Chapter Text
Brittany knew something was wrong with Hailie as soon as she saw her.
The two were putting their things away in the coat closet in the back of their classroom. Brittany skipped over to Hailie with a grin on her face.
“Hey Lee! Did you have a nice break? You never called but that’s okay I figured you were busy.”
Hailie paused from getting her books and folder out of her backpack.
“Sorry…I was grounded.”
“Grounded? For what?”
“My grades…weren’t the best and so mom grounded me. Don’t worry about it though.” Hailie turned to face her friend with a grin on her face. “I’m not
grounded now so it’s okay.”
“Okay…but I thought your grades were the best they’ve been, but it’s in the past now so no worries.”
Hailie’s grin faltered for a moment before it was back. “Right, well we better go sit down now, I’ve gotta go test on some books before breakfast gets here.”
The two girls walked toward their desks but Brittany couldn’t help but notice how Hailie’s grin really didn’t reach her eyes. It reminded her of the smiles she gave when she was living with her dad.
And that thought terrified her.
~~~~~
At lunch the two girls sat together on the steps to the school. They watched their classmates run around and play games, but they were content sitting together talking about what they did over break. Well Brittany did, Hailie just listened and nodded.
“Hey Lee?” Brittany said and looked over at her friend.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything okay at home?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I dunno. It’s just you seem really out of it today and just sad and it’s worrying me.”
“I’m fine… I promise. Just coming back to school after break is a little weird. I promise I’m fine.” Hailie turned to her and smiled.
There it was again. That smile. Brittany frowned. “Okay… just promise you’ll tell me if anything is wrong.”
Hailie only nodded.
~~~~~
After that Brittany backed off. Maybe she was just too concerned. Hailie was right. It was the first day back from break and she was tired too. So the two continued through the day as they normally did.
“Alright class I know it’s the first day back from break but I have to give this test. It’s not worth anything but I just need to see what we remember in math from before break.”
Groans came from a few of the students, Brittany included. Even though they had been on break her mom and dad had her work on her math and reading so she wouldn’t be behind.
She snuck a glance over at Hailie. Her face had gone pale. Did she not study? If Brittany had been grounded for grades her parents would have definitely made sure she had studied. But Brittany was sure Hailie’s grades had been better than hers. So why was she worried?
She didn’t have a chance to lean over and ask before the teacher had put the paper on Brittany’s desk. She didn’t want to be accused of cheating so she looked down at the piece of paper and began answering the problems.
~~~~~
The next few days had gone on without incident. Brittany had decided that she was too worried about Hailie and that everything truly was okay. But there was still a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad was happening.
“So class today we have a test. This one is super important and I need you to do your very best. No talking and when you are done with it you may read quietly or put your head down.” The teacher announced while walking around handing out the test. This time there were no groans or sighs.
Brittany was one of the first few to finish the test. She was confident in all her answers and silently thanked her mom for helping her study the past few nights. She turned her paper over and reached into her desk to get her book. She looked over at Hailie who was still answering a question. Brittany smiled softly watching her friend work. How her tongue stuck out slightly and how she would look up while doing a calculation. After watching her for a few minutes she opened her book and began to read.
~~~~~
Once they had come back from music their tests were back on their desks facing down.
“So class, I got all of your tests graded and you all did a very good job! I’m super impressed. On there is your grade and a little place for your parents to sign tonight.”
Papers rustled as kids excitedly turned over their papers to see how they did. Brittany had gotten a 92%. She was glowing. That was the best she had ever done before on a test.
She ran over to Hailie. “How’d you do? I got a 92%! That’s the best I’ve ever done!” Brittany couldn’t help but boast.
“I got an 86%.” Hailie said quietly.
“That’s really good! It’s only a 6% difference between you and me. You should be happy.”
Hailie turned to her with a smile on her face. “Your right. It’s a good grade and I should be proud of it.”
Brittany grinned right back. “Exactly! Now let’s go get our backpacks it’s time to go home!”
~~~~~
The following day Brittany knew something had happened with Hailie.
The girl was silent as she walked into class and put her stuff away in the coat closet before going to her desk and sitting with her head down.
‘She didn’t come say hi to me’ Brittany thought to herself with a frown on her face. She slowly walked over to Hailie’s desk before putting a hand on her back.
“Good morning! Did you not sleep well?”
Hailie lifted her head off her desk. “Oh. Hi. Sorry. Yeah I didn’t sleep well last night.” She mumbled rubbing at her eyes.
Brittany remembered this side of Hailie. Back when she was living with her dad. Her dad who would hit her and berate her and scare her into saying something was going on.
She remembered how tired Hailie was all the time. How she barely said anything to her. How she began shutting her out in fear.
It scared Brittany that it might be happening again.
“Did something happen at home?”
Hailie shot up at that. She glared at Brittany. “No! Nothing happened at home. I don’t know why you keep thinking that. I just didn’t sleep well. Don’t worry about it.” She snapped.
