Summary: Cynthia Tracy is the twin of Alan Tracy, and she is the youngest in her family. She goes to a boarding school in California. She doesn't really have any friends at the school because she likes to focus on her schoolwork instead of having a life although in the past year she has put aside some time to make friends and has started hanging out with a groups of kids around her age but they are very bad influences and in fact have gotten Cynthia in quite a bit of trouble. She hopes to become a Thunderbird one day like her 4 oldest brothers and dad, and so does her older twin brother. But with that dream becoming less and less a reality she has decided that she wants to be a guitarist. She even started taking a guitar class in school and has learned that she is quite good at it. But with the spring break coming up she is stuck with a problem, her dad is requesting her home while her (abusive – even if she denies it most of the time) boyfriend wants her to stay with him. Who will she decide? What will happen when the hood takes over her home and tries to kill her family? Will she become a Thunderbird?
Walking down the hallway in the girls' dorms and into my room; I find my half packed suitcase open on my bed; right where I had left it before going to lunch. Spring break is in a week but I'm stuck with a choice to make. I have to choose to either go stay at my boyfriend's house with him and his family like he wants me too or do as my father says and go home to Tracy Island. I sat on my twin sized bed and starred at the wall weighing the good and bad things of both choices. After about thirty minutes, I finally decided that it would be better if I went to my boyfriend's house. That would make him happy and maybe he wouldn't hurt me. But now comes the hard part…asking my father if I can go. Although I'm hoping he says no so that I can see my brothers and so that I can get a break from Danny, my boyfriend, even if it will make him very mad.
I took a deep breath, I had my choice. I gathered up all my courage and pushed myself off my bed, then walked over to laptop that sat on top of my desk on the other side of the room under my window. I picked up my laptop from the desk and then walked the few steps back to my bed. I sat the laptop down on the bed and then sat on it myself. I turned on my laptop and once it was started up, typed in the password. Waiting another minute for it load up completely, I then went to the start menu and to my instant messenger. Once the page had loaded up, I requested a video chat with my father. After waiting what felt like an eternity but in reality was only a few minutes, I was looking at the face of none other than my father, Jeff Tracy.
"Hey Cyndi, what's up?" My dad asked once he saw it was me.
"Um…you know how spring break is coming up?" I asked nervously. I was completely scared about the outcomes of either choice he made. I had a feeling that no matter what happened something bad would happen. I tried to shake the feeling as best as I could.
"Yes?" My dad said, sounding curious about what I was trying to get at most likely.
"Um…I was wondering if…um…if I could," taking a deep breath and gathering whatever courage I could possibly get, I finally just split it out," spend the break at my boyfriend's house with his family?" I asked kind of fast but still slow enough that he could still understand what I was saying so I wouldn't have to repeat myself. I had a feeling I would try to get out of asking if I did. 'God this would have been much easier if I had just pretended that my dad said I couldn't go and had to go home.' I thought to myself.
"I already told you that I wanted you to come home for spring break." My dad replied, and I knew that meant no. I wanted to sign with relief that I would get a break but then I remembered that Danny wasn't going to be happy to hear that I wouldn't be going to his house and might take his anger out on me before and maybe even after the break.
"Yeah I know but he thought that I should go ahead and give it a try. I warned him that you would say no but he didn't believe me. Are you going to pick me up?" I asked, much happier then I was before the web chat. He noticed my happier mood about it and raised an eyebrow before asking the one question I really hope to avoid every time Danny is brought into a conversation with someone who doesn't know about him being abusive or see my bruises that I do very well in hiding, if I don't say so myself.
"Cynthia, is everything alright?" My dad asked; I could hear the concern in his voice.
"Yeah dad, everything's fine. Why?" I asked lying to my father. I hated lying to them but at the same time, I didn't want them to find out. Who knows what they would do if they did and who knows what Danny would do if he found out I told anyone.
"You seemed a lot happier after I told you; you couldn't go. You don't seem sad at all. More like you don't want to go." He asked his eyebrow was still raised and he gave me a look that took all my might to not just blurt out everything.
"Well I get to see my dad and my brothers again after what feels like forever. And like I said before, I knew you were going to say no since the moment Danny asked me to ask you." I replied with a smile.
"And how long ago was that?"
