9 8

Everyone watched Mira closely as she picked at her breakfast. Usually she's on her third plate within ten minutes. Dean had stayed with her again that night but she hadn't said a word to him. Elizbeth told him about the sketchbook and how she reacted before breaking down and he decided not to force her to speak to him about it. The next morning, he woke up to go home a change for the day before rushing back to her.

Breakfast was eerily silent; the only sounds to be heard were the folks and spoons scraping the the bottom of the plates. Jerry tried to egg her on for an eating contest but got no response. The only thing on Amira's mind at that moment was Laurette's face as she passed and the bloody scissors in her hands.

"Amira, hun," Sheila began but she lost words when her step daughter looked up at her with the most empty and tormented eyes. It was like watching her walk into the office three years ago. When Sheila remained silent, Amira looked down at her food and ate just enough to keep through the day before getting up from the table. She cleaned her plate and went up to her room. Liz and Dean looked at each other then the two adults. Jerry wanted to make his little girl tell him everything but knew that wouldn't be the best idea. He wanted to go to the Addams for help but that would have been even worst.

"Sir," Dean called, gaining Jerry's attention, "I'm gonna put my neck on the chopping block here but can I take your daughter on a date?"

Both Jerry and Shelia stood to their feet and shouted.

"Yes!"

"No!"

The couple sent looks to each other then turned to face each other fully.

"Amira isn't fit to prance around with a boy I don't know properly. Especially today."

Shelia scoffed and folded her arms.

"Amira needs this date now more than ever because of today. She needs a short distraction to think back on when things like this happen."

"Yer just playin match maker here-"

"I am taking Amira into account fully, thank you very much. And I do not appreciate you thinking other wise."

"So you aren't playin Cupid then?"

"Of course I am but that doesn't mean that it's not in her best interest."

While the two argued, no one realized that Liz left to go check on Amira. When she got to her room, however, Amira was gone.

"Guys! Amira is gone!"

The couple stopped bickering and rushed to the room behind Dean. The window was open and a rope ladder hang from it with a note attached to the glass of the window. Dean snatched it down and read it aloud.

"Going to go draw a duck. Be back later."

Jerry took the note and felt frustration and intense worry. Dean scratched his brain to figure out where she could have gone while Liz waited for someone to do something.

Amira drew Laurette in her sketchbook as she saw her now. Her long, dirty blonde hair floated with the cold wind while the sun shined a little bit through the trees. She was so focused on her drawing, however, that she didn't sense anyone behind her until they leaned on her shoulder.

"Damn you're good."

Amira screamed in surprise, hitting the person on reflex.

"Shit, that hurt!"

"Well ya had it comin', sneaking up on me like ya did."

Mira held a hand to the girl and she took it.

"I told you to wait, Marcy," a familiar voice called out. Mira turned and saw Kaia Andrews walking up to them.

"I saw someone drawing and got curious. Wanted to see if they could help you."

Kaia looked at Amira and smiled brightly.

"Amira!"

She hugged her and Amira stiffened in discomfort.

"What's with people huggin me," she muttered to herself. Kaia pulled away but held her hands instead.

"I am so sorry about Marcy. She tends to speak her first thought and acts on a whim."

"I'm not that bad."

Kaia gave her a look before turning her attention back to Amira.

"So, what brings you to this park on a Sunday morning?"

Mira's thoughts went back to the sketch and she sighed, taking a seat on the bench. The two girls looked to each other then back to Amira.

"Hey Marcella, go get us a hot chocolate, yeah?"

Marcy was about to protest but Kai pushed her away and stuffed a ten in her pocket. When her friend was gone, she sat down next to Amira and held her hand, the gesture feeling foreign but oddly welcoming, just like with Dean and Amira.

"You can talk to me, you know. I may be an outcast at the school but I can help you if you want me to."

The first thing she wanted to do was lash out at her, ask her how can she help when she was being tossed into storage sheds and God knows what else. What stopped her, however, was when she looked up and her face was replaced with Laurette's. The same big brown eyes, same smile, the same hair. For a fleeting moment, she only saw her best friend. The built up grief inside of her all poured out as Amira began to sob.

Kaia pulled her into a hug and let her cry, not saying another word to her. Truth be told, she recognized the look of pain all to well. When her mother passed away, she'd see it everytime she looked in the mirror. The grief in her eyes let her know that she's been dealing with it for a long time but not properly.

Dean had watched Amira break down in Kaia's arms and felt his heart aching. When she left the house, they all went separate ways to find her. He chose the park, Shelia remained yo the house, Liz went to the ice rink because of the giant duck statue, and Jerry went to the sea side.

He walked over to them and sat down beside her, making sure that Kai didn't let his presence be known.

"I feel like I'm bringing everyone around me into a mess," Amira said, keeping her head in Kai's shoulder, "they all want to help me but how can I keep relying on them to pull me through all of my shit? I feel so fucking pathetic that I can't even face them."

