My Sister's Secret

(Chapter Eleven: New Direction)

"You okay?" Olivia asked combing her fingers through Aubrey's hair as they sat parked in front of the school.

"Yeah, gotta go back sometime, right?"

"I love you. And I will be right here to pick you both up after school."

"Okay," Aubrey whispered as she looked up at her mother.

"Bye, mom. Love you," Bailey said as she climbed out of the black SUV.

"Bye mom," Aubrey said softly as she leaned over and kissed Olivia's cheek.

"Bye, baby."

Olivia sat in the car and watched until the girls were inside the building, then headed to work.

After court that morning, Olivia took the rest of the day off for a doctor's appointment. Around noon she headed home with the dry cleaning and groceries to get a few things done before the kids got home from school. On her way home she received a call from the school saying that Aubrey didn't show up to a few of her classes.

Olivia turned the car around and drove to the school. As she pulled around in front of the school she noticed her daughter sitting under a tree in the courtyard. Olivia parked the car and shut off the engine. She walked slowly across the grass and sat down under the tree beside Aubrey.

"Hey kid," she said softly.

Aubrey looked up at her with tears streaming down her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just want to go home, mom."

"Okay," Olivia replied as she hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Where is your sister?"

"Bailey is still in class. I just couldn't do it anymore. All of the whispers and the looks."

"Lets go home, baby."

When they got home Aubrey went upstairs to lay down for a while. As Olivia stood in the kitchen putting stuff away in the pantry, she heard the front door slam shut.

"Elliot?" She called through the house as she walked into the living room to see Bailey standing in the foyer. "What are you doing home?"

"I walked."

"What happened to your face?" Olivia asked wiping a bit of blood from a busted lip.

"Nothing, mom. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Why aren't you in school?"

"Because I got suspended, okay?"

"Not okay! What the hell is going on with you?" Just then her cell phone rang. "Stabler," she answered. "El, can I call you back? I am talking to Bailey who just walked home. I don't know why. I am trying to get to the bottom of that right now."

Bailey exhaled in annoyance and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Bailey Olivia Stabler, I am not even close to finished with this conversation!" Olivia yelled up the stairs as Bailey slammed her bedroom door shut.

"I don't know, Elliot. She has a busted lip and it is obvious she has been fighting. She wont talk to me. I was just about to sit her down and make her when you called. I picked Aubrey up earlier. The school called me and said she had missed a few classes. She was sitting under a tree when I got there."

"This is ridiculous, Olivia. I'm on my way home."

"El, I am not sure that is going to help. There really isn't any reason for you to miss work, too. Maybe it was just too soon to send them back to school."

"These are our kids and if there is something going on with her we need to find out what. If we're both there we can tag team her and figure out what the hell is going on." He was quiet for a few seconds. "How did your appointment go?"

"Good. Still cancer free."

"That is great news."

"That is what I said. I picked up the dry cleaning and got a few groceries. I was putting them away when I heard the front door slam."

"I'm half way home now. Why don't you give her a little cool down time and we can drag it out of her when I get there. How is Aubrey?"

"Aubrey is… I don't know. She was a little upset. She said she is fine, she just wasn't ready to go back yet. She went up to her room to lay down for a little while. I'm worried, Elliot. They are not usually like this. And Bailey has never been in a fight in her life."

"I'm sure the first day back to school was rough. Let them calm down a little and when I get home the four of us will sit down and have a heart to heart."

"Okay. I will see you in a little while."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

She hung up the phone and finished putting the groceries away. She went upstairs and hung up the dry cleaning in the bedroom closet. Elliot came in as she walked back down the stairs.

"Hey baby," he said kissing her tenderly.

"Hey."

"Is Bailey still up there?"

"They both are. I didn't say anything to them."

"I have a plan. Why don't you fix a couple of bowls of ice cream and I will go get the girls?"

"Okay."

Elliot exhaled and walked up the stairs. He tapped gently on Aubrey's bedroom door as he pushed it open.

"Bre? Hey, sweetheart."

"Hi, daddy."

"Mom and I were thinking maybe it was time for a family discussion. She is making some ice cream now. Why don't you go on down and help her and I'll get Bailey."

"Okay, dad."

He leaned against the wall for a few minutes outside Bailey's bedroom door to try to think of a plan, then knocked on the door.

"Bail, can I come in?"

"Sure," she growled.

Elliot pushed open the door and looked at his daughter stretched out across her bed crying.

"Why don't you come downstairs and tell mom and I about it?"

"I just really don't want to talk about it daddy, please."

"I know, baby. But mom and I are worried. And if we talk about this like a family, maybe we can come up with a solution to the problem. Bailey, not talking about it isn't going to make it go away. Come on downstairs. Mom's fixing some ice cream."

"Okay daddy," she said wiping her eyes as she stood up from the bed.

Elliot escorted her down the stairs as Olivia sat ice cream bowls on the table.

"Thanks, mom."

"No problem," Olivia said softly. She stared into Bailey's eyes as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and examined the busted lip. "Can you tell us what this is all about?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Bailey, don't talk to your mother that way."

"I'm sorry, mom."

"Honey, I know going back to school is hard on you."

"It wasn't about me."

"What happened?" Elliot asked.

"Everyone at school kept calling me a killer. They said I got away with murder. That I only got away with it because my mommy and daddy are cops and that I'm going to hell for what I did."

"Honey…."

"No mom, it gets worse. This girl, Lisa Pryce, she used to date Jeremy Briggs. She said that Aubrey was a slut and she asked for it. She said that my slutty sister was sleeping her way around the school and she would spread her legs for any guy. She got up in my face and hit me in the mouth, so I hit her."

