.:Chapter Ten – When You Know How to Hide a Secret

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life. " ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A/N: Just in case anyone's confused, this is a flashback chapter.

"Miss Jackson?"

Riley and Rhuben both looked up, startled, at the sound of their names. "Yes?"

A relatively young nurse stepped into the room hesitantly, and the twin girls recognized her from some of their previous visits to the doctor's office. Rhuben let out a sigh as she slowly shook her head. She knew what the nurse was going to say, it always happened eventually; and when it did, they changed doctor's offices quickly.

"Hello, I don't know if you remember me, but I've been you're nurse before. And I was just wondering . . ." She let her voice trail off, and met the girls' gazes to gauge their reactions before continuing. But they just stared back at her, as if silently urging her to continue, daring her to do it. "Is everything alright at home?" Their faces remained expressionless, and the nurse pressed on. "Or are you having any problems with your boyfriends?"

Riley just shook her head and shrugged. "No. We're just clumsy." The words were bitter to their ears, but the nurse just nodded. "We don't have boyfriends."

"Well, you should be more careful." The older woman's voice was brisk as she headed out of the room. She looked at the twin girls over her shoulder before disappearing into an examining room. "People are starting to wonder."

Their father appeared behind them; just in time hear the nurses parting words. He always seemed able to do that. He was also so quiet, so cunning, as if he could always tell whenever they were up to something that could anger him.

"What was that?" To the casual observer, the question would have been mildly curious, but the two knew that they were treading on dangerous ground. Very dangerous ground.

"She wondered why we are here so much." Rhuben's voice was bitter and she hated herself for it.

"What did you say?" The tone of his voice never changed, causing a chill to make its way down his two daughters' spines.

"We told her we're clumsy." Riley couldn't keep all of the exasperation out of her voice. She'd been through this at least a hundred times before. It was the same thing each time. A teacher or an adult, even most strangers would ask them if something was wrong, and she would just continue to lie over and over again, not wanting to endanger anyone else if they got in the middle of things.

It was almost second nature now.

"Watch it." Robert didn't even bother to make his voice casual. He looked around, making sure that no one was watching them before taking a menacing step towards them, lowering his voice. "Never take that tone of voice with me. Especially in public!"

She didn't reply, subconsciously tracing the outline of one of many forming bruises on her forearm with the tip of her finger. After a slight pause her father turned to leave.

"Let's go home; we have a lot of research to do when we get there."

Riley let out a sigh of relief as she watched his retreating form become smaller and smaller through the hospital room window. She shouldn't have let her frustration show. She'd pay for it later. Wincing, she slid out of the hospital bed and headed toward the restroom to survey the damage. Rhuben followed.

Years of experience and similar situations helped them keep their faces calm, but even they had to stifle a gasp at what gazed back at them through the mirror. Their faces were a mass of bruises, dark purple and blue blotches covering most of it. In Rhuben's left eyebrow was a small cut with a small trail of blood still trickling out of it. The twins turned away from their images, deciding not to survey the rest of their bodies for damages.

If they didn't think about it, it wasn't entirely real.

If they didn't think about it, they could push the pain, even the memories, to the back of their minds and pretend to be normal girls with a normal life.

Closing her eyes, Rhuben struggled to keep her anger and humiliation in check before the doctors would come to release them. She knew she wouldn't get much rest once at home. But no matter how hard she tried, her body wouldn't relax.

The day's events played over and over in her mind causing her body to tense…

A/N: Sorry for another short chapter, I'm really tired and this was all that I could come up with. Plus, it's a good transitioning chapter for the next one as well as a flashback for the Jacksons that you've never seen before. So, I hope that makes up for it. Sorry guys, the next one will be longer to make up for the last two short ones.

Thanks to MysticMelody101, shotinthedark, Rage-Against-Time, BigTimeFan-'10, BigTimeRush-DarkElements-Fan, youspinmelikearecord, DarkElements-Jackson-Fan, LogieLuvr914, blue ice, Lella-Kiley-Luvr, Ash, and 2lazy2signin, for reviewing.

Cheers,

-Riles