"We'll get through this, together." Erica said with a warm smile.

I nodded.

I sat in the doctor's office in a weird gown, Erica said 'be glad its cloth and not paper' but I didn't really understand what she meant, I just pretended I did.

After the doctor was done 'looking at me' while I cried. He walked out of the room. Erica let go of my hand, but I grabbed it right back, still crying.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

I nodded. "Sorry, this is all so new." I wiped my tears on my gown.

"No worries. Okay?"

I nodded and did my best to fake a smile, but she saw through my mask. She was going to figure it out. I knew it. I didn't want it to happen. Not in the least.

"Miss Thompson?" The doctor said coming into the room.

"Yes?"

"Are you Rebecca's mother?"

"No." Erica said. "I'm her guardian."

"How do you know her?"

"She's my history teacher." I said, wiping my tears again.

"Hm." He said.

Why did everyone have that same reaction, even if she is my history teacher, isn't she better than where I came from?

"Can I talk to you out in the hall?" The doctor asked.

"Can it not be said in front of Rebecca?"

"I would rather not."

Erica and the doctor stepped out into the hall, I strained to her what they said, but I couldn't, and within a few seconds, gave up.

The car ride home was silent, it was awkward. I knew something was on her mind, something I didn't want to face. We arrived in the driveway and I tried to get out of the car, but she quickly pushed me gently back into my seat.

"The boys are inside, I really need to talk to you alone." Erica said.

"It's hot in here, can we talk in my bedroom, according to Henry it's virtually sound-proof." I said with a smirk.

"No, it's not." She said sarcastically. "You two weren't quiet, no, I don't want to talk in your room, too open, we can talk in my study."

"You have a study, where?"

"Exactly." She said with a smile.

We walked inside the house, with every step I got more and more anxious about what couldn't be said in my bedroom, and slightly more curious as to where this so-called 'study' was.

"Hi honey." Erica said walking into the kitchen, where he was standing over a pot of boiling water. "Whatcha makin?"

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

"Is today something special? usually you're the one who forgets the anniversary, and I have everyone's birthday down on my calendar."

"You'll see." He said with a smile. "Henry went to Jake's by the way."

Erica nodded. "Rebecca and I are going into my study."

"Must be serious. Rebecca, you're lucky, I haven't even seen it yet."

Erica smiled. "Maybe one day, come on." She said ushering me towards her bedroom.

"Why your study?" I asked, as we stepped into her room.

"It IS virtually sound-proof."

"Seriously?" I said. "Cool."

"Yep."

She walked up the a bookcase, a bookcase I never noticed that had a hinge on the side of it, but at the same time, I don't spend my free time examining book cases in my history teacher's bedroom.

She moved the bookcase, and it revealed another room. It was the size of a small library, desks, chairs, books everywhere. A television and a couch, and most importantly, a pinball machine.

"Whoa."

"Yeah, I was a carpenter before I was a medical examiner, before I was a teacher, so I built this room once me and Kevin moved into together, just as a way to escape for a little while."

"How did you sound-proof it?"

"I know a guy."

"A carpenter?"

"Yeah, I was a bit of a job jumper."

"Can I play pinball?"

"After we talk. Sit down."

I sat on the couch, I expected her to sit next to me, but she sat on the chair across from me, and turned on the fireplace, that I didn't notice.

"It gets cold in here." She said. She closed her eyes, almost as if trying to figure out what to say. I sat still.

"Did your step-mom hurt you?" She asked.

I looked at her as if she was insane. "You know she did. Why are we having this discussion again?"

"That was phrased wrong. Sorry, I just don't how to start this."

"It's okay. How did you know something was wrong in my old house?"

"I'm not stupid. That's how. This is different."

"Oh."

Erica closed her eyes and put her head in her hands. I felt I should do something, she was obviously stressed, but I didn't know what to do. I just sat silently.

"Why don't we just pick this back up, when you do know how to start it?"

"No, I'll never know. We need to talk now."

"You're worrying me. Just tell me."

"Hm, where have I heard that before?"

I only laughed.

"When was your first period?" Erica asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

I sighed. "I've never had one. But, I know in stressful situations, they can come later in life, living with my step-mother was certainly stressful, and no offense, but moving in here has been stressful too."

"None taken. What happened if, you didn't get everything done by the time your step-mother wanted it?"

"Depended on how drunk she was at the time."

"On average?"

"I got beat."

"With what?"

"Her hand, a leather strap, one time she beat with a baseball bat. It was just whatever was closest to her, when she got pissed at me. If I got beat, I usually lost my food privileges-"

"How long?"

"I lost them up to a week once. But usually it was just a few days. I had to sleep in the cellar, but I would steal cans of food I knew they wouldn't miss and hide them down there in a corner with a knife, so I could eat. If she was really, really, really mad. She made me sleep in a shed in the back yard."

"How often did that happen?"

"Once, I learned not to say 'no' pretty quickly."

"When she was hitting you, did she ever make you take your clothes off, so it would hurt more, or something along those lines?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me." She said, I could see the anger rising.

