My Sister's Secret
(Chapter Two: Wild Child)
It was half past eleven o'clock at night and Bailey was returning to her room from the bathroom down the hall when she heard a thud coming from Aubrey's bedroom.
"Aubrey?" She asked as she pushed the door open slowly to see her sister standing on the roof outside the bedroom window.
Bailey entered the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her. "What are you doing?"
"I am going to Jason Brigg's house for a little while. His parents are out of town and he invited some people over," Aubrey whispered. "Come on," she said reaching for Bailey's hand.
"No way. We have a big test in chem tomorrow. Or did you forget?"
"I don't have chemistry until fourth period. And I know that crap anyway. It will be fine."
"Well, I have it first period and I am not going anywhere."
"Bailey! You better not tell mom and dad!"
"Aubrey, don't do this."
"Bailey, please? We never get to do anything cool."
"Jason Brigg's and his friends are a bunch of stoners, Aubrey!"
"I am not going to do any drugs if that is what you are worried about. I am not that stupid! I just want to go out. With kids, our age. You should come, too."
"I don't think so, Aubrey."
"Bailey, please? Look, I am not asking you to lie to mom and dad. If they ask you where I am then by all means tell them. All I am asking is that you don't go in there and tell them I am gone. I will be back in a few hours and they will never even know I was gone. Pinky promise," she offering her little finger to her sister.
Bailey exhaled and looked back at the bedroom door. "Alright," she said locking her little finger in her sister's. "Just be careful. Don't do anything stupid like drink and drive."
Aubrey laughed. "We just turned fifteen! I don't even have a license!"
"How are you getting to Jason's?"
"Lisa from the squad. She is parked down the road waiting for me. She will bring me home in a few hours."
"Aubrey, if she drinks, don't ride with her. Call me and we'll figure something out."
"I promise. You are starting to sound like mom."
"I just don't want to lose my sister."
"Aww," Aubrey said hugging her. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"
"Not tonight," Bailey said. "But I want to hear all about it tomorrow at school."
Aubrey smiled and climbed down the lattice off the porch under her bedroom window. She turned and waved back to Bailey who watched until her sister was out of sight. She shut the window quietly, but did not lock it. She pulled the curtains and placed a body pillow in Aubrey's bed to make it appear as if her sister was sleeping there, then headed back to her own room.
The next morning Aubrey declined the invitation to go running with her mother and sister. Bailey blew it off knowing she was up late the night before at Jason's. Aubrey climbed from the back of her mother's car wearing dark sunglasses and pulled her bag over her shoulder as she headed for class.
Just before fourth period one of the other girls from Aubrey's cheerleading squad found Bailey in the hallway and told her that Aubrey was throwing up in the bathroom. Bailey went to her sister's side to see what was going on. As she walked into the girls bathroom and approached the stall Aubrey was leaned over throwing up again. Bailey sat her bag down and held Aubrey's hair back for her.
"Oh my gosh, you're sick. We should have them call mom."
"No," Aubrey argued as she raised her glassy eyes to look at Bailey. "I don't want mom and dad to know."
"Aubrey, you are sick. That is nothing to be ashamed of. You should be home in bed."
"I'm not sick, Bailey. I am hung over. My head is pounding and the room is spinning and I think I'm gonna," she leaned forward and threw up again.
Bailey tried her best to comfort her sister. Aubrey leaned back against the wall of the bathroom stall and groaned.
"Here," Bailey said pulling a bottle of water from her back pack.
"It will make me sick."
"No, it will help. You feel bad because the alcohol you consumed dehydrated you. You need more fluids in your body. That is what a hang over is, severe dehydration. Drink this and you will start to feel better, I promise."
"You don't drink. How do you know this?"
"It is science. I have to know this stuff if I am going to be a doctor some day. Speaking of science," she said looking at her watch. "You have three minutes until the bell rings."
"Bailey, I can't."
"You have to. You have never failed a test in your life. If you miss this mom and dad will know something is up."
"I am so sick, Bailey. Can you do it?"
"Me? I have already taken my test. And it wasn't even that hard. Mostly basic elements and you have to write them into the proper place on the periodic table of elements. You could do that in your sleep."
"Not today, I can't. Look, I screwed up. I screwed up bad. And I am never drinking again. Just this once. Mrs. Delancy can't tell us apart anyway."
"Yeah, except that I was just in her class wearing these clothes."
"You can wear my hoodie. Please Bail?"
"Oh, alright. I'll take your test for you and you go to Spanish class for me. But you own me big time. And if we get caught…"
"Then I will confess everything to mom and dad and tell them I mad you do it. But we wont get caught. Mrs. Delancy's tests always take the whole hour. Take the book from my bag and these glasses. If you finish early just read and don't talk to anyone and no one will notice you are not me. Oh, and write with your right hand."
"Right," Bailey said as she slipped on the sunglasses. She hugged her sister and raised her pinky finger to her as Aubrey locked hers in Bailey's. "We'd both better get going. I'll met you back here right after class."
"Thanks Bailey," Aubrey said with a weak and nauseated smile.
"Hey, you would do it for me," she said with a smile as she turned and went into class to take the examine for the second time that day.
The girls pulled it off without a hitch and Aubrey refrained from partying for a while. One day while they were changing clothes to go running with their mother Bailey notice that Aubrey had pierced her belly button.
"Isn't it cool?" She asked Bailey.
"Dad would freak!"
"Not as much as if he knew about the tattoo."
