipped from her chin to behind her jaw, "Y-yeah. What is that?"

          "Cataracts. I'm partially blind, that's why I wear glasses," she said never breaking eye contact. Alex leaned a fraction closer as his cheeks tinted rosy. Cecilia was about to close the gap when Daniel burst in. She spun and swiped her robe quickly putting it on, "GET OUT!" "Oh my God! I'm so sorry you guys!" Daniel squealed as his face imitated a tomato. He turned and shut the door behind him.

           "So, you can't see without contacts or your glasses?" Alex inquired blushing. Cecilia gave a nod, " So, what just happened?" Alex sighed, "Can we just forget it? We're both tired and hung over, plus there was a lot of skin out." Cecilia turned away, "Yeah, of course. Could you get out so I can get dressed?" He kissed her cheek and strode out. Cecilia cleared her throat and wiped the moisture from her eyes muttering, 'asshole' under her breath.