A/N: Heyyy…so haven't updated this in awhile, so thank MrsEads for the request to get my ass going on this story. Haha! I hope you enjoy the update, and remember to leave me a comment, and you will give me eternal bliss.

She was cutting herself in the morning, and that was never a good sign. Chloe had gotten up early and woken her up with her rummaging around and loud talking. Both her parents were already up, and she could hear them downstairs, happily interacting with her little sister. Kelsey remembered when she used to be like that. Back when she was actually comfortable in her own skin, and didn't feel like a complete psycho and failure. She bet her parents wished she was that small again, and they could handle her.

When she woke up, her mind immediately returned to the day before. Her parents had been so angry at her, and she was actually afraid of what they may do. It was an unsettling feeling, that your parents didn't know what to do with you. They ended up grounding her for another two weeks, in addition to the month she was already serving. Not that that would stop her – they didn't know how many times she'd snuck out of her room at night after they'd gone to bed. They'd caught her only twice, but she'd gotten away with it dozens of times.

She felt like she was so beyond help – they literally had no idea how to control her. She was surprised when her father's authoritative method of discipline seemed to have no more effect on her – the eyes that used to stab into her soul, just seemed to bounce back at him. Before, their punishments seemed to have an effect on her – she would feel remorseful after getting a time-out, being spanked on occasion when she was little, and getting grounded or getting extra chores when she was older. Kelsey just didn't care – whatever punishment they handed out, she'd find a way around it. She didn't want it to be that easy, but it was.

Kelsey blasted Korn's "Freak on a Leash" and made sure her desk chair was securely blocking her door. She stripped off her t-shirt and nudged the bra strap off her shoulder, as she found her razor, deeply buried in her drawer.

Something takes a part of me

Something lost and never seen

Every time I start to believe

Something's raped and taken from me

Life's gotta always be messing with me

Can't it chill and let me be free

Can't I take away all this pain

I try to every night all in vain

Sometimes I cannot take this place

Sometimes it's my life I can't taste

Sometimes I cannot feel my face

You'll never see me fall from grace

Something takes a part of me

You and I weren't meant to be

A cheap fuck for me to lay

Something takes a part of me

Kelsey made a huge gash across her upper arm just below her shoulder and let the blood trickle down. It seeped over her skin, and she felt the familiar, comforting sting as her body tried to heal her wound once again. The blood curved and trickled down and over her old scars. Some that were years old, and some just a few days. It had never been this bad before – never had she cut herself two days in a row, in the morning nonetheless, but she was feeling even more lost.

Feeling like a freak on a leash

Feeling like I have no release

How many times have I felt diseased

Nothing in my life is free

After watching herself bleed for a couple minutes, Kelsey heard a loud knock at her door. She turned her music down to see what the angry voice was saying. It was her mother.

"Kelsey, turn that music down, and you need to hurry up. We're leaving for work in fifteen minutes."

"Fine! I'll be down in a minute." She answered back with attitude. When Kelsey heard her mother's footsteps receding, she reached for the tissues and started applying pressure to her gash. She mopped up the blood from her skin the best she could. When she'd stopped bleeding, she threw on some clothes for school and went into the bathroom, taking care to hide the bloodied tissue and razor.

She dressed pretty normally, not like someone you'd expect who was mutilating herself on a regular basis. Kelsey wasn't in to the Abercrombie look, but she wasn't a nerdy dresser by any means. Mostly, she chose simple t-shirts that complimented her body well, and covered up her shoulders and upper-arms. Kelsey did like to wear revealing things sometimes just because she knew she had a great body, and it would piss her parents off. Her khaki capris and black Old Navy flip flops looked normal enough, and were comfortable.

After putting her tissues in her secret bag, and hiding both it and the razor, she grabbed her backpack, filled with incomplete math homework, and headed downstairs reluctantly. Her parents didn't even notice her at first, or didn't let on, as they continued to talk to Chloe at the breakfast table. A bowl was already set out for her as always, so she took her seat at the table, and grabbed the box of Corn Pops.

