TRAPPED

19

Celine

"Then it is decided." The judge begins. "Adrien will have full custody over his daughter and other children."

     My eyes widen. My head snaps immediately over to my mother, who looks furious as she stands. "What?"

     "Is there a problem, Miss Garcia? Today you have proven to be an unfit parent."

     "You can't just take my daughter away from me!"

     "Like you took her away from me?" Adrien questions.

She scowls. "I was trying to—"

"You're all dismissed." The judge interrupts.

I stay in my seat, bringing a hand up to my mouth. I begin chewing on my nails as my leg starts to shake, bouncing up and down.

     I hear someone shout, followed by more shouts until it all stops after a minute. Then someone is crouching down in front of me.

     I look at them. At my father. He smiles at me. "Are you okay, baby?" He asks, taking my hand in his own.

     I pull it back quickly. I catch a glimpse of my mother as she's pulled out of the double doors. Her gaze is on mine, and she's glaring daggers at me. He follows my gaze, but he doesn't get to see her before she's gone.

     "You don't have to be worried, Celine." He says. "And I'm sorry you had to choose, but I'm glad you chose us."

     My mum is gonna be so mad at me. She's going to hate me. I shake my head. "I need—need to change it. I wanna go—go with her."
I'm
     His expression softens. "Celine."

"I shouldn't have said—s-said you." I choke out. She's gonna be so mad at me now.

     "Celine." He says again. "It's okay."

     I shake my head. "No!"

     "Sweetheart." He whispers. "You don't have to be scared of anything."

My bottom lip begins to wobble. I force it to stop.

"I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen." He says softly, his voice like a coo. "You're gonna get to go figure skating and meet your new coach. You can stay as long as you want. Then we'll go home, and all your brothers are gonna come for dinner. Then we can do whatever you want to do. We can watch a movie, or if you want to go to bed that's okay too."

     I sniffle.

     "Come on." He says softly, standing to his full height. I look up at him.

My voice breaks when I speak. "I c-can't."

     "We'll go to your ice rink. Your grandad is putting the bag in our car right now. We don't have to talk about anything. Your brothers are all going to our house, it'll just be me and you."

     I think I'm shaking.

•

Somehow, I manage to follow my father out to his car. He opens the passenger door for me, and I climb into it slowly.

     He smiles at me before rounding the car, then getting into the drivers seat. He doesn't say anything as the car begins to move. I wrap my arms around myself, eyes watering again.

•

My session is almost over. I've been basically showing my skills for the past two hours, as well as resuming my practice on my triple axel.