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Chapter Twenty Six

-- Brooke --

"Mom, no."

"Honey, I have to do this."

I closed my eyes.

Just hours ago mom had taken gobs of pictures of me and Garrett. The 'happy' prom couple.

Now she was taking pictures of all my cuts and bruises.

After my bath, I walked back to my room and overheard mom on the phone talking to grandpa.

When in doubt, call the ex-FBI agent.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked. I felt Kay squeeze my hand.

"We need to go to the police."

"Dad will take care of everything," I said. Mom sighed. She had calmed down a little bit since her initial vows of castration and killing.

"I'm worried about that," she said. She set the camera down.

"Go get dressed, honey."

Kay followed me back to my room. I put on a t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants. My whole body ached.

"Do you need anything?" Kay asked gently. I shook my head and looked at her. I had thought I knew everything about her. I mean, after all, she was my best friend. I thought back to what she had told me when I had settled into the tub.

"Kay, about earlier..."

She held up a hand. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But--"

"I was stupid. You're smarter than I am."

I shook my head. "No, I--"

"Brooke, please."

Her tone was pleading. After being such a bitch to her earlier, I didn't want to upset her. I stared down at my scraped knuckles.

I heard the phone ring downstairs. A couple minutes later, I heard mom's footsteps on the stairs. The moment she appeared in the doorway, I knew something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"We need to go to the police station," mom said. She had her camera slung around her shoulder.

"Dad?"

Mom nodded. "And Noah."

I groaned.

"Do you need me to stay here?" Kay asked.

"No, you'll need to come and put in a statement," mom said.

"What about Peyton and Landon?"

"Grandma's coming. Once she gets here, we're going."

Grandma made it to the house in about ten minutes. I was sitting with Kay on the couch. The TV was on, but we weren't watching it. Grandma headed right towards me and lifted my chin with her fingers.

"Oh, baby girl..."

Grandpa stood behind her. His face was tense. I had never seen him cry, but I remembered that face. It reminded me of a mask.

"Honey, I know it's going to be hard for you to do, but you need to tell the police everything that happened," he said. "Can you do that for me?"

I nodded. Peyton headed down the stairs with Landon.

"GAMMY!" Landon squealed. He ran to her.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," mom said. Grandpa nodded.

As we left, I caught Peyton's eye. Landon was oblivious to everything, but Peyton wasn't. I knew she was annoyed that she was being left in the dark.

At the moment I would have loved to have been in her place rather than mine.

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The three of us rode to the station in silence. I had never been to the police station. It was grittier and dirtier than I had imagine.

Mom, Kay, and I walked to the front desk. Mom spoke quietly with the clerk and we were told to sit.

Time dragged by. It was a good half hour before a door opened behind the front desk.

"Olivia Carter?"

Mom stood up. "That's me."

The officer looked at her and then at us.

"This is my daughter Brooke and her friend Kayleigh."

"Alright. Come on back."

We followed the officer back to a room. Once again we were told to sit. Kay and I took seats but mom walked out into the hall with the officer. I saw mom's hands move like butterflies. She always 'talked' with her hands when she was nervous or excited.

After a few more minutes, mom came back into the room.

"Where's dad and Noah?" I asked.

"They're sitting in a cell cooling off," mom said. Kay's eyes widened.

"They put Noah in jail?"

Mom nodded. "I guess he tracked Garrett to a hotel party. He got into a fight with half the guys there and caused a couple thousand dollars in property damage. Oh, and he slit the tires on Garret's car."

My mouth dropped open. My brother? Little NoNo?

"And your father stopped by to see Garrett's father and broke his jaw. Then he attacked Garrett outside the hotel."

"Damn," Kay whispered. I thought she sounded impressed.

"They're in trouble aren't they?" I asked.

"Oh yeah."

At that moment the door opened and a female officer came in.

"Brooke?"

I looked up.

"Yes?"

The officer smiled.

"I'm Officer Danzinger. I was wondering if I could talk to you alone for a few minutes?"

I glanced at mom. She nodded.

"O-okay."

I followed her out of the room into another room.

"Can I get you anything? Soda? Coffee?"

I shook my head. "No, thank you."

I took a seat. She sat across from me.

"I heard you had a rough night."

I swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Can you tell me about it?"

I thought back to all the therapy sessions I had when I was younger. It had taken me several months before I could really begin to examine and work throug everything. I licked my lips nervously.

I was older now. I knew I couldn't hide the truth in a false reality or silence. After all, my dad and brother were sitting in jail for me. I owed them.

My voice shook as I began to replay the events of the evening. The officer recorded my entire statement. Several times I had to stop because it just became too much. The tears came fresh and I batted them away. When I was done, I slumped against the seat.

"I hate to ask you this, but can I see your bruises?"

I glanced towards the door.

"No one can see in," she promised.

I lifted my shirt. My chest had gotten the most of it from Garrett's heavy hands. The officer took a couple pictures of my chest and then of my knees.

"My mom took pictures too," I said.

The officer put a gently hand on my back.

"We'll get those too," she promised. "You can go back to your mom now."

I headed back across the hall. The officer took Kay out next.

Once Kay was done, we were left in the room. I was tired, but I couldn't sleep. Mom left several times only to come back with no news. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm going to get a soda," I said.

"I'll go with you," Kay said.

We walked out into the hall. Kay handed me a couple dollars and I punched in our selections.

The door to the questioning room opened. Trevor stepped out. I looked at him in surprise.

"Trevor."

"Hey Brooke."

He had a large white bandage across his nose.

"Are you okay?"

"Broke my nose. It'll be fine. You?"

"Some bruises," I said shyly.

"I--"

"Trevor."

The voice was sharp. I turned. A tall, beefy guy with dirty blonde hair was standing not far from me.

"Can he go?" the guy asked Officer Danzinger. She nodded.

"Take care Brooke," Trevor said as he passed me.

"You too," I said quietly.

The guy who I assumed was his dad hit Trevor's shoulder hard as he walked up to him. They headed towards the doors.

"Nice guy," Kay said sarcastically.

I thought back to what Trevor said about his parents fighting. I frowned.

"Girls?"

Mom came out of the room.

"Officer Danielson said there's nothing we can do about dad and Noah tonight. They're going to have to stay the night. They're not even up to their bail meeting for another few hours. I'm going to take you home."

"But--" I started to say. Mom shook her head.

"Honey, we can't do anything."

We walked out of the station. I looked around. I was on edge. Even though I couldn't see them, I sensed paparazzi nearby. Tears burned at my eyes.

I felt horrible. Noah had his first mugshot because of me. I knew dad already had one from ages ago, but now I had added to his record too.

And then there was Trevor.

His dad didn't look happy about having to come down to the police station. I didn't want Trevor to get on his badside. I grabbed at my seatbelt.

I wished there were redo's in life like there were in all the videogames we played.

Because tonight, I needed one badly.

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A Note from the Author: For anyone that is also reading Only in My Dreams - this story has been updated, but it is not appearing on the Most Recent page. I know since some of you have been bombarded with e-mails that e-mail notification is STILL working. :)