"You hit her?"

"I punched her in the mouth. I screamed at her to take it back, but she refused. All of the guys were calling Aubrey as slut! And it just made me so angry! She isn't a slut! She doesn't sleep around! Jeremy Briggs raped Aubrey and now everyone is making it sound like this is all her fault! Lisa, said I murdered her boyfriend and she was going to kick my ass. Then she punched me in the mouth and pulled my hair. So I hit her. And she hit me again. I hated her," Bailey sobbed as she sat down at the table and folded her arms in front of her. "The principal pulled us in his office and Lisa said I started it. But I didn't, she hit me first! They suspended me and sent her back to class. So I got mad and left. And I'm not going back!"

"What about you?" Elliot asked looking at Aubrey.

"Nothing," she said softly. "I'm just tired of the way they look at us. And whisper when we walk by. Everyone is saying bad things, daddy. Even the people we thought were our friends. I am the school slut now and Bailey is some murder, whose mommy and daddy kept her out of jail."

"Girls I know this is hard on you," Elliot began. "But you can't just stop going to school."

"Daddy please," Aubrey pleaded in tears, "I don't want to go back."

"Yeah dad," Bailey sobbed, "can't we just move or something?"

"We have been in this house since you girls were just little kids. We are not going to move now. This is our home." Elliot looked up at his wife.

"We have to do something, Elliot. They can't keep coming home with busted lips."

"Well, what are our options," he thought out loud. "That is the only school around here, without them going to school in the city. They only have a few more months before the year is out. To start a new school right now is going to make things even harder. If they can make it through the next few months, we could try St. Mary's next year. It isn't far from the precinct. We can drop them off on our way to work. The twins went there for through high school and seemed to like it."

"Daddy, please don't make us go back to school," Aubrey said looking up at him.

"Baby, if you just stop going to school now you will have to repeat your freshman year. You are both honor roll students and being held back a year can be enough to keep you from getting into a good college."

"Daddy, please don't make us go back," Bailey begged.

"El, what if I home schooled them. Just the rest of this school year. Then we all start again next year. A brand new start at St. Mary's. They don't want to go back and I don't want them going back there. I can get the curriculum and teach them here at home this last few months."

"What about driver's ed? They have to take that through the school. They will be sixteen next month and can't get a license until they have had it."

"We took it last semester, dad. Now we just have to get in our driving hours and go to the DMV and take the test," Aubrey informed him.

"What do you girls think?" Elliot asked.

"I think that is a good idea," Bailey said looking at her sister.

"Anything to keep from going back there," Aubrey agreed.

"So this is our family decision?" Elliot asked. "Home school the rest of this year and start over fresh next year at St. Mary's? Is every body in?" He asked placing his hand in the center of the table.

"Yeah," Bailey said laying her hand in his.

"Yes," Aubrey agreed placing her hand on her sister's.

"Alright," Olivia said with a smile placing her hand on the top of the stack.

"And this is how the Stabler family solves problems. We sit down together and we talk through them. Because together, girls, there is nothing we cannot overcome. You know what else I was thinking? Mom and I both have some time built up. And if you are home schooling, as long as it doesn't interfere with your assignments, we could go ahead and take a little vacation. I think we could all use a break."

"Vacation sounds good dad."

"Yeah, where are we going?"

"Well, there is Sea World."

"For real dad? We're not five."

"No Sea World. Where would you girls like to go?"

"Hawaii," Bailey said with a smile.

"Someplace warm."

"Liv?"

"Somewhere with a beach sounds nice."

"So we want a beach vacation," Elliot said as he nodded. "I'll tell you what, you girls help mom get your school stuff straightened out. Give me a few days to figure out financially what we have in savings to spend on a vacation and I will come up with a list of options in our price range. I am not sure we can afford Hawaii," he said looking over at Bailey, "but I will try to find us a beach get away in our budget. A nice place we can all relax and unwind for about a week and have a little fun together as a family. We can have another family meeting in a few days to vote on where we will go."

Two days later they all sat around the table enjoying a meal that the girls had cooked.

"Any progress on vacation ideas, daddy?" Aubrey asked.

"I have a couple of ideas. Unfortunately, Hawaii is not in our budget. But I found deals for Daytona Beach, Florida and Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head Island in South Carolina." He pulled out some pictures that he had printed at work to pass around and show them.

"This one is really pretty," Aubrey said.

"Hilton Head Island," Bailey began to read from the paper. "Golf, beaches, luxury resort, tennis, volleyball, polo…. Oh, dad they have snorkeling and scuba diving. This is so cool."

"Honey, I am sure the others do also."

"But this one looks prettier in the pictures."

"Okay, so we have your vote. What about you Bre?"

"I'm with Bailey on this one. And we have already been to Florida."

"Liv?"

"Hilton Head Island sounds great. But wont it be a little cold?"

"That is another thing. If we do the beach thing, it would probably be better to wait until around the end of May or beginning or June. This is only the end of April. If we go now, it will be too cold to enjoy the beach and the water. But I was thinking I could go ahead and book us for the last week of May. By then you girls would be finished with school and off for the summer."

"And that gives us time to get new summer clothes for the trip," Bailey chimed in.

"That is true," Elliot agreed.

"So, we are going on vacation in South Carolina the last week in May?" Aubrey asked. "That is right after our birthday."

"Are we sure on this? Is this what everybody agrees?"

Elliot looked around the table as the girls nodded their heads.

"Looks like it," Olivia said with a smile.

"Alright. Then I will go ahead and make our reservations and book the flight."