Selphie was always changing who she liked. It was different about every two or three weeks. Rinoa was amazed at how fast she changed her mind. She was impressed by a lot of things Selphie did. In fourth grade, Selphie spent the night at Rinoa's house every day. Once, after Selphie left, Julia said, "Rinoa, I know Selphie is your best friend but.... Is there another reason she's here all the time? Is she having any problems?"

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked with a confused look.

"Nothing, honey. Never mind." Julia never said anything else about it. Selphie decided to have Rinoa stay over a few weeks later. Julia told Rinoa in the morning before school, "If anything happens, call me." Rinoa didn't understand but agreed anyway.

"Rick wont be here until we're asleep," Selphie said. "So we've got nothing to worry about." Rinoa wondered what they would've had to worry about but she didn't ask. Selphie's mother avoided them. She didn't want them to see her so she hid out in her room most of the day and made dinner while they played outside. Unbeknownst to Rinoa, Selphie's real father had run off years ago with a younger woman. Carol Tilmitt never hid the truth from her daughter. Together they had survived through it and made it on their own. Then Rick came into Carol's life. She met him a few years ago at work- when she WAS working. She was a waitress they were busy that day and she'd accidentally mixed up an order. The customer caused a big scene by yelling at her. Rick put the customer in his place and defended Carol. Ever since then they made small talk. He'd even flirt with her on occasion. He moved in with her last year, bringing along his thirteen-year-old son, David.

David and Selphie never got along. David would constantly pick on her yet in the end, the blame was always put on eight year old Selphie. David was violent too. He beat Selphie one day because she laughed a little when he almost tripped on a rock. Selphie had numerous bruises as a result and Rick punished her. Carol could do nothing about it. She learned immediately that you weren't allowed to go against Rick. If you did, there were consequences. Lately he seemed to be upset about everything. But Carol had become quite well at putting make-up on over the bruises. She usually took the blame for things Selphie did so her dear child wouldn't be hurt. Carol hid in her room in shame while the kids ate dinner.

"Is your mommy sick?" Rinoa asked.

Selphie said, "Yeah, I think so. At least she made us dinner. If Rick were here, he would've had us make our own dinner."

"How would we do that?" Selphie shrugged.

"We would've had to figure it out ourselves." That night was chaotic and Rinoa would never forget about it. They went to bed at eight thirty but stayed up talking. Selphie went silent when a car pulled up in the driveway. "He's home," she whispered. "Rinoa, pretend you're asleep!" They shut their eyes tightly and keep silent. Rinoa could feel her heartbeat quicken each second. The door opened a little, letting light from the hall flow on their faces. Rinoa held her breath and tried not to tremble. It stayed open for a few seconds more before it finally closed. Selphie sat up and let out a sigh, "We're lucky. I don't know what would've happened if he came in here."

Rinoa said, "W- would he hurt you?"

"Yes, maybe even you too. He's a bad man. He's mean to mom. That's why I stay at your house a lot. They've been fighting a lot lately and mom told me to get out when I could. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I like having you over anyway." Rinoa hugged her. She felt bad for Selphie. 'Having to grow up like that must be terrible,' she thought. 'Well I'll help her get out of this.' Eventually they got tired and fell asleep.

Rinoa's dream was disturbed when her body hit the floor. Selphie was huddled in the corner. Rick was standing over Rinoa. His eyes were bloodshot and he was glaring down at her. "Who the hell are you?" He spat. He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. "What are you doing in my house?"

"That's Selphie's friend and she's spending the night," Carol said from the doorway. "Let her go, Rick."

"Don't tell me what to do, Carol!" He grabbed Selphie. "Who told you that you could have a friend over?" Selphie sniffed. She was on the verge of crying.

"I did. I told her she could have a friend over. Now leave her alone."

"Don't tell me what to do. Don't tell me what to do!" He dropped Selphie and went after Carol. Carol ran into the living room.

Selphie said, "Come on, Rinoa. We have to get to the neighbor's house. They'll call help. Let's go out the window." She pushed it up with Rinoa's help. Luckily for them there was no screen in it. Selphie got outside then tried to pull Rinoa out. David ran in the room and grabbed Rinoa's legs. She was pulled back in. Selphie raced to the front door of the neighbor's house. They knew how to respond to her banging on their door. While Selphie was doing that, Rinoa was trying to hide from David. He'd already hit her after pulling her back into the house. She was able to get away from him and now she was cowering in a closet. She could hear the sounds of Rick beating on Carol. Rinoa wished there was something she could do to help. The door whipped open and there stood David. He had an evil grin on his face. Rinoa put her hands up over her head.

When the police came, they busted through the front door, yelling, "Freeze!" David and Rick were put into handcuffs. Selphie had a cop call Julia who arrived after the two were arrested. Carol was placed on a stretcher. Julia told Carol she would watch over Selphie. She gently squeezed Carol's hand. Rinoa was taken to the hospital too. She ended up fine though. Selphie went home with them feeling terrified for her mother.

Rinoa hugged her and said, "It'll be okay, Selphie. My mommy will take care of you until your mommy gets better. Okay?" Selphie nodded. Neither of them could get to sleep again. "Your mommy should kick that guy out. He's mean."

"I know," Selphie mumbled. "She's been in the hospital before because of him. Just before we moved. I stayed with some of her friends for a while. He scares me."

"Me too. I hope they put him in jail forever." Selphie nodded. They tried to talk about happier things and make each other laugh. They were still awake when Julia came in to wake them up for school.

"Did you two get any sleep last night?" Julia asked. They giggled. "Well, tell you what, I will call the school and tell them you to won't be coming if you will eat breakfast and try to get some sleep. Is that a deal?"

They both said, "Yeah!" As they ate, she made the call.

Once Julia hung up the phone, she said, "Okay you two, Rinoa's father is upstairs in his office if you need something. I'm going to pay a visit to your mother, Selphie. If you'd like, I can take you to see her tomorrow." Selphie nodded. Julia put her jacket on and took a trip to the hospital. She was directed to Carol's room. Carol's wrist was broken; there were bruises and scars on her body.

"Hello," Julia said gently as she came in. "I'm Rinoa's mother, Julia. Remember?" Carol nodded. "I came to see how you were doing."

Carol said, "As long as the meds are working, I FEEL good. Is Selphie okay?"

"Yes she's fine. She'd like to come see you tomorrow. Do you think you'll be up to it?"

"Of course." They were quiet for a minute.

"What happened last night?"

"Rick was going to beat Selphie and I didn't want him to. He wasn't drunk- he doesn't drink. He does anything he can to find a reason to hit her but I don't know why exactly. Anyway, I didn't want him to hurt her so I got him to come after me. He could've killed her."

"He could've killed you."

"Yes but I'm physically stronger than her. Listen, Julia, I have no family. They're all gone. If anything ever happens to me, I want you to take Selphie."

"I will but you'd better put it in writing and give it to a lawyer. If you don't there's a possibility that he could get her or she might be placed in a foster home. I don't think you have anything to worry about though. He'll be doing some time in jail for what he did to you. Who was the other man they took away?"

Carol said, "Oh. That was Rick's son, David. He's always hitting Selphie. I try to stop him but I don't always catch him."

"You're not married to Rick, are you?" Julia asked.

"No, I'm not. He wanted me to marry him but I wasn't sure about it." Julia squeezed Carol's uninjured hand. The next day, Selphie got to visit her mother. Rinoa and Julia stayed out in the mall. Selphie stayed with them for a week before she got to go home. After that, Julia started calling Carol to talk and check up on her.