"You got a tattoo?"
"Not yet, but Jason knows a guy who does them. His cousin Jeremy, he goes to our school, he'll give me whatever I want for twenty bucks. It is going to be so cool!"
"Dad is going to kill you!"
"Kathleen got a tattoo when she was sixteen."
"Yes sixteen, almost seventeen! We just turned fifteen! And he almost killed her!"
"I am not afraid of daddy," she said in a sweet voice batting her eyes.
"What about mom?"
"Not scare of her either. You know how cool mom would be if she had a tattoo?"
"Do you know how dead you are going to be when they find out you have one?"
"Whatever!" Aubrey pulled her hair back and joined her mother downstairs for their morning run.
That Friday night there was another party at Jason Brigg's house. Jason was a junior and he was cool because he had an older brother who would get Jason and his friends beer for their parties. Jason also liked to smoke pot with his group of friends, including his cousin and it was no secret Jeremy had a thing for both Aubrey and Bailey.
Bailey was sitting on her bed reading a book when Aubrey tapped on the door and stepped inside. "There is another party at Jason's tonight. Are you in?"
"I thought you said you weren't going to do this anymore. You learned your lesson, remember?"
"I'm not gonna drink Bailey. I just want to go. All of our friends are going to be there."
"Didn't you already ask mom?"
"Yeah."
"And she said, what?"
"Ask your father."
"Aubrey!"
"And dad said, no. Duh! Do you think I would be standing here asking you to sneak out the window with me if our parents were cool with it? No we would be walking out the front freaking door! Bailey, please? Last time you said you would next time. Well, it is next time. And we don't have school tomorrow."
"You're not drinking?"
"Cross my heart."
"Okay," Bailey said. "But if I don't like it we come back home."
"Okay. Jason's cousin, Jeremy, is supposed to be there. The one who does the tattoos. I just want to meet him and talk to him about ideas for mine. Mingle a bit, then we can go. I promise. I am talking two hours tops."
"Are mom and dad still downstairs?"
"Nope. They went to bed early," Aubrey said raising an eyebrow."
"Eww. I don't even want to think that old people like mom and dad have sex."
"Of course they do, nimrod! How else do you think we got here?"
"That is wrong on so many levels!"
"Just get dressed so we can get out of here before they get loud."
"Eww!" Bailey shrieked. "You mean you have actually heard them having sex?"
Aubrey laughed. "No, but the look on your face was classic. I over heard mom on the phone to her….lady doctor talking about getting a new IUD."
"IUD?"
"It is birth control. So she wont get pregnant again. And have more monsters like us. I assume they have sex or she wouldn't need birth control."
"True," Bailey agreed. "It is kind of sweet if you think about it."
"What? Dad all sweaty on top of mom?"
"Gross! No! I mean the fact that after seventeen years of marriage and two children…"
"Teenagers!"
"Teenagers….they are still romantic together. Daddy is such a good husband. I want a husband like him someday."
"Someday. But not today. Let's go before we're too old to have kids of our own!"
"Okay," Bailey said pulling on a hooded sweatshirt and grabbing her cell phone from the bed.
Jason's house was full of drunken teenagers long before the Stabler girls arrived. Bailey and Aubrey walked in side by side and looked around. Not as many of their friends were there as they thought would be and the ones who were all appeared to be drunk or stoned.
Bailey glared at her sister. "I'm ready to go Aubrey. Now."
"Twenty minutes, Okay? Just let me find Jason so he can introduce me to his cousin Jeremy. I will talk to him about the tat and we are out of here." She offered up her little finger to Bailey.
Bailey looked at it for a minute and nodded as she curled her finger around Aubrey's. "Twenty minutes."
"Okay. Why don't you go talk to Lisa? You know her."
Bailey smiled nervously as she made her way to the sofa. She talked to Lisa and watched as Aubrey found Jason and he introduced her to another guy. Several minutes later Bailey got a text from Aubrey's phone that said she was going upstairs to Jason's room to look at some pictures of tattoos that Jeremy had brought with him.
Bailey looked up to see Aubrey laughing and following Jeremy up the stairs. She smiled and waved at her sister and mouthed "five minutes" to her from across the room. Twenty minutes later Bailey got tired of waiting. The people around her were getting drunker by the minute and starting to get rough and she had the feeling a fight could break out any minute. If it did, someone would surely call the police and this was the last place that the two fifteen year old daughters of two SVU detectives needed to be when the cops showed up to bust up a party. Especially seeing as there was alcohol and pot at the party.
She sent Aubrey another text, but after getting no answer she tried calling her phone again. Nothing. Bailey said goodbye to Lisa and headed up the stairs to find her sister so they could leave.
As she got to the top of the staircase she noticed the four bedroom doors, all of which were shut. She pressed her lips together and leaned against the first one to hear a couple inside obviously having sex. She could hear the girl moan softly and mumble Jason's name.
"No," she said as she moved to the next door.
She leaned against it, but the room was quiet. She listened carefully as she heard a few muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door. Bailey turned an looked at the other two rooms. She really didn't want to be know around school as the freshman who walked in on some couple getting busy at a party.
She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and hit send, redialing Aubrey's number. She listened against the door until she heard her ring tone on Aubrey's phone from the other side of the door.
"Got it," she said relieved as she tapped on the door pushing it open at the same time. "Aubrey, we really have to go." But what she saw when she walked in was something that would change both of their lives forever.