Chapter Four

Hilary stared blankly at the equation on the board then at the teacher. She knew the answer to the problem, but didn't the teacher know that she wasn't going to talk?

"Ms. Tatibana," the teacher said exasperatedly, "do you know the answer?"

The brunette nodded.

"Could you tell us please?"

She pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down the answer, and handed the paper to Kylie, who was sitting right beside her.

Kylie glanced down at the paper and smiled. "She said that the answer is 21."

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't she tell us this herself?"

The two-toned haired girl shrugged. "Because she hasn't talked since she got back. Mom says that she's probably recovering from shock."

The teacher just nodded and moved on to the next question. Kylie rolled her eyes. Weren't teachers supposed to care about these things?

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A man with icy blue eyes and fiery red hair stared blankly at his bed. It had already been two weeks since he let her get away and he still missed her. He had come so close to breaking her spirit…to making her scream. He wanted so badly to see her break like the fragile piece of art that she was.

"Hector?" a female's voice said from behind him.

He turned around and looked at his wife. She had short raven black hair and soft green eyes. "What is it, Opal?"

"Are you still thinking about her?" she asked bitterly.

The man called Hector smirked. "Yes. I am. I can't help it," he noticed the pained look on her face and frowned, "It's your own fault that I do this."

Opal gasped. "How is this my fault?"

"Because you never react to me. Having sex with you is like having sex with a pillow."

"Oh, so you decided to prey on innocent young women? And why, Hector, are you so infatuated with this last one? She isn't different than any of the others."

Hector chuckled. "That's where you're wrong, Opal. Lisa is so different. She has a vivacious spirit and continues to fight even when she knows that there's no point. I came so close to breaking her, but the damn cops got in the way."

His wife narrowed her eyes at him. He was disgusting. She had no idea what she ever saw in him. "I should call the cops and turn you in right now."

He lifted his hand and slapped her so hard that she fell to the ground. "You should, but you won't."

She glared at him. "Why wouldn't I?"

He got down on his knees and made it so that their noses were nearly touching. "Because if you do, I'll kill you."

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Hilary placed her hand on her stomach. She wondered what it would be like to be a mother. She wondered if she'd actually keep the baby or give it for adoption like so many other teen mothers do. She wasn't sure about either one of those, all she knew was that she was not going to have an abortion like some of the kids at school had said. Abortion to her was murder to her. She really didn't see how other people could do, killing babies before they even have a chance to live. She shuddered. To her, it was inconceivable at how cruel some people could be to even consider it. She didn't see how the law could allow something so horrible.

Hilary shook her head. She didn't want to think about it anymore.

I don't see the big deal about getting an abortion. You should want to get one, it's his child after all.

Hilary recognized the voice as Lorraine's.

What do you mean she should get a divorce? another voice cried - Hilary still hadn't figured out who this was. So what if it's his child? She doesn't have to keep it.

He'll come after her to get his child once he finds out that she's pregnant, Lorraine insisted, It would be better if she just went ahead and killed it. It would save us all a lot of grief.

Hilary was pulled out of the debate between Lori and the mysterious other girl when she heard a knock on the door.

"It's me," the sound of her mother's voice flowed through the door, "Can I come in?"

She stood up and opened the door and stepped aside to let her mother in.

Dawn smiled at her daughter as they both sat down on her bed. "I'm taking the girls clothes shopping, you want to come?"

She nodded.

The thirty-year-old smiled happily. "Okay then, let's go."

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Hilary picked up a black strapless dress that had a white dragon on it the twirled around so that the head rested on her breasts. She held it up to herself and turned to look at her friends.

"Oh, that looks so cute," Hailey exclaimed, "You're going to look so beautiful in that."

Dawn whistled as she looked at the price tag. "One hundred fifty dollars, Hilary! You really are trying to break me aren't you? I'm still going to buy it, I always do."

Kylie chuckled. "Y'know, I've always wondered why Hilary is the most expensive one when it comes to shoes and clothes, and she claims that looks don't matter."

Hilary just raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Just because looks didn't matter didn't mean that you couldn't look good. After trying the dress on she placed it in the basket with her other things - three dresses, four pants outfits, two skirt outfits, six shorts, twelve shirts, and five pairs of shoes.

In Kylie's basket there was one dress, six skirt outfits, eight shorts, four shirts, and one pair of shoes.

Hailey had three pants outfits, two dresses, ten shirts, five shirts, and two pairs of shoes.

Tika had ten dresses, five shorts, three shirts, and two skirt outfits - she wasn't really into shoes.

Dawn shook her head as she paid for all of the clothes. She really shouldn't be complaining because Hilary usually got her to buy about half of every clothes and shoe store they went into.

After a break at the food court they set out to go shopping again, this time for jewelry.

Hilary looked at various pieces of jewelry - golden and silver necklaces and bracelets with intricate designs and diamonds - and had even handed a few to her mother to buy. But when they were about to leave, a necklace with a purple orb dangling from it caught her eye. She stared at the gem inquisitively.

She knew that she had seen a gem like it before, she just couldn't remember what it was called.

Dawn walked over to her and saw the necklace she was staring at. "Do you want that one too, Hilary?"

The fifteen-year-old looked at her mother before looking back at the necklace and pointing at the orb.

"Oh," Dawn said as she lifted the necklace slowly and touched the orb, "that's an opal."
Hilary's eyes widened. "Opal," she whispered.

The thirty-year-old looked at her daughter in surprise. "What?"

"Opal," she said a little louder, "helped me escape. She's the one that called the cops."

Dawn stared at her daughter in awe for a few seconds. It was the first time she had spoken since her alternate ego, Lorraine, came out to tell them to leave the past alone. "Who's Opal?"

She shrugged. "His wife."

"Opal is who's wife?"

"His wife."

Dawn sighed, realizing that her daughter wasn't going to say anything else. "Do you want the necklace."

Hilary stared at it for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes."

As she was paying for the necklace, Dawn sighed. So what if Hilary wasn't telling her who this Opal person was married to? At least she was talking again.