Brittany’s eyes widened. “Sorry.” She said looking at the floor before turning and walking back to her desk.
~~~~~
Hailie had calmed down before lunch and so the two ended up sitting together at their spot on the stairs. Brittany decided not to ask if anything had happened last night. Instead she talked about the newest book she had got from the local library on space. Hailie ended up leaning her head on Brittany’s shoulder as she talked. She kept talking all about her book and space and how exciting it was before she noticed Hailie had fallen asleep leaning on her shoulder. Brittany smiled softly brushing some hair off Hailie’s face and quietly humming a song. She seemed so tired so why not let her rest?
After school had ended for the day Brittany waited around until it was just her and her teacher. She walked up to her desk.
“Oh hi Brittany. What can I do for you?” Her teacher asked once she noticed the girl standing there.
“I was wondering if you had like a small notebook or journal I could use. I wanna start writing but I don’t wanna carry around a lot of paper all the time.”
Her teacher chuckled. “Actually I think I have an old journal that a student gave me that I’ve never used.” She began to open drawers looking for it.
“Here it is!” She said and Brittany smiled. “Thank you!” She took it from her teachers’ outstretched hand. “I hope you use it well.”
“I will I promise!”
~~~~~
A few days after Hailie had been taken from her dad and placed in the care of CPS Brittany’s parents sat her down. They told her that they were proud of her for sticking by Hailie’s side, and that if she ever saw anything like it again and wasn’t sure if something was happening to write it down. And then show her parents and they would work on taking action, if it was needed.
And so that was exactly what Brittany was doing. She was writing down anything Hailie did that wasn’t normal.
At first it wasn’t a lot, just how tired she seemed but then as days went on she began to notice things that weren’t normal in Hailie’s daily life.
How she was biting her lip when she seemed nervous.
How she was always standing up super tall. She never slouched anymore.
How she wasn’t talking to Brittany much anymore.
She wrote down everything she noticed in this journal and after 3 weeks she sat down with her mom and dad after dinner to talk to them.
“So remember after Hailie was taken from her dad and we had a talk about if I thought something bad was happening to someone to write it down?” She said with the journal held in her hands.
Her parents frowned.
“Yes sweetie I remember.” Her mom said looking at the journal.
“Well…I think it’s happening again.”
“With a classmate?”
“No…well yes. I think it’s happening with Hailie again.”
Her dad looked at her confused.
“Again? But isn’t she with a foster mom?”
“She is!” Brittany said handing them the journal. “But…but like she was super happy when she first found out she was gonna stay with a foster mom and she was happy and everything but after we came back from break she seemed sad. Like how she was when she was with her dad. And I asked her if something was wrong and she said she had been grounded cuz her grades were bad. But I’m pretty sure her grades were better than mine. But that’s not the point, she was sad and her smile didn’t seem real and I was scared. And then she yelled at me one day for asking again so I stopped asking cuz I didn’t want to make her mad at me. I feel like I’m her only friend and I didn’t want her to have nobody so I stopped asking but I wrote down everything I was seeing and I’m worried something is wrong.”
Her parents listened to her while they opened the journal they were given. The first few pages were drawings and notes.
“Oh! I wrote in the first few pages so Hailie wouldn’t see and get suspicious.” Brittany explained.
After turning a few more pages they found where Brittany’s notes started.
April 8 201X
Hailie didn’t say hi to me in the coat room.
She has dark marks under her eyes. I don’t think she slept well.
She didn’t eat much with me at lunch.
April 12 201X
The dark marks are still under her eyes. They seem worse than before.
We had a test today and she seemed super panicked before the teacher passed them out.
She fell asleep on my shoulder at lunch and her shirt sleeve moved and I think I saw a mark on her arm.
April 18 201X
We got the test results back and Hailie got an 81%. I told her she did really good and she didn’t agree.
She seems scared to go home today.
The marks are still under her eyes. I’m worried she fell asleep in class today.
The pages continued with notes about Hailie’s behavior. Brittany watched her parents nervously. What if she was just imagining it? Maybe it’s nothing. But the feeling in her stomach was telling her it was something bad.
After a few more minutes her dad closed the journal. “Well it sure seems like something might be wrong. Your mom and I will look into it. For now you just keep writing everything down and keep Hailie as happy and safe as you can. Okay?”
Brittany nodded. “I will!”
ELSEWHERE
This had to be normal. Right? Her mom was just disciplining her. This is what happened to normal kids. Right?
She shouldn’t complain. She had it worse before and she should just be happy she has a place to go once school gets out. That’s what her mom told her anyway. That she could’ve adopted anyone and she was chosen so she needed to act like she deserved it.
At first her mom had been super nice. She gave Hailie her own bedroom with a huge bed and a desk and a kitchen that was always stocked with food and new clothes.
