The Secret Life of the Bad Girl

Chapter 32

My phone hits the ground and shatters.
~~~~~~~past~~~~~~~~~~
It was three months before I started getting feeling back in my lower body. I had been in the hospital the whole time. Doctors constantly checking on me, physical therapist would come for sessions, regular therapists would try to get me to talk, but I wouldn't. I stayed silent for three whole months. My brother was gone and probably dead. I was paralyzed. My parents were in the middle of a divorce and never came to see me. I might as well have been dead. I stayed in the hospital another month after I got the feeling back in my legs. On the day I went home, I spoke for the first time in four months. Right after my mother told me she was pregnant.

"You are replacing him." I croaked. My voice was rough and my throat scratchy.

"What?" mom said in surprise. She obviously wasn't expecting me to speak.

I glare at her. "You are replacing Ethan with a new baby."

"Jaylynn!" she gasped. "That is not what I am doing. This baby was very much unplanned."

"Whatever." I mutter.
~~~~~~~~~~~present~~~~~~~~~
The sound of my mothers muffled voice calling to me from my broken phone brought me back to the present. I drop to my knees and cradle my phone to my ear.

"Mom?" I say. "Mom, are you sure?" I ask her desperately.

"Yes." She replies, her voice sounds as if she is sobbing. "Ethan is here. He's asking for you."

My heart races. "I'll be there as soon as I can." I sprint from the locker room, shattered phone in hand, and jump into my car. I don't tell anyone that I'm leaving, I just go. I drive like crazy towards the police department, my mind once again slipping into the past.
~~~~~~~~~~~past~~~~~~~~~~~
I was thirteen the first time I tried to run away from home. I stole my moms credit card and my dad's car and just left in the middle of the night. I ended up at the track. It instantly became a haven for me. I stayed there for almost five hours before a police officer showed up. He walked up to the car and shined his flashlight inside. I scooted away from the window scowling at him.

"Young lady, why are you in a stolen vehicle on private property?" he asked calmly.

I didn't answer. My heart was pounding in my chest. I just knew he was going to arrest me.

"Exit the car." He demanded.

"No." I growled.

"If you do not exit the car I have a warrant to enter it my self and remove you from the vehicle." He threatened.

I challenged him with my eyes. He set his flashlight down and tried the door. I smirked, he couldn't get in because I had locked it. Then next thing I knew he smashed the window and unlocked the door. I screamed as he pulled me from the car and pushed me up against it to handcuff me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~present~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sound of the sirens plays in my mind as I pull up to the police station. I park the car and stare at the building in front of me. Ethan. My baby brother. Could he really be in there?

The case went to court and my father pleaded insanity. He managed to get the court to let me off on a warning and instead I spent the next three months in a rehab facility for juvenile delinquents. I was only thirteen, but I would have rather gone to jail than be treated like a nutcase. I wasn't deranged. I wasn't insane. I was sad. I just wanted my brother. My brother that everyone told me was gone for good. I didn't want to accept the fact that I would never see him again.

I slowly walk into the building. When I reach the front desk, the officer asks how she can help me.

"Ethan." I say. "Take me to Ethan." I grip the counter urgently.

"Hold on miss. Can you give me a last name? Was he taken into custody?" she asks.

"I don't know." I say finally breaking down into sobs. "Mom called, and she said Ethan is here. Please take me to Ethan. Ethan Reynolds. I'm his sister. Please."

"Oh," the lady officer says, realization dawning on her. "You are here with the family of the missing boy we found."

I nod frantically. "Yes, Ethan."

She waves a young police officer over. "Take the girl to Sheriff Dawson's office please."

I follow the police officer back to a room I am very familiar with. Sheriff Dawson has arrested me twice. Once back when I was thirteen, and once when I was fifteen. Him and I are going to be on a first name basis before you know it.

When I get inside the room, I see the sheriff and my parents, but no Ethan.

"Where is he?" I cry grabbing my mom by the shoulders. "You said he was here!"

"Jaylyn calm down!" my father demands.

"You!" I whirl around and point at Sheriff Dawson. "What have you done with him? Where is he?"

"Miss Reynolds, always a pleasure." He deadpans.

"Someone tell me where my brother is right now!" I scream. I see young police officer put his hand on his taser.

"Jaylyn Marie!" my father says exasperated. "Stop with your antics. Ethan is not here- "

"Where is he?" I interrupt him.

"He's at the hospital. Your brother is sick with pneumonia." Sheriff Dawson tells me.

"Then why the hell am I here?" I wheel around to leave.

"Jaylyn wait," my mother grabs my arm. "Please take me with you." She stares at me looking so vulnerable with her watery eyes.

I soften, my heart breaking with the sudden realization of how much this has affected her as well as myself. "Come on, mom. Let's go find Ethan."

We leave together, and she tells me where to go as she gets into my car. "I'm so sorry, Jaylyn. I thought he was at the police station. I called you as soon as they called me, and they said get to the police station and, so I just thought- "

"Its fine momma." I smile slightly at her. "We are going to him now. It'll all be okay."

"I hope you're right." She whispers. I hope I am too.
~~~~~~~~~~authors note~~~~~~~
You don't know the struggle I went through to post this... I know the last two chapters went back and forth between past and present a lot. If you have any questions please ask them. I can easily clear up any confusion!