"I'm not. Promise. She never did."

She shut her eyes again. A few minutes later, she re-opened them. "Okay, my beating around the bush technique isn't working. Did she ever hit you between the legs?"

Tears began to stream from my eyes. I nodded.

"How often?" Erica asked softly.

"Couple times a week. If I wasn't working fast enough, she would pull me up by my hair, slam me against the wall, and kick her knee into my...area...as hard as she could." The tears were now falling fast, faster than I could wipe them.

Erica tried to sit next to me. But I quickly moved to where she was previously sitting. "Not right now." I said.

"Fair enough."

"Why are you making me re-live this?" I yelled.

I talked to the doctor, about the results of your pregnancy test you took earlier today. "You're not pregnant."

"Okay, good." I said.

Erica sighed. "You should have been."

"I'm confused."

"Henry is extremely fertile, he's the middle child, of eight. It runs in his family, it's why he has two children and is still in high school. Even the doctor said it's a miracle you're not pregnant."

"Okay?"

"Until he looked closer at...things."

"Yeah, things." I said sarcastically

"Rebecca, one of those blows to your...area...damaged you pretty badly."

"Am I okay?"

"Yeah, you're not in any risk of dying, or anything like that, but...you're incapable of having children, you have sustained...blunt vaginal trauma."

"Can we avoid using the word vaginal, please?"

Erica laughed.

"Is he sure it's not a situation like my mom, not impossible, but not smart?"

"No. It is impossible for you to conceive children."

I sat silently, having children was not something I thought of on a daily basis, but I always wanted them.

I stood up. I screamed at the top of my lungs. I'd never been this angry in my entire life. There was a vase nearby. I picked it up, threw it across the room, still screaming.

"I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE HER!" There was a large pile of books sitting on Erica's study desk. I opened them up quickly, one by one, and tore the pages out. And threw the empty shell as far as I could. Not caring at all what I hit. "I HATE HER!"

I felt someone wrap their arms around me. I struggled to get out, realizing it was another person, I headbutted them, they let go.

There was a hammer nearby, and four walls. You do the math.

Those same arms wrapped themselves against me again.

"Rebecca, calm it down. Shhhhhh, shhhhhh, ssssshhhh." I heard whispered into my ear.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled, struggling to get out of their embrace, I felt the hammer being torn from my grip.

The person snapped his fingers towards the back of the room. The next thing I knew, I was wrapped in a sheet of ice.

After I had calmed down, mainly due to my body freezing. I noticed that Henry was draining the excess water for where the ice sheet was held. Kevin was standing above me, and Erica was holding a rag to a bloody nose. Which meant, I had headbutted the only person willing to help me.

A few minutes later I was let out of the ice sheet and entered new clothes and a wool blanket. Now, it was just me and Erica, who's nose and stopped bleeding, but was probably broken. I sat looking at the damage I had caused.

"Sorry." I said.

"Shut. Up."

I nodded. "Can I go to my room?"

"What are you going to destroy on your way there?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry."

"I. Said. Shut. Up. Until I can figure out what to do with you."

I sat silently. "Where did you get the ice sheet?"

Erica looked at me angrily and sighed. "Andy was very prone to heat stroke, how many time do I have to tell you, SHUT UP!"

I stood up, I was going to fix what I could.

"SIT DOWN!" She yelled.

Kevin walked in a moment later with the phone in his hand.

"It's your mother." He said.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood to deal with her and my Dad's issues, really? you may know where it is now, but my study is still off limits, to everyone except me!" She said glaring at Kevin.

"Alright, sorry." He said quickly leaving.

"Rebecca, the unfortunate thing about your little tantrum episode, is that we're not even done discussing everything I need to talk to you about. However, I'm too pissed at you right now to think rationally, so part two is going to have to wait."

"I'm sorry. I know about drywall, I can fix the walls. The vase and books, not so much."

"I know you will, and if you didn't know about it, I was going to teach you."

"What do I need to say to fix everything?"

"You need the DeLoreon and Marty McFly."

"Umm..."

"Never mind, not important."

"Erica, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"I do. I've been expecting it for awhile, however, I thought you would just punch a wall and hurt your hand like every other kid. Not this."

"Yeah."

"Why don't you go onto bed, okay?"

"Well, let me clean up the paper and glass."

"Now."

I sat on my bed. It was adjacent to Kevin and Erica's room. So I could hear everything, unlike the study, their room was not sound-proof.

"Erica. You didn't need to be so hard on her." Kevin said.

"Don't tell me how to parent. You're not the only person that a traumatized fifteen year old girl will confide in, sometimes, it gets a little stressful, and I believe I had the right to get as angry, if not more, angry than I did."

"You did have the right to get angry at her, I'm angry at her. But, is that anger towards her...or...towards what your Dad did to you?"

"Don't. Lawyer. Me. Ever."

"I'm not lawyer-ing you, I'm being realistic."

"Yes, I am angry at my Dad, but that's apples and oranges."

"No it's not."

"Good night." Erica said turning off the lamp.