"Awhile, I tried to talk him out of it so I wouldn't be wasting your time with a question that I already knew the answer to but he just wouldn't believe. I actually don't think he'll believe me that I did ask but oh well. I'll deal with that bridge when it comes." I said showing that I didn't really care but inside I knew what was really going to happen. "I should have had him here when I asked you to have proof but boys aren't allowed in the girls' dorms just like how girls' aren't allowed in boys' dorms and I didn't want to carry my laptop through-out the school and have someone be rude and listen in." I started to ramble. I ramble when I'm nervous and want to get off a topic by making up an excuse to give the other person a reason to change it. My father looked in no way convinced, in fact he and my brothers know that when I start to ramble…I'm in a way, lying.
"Alright, we'll go with that for now. But you and I both know that isn't the real reason and we'll talk about it when you get home. Oh and I'll try to come pick you up or have one of your brothers go, it depends on what happens." My father said.
"Ok dad." I said defeated. I then got a look of the clock on my computer and then looked at my alarm clock to make sure the computer isn't lying…it was 2:40 and I had to meet up with Danny at 3. "Um dad, I have to go now my computer is about to die and I have to be somewhere. I'll talk to you later."
"Ok Cyndi.-" And my computer died cutting off my dad from whatever he was going to say.
"You piece of garbage computer. I can't wait to replace you sometime this week." I said while getting off my bed and walking over to my desk to set it back on the top and plug in the charger.
Once the computer was on the charger, I then proceed to my closet. My closet was like the regular slide open on side to see inside kind of closet but it had enough space to be able to place a good size dresser into it. Which gave me more room in the room itself for the desk that was place in the corner of my room under my window looking out it, I think it's a weird place to put a window but nothing I could do about it, my bed that was placed on the other side of the room against the wall with the bed facing towards the side of the desk, my nightstand that is right next to my bed that holds my alarm clock, a lamp, and a photo of my whole family before my mom died. Then there's my bookcase that is a few feet away from the nightstand that holds my books, movies, CDs, notebooks and a few pictures. And last is my electric and acoustic guitars that sat side by side against the last open wall of the room that also holds a door leading into a bathroom. My electric guitar is just a boring black and white one and my acoustic is just a boring brown one. Just like normal guitars, I didn't feel like paying a little more for a different looking guitar mostly because then it would have taken my longer to buy them.
Looking through everything in my closet, which wasn't very much considering most of the closet was packed up already. I picked out a dark but still light blue tank top and a pair of light blue jean shorts that came down to almost my knees. I put them on and grabbed a pair of socks that were black with white and gray dots on them and then put on my favorite Nike black and pink shoes. The main shoe is black and the Nike mark (or whatever it's called) is like a hot pink I guess is the right color for it. I'm not all into pink but the shoe looks really good with the way it looks and I love how comfortable they are to walk in.
After grabbing my black jacket that would cover up my arms in case Danny was to get angry once I told him the news, I walked out to face my fate.
-888-
Finally after looking for a thirty minutes and becoming nearly twenty minutes late; I found Danny waiting with his arms crossed with an angry look on his face by the boys' dorms. He had said we were going to meet in the courtyard which is like in the center of the school almost, outside and was close to where the dining room is. When I had gotten there, I found him nowhere in sight so I went looking for him.
"Where have you been?" Danny yelled at me as soon as he saw me. No one was around, I saw just about the whole school at in the courtyard. The school has like 500 students altogether and it only from sixth to twelfth grade. What's funny is that the school is huge but there aren't a lot of students.
"I thought you had said we were going to meet in the courtyard. When I got there, I couldn't find you and then decided to go looking for you. I'm sorry I'm late. I must have misunderstood what you had said. And I was talking to my father. I asked him if I could go stay with you and your family." I said explaining what had happened and why I was so late. I just hope that he would believe me and not be to angry with the answer, but with him so angry about me being late now, I don't think I'm getting off the hook this time.
"Well…what did he say?" He asked calming down a little but still angry.
"He said no. He told me that I had to go home for break." I said, I added in the fact that he told me I had to go home because he didn't actually say that but I had to make it seem like I had put up a bit of a fight about it and that I lost and just couldn't go. I just hope my acting skills worked enough for him to not question it.
"I thought you had said he would allow you to come!" He yelled out becoming very angry.
"I said the he was going to say no but I could ask anyways and we could hope he would say yes but he didn't." I then regretted saying the part 'but he didn't' and raising my voice a bit because after I said that, he slapped me hard. I fell to the floor holding my cheek. That was going to leave a pretty bad bruise.
"Come on. You know what happens when you yell at me and when you're late." He said while grabbing my arm hard enough to also leave a bruise and dragging me up to his dorm. I knew I was going to get beat. I get hope that he wouldn't break anything this time.
