Caroline skipped over a pavement of snow as she ran back home, as fast as her legs could carry her. Her school bag smashed against her back as she took the hurried steps, constantly keeping an eye to her right, left and back. She wiped off the tears that were on her cheeks in a bid to cover her embarrassment and almost lost her balance in the process. She got to the front door of her house, opened it in much haste, and got in. She quickly raced to the living room knowing her sister was there, watching television as she usually did. She dropped the bag on the floor and it landed with a thud, catching the attention of her older sister. Elena turned around to find the skinny girl whimpering.
"Caroline, what's wrong?" Asked Elena, eyebrows knitted in confusion. Her voice sounded frail as if she had been worrying prior to Caroline's intervention. "Why are you back home? First period isn't even over."
She walked towards her as tears found their ways down her cheeks. She was in casual wear, with a warm sweater on top. "Elena, it's those guys at school." Caroline stopped in front of her. Elena had her shirt way up above her navel. She quickly slid it down when Caroline saw her.
"What have they done?"
She cried out softly, "They're calling me names, you know... bad ones."
"Is it because of the... me?" Elena mumbled. Caroline kept quiet for a long time, trying to hide the shame that her sister would feel. She ended up nodding in the end however. Elena closed her eyes in defeat and gave out a skull-daggering sigh.
"Come here," Elena told her. She approached the couch and sat next to her. Elena held her close. "I'm sorry," She sounded hurt. The mocking episodes were getting more and more outrageous. "I'm so sorry Carr. They have been going at it for a long time now, and I know how you feel. I'll ask mom to go and talk to the teachers and see what she can do about the situation."
Caroline looked at her sister longingly. Her blue eyes were gazing into Elena's black ones. Her yellow blonde hair was neatly decorating her tiny cute face, but her cold smile destroyed the whole face this morning. "Elena, is it really true? About what Ethan did?"
"Yes," Elena told her after a long pause. "Why ask, yet again? Did they say anything about that, at school?" Her voice echoed inside the silent room.
"No." She hastily replied. "I just wish it wasn't. I wish none of that had happened and maybe the students back at school would give me an easy time. I literally cannot finish a day without being teased."
"I don't know how I can make this better for you truly." Elena sighed. "I haven't had an easy time myself. They are just bullies you know. I wish I had a way to make this better for you. But I don't."
"And how do you plan to make this better for yourself?" Lynn asked as she approached the two. Elena turned around and saw her in a shower cap and a towel wrapped around her body.
"Mom, I'm not staying here... not anymore." Elena shrugged.
"And where are you going?" She muffled her lips.
Elena waited long enough till her mother was seating on the armrest of the couch adjacent to hers. She answered the question then. "Mexico?"
"To Auntie Maca?" Caroline added on. Aunt Macarena was the sister of Elena's father. Elena herself had been there the last time fifteen years ago. She loved Aunt Maca a lot due to the fact that she took care of her when she once lived in Mexico. Aunt Maca had even taught her Spanish and she was fluent in it... at least she was. The years spent far away from Mexico had made her Spanish a little too sour. She felt sad that she had to say goodbye to her and had never seen her face-to-face since then.
"Yes, to Aunt Maca," Elena answered her with a slight nod.
"Take me with you. I have never seen her in person... please." Caroline cried out holding Elena's hands tightly. Lynn scoffed at her youngest daughter's exclamation.
"Go tidy yourself, Caroline. We're leaving for school in a few minutes." Lynn told her. "I wanna go and knock some sense into those teachers! There's no way they can continue living as if they don't know what you're going through in school."
"But mom..." Caroline pouted at her as well as showing her puppy blue eyes.
"Up now!" Lynn ordered her once again in that friendly mommy voice. Caroline got up with much disagreement in her heart. Lynn brushed her hair softly with her fingers as she hugged her. "I'm going to make it better for you." She told her. Caroline raced back upstairs, carrying her bag along. Lynn walked over and sat beside Elena. She stroked her daughter's hair gently as she scoured her body. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Lynn asked her.
Elena muffled her lips and raised her brows. "Yes. You know I thought that things would get better after the Ethan thing mom, but it all seems to be going south. I can't get out of the house and take a walk to the mart before someone starts giving me odd gazes. Saturday was worse. Some guys just started calling me names in front of a restaurant, and it hurt me so bad." She paused and looked at her mother. "Mom you told me things would get better, so did Lance... I... mom it's terrible! Sometimes I wonder why I had to accept testifying at the court! If I knew this is what it would result to then I would have never accepted."
"So you mean that all you did was for nothing?" Lynn asked her. "Don't you feel happy about the justice that you deserved and got?"
Elena fumbled her hands squeaking out sharply. "No. I mean yeah. I mean I was happy at first. But right now... I don't even care. At this cost? I just feel like nothing matters."
"Elena don't say that..."
"But it's the truth. It's nothing but the truth. I'm sure Ethan is having an easier time than me."
Lynn shook her head and asked, "Why do I feel like you're starting to have second thoughts about the idea of him being locked away?"
Elena frowned. Her eyebrows drew in closer. "Mom! Don't ever say that! Ethan got what he deserved and that, I do not have second thoughts about." Elena told her, bravery in her voice. "I cannot trust a guy for all those years and when he rapes me to even think that there's a coming back from that. I don't know about you mom, really... I don't. I don't know if you've been raped before but I have. There's no sympathy that I have for him whatsoever. There are no second chances in that... so don't tell me that I still have some feelings for him. Okay?" Lynn chuckled at her, nodding. "Stop laughing... I'm serious mom!"
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry that I doubted you." She took Elena's hands into hers.
"So what is it then? What is making you hold back about everything? Is it the case, the trial, or the money we got from winning it? What's bothering you?" Elena arched her head downwards and opened her mouth as if she wanted to talk. She however could not find the courage to speak up. "Elena... is there something you want to tell me?" Lynn inquired.
"Um... never mind. You wouldn't understand..." Elena shrugged.
"Elena, what's the problem. What's worse than being raped?" She sounded serious. Elena kept quiet. She couldn't find the courage to talk to her now. It seemed that it had all been drained away in a snap of a finger. "Elena..."
"It's nothing mom never mind—" Elena answered her as she turned her attention towards the door. There was someone who had just rung the doorbell. Lynn stood up to answer the door. Elena heard a familiar voice and she quickly got up from the couch and headed towards the stairs, aiming to make it to her room upstairs, in a bid to change into other clothes. She was unfortunate however as she bumped into the visitor who had just been let inside the house.