The table was silent for a few moments, as if no one knew what to say, or didn't really want to talk to her. Her father cleared his throat and looked over at her. Kelsey's eyes shot up and met his as she finished pouring the milk. Surprisingly, his eyes looked loving and supportive right now, not judgmental like they normally were. She looked at her mother, and she looked the same.

"How'd you sleep, sweetheart?" Nick asked her, without any hint of anger, judgment, or sarcasm in his voice.

Kelsey looked at him for a few moments, stirring her cereal, before she answered.

"Fine." Obviously, he wanted to tell her or ask her something important, but she wasn't going to take his bait.

"Good. Listen, your mom and I want to talk to you after school about some things, so would you mind coming into the lab when school's out?"

Did they know about her cutting? They would probably think she was a freak if they ever found out, as if they didn't think that already. As she looked at her mother again, though, she could tell they didn't know. Their faces would look a lot different if they did – they'd be heartbroken, disgusted, and angry.

"Sure. Whatever you say." She taunted them for good measure.

Nick and Sara dropped both their daughters off at their respective schools before heading off to work themselves. They held hands as they walked into work, something they didn't often do for professional reasons.

They found out more from Catherine about Butterfield Academy. The school seemed like a close to perfect fit for Kelsey, though she probably wouldn't think so. It was a K-12 school known for their rigorous, college-preparatory academic program. High school students were required to take four years in English, history, science, mathematics, and foreign language, as well as exposure to the arts and also a little forensics (which tickled their fancies). The school offered as advanced of math classes as Multivariate Calculus, but Kelsey's placement would depend on standardized tests, current grades, and teacher recommendation. Kelsey was a sophomore placed in a freshman math class, which they both thought had done horrors for her confidence in the subject. Hopefully, their boast of compassionate, patient, but strict teachers would be just what Kelsey needed to get back on track.

Nick and Sara contacted the school while at work and discussed admissions and financial aid. They had assistance plans for financial help, and seemed familiar to this type of parent – a pair at their wits' end, willing to do anything to help and straighten out their child. Nick and Sara seemed sold. The two parents decided they would pitch the idea to their daughter when she arrived here after school, but their decision had already been made. Kelsey may hate them even more for a while, but they were going to get her help, and her attitude and tantrums weren't going to stop them.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

Kelsey Stokes walked into the familiar Las Vegas Crime Lab building. She used to come here all the time when she was little, because she thought what her parents did for a living was so cool. That was when she held her parents up on such a high pedestal, worshipped the ground they walked on, and did whatever they said. Now, she would rather be elsewhere. Anywhere but this suffocating, nerd-filled building. She approached the receptionist's desk and sighed heavily.

"Hi, I'm Kelsey Stokes, and I'm here to see my parents, Nick and Sara."

"Certainly. I'll call and let them know you're here."

Kelsey sat down in one of the chairs and checked her watch. It was a little after three fifteen. This was normally the time she would use to cut herself at home after a long, hard school day. She'd gotten in trouble in math class again because she hadn't finished her homework, and didn't have any of her late homework done either. But she'd actually come to work like her parents had asked, and surely that counted for something.

A couple minutes later, her parents walked out to the reception area. They were both wearing their blue lab coats, and Kelsey couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight of them.

"Hi, sweetheart. We're glad you came." Her father kissed her cheek and then motioned to come this way down the hallways. She couldn't help but notice how affectionate her parents were being with her, as her mother started stroking her back gently as they neared her father's office. Nick had been promoted to Day Shift Supervisor a few years before and took his job very seriously, but his family always came first.

Usually, her father would still sit behind his desk when she came in to see him these days (usually, she'd be sent here if she got in trouble at school), but today both her parents pulled up chairs to sit right in front of her, face to face. Kelsey could tell she was in for a major talking to, but they didn't seem mad. Surely, her math teacher had called them ranting again, but they didn't seem pissed at all. What were they doing? Her mother began.

"Kelsey, your father and I need to talk about something very important with you."