Hailie was on cloud 9. This was the childhood she missed out on. Her mom would take her to get ice cream and would pat her on the head and when her social worker would come Hailie would boast about how happy she was.
Then the social worker stopped visiting.
After her mom was deemed fit to raise Hailie the social worker and people from the orphanage stopped calling and visiting.
Her mom changed after that. She didn’t take her out for ice cream anymore. She would get mad at Hailie if she did poorly on a test. When Hailie had gone to the library with Brittany and brought home a book on space and aliens she slapped the book from her hands and grabbed her and pushed her into the hall closet before slamming the door shut and locking it.
For a moment Hailie had been dazed. Her mind flashed back to when her dad
would hit her if she did something wrong.
Had she done something wrong? Was bringing books from the library home bad? She wasn’t sure.
She tried to open the door but it had been locked from the outside. Then the panic hit. She slammed on the door trying to get it to open. Apologizing for something she was still unsure was bad. But her mom didn’t come let her out. Soon Hailie’s hands were red from pounding on the door and she stopped and wrapped her arms around herself and rocked and cried.
Her mom let her out the next morning.
Soon being pushed into the closet was a common thing. If Hailie did poorly on a test (which never happened but her mom wanted nothing less than perfection) she was locked in the closet. If Hailie talked back, if she messed up cleaning, almost anything warranted a stay in that cramped closet.
One night her mom had been drinking and grabbed Hailie by the arm, always where it was hidden by a sleeve, where it couldn’t be seen, she calmly told Hailie something that scared her into not telling anyone what was happening.
“If you tell anyone I’ll make sure you never see that little friend of yours ever again.”
So she never told. She would fake a smile when Brittany asked and truly deep down she started to believe this was normal. That her mom was doing this because she loved her. And she wasn’t going to tell because then they would take her away again. And she should be happy here.
One Saturday Hailie had been put into the closet because she failed a reading test. (She had just been so tired and she couldn’t keep her eyes open and she fell asleep and didn’t answer any of the questions)
There had been a knock at the front door. She heard her mom’s footsteps as she walked to the door and opened it.
“Hi! I am Brittany’s mom. Hailie’s friend. And Brittany was really hoping that Hailie could come over and spend the night. We didn’t have your number but Brittany was insisting we come over and ask.”
Brittany’s mom was here? Did that mean Brittany was here? Hailie’s breathing picked up. They couldn’t see her in here. She began to panic.
“She’s asleep right now, but let me go wake her up and see if she wants to.” Her mom said in that fake nice tone she used. The front door clicked shut and moments later the closet door opened.
Hailie blinked at the sudden light and was grabbed by the arm and forced to her feet.
“I bet you heard them. You can but remember what I told you. If anyone finds out we are moving out of the state and you’ll never see your little friend again.” She whispered into Hailie’s ear.
She nodded. Right. No one needs to know. This is normal. Everything was normal here.
“Now go pack a bag and I’ll tell them you’ll be right down.”
Hailie nodded before running up the stairs to her room.
~~~~~
Later that night at Brittany’s house, they had eaten dinner and Brittany had gone to shower. Leaving Hailie with Brittany’s mom alone in the kitchen.
“Hey Hailie.” Her mom said while drying off a dish before putting it away.
“Yes ma’am?”
“Call me mom, ma’am seems too serious.”
Hailie looked at her curiously.
“Okay…”
“How is everything at your home?”
“Good. My mom is super nice.”
“That’s good.” Brittany’s mom said with a soft smile.
Hailie could hear the water running as Brittany got into the shower. She looked down at her lap her legs swinging back and forth off the stool.
“Hailie.” Brittany’s mom said seriously bending down to her level.
Hailie began to freak out. Did she know? Why would she be talking so seriously?
“Are you getting enough sleep sweetie?”
“Yes.”
“Look at me sweetie.”
She looked at Brittany’s mom and her kind smile. “Y-yes. I-I’m getting enough s-s-sleep.”
“I don’t think you are sweetie. You can tell me the truth, it’s okay. I won’t be mad. Brittany is super worried about you. And I am too.”
Hailie’s eyes widened. “I p-p-promise everything is okay at home. Nothing bad is happening. I’m getting enough sleep and…and I’m…”
The words wouldn’t come.
Instead a sob came out and then she couldn’t stop it. Tears streamed down her face and her body shook with sobs.
Brittany’s mom wrapped her arms around her and held her close.
“It’s okay sweetie. I promise. You are okay here. You can tell me the truth.”
“B-but I…I can’t!” She sobbed. “She said we’ll move away and I won’t see Brittany anymore.”
“No no no sweetie. We won’t let that happen.”
Hailie sobbed harder at that.
~~~~~
Brittany’s mom held her close as she cried and rubbed her back and helped her calm down. Once her cries turned into sniffles her mom pulled away.
“You promise she won’t take me away and move?”
Brittany’s mom smiled at that.
“I promise.”