Elle's POV
It was 3 in the morning and I shot awake to Catlynn screaming my name from her room.
Another nightmare. Poor girl.
I ran in, and to my horror, her dad had climbed through the window. And was holding her down on the floor. Catlynn was crying.
"Sunshine!" I cried, diving on her bed. Her dad had grabbed my leg and pushed me into her closet. Catlynn cried, "Elle! No!" and tried to get away from her dad. She reached out as far as she could and put her hand on my leg, but her dad had pulled her back.
I ran out of the room and called 911.
"911 what's your emergency?"
"Hi..." I said with a shaky voice, "my foster daughter's biological dad climbed through my window without permission and is harassing her and me." I quietly told the 911 operator the situation and my address, and then called Jessica.
"Hi...sorry for calling you so early...Catlynn's dad climbed through the window and is now holding her down on the floor...can you come over?" I heard Jessica gasp and say, "Oh my God, I'll be right there."
I ran back to Catlynn's room and then I heard sirens outside the window. Her dad dropped her and jumped out the window, and Catlynn ran into my arms.
"Oh my God, Sunshine, are you okay?" I asked. Catlynn pulled away, and showed me that the leg that wasn't hurt was completely swollen. "Everything hurts...I can't stand up." she said.
"Let's get you fixed up." I extended my hand and Catlynn grabbed it, wincing in pain as she stood her up. She then dropped down to the ground, so I picked her up and kissed her forehead.
I heard a knock on the door.
"Jessica!" I cried, running to the door. I let Jessica in and we went to the bathroom.
"Wow, both of Catlynn's arms are injured." Jessica said.
"So are my legs." Catlynn said, showing Jessica her swollen ankle. I wrapped up her ankle too and then picked her up. Catlynn buried her face in my chest and I kissed her head.
I put her in her bed, tucked her in and said, "Sweet dreams, Sunshine. I love you." Then Jessica and I went to Catlynn's room and cleaned it up.
"I feel so bad for her." Jessica said. "She's too young to be abused."
"She's too special to be abused." I said.
Jessica smiled slyly and said, "Elle...do you know what this means?"
I squinted at her and said, "No..."
"Her dad's arrested. He can't take her back. She's yours now."
I jumped up and hugged Jessica. "We won. Jessica, we won."
"Not yet. We still need to make this legal." Jessica said.
"We're going to win. I know it." I said.
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Catlynn's POV
I shot awake after another nightmare. I could see the sun pouring in through the window. I heard the door open, and Elle was there.
I tried to get out of bed but fell to the floor again. I took the weight off of my hurt ankle and limped to the bathroom to freshen up. I fell on the floor in pain, and Elle ran over and said, "Oh Sunshine..."
"No...no more hospitals..." I said. I grabbed onto Elle and she lifted me into her lap. She said, "I think he may have broken your leg. Your other leg is looking better, you can probably take the brace off of that soon. And your arm will be healed in about a week. We're going to have to get that checked out, but in the meantime, let's get you to bed." Elle picked me up and put me down in my bed. She laid down next to me and pulled me towards her, and I snuggled into her.
"I love you so much, Sunshine, more than you know." Elle said. She kissed me on the head and rocked me back and forth, singing Kindergarten Boyfriend in my ear. She sung it over and over, and I started getting sleepy.
I eventually fell asleep on Elle's chest, and I felt her kiss my head and say, "Sweet dreams Sunshine."
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Elle's POV
I stopped singing once I realized that Catlynn had fallen asleep on my chest. I gently let her go and started getting ready for the show.
Once I was ready to go to the theater, I picked the sleeping Catlynn up and carried her to my car. I drove to the theater, but put in the Heathers CD and put on Kindergarten Boyfriend in case she could hear it.
When I got to the theater, I picked Catlynn up and carried her to my dressing room and set her down on the couch. Jessica walked in and I said, "Let me know if she's about to wake up." Jessica nodded and knelt down next to Catlynn.
A few minutes later, Jessica ran up to me and said, "Elle! She's waking up." I ran back to my dressing room and stroked Catlynn's hair as she woke up.
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Catlynn's POV
"Time to wake up, Sunshine..." I heard as I slowly sat up. Elle was there, smiling sweetly at me. But I wasn't at home. I was in the theater. Elle extended her hand and I grabbed it, slowly standing up. I started to fall again, and Elle picked me up and carried me.
"Where are we going?" I asked. Elle smiled, and said, "I told everyone what happened before you came here today. Also, we made you a room where you can do school." Elle took me to a room and turned on the lights. She sat me down in a chair and gave me another chair to prop my leg up on. "We'll be around to help you with schoolwork. What classes are you taking again?" Elle asked.
"Let's see...I have Art, Science, Ancient Civilizations, English, Band, Accelerated Math, and Mandarin." I pulled out my laptop and my textbook and started reading the chapter my teacher assigned.
"Ancient Civilizations?" Elle asked. "What is that?"
"It's required of all seventh graders. Next year, I'm taking Civics."
"Wait." Jessica said, coming up behind me. "Did you say you took Band? What instrument?"
"I signed up at the last minute because I wanted to expand my horizons. I haven't picked an instrument yet."
Elle and Jessica looked at each other, and Elle said, "Do you have anything in mind? Because we could stop at the music store and pick it up after the show."
"Saxophone or trumpet, but I'm leaning towards saxophone." I said. Jessica smiled, and said, "Well then, I guess you're getting a saxophone!" Elle said, "Do you know how to read music?" I shook my head, and Elle sat down and started teaching me.
I heard a knock on the door, and it was Barrett. "Hey, kid. What's up? I heard what happened last night." She took one look at my leg and said, "That's really swollen."
"I think it's broken. She fell twice." Elle said. "Anyway, I'm teaching her how to read music. She's taking Band this year."
"C'mon! Why don't you take Chorus or theater?" she asked.
"I had to pick between Chorus or band, and my school doesn't offer theater. I'm playing saxophone."
Ryan came up behind us and said, "Now we have to hear a blaring saxophone every single day during the show."
"I'll play it during Lifeboat to annoy Elle." I laughed, and Elle slapped me.
"Hey, isn't the children's theater doing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee?" Jessica asked. I shrugged, and Elle said, "Yeah, why?"
"I was hoping Cat could audition." I nodded happily, and Barrett said, "We have morphed her into a theater kid. There is no going back." I laughed, and Elle took my phone and found the soundtrack to the show. Ryan looked up a synopsis and cast of characters on Wikipedia and showed it to me.
"Hey, cool. This girl Olive lost her mother and has an abusive father. Just like you. You should go out for her, if you want to." Ryan said, and I said, "Yeah! Why not?" "Her solo's called My Friend, the Dictionary, you should listen to it." Ryan said. I nodded, and plugged in my headphones and listened to it. It was pretty good, and I found myself listening to the entire rest of the show.
"Can you guys help me prepare for the audition?" I asked.
"Of course, Sunshine. It's next Wednesday. We'll take some time after all the shows to help." Elle said.
I smiled, and listened to Olive's solo over and over.
I could see a bit of me in her. That's why I wanted to play her so badly.
I was determined.
AN: Those of you that know me well, see the resemblances to me in this chapter? The course schedule that Catlynn has is almost the exact same as mine (except for math and Band, I played violin in seventh grade) when I was in seventh grade, and yes, Ancient Civilizations is a real course. I loved it! And I do play saxophone, and I was in Spelling Bee in seventh grade! I was an ensemble member. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!