"Fear makes us feel our humanity." -- Benjamin Disraeli
++ C H A P T E R | T H I R T Y - Ø N E ++
"I think you need to get your priorities straight."
Kenzie lounged on the couch in her house, looking at Elliott with a smile on her lips. When she ran into the confused girl, she invited Elliott over to her house. It was a change in scenery for Elliott, but Kenzie was growing on her.
Elliott threw her head in her hands, clearly distressed. "My priorities are keeping my brothers safe. They come before everything. Always."
Kenzie pulled her purple hair back into a ponytail and blew out a sigh. She'd never met such a selfless person before, and it was throwing her for a loop.
"Think of yourself for once, Elliott. This is your life. Yes, your brothers are very important, but are they more important than you? No. You've done all you can for them. You've taken them out of a toxic environment. You've given them a great foster mother. Mat and Adrian are, from what you've said, improving. Now it's time to just focus on you."
Elliott studied Kenzie for a moment, trying to read her. Kenzie was nothing like Elliott - she was confident and so sure of herself. There was nothing Kenzie said that didn't make sense, but still. Elliott was afraid and nervous.
Elliott needed control.
"There isn't time for me, though. Mother is here, and she's tormenting me! She's tormenting people who talk to me! I just can't handle this, this stress."
And it was true - Elliott was stressing herself out. People knew of her gender. People knew her secrets. It was all coming out, now.
A door slammed shut in the house, making Elliott nearly jump in fright. She could hear the telltale clicking of heels on the floor, and then a woman appeared in the doorway of the den. She was tall and thin, her auburn hair pulled up in a tight bun. The black, business casual dress she wore told Elliott she'd just come home from work, probably.
"Kenzie, you didn't tell me we were having a guest." After a pregnant pause, the woman turned towards Elliott with a smile that screamed Business Friendly. "Hi, I'm Kelly. Kenzie's mother."
Elliott was under the impression that the woman didn't want her there, but Elliott had no intentions of leaving quite yet. Talking to Kenzie had grown almost addicting since the short time she'd been around the new girl. Elliott had never really befriended a girl, except for Natasha, and while usually the female gender caused fear to ignite in Elliott's bones, Kenzie had the opposite effect.
Interesting. Very interesting indeed.
"Hello, Kelly. I'm Elliott."
Kelly rose her eyebrows, then looked at Kenzie. "Kenzie, we've talked about inviting boys into the house while I'm not here, correct?"
The brisk tone of voice made Elliott look down to her lap, awkward. Kenzie's mother wasn't happy, that was clear, and Elliott itched to suddenly leave. That's right, you're not a girl. You'll always just be a guy.
"Mother," Kenzie's smile was fake, almost vicious. "You're mistaken. Elliott is a girl, and she has feelings, which you've hurt. You've always taught me that we can't be rude to our guests."
The look of sheer horror passed Kelly's face, but she tried to mask it well as she turned back towards Elliott, a look of surprise evident in her eyes. "Girl. Right. Sorry, it's just that your name, and your appearance say otherwise. I apologize."
Elliott felt her face on fire, and decided that it couldn't get any worse. Now, another person knew her secret. Another person at risk. Elliott couldn't decide whether or not she should just forget friends and stay in her room forever, where her toxic secrets could never escape.
Of course, that wasn't an option, but Elliott liked to believe it could be. That her secrets could never put anyone at risk ever again.
She made a mental note of everyone that knew. Anna, Adrian, Wes, Mark, Kenzie, and now Kenzie's mother.
The list was growing longer, and she hated that.
"Kenzie, you need to call your father, right away. Something has happened, and he wants to see you over the weekend."
Kenzie's face fell in a scowl. "I don't want to talk to him. We've discussed this."
"You don't have a choice. Call. Him."
Kenzie groaned, shot her mother a glare, then picked up her cell phone, flipping it open and dialing her father's number. She placed it on her ear. "Happy?"
Kelly didn't respond, but instead left the room, leaving Elliott feeling out of place. It was painfully clear that Kenzie and her mother had issues, more issues that Elliott thought. The two didn't mix, and while Elliott had always felt that way about Anna, she suddenly realized that Anna was nothing like Kelly, but Elliott was everything like Kenzie - hostile, rude, and not responsive.
