The DuBois

Zack

I woke up when I heard a loud crash coming from outside my door. I turned on the light and sat up. What was that? Before I could get up, my door opened. Quinn walked in out of breath and shut the door. I felt a little uncomfortable with her in here. The room isn't very large, it being a cupboard and all, and with her in here, it was starting to feel crowded. I also didn't know why she was here.
Just as I was opening up my mouth to say something, she plopped down on my bed and dropped a folder in front of me. "You can thank me for this whenever you want, kid," she said.
I looked at it and saw it had my name on it. "What is it?" I asked because honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
She looked me right in the eyes and stated, "It's your origin, open it."
My hands trembled when she said that. If what she was saying was true, and not some kind of practical joke, all my questions could be answered. I wanted to open it so badly, I wanted to know who my parents were. I wanted to know who I was, but I was also afraid. What if my parents were dead. What if they gave me up on purpose. What if, what if, what if...
I felt Quinn's hand on my shoulder, and almost as if she could read my mind, she said, "It's okay to be scared, but you won't find out the truth unless you open it."
She was right. I took a deep breath and opened the folder. There staring back at me was my birth certificate. I looked right at the part with my parents' names.

Brittany Smith & Thomas DuBois

My vision swam. No, this can't be right. Why would Tommy pretend to be my brother? Why would Brittany pretend I don't exist half the time? They hate each other, and they ignore me. I don't understand. I don't understand.
I was hyperventilating. Luckily, Quinn was there. She calmed me down, and then said, "There's more."
There might have been more, but right now, I didn't want to know what it was. I shook my head. I couldn't speak. I couldn't do anything. I didn't understand. All my life, I imagined my parents had given me up because they couldn't take care of me, that they would come back for me someday. Now I know that wasn't true. They have been living with me my entire life, never making their relation to me known. I didn't understand. I couldn't understand.
I hadn't realized I was crying until Quinn pulled me into a hug telling me everything was fine and that I would be fine. I wasn't so sure. How was I suppose to go on with my life and act like everything was normal when it wasn't? I wish my parents had been dead, that would have been less painful then this. How could they do this? I didn't understand.
We sat like that for a long time. I must have fallen asleep because next thing I know Lilo is banging on the door telling me to get up for breakfast. I looked next to me and saw that Quinn had slept with me last night. I was grateful that she hadn't left me alone.

I got up, shook Quinn awake (man, she was a heavy sleeper!), and then went out into the dining room. I sat down at my place and started picking at my food. I think Bianca was going to ask if I was okay, but she was interrupted when Carter came rushing in yelling, "They're gone! All of them are gone!"
"What are gone?" Andrew asked.
"The folders! Someone stole my keys and took all of the folders!"
"Did they take the folders?" Andrew asked.
"Yes," Carter said almost inaudibly.
Andrew pushed back his chair. "Please excuse me, but I must help Carter find these folders."
After Andrew left following Carter down the stairs, I looked up at Quinn who was sitting across from me. She was the one who took the folders for me, I realized. I had never felt more grateful towards anybody than I did in that moment.

"I need to be excused," she said after a few minutes.

"But you haven't eaten!" Bianca exclaimed.

"I'm not really hungry," and she got up and left.