This shocked Dean. He hadn't realized that she felt this way but it does explain why she had always pushed people away. He hadn't meant for her to feel like a burden to be carried by others.

"I'm sure that's not how they feel, Amira. You're someone that can see through peoples bullshit. I could tell that from what I read in the school paper and the day with Marcus. Whoever it is trying to help you, you shouldn't feel like a burden."

"But that's the bloody kicker. I want to open up to 'em fully but how can I do that when I'm just now discovering things meself?"

"Let us go through it with you."

Amira looked back quickly when she heard Dean's voice. She went to look away from him but he slide close to her and made her look him in the eyes.

"You let us go through those things with you. We signed up to help you get through all of this and I'll be damned if I let you ruin all of the progress we've made together."

Amira scoffed out a chuckle and leaned into his touch. Kaia had picked up the sketch book while the two talked and saw the page that she was working on.

"Sheila, Elizbeth, you dad, we're here for you to lean on. You don't need to carry everything alone; never have."

"But-"

Dean silenced her with a quick but passionate kiss.

"There are no buts. Well... Except for-"

Amira hit him in the shoulder before he could finish and laughed with him. He couldn't get enough of her smile.

Everly primmed herself in the window of the Scott door before going to knock. A gust of wind, however, came she hugged herself until it passed. When it had, however, she saw the door was opened, something that has never happened before. When they were children, Mr. Scott always made sure that the door was locked at all times, no matter what.

Everly pulled her pepper spray from her pocket along with her emergency silent alarm, it wad an alarm that, if pressed, would silently send a signal to the police station and allow them to track her. She made her way inside and closed the door.

The sound of heels echoed through the house, causing her to grow confused.

"Mrs. Scott?"

The heels paused before they came her way quickly. She readied herself to spray the intruder but faltered when she saw who it was.

"Everly, dear!"

The woman pulled Everly into a hug but she hadn't returned it, too shocked to do anything.

"You've gotten so big, deary. You're so beautiful now. Well... You've always been a cute little thing."

"Mrs. Sc-"

"You know better than that, little imp. I'm Cordelia Hailen. Anyways where's Amira? Is she causing trouble with Laurette again?"

Everly was about to reply but the door opened and laughter was heard along with a heard of footsteps.

"It ain't funny, you assholes."

"You took so long to fall."

Amira rounded the corner of the living room and paused.

There stood Everly and her mother, her real mother. Dean noticed her change of atmosphere and pulled her into him by her waist as he peeked around the corner.

"Who is that," he asked. Kaia and Marcella peeked around the corner also and saw a beautiful woman with dyed blonde hair and green eyes, like Amira's.

"Amira, honey."

The girl wasted no time walking over to Everly and grabbing her hand. She pulled her behind her protectivly then glared at her.

"Get the hell out of here before I drag you back to hell meself."

Liz put her phone away and smiled. Dean had texted her saying he found Amira and they'd be back to the house soon. She was going to go back but decided against it and stayed back to think about how to help Amira. In the short time she's known her, she learned so much about the girl and was so happy that she opened up to her like she did. Now the question was, how could they help her without hurting her. That black journal of Laurette's held so much pain that Amira carried alone for so long; since she was just a kid. The secrets in that book was slowly destroying her inside and she knew that.

While in thought, she failed to realize someone was beside her until she spoke.

"Wonderful weather for deep, frowning thoughts," she said. Liz jumped with a scream and turned to see Azana Coleson, a prankster and trouble maker at Harbor Point high. Liz blushed as Azana laughed at her.

"You're a little jumpy one, aren'tcha."

Liz glared at her while trying to calm her heart.

"Wait," the girl said as she made her way in front of Elizbeth. Liz kept her gaze down but Azana grabbed her face with one hand and lifted it up. For a moment, everything dissapeared when she met the pair of blue eyes before her. The wind blew Azana's black hair over her face but her blue eyes were still visible.

"You're the chick that hangs with Amira and Dean, right? Elizbeth!"

All she could do was blink now.

"You guys are so awesome. Dean was already super popular, being friends with the school bad boy and all that jazz. Then Amira Scott comes like an earthquake and shakes up the hierachy. I so wanna be her when I grow up. You have balls to be her friend though. I couldn't just walk up to her and say hi."

Azana scratched the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh. It was then that Liz came to a realization.

"You have a crush on Amira, don't you?"

The tall tomboy blushed and looked away.

"Whaaaa? I don't know what you mean."

Liz scoffed and smirked while folding her arms.

"Yeah, and I have only one color for my eyes. So, one, Amira is currently seeing someone. Two, she's actually pretty easy to talk to once you put up with her cold front."

Azana blushed and turned away from Liz to hide her smile. Liz placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed.

"Its as I said though. She's sort of seeing someone."

The smile she wore went flat and Azana turned sharply. When she did, however, she tripped on her untied shoe lace and fell forwards on Liz. Liz tried to catch her but the two ended up on the ground and their lips touched briefly. The pain they felt was numbed as they stared at each other. Liz was the one to break from her gaze and pushed her away to sit up. That was her first kiss. Or was it? Did it count as a kiss?