Suddenly, Elliott felt sick to her stomach. She'd been so focused on keeping everyone at a distance that she didn't realize that Anna was only trying to help. She was never hostile back, never rude, and never ordered Elliott around.
She cared for Elliott, and only now, witnessing the transaction between Kenzie and her mother, did she realize it.
And it was evident that Kenzie didn't care much for her father, either.
"No, I don't want to see you this weekend! I don't want to see you ever! I've made that perfectly fucking clear, dad."
Elliott watched as Kenzie shot off the couch, pacing angrily around the den.
"No, no I don't. I want nothing to do with whatever you're scheming. And stop using that fake accent! It's literally killing my ears."
After a moment of listening, Kenzie hung up her phone and threw it on the couch, clearly aggravated. She huffed out a breath of anger, then turned towards Elliott with a plastered on smile.
"Want to uh, talk?" Elliott offered, even though she knew that talking wasn't what Kenzie was looking for. Elliott had, more than once, been in that situation. Talking wasn't preferred.
"No, not really. My dad's just a dick, that's all. I never see him, but for some reason he wants me to spend the weekend with him. Like, no thanks! I would never, in a million years, want to spend the weekend with my dad, alone."
"The problems of being an only child," Elliott grumbled with a sigh.
"Yeah, really though. The moment I was born, my mother and father split cause they couldn't stand each other. Didn't even stick around to give me a sibling. A shame, really." She was being snarky and sarcastic, but Elliott didn't mind. She was all to used to feeling how Kenzie did. "And then my own father thought, hey, wouldn't it be cool to learn accents? Which, by the way, is so not cool. Sometimes he's french, sometimes he's spanish. He can never stick to one."
Elliott was about to add in, but there was a loud crash, and then a scream. Kenzie froze, and looked at Elliott, fear in her eyes.
"Mom?" Kenzie called out tentatively, but there was no response. There was, however, the click of heels coming down the hallway, but Elliott had the feeling it wasn't Kelly coming.
Neither did Kenzie, as she drew close to the wall, pressing herself away from the door.
The door swung open, and there, in the doorway, was the woman who had single handedly destroyed Elliott's life.
Mother.
* * *
Mat sat on the couch in the living room, watching as cartoon characters pranced their way across the screen. Adrian sat beside him, his hand deep in a bag of chips. Both were ignoring their homework.
But, Mat couldn't focus on the television. The thought of Elliott was nagging him, bothering him so much it was going to drive him mad.
He turned towards Adrian, looking at his older brother. Even Mat knew there was a huge difference between Elliott and Adrian. Adrian was taller, leaner, more masculine with a sharp jawline and strong cheekbones. Clearly male. Elliott had always been shorter, softer, rounder. Her face was rounder, smaller, more proportionate for a girl.
How had I never seen it before?
"Adrian, can you tell me again why Elliott pretended to be a boy?"
Adrian shot his younger brother a look of surprise. He knew Mat had questions, but even he was shocked at Mat's progress. The boy who could barely make a sentence around Mother was now asking questions and making connections.
"Mother made Ellie be the way she is."
"But why?"
Adrian rubbed his forehead and turned towards Mat, seeing the curiosity in his eyes. "Well, Mother didn't want a girl. Simple as that. But, we're away from her now. We're safe."
But, are we? The question was nagging Adrian for weeks, now. With Elliott still getting notes from Mother, and seeing her places, Adrian couldn't say for certain that they were safe.
"Sometimes, I forget how it was with Mother. I forget how I couldn't even get dressed without her, or how I couldn't eat by myself. It kinda scares me, how dependent I was. How useless I was. What if she finds us, and I go back to that?"
Adrian stood up. "Mat, we're safe. I promise. She's never, ever coming back for us. Elliott has made sure of that." But, even Adrian didn't believe this. Elliott couldn't stop Mother - no one could.
"I used to think of Elliott as a hero, but she isn't. Elliott can't do everyone on her own, you know. We need to help her out sometimes."
Adrian could only nod, because Mat was right. Mat was always right, it seemed.
* * *
What do you guys think, is mother actually there, or is Elliott hallucinating EVERYTHING now, from the scream to Kenzie freaking out??
And how do you feel about Kenzie?
Love you all,
xoxo
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