CHAPTER 7

POVS ELIZABETH

Just as Spencer leaves, I hear my grandmother say, "Come here right now, Elizabeth." She seemed quite angry. I go quickly to the kitchen, because I know that the later it will be the worse.

''Grandma, I'm so sorry, she just came to do a job. We didn't mess anything up, we were just in my room,'' I say, avoiding her gaze.

''First of all, look me in the eyes when we talk. We have already talked about its hundreds of times. Second, it's not just that you brought someone without my permission, you also haven't left dinner or the rest of the things I asked you ready,'' she says violently. Every time she gets closer to me.

''You already know that I let you stay in my house, because otherwise it would make you look bad in front of many people, but if you continue not obeying me, I will seriously consider sending you away from here,'' she says and after a brief pause she returns to her anger, ' 'You are the worst granddaughter I could have had. I wish you had ended up like your bastard mother''. After this I just explode.

''How dare you say that? Don't you have even a bit of soul left? I just didn't make dinner and brought a classmate, and you think you have the right to say those things to me? You know what? Yes, I wish I had died with my family and not have to put up with you!'' I say with all the hatred and pain that I have accumulated inside me.

Just then, she comes up to me and slaps me.

"Don't ever talk to me like that again, do you hear me?!" Go to your room right now and don't even dare talk to me these days! You already know everything you must do so that things don't get worse for you!'' After this I run out to my room, holding my cheek with my hand. It hurt me quite a bit.

My grandmother was not like most grandmothers. She was only 57 years old, since she had given birth to my mother when she was 18 and my mother had given birth to me when she was 24 years old. So, she was still quite energetic and strong.

I knew that tomorrow I would wake up with a swollen and very red cheek, but I would fix it with makeup, I didn't want anyone to know anything.

I look at the photo of my mother, Elizabeth, we had the same name, missing her deeply today. I miss her so much.

I went to sleep imagining a world where my family was alive and perfect, and I had people who truly loved me.

POVS SPENCER

The next morning at the Hastings house….

I had stayed up all night thinking about Elizabeth's grandmother's behavior. In addition to lying to others about her, it seems as if she was just an employee to her, she didn't seem to be exactly friendly. The house was huge and yet Elizabeth's room was tiny.

I felt bad for not giving her a chance from the beginning. I could have helped her feel more comfortable in this town and had more company with her, because, apparently, due to her grandmother's attitude, she had no one to talk to or just hang out with.

I get ready quickly and go down to have breakfast. Today, rarely, my parents are there, lately I noticed them trying to be more familiar.

''Good morning darling. How did you sleep?" my mother says just when I get to the kitchen.

"Not very well, I've been thinking about something all night," I say, not knowing exactly whether to tell them or not.

''Wow, has something happened to you these days at school? "I could talk to the director, if necessary," says my father. They can be a little distant at times because work consumes them and they have been raised to be prefects, but I notice that they are trying harder and harder to leave that behind. Also, lately with everything that has happened with Alison, I notice they are quite protective. They have even stopped comparing me to Melissa, which is already a relief.

In the end I think about it and decide to tell them what I discovered last night about Elizabeth.

''I have discovered that Elizabeth, the girl who is living at Emma Hale's house, who also spent a few weeks with my group of friends before Alison disappeared, is her granddaughter, not the granddaughter of a friend of hers, as she told us '', I say while my father remains completely still, staring at me.

"How? And her mother? This is Elizabeth's daughter, Veronica!'' My mother is also surprised.

"Where is her mother? Has she told you why she hasn't come while she's been here? She and I have known each other since we were babies, but we lost contact a few years ago.'' Now I feel bad about what I'm going to say to my father.

''I'm sorry, Dad, but Elizabeth told me that her mother and her brother died in a car accident almost two years ago, although I don't know anything about her father,'' they freeze as soon as I say it.

''What? It can't be,'' my father gets up from his chair for a moment and tries to calm down. "I can't believe that Emma wasn't able to tell me that she had died, and that it was Elizabeth's daughter who was living with her," my father says, not being able to believe anything I say.

