What is family?

Chapter 3

Arianna

My parents are arrested for drug dealing.

I know their timings of work were weird, but drug dealing?

This is too much information to digest.

For some reason, I don't feel bad knowing they are arrested. I feel relieved.

Does that make me a bad person?

But where will I go now. Will I end up in foster care?

"Miss Jenson, shall we leave?", officer Robert breaks me out of my thoughts.

I nod and stand up. I greet my Principal and walk out of the school with officer Robert. He leads me to his car and I hop in.

"First we'll be going to your house and collect all your things and head to the station. Is it alright?", he asks me while driving, probably to my house.

"Yes.", I answer.

In five minutes we reach my house and I head inside to collect my belongings. I walk to my room and pack the few clothes that I have, along with the concealer, bandages and ointments. I don't want people finding out I was being physically abused by my parents.

After collecting all the things, I look at my room one last time, trying to remember at least one good memory, but I don't seem to remember any. Or there aren't any to remember.

Sigh.

I take my luggage, which happens to be a backpack and walk out of my room, down the stairs. I see officer Robert waiting for me in the living room and walk to him.

He stands up, seeing me.

"We've got your house checked for any traces of drugs or documents related to it before bringing you here.", he says.

I nod, not knowing how to respond to that information.

"So, is that all you want to get with you?", he asks.

"Yes, sir.".

"Alright then, let's head to the station.", saying that he walks out of the door to his car, with me tailing behind him.

The car ride to the station was filled with silence. The officer didn't ask any questions and neither did I.

After a few minutes of driving, we reached the police station.

We walk inside the station and he leads me to his cabin.

"So, Miss Jenson, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them honestly.", the officer states, sitting in his chair, asking me to take the chair opposite to him.

"Yes".

"Did you know that your parents were dealing drugs?"

"No"

"Did you find any suspicious activities or people at your house anytime?"

"No"

He sighed and continued.

"Were you treated well by them?"

I didn't expect that question. What should I tell him?

Should I tell him the truth?

What will he think of me if I say no?

Or worse, what if my parents walk out of prison and punish me for snitching on them?

No, I can't afford to tell him the truth. I can't trust a stranger just because he is looking kind now, can I?

"Miss Jenson?", the officer's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Y-Yes", I stuttered.

The officer eyed me suspiciously, but didn't ask anything further. Maybe he sensed that I didn't want to talk anything.

"Miss Jenson, we are going to take your blood and try to find any close relatives for you to stay with. If we can't find any, you will have to move into foster care.", he says looking at me with a soft expression.

I nod.

I'm scared. What if I get abused at foster care too? What if I end up in a foster house, where people treat me way worse than my parents?

Fear grips my heart with all these thoughts.

After some time, a social worker, who introduced herself as Stella, came and talked to me about how I'm going to have to wait at the station until my DNA is ran across the system to find any close relatives.

Not being able to take all the stress and due to the exhaustion of last night's punishment, I doze off on the couch in officer Robert's cabin. 

After some hours, I am woken up by the social worker, Stella.

She is looking at me as if I've grown horns on my head.

Okay! What did I do?

Did they find out about the abuse?

No, that can't be. I don't want them to find out.

I look at her waiting for an answer for her waking me up so abruptly and looking at me bewildered.

What happened? The anxiety is scaring me with each passing second!

"W-what h-happened?", I questioned, breaking her out of her trance.

Just then, officer Robert entered the cabin, with the same expression on his face.

Now, these people are really scaring me! 

They both looked at each other, then at me and walked out of the cabin together.

That's weird.

But what are they so shocked about?

Is it something bad?

Did I land up in some trouble?

I need answers and I need them now. Each passing second is making me anxious. I want to go out and ask them, but I'm scared they'd get mad at me for questioning them, just the way my mom and dad get.

After a few painful minutes, officer Robert and Stella walked in to the cabin. The officer sat in his chair, with Stella sitting opposite to him in one of the two chairs.

"Miss Jenson, please take a seat here.", the officer said pointing to the chair beside Stella, opposite to him.

I stood up from the couch and took a seat beside Stella. She was staring at me all this time, which is making me extremely uncomfortable.

Stella looked at me with a 'I can't believe you exist and that too here' expression and asked, 

"Who are you?" 

****************************************************************************

So, this is the next chapter.

How was the chapter?

What do you think got Robert and Stella so bewildered?

Your thoughts on Arianna.

One of the other characters will be introduced in the next chapter.

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Yours lovingly,

Author.