"Whoa," Azana mumbled, "I kissed her and loved it!"

Liz froze and slowly turned to see Azana smiling brightly. She then turned to Liz and carwled over to her.

"Hey, Elizbeth," she began while getting in the smaller girl's face. Liz shrank back with a beet red face.

"W-what is it."

"Was that your first kiss?"

Liz gasped and looked away, mortified.

How did she know that? Am I that much of a loser?

Azana crawled to look Liz in the eyes while smiling.

"It was wasn't it? That settles it then!"

Azana stood and brought Liz up with her.

"Settles what, exactly?"

Azana smirked and gave the tiny blond's cheeks a squeeze.

"You're my girlfriend now."

Liz blinked for a moment; no words forming in her brain.

"W-what?"

Azana just smiled and brought her new girlfriend into her arms.

Everyone was shocked, no one more so than Everly. Amira was always close to her mother. Everly hadn't noticed it until now but when Cordelia left her and her father she was relieved instead of broken up like her father was. The door opened once more and closed.

"Amira?"

At the sound of her father's voice, Amira backed away from the woman she viewed as an evil person. When Jerry pushed through the others blocking the doorway he too had came to a pause. Sheila was next but she didn't understand what was happening.

"Jerry, are you alright," she asked, holding his hand for comfort.

"I will be once I figure out who let that woman into me home."

Cordelia sighed and straightened her back.

"Well I see where Amira got her manners from. All these years and she-"

"I swear it if you don't leave right now, you bitch, I will kill you."

Sheila ran over to Amira and coaxed her into backing away. She then noticed the shaky death grip she had on Everly's hand and grew confused even more.

"How dare you speak to your mother that way!"

Amira was about to reply but Everly covered her mouth and looked to Dean for help.

"Mrs. Cordelia, I'm sorry about her," the girl said as she struggled against Amira, "She's had a rough few days and I guess everyone is a bit surprised, seeing as you left."

Cordelia paused and her features softened.

"You still blame me for what happened," she stated.

Amira glared at her mother and sent to attack but Dean snatched her away from Everly and looked to her father. Unspoken words passed between them and he nodded with hesitance before going to Sheila.

"Sheila, this is Amira's birth mother, Cordelia." Sheila looked to the woman then to her fianceé. She let out a breath then looked back to the children.

"As you all can see, its not really a good time for company. Do you all mind taking Amira out somewhere?"

Kaia nodded and grabbed Marcy's hand. Everly looked to the woman once more and figured out that she found another clue. Cordelia left a month before Laurette died and Amira was relieved that she left. The only question that remained is why.

She followed the others to Amira who was pacing the bedroom floor, shaking in fury.

When Dean tried to hold her she shrugged him off and kept pacing.

"You need to calm down, Mira," he told her. She scoffed and balled her hands into fists.

"I need to calm down he says," she mumbled, "of all the things to say he tells me to calm the fuck down."

Everly was watching her every move. She hinted that the Irish girl stayed near her, protectivly as she paced the floor. She looked like a tiger that sensed danger and waited for it to strike while protecting her cub. Everly felt elated by this yet confused. Since her return, she's done nothing but avoid her and her family and now she's protecting her.

"Um, Amira." Everyone turned to Kaia, making her shrink slightly behind Marcy.

"Y-your step mom asked-"

"Sheila isn't me step mom. She is me mother no matter what. If anything that bitch is nothing to me but a thorn in me socks."

The girl nodded and corrected herself.

"Your mom asked us to take you out of the house for a while. I had a place in mind if-"

"She's going," Dean said before grabbing her from behind and carrying her out of the room.

Amira began kicking, demanding to be put down. He ignored her and turned to Everly.

"Do you mind grabbing our things?"

Everly nodded, taken aback by his excited mood.

While the others followed Dean out, Everly went to gather their phones, chargers, and Amira's bag. When she lifted the bag, however, a set of keys fell out. She then remembered the box of her sister's things. She looked around then quickly shut the door before going under the bed. She pulled out the box and looked for the right key to go I the lock. When she found it, she shoved it in with shaking hands and unlocked it. She opened the box and brushed the things off the only book inside. She opened it and saw Laurette's handwriting on the first page.

My Final Chapters

This page was different from the other two books. The first two journals read Laurie's Dark Thoughts.

"Everly, we need to leave," Kaia called. Everly quickly closed and locked the box, shoved it back under the bed and shoved the journal inside of her bag before picking up Amira's bag. She felt slightly guilty for what she had been doing but her curiosity overrode the guilt.

The door opened just as Everly was about to walk out.

"U-um, Dean said to hurry," Kai said, feeling intimidated by Everly. This hadn't gone past the blond but she couldn't dwell on that. She rushed out of the room with Kaia on her tail. They both got caught up with Dean and the others as they went to walk to the ice rink.