My mother approaches him to give him a hug. It is clear that my father loved Elizabeth's mother very much and was a very important person to him.

"Could you tell me a little about the relationship you had with Elizabeth's mother, Dad?" I say, wanting to know a little more about their relationship.

''Elizabeth's mother and I had always known each other, we lived across the street from each other, right here. Our families got along well, so we always went everywhere together. We were the best friends there could be in Rosewood," he continues after a brief sigh.

''Later when we started high school, we separated a bit due to social pressures and our new groups of friends. Until later, at age 15, we met at many parties together and reconnected. That time something more than friendship arose between us, and we gave ourselves a chance. I spent some of the best moments of my life with her and in the worst moments, like when my father died, she was by my side every single day so I couldn't break down,'' some tears escape from her eyes. I had never seen my father like this in front of me.

''Then, we separated to go to university. We each went to one end of the country, and since, above all, we were friends before being a couple, we decided that ending our relationship was better than ruining it due to distance. She was one of the best people I knew in my life, always kind and attentive to the people she loved. When our children were born, we were in contact and sent each other photos of you, happy that each of us had found her family. We didn't see each other again, because Elizabeth lived on the other side of the country, but I wish I had gone to see her and that you all knew each other,'' he says while trying to compose himself. I think it will take him a while to recover from this.

"And does Elizabeth's grandmother at least treat her well? She has always been very strict and with age she has become even more serious. I wouldn't like her to be treating her badly, she was always very hard on Elizabeth's mother, that's why she wanted to go as far away from her as possible,'' my father says in a somewhat protective way. I highly doubt my father will leave Elizabeth out of our lives from now on.

''Well, from what I saw, yes, I got the impression that grandma is not very kind to her. The house is huge, and it seems like it has Elizabeth in the worst room in the house. Yesterday it seemed like she was going to scold him for not having dinner made and for me to be there. It seemed that with me there she was holding back a little, but she didn't exactly seem very affectionate,'' I say without wanting to hide anything from my father, because I see that it is important to him that Elizabeth is well. The truth is that even I was starting to feel a little protective of her.

''Then I will surely go this afternoon to visit Emma and ask her why she has hidden everything from me, knowing how important her daughter was to me. If I had known before, I would have tried to be by Elizabeth's daughter from the beginning, to help her in whatever way I could,'' says my father, as he gets up angrily and heads to her office.

I am left thinking about how I have treated Elizabeth. If I had tried to talk and be nicer to her from the beginning, maybe it wouldn't have taken my father so long to find out about her.

"Spencer, wait a minute," my mother tells me when I'm leaving to go to school. ''Could you invite Elizabeth to come have dinner with us tonight? I would like us to be able to get to know her well and for her to know that she counts on us''.

''Yes, of course, although try to be a little calm with her. She sometimes has a hard time with social interactions because she has mild autism. I wasn't very good to her at first, because I didn't understand her and I regret that a lot,'' I tell her so that tonight they wouldn't be too annoying.

''Don't worry, Spencer. It's no problem for us. Her mother and we kept in touch for many years, and she told us a little about how she had been diagnosed and that she was having a hard time relating at school because of it. Children tend to be very cruel when someone is different, although well, many adults too," says my mother. I feel worse and worse for having treated Elizabeth like this from the beginning.

''By the way, the blue stuffed animal you have on your bed, which you love so much, is a gift from Elizabeth's mother for your birthday. We sent Elizabeth another one just like it in yellow for her birthday too,'' she says this with a smile and goes to the bathroom to finish getting ready. It seems that Elizabeth and I have a lot more in common than she realized.

Now that I know all this, I will make sure that nothing happens to her.

I'll take care of it.

Thank you very much for the reviews. I hope you are liking it so far.

I leave here some details that may help with the story:

-Elizabeth, protagonist = 15 years

-Mother = Elizabeth too, she was 37 when she died, she would be 39 now

- Grandmother = Emma Hale, 57 years old

- Father = Charlie Jacob

- Brother = Oliver Jacob