Two day's later, Mrs. Appleton was sitting in the Bennet's living room, crying and hugging her daughter with Brian pacing around in the room.
"Oh baby... why didn't you tell me?" Mrs. Appleton asked.
"He told me that everyone would say that it was my fault and that he would kill me if I told" C.J said, looking at her brother. Brian shook his head and mumbled something under his breath. Once the twins had told Mrs. Bennet, she had been on the phone to Mrs. Appleton within minutes. Mrs. Appleton couldn't get a flight out that night so she had to wait until that day. Brian had begged to go with his mother to see C.J as the two of them were fairly close. Mrs. Appleton had disowned her son when she found out what he had did to C.J and now the Appleton's were going to stay with the Bennet's until Mrs. Appleton could find a job and a place to live. Brad was going to come live with them when they had their own house.
"It wasn't your fault honey..." Mrs. Appleton said. Just then, Mrs. Bennet, Kayla and Jaymi walked into the room.
"Mary, hi" Mrs. Bennet said, hugging her friend.
"Hello Julia.." Mrs. Appleton said. They sat down.
"Does anyone want a drink?" Kayla asked, getting up to head for the kitchen. Jaymi nodded and so did Brian. Kayla walked into the kitchen and heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Brian. "Hi" she said, smiling at him. He smiled back.
"Hey... nice place you have" He said.
"Thanks... I guess it helps that my mom is an interior decorator" Kayla said, grinning.
"How old are you?" Brian asked.
"Fifteen" Kayla said, then laughed at the look on Brian's face.
"Don't look it do I?" She asked.
"No.. I mean... you look... well, younger.. I thought you were C.J's age" Brian said. Kayla laughed and shook her head no as she handed Brian a glass of orange juice.
"I know this isn't the best question to ask... but... did you know about C.J?" Kayla asked. Brian shook his head.
"No... I wish I did though... I can't believe she went through that three times before he stopped"
"Three times?" Kayla asked. Brian nodded. Just then Jaymi walked into the kitchen.
"Mom wants us to go for a walk or something to give C.J and her mom some time alone" she announced. The three teenagers walked out of the house and Jaymi headed for Isaac's. Kayla and Brian followed. The twins discovered that Brian was a quiet boy and he didn't say much.
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It was about 3:00 in the afternoon and Taylor walked down to the kitchen in search of food. He heard laughing coming from the living room so he went to investigate. There he found Kayla, Jaymi, Isaac, Zac and some boy sitting next to Kayla on the couch. He wondered how long they had been there and