She walks to school with the lunch she packed
A fifteen year old cheerleader walked slowly towards the school. Her light, golden brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. As she passed by strangers and neighbors, she didn't smile. No one saw the three small drops of blood that lined the bottom of her cheerleading uniform.
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Her eyes lay sad and dead as she walked. "Forced to think that hell is a place called home," she muttered as she heard someone playing a song by Mary J Blige.
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She walked into her homeroom class. She let her pink backpack drop to the floor next to her desk as she sat down. She didn't listen to the teacher as he opened his mouth. His talk sounded like the hum of a broken TV to her.
she hides the bruises with the linen and lace oh
She didn't hear her best friend since childhood ask her if she wanted to come over. She turned, moving like a zombie as she started to walk. She didn't hear her best friend call out to her. She reaches up and pulls her hair free from the ribbon. It falls greasily around her face, framing her like a pretty picture. She didn't smile as she walked. She just let her legs carry her; unsure of where she was going.
The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
Mrs. Falcon walked out into the rain. She started to hurry towards her car, when she noticed someone sitting on the swing. The person was soaking wet. Mrs. Falcon walked closer and recognized the cheerleading outfit. The girl had her head resting on the chain of the swing. She was swinging back and forth slightly. It looked like a motion picture clip. Mrs. Falcon ran over towards the cheerleader. She became scared when she saw the cheerleader's face. Her brown hair was soaking wet, her crystal eyes looked dead and lifeless, and her lips looked blue. She just kept swinging slightly, like she couldn't even see her English teacher.
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
A gunshot rang threw the air.
"MOMMY!" a little girl screamed threw the rain. She watched as her mother fell to the floor, blood flowing from her wound.
"Get her outta here!" an officer yelled. She didn't notice a police man come up behind her.
"Come one sweetie," he said as he slipped his arm around her waist.
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
"MOMMY!" she screamed as she tried to free herself from the police man. The rain hit her hair as the police man put her in his car.
Sometimes she wishes she was never born
All she could hear was the heavy rain, hitting the top of the police car. She turned her head, causing her wet hair to fan out; she watched the rain hitting the street like it was an action movie.
Through the wind and the rain
"Are you ok?" Mrs. Falcon asked. Suddenly, as if breaking from her trance, the wet cheerleader looked up at Mrs. Falcon. "Are you alright?" Mrs. Falcon asked again. The cheerleader dumbly nodded.
She stands hard as a stone
She stands up. She picked up her muddy backpack and swung it over her shoulder. After she had both arms in the straps she starts walking away, leaving Mrs. Falcon stunned.
In a world that she can't rise above
The young cheerleader walked threw the thundering rain. Slow tears started mixing with the rain water as she cried. If the tears weren't there, you'd never have realized that she was crying, her facial expression still looked dead and lifeless.
But her dreams give her wings
She walked into Rose Memorial. She walked past rows and rows off little white crosses. Most had flowers next to them, some didn't have any. She kneeled in front of her brother's grave. She ran her hand against the muddy grass.
And she flies to a place where she's loved
"I'll be home soon Angel," her brother said as he kissed her forehead.
"But you weren't," the cheerleader whispered.
Concrete angel
"I'll be waiting." She smiled as she watched her brother (who was in a marine suit) walk towards his car.
"I love you Adam," she called.
He half turned and smiled at her. "I love you to Princess."
Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The cheerleader let out a choking sob as she remembered what she'd tried so hard to forget.
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
"Hello?"
"Are you Adam Carleton's sister?" a man in white asked.
"Yeah, what's this about?" she asked as she hugged the door.
"May we come in?" she looked at them for a minute, then stepped aside.
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
"NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" she screamed as she stood up. The men in white did too. "He can't be dead he can't be dead!" she whisper/yelled as she beat his chest with her fists.
When morning comes it'll be too late
Suddenly, her legs felt like jelly and she started to fall. The Marine caught her and held her in his arms as she sobbed into his chest.
Through the wind and the rain
"He promised."
She stands hard as a stone
"You promised," she whispered as she rose from the ground. She didn't remember putting her hair up, but it was up in a ponytail.
In a world that she can't rise above
She started to walk again. Her backpack lay forgotten next to her brother's grave. She had stopped crying. Crying never got her anywhere; it didn't stop her father from blaming her for her mother and brother's deaths.
But her dreams give her wings
She walked towards the next grave.
And she flies to a place where she's loved
The pounds of makeup, she'd used to cover the bruises her father had given her, washed away as the rain hit her skin.
Concrete angel
She took a drink from the water bottle in her hand. She didn't feel the wave off dizziness that washed over. She finally fell onto her knees in front of another grave.
A statue stands in a shaded place
Julia Carleton
January 1987 – October 2003
A daughter, A mother, A friend
An angel girl with an upturned face
"Forced to think that hell is a place called home," she whispered again. She sat down in the muddy water; she didn't care.
A name is written on a polished rock
She cuddled up against the grave.
A broken heart that the world forgot
She closed her eyes as the drugs slowly killed her.
Through the wind and the rain
"Stephanie Andréa Carlson, age fifteen, cheerleader, one parent, Simon Kevin Carlson, she has a dead mother, Julia Carleton, the owner of the grave, and an also dead brother, Adam Charles Carleton," an officer said as the police looked across the crime scene.
"Cause of death?"
"Unknown, possible drugging."
She stands hard as a stone
"So she drugged her drink… for suicide?" her father asked.
In a world that she can't rise above
"That's what we thought, till we identified the drug," Agent Gibbs said to her father.
"So…?"
"It was syinid," Tony interrupted.
"A drug that isn't even on the market yet," Ziva cut in.
"So a scientist killed her?"
"Syinid, your company works with it," McGee finished.
But her dreams give her wings
"You think I killed my own daughter?"
"I more than think, I know," Gibbs said standing over Stephanie's father.
And she flies to a place where she's loved
"She had bruises all over her body, 23 of them had your finger prints on them. You have your daughter insuranced for 25,000 dollars, your prints were all over her water bottle, a scientist told us you were in the lab four days ago, and she wrote in her diary about all the times you threatened to kill her. You know, I call this… Ziva!" Gibbs yelled.
"Motive," Ziva finished.
"You drugged her drink and killed her, but what you didn't count on…"
"Is her friend leaving his video camera on. He wanted to prove that you were hurting her, but he proved… that you murdered her," Tony said walking behind her father. "Mr. Carlson, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"
Concrete angel
Nate Grey stood on his porch as they led his best friend's father into a police car. "You did the right thing, Nate," Gibbs said walking over to the boy.
"This doesn't bring her back. She's still going to be lying six feet under in a couple days. She was such a sweet girl; she was the last person in the world to deserve this."
"I know," Gibbs whispered.
"She read to the blind, played with the children in the hospital, spent all her work money on supplies for the soldiers, and helped the marines break the news to family members. Life's not far?" Nate cried.
"I know, I had a daughter and a wife die." Gibbs patted the boy on his back as he turned and walked back towards the car.
"Wait!" Nate called as he ran towards Gibbs. Gibbs turned to look at Nate. "Does it get any easier? Knowing they're gone?"
"Over time."
A/N This came to me while listening to the song "Runaway Love". Which is why she is quoting "Forced to think that hell is a place called home." I hope you like it and I'd be thrilled if you reviewed.