Once he had his dorm door opened, he threw me inside. I tumbled into the room and ended up losing my balance and falling onto the ground. I stayed on the ground, silently praying for him to just get it over with. I heard him walk into the room, close the door and the click that means he locked it. During the beating, I'm not allowed to cry out or anything that would get him caught or the next beating would be worst.
He walked up to where I was still lying on the floor, and kicked me in the stomach. I held in my cries and just whimpered quietly. He kicked me again, expect this time, it was my ribs. He continued to kick my ribs until we both heard a crack that meant some of them were broken. Never having a rib broken before, it was hard for me to not cry out in pain. I had never felt something that hurt so bad. He then grabbed me by my hair and forced me to stand up. Causing the pain from my ribs to feel a thousand times worst and then proceed in slamming me into the wall. Hitting my head and making me fall back hitting the corner of the nightstand with my forehead and then to the floor. I felt some wet warm liquid coming from my head on my forehead by my hairline on the right side and when I touched it, found out to be blood.
I looked up at Danny feeling more fear towards him than I have ever felt before. I have dealt with some bad beating, sometimes breaking my arm or leg but I have never had one this bad before. I didn't think he would be so angry about all of this. Picking me up by my hair again and making me stand up, he then punched me very hard in the face. Falling back to the floor again, I tasted blood in my mouth. I moved my tongue around my teeth to make sure I still had them all and thankfully I did. This went on for about another hour of him punching me, hitting me, slamming me into things and kicking me.
Finally he had had enough and stopped beating me but I was going to need to go the emergency room no doubt and then my father is going to find out and then who knows if he is going to come down to California. I felt completely broken. I knew I was bruised badly and bleeding. I probably looked the worst I've ever been in my whole life. My dad already thinks something is going on between Danny and I; but I don't think that this is what he had in mind. To my surprise, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out like I have many times before. Instead I felt lots of pain and was wide awake. I heard the door unlock and open up. Then felt Danny pick me up a minute later, then carry me to I'm guessing the nurse's office. I wonder what brilliant, unbelievable story he came up with this time. Most likely that I had fallen down some stairs and when I tried to go back up them and was almost to the top, slipped and fell again. 'I already have a cover story one that I don't even believe. Although I think he already used that one.' I thought.
-888-
Arriving at the nurse's office, I saw someone pick up a phone and I'm guessing called 911 for an ambulance. I couldn't really hear anything anymore and I didn't feel as wide awake as I did when we were still in Danny's dorm. But I was still able to feel all the pain, Danny didn't make sure to go easy on me while he was running; in fact it feels like he made sure I felt pain. I was aware of what was going on but I was losing my hearing, I could hear the voices of the people around me but they seemed like they were so far away. I felt myself being set down on a bed and saw the nurse trying to stop the bleeding from my head, my mouth stopped bleeding before the beating was over, but there was still dried blood. Before the nurse was finished stopping the bleeding, I could hear the faint sounds of sirens which meant that the ambulance was most likely here.
Just as I saw the paramedics coming through the doors of the office, I was so out of it. I now couldn't hear anything, but I was able to see what was going on. And I could feel the pain and felt them get me onto the cot. I felt and saw them put the breathing mask on me. I was scared of what was going to happen at the hospital and what was going to happen when I got back to school and had to deal with Danny.
I knew I had to break up with him but the problem was that if he did this because I yelled at him, was late and maybe because my dad said I couldn't go with him for spring break…I can't even begin to imagine what will happen if I were to try and break up with him. And if I did manage to break up with him no problem, I would still see him every day we had classes and around the school. I wouldn't be able to escape him without telling my family of what really happened so that I could get moved to a different school. I guess all I can do is wait and see what happens in the very near future. My whole family, expect for Alan because he is in school and John because he is Thunderbird 5, is going to show up. That's for sure. Once they hear what happened and being rushed to the hospital and the extent of my injures. I just have to hope for the best.
I saw that I was getting loaded into the ambulance but they wouldn't allow Danny inside, most likely because I'm too bad to have anyone other than family be allowed in even if he is my boyfriend. I find it sad that I can dream about leaving him and having a better life and not being so scared to take the risk but when I get up the courage to actually try to do it; I chicken out and life goes on the same. Being trapped in this relationship that I don't want anymore, I'm just happy that he has only beat me and hasn't done anything more. But all this makes me wonder if I'm cut out to be a thunderbird at all. Then I remember that all this is going to do is make me stronger or at least I hope it did. Soon enough the pain had finally gotten too much for me to try and fight through and I passed out hoping that everything would be okay.
This is my first Thunderbirds story. I hope I'm doing alright so far. Thanks for reading. I know it starts off kind of sad but it gets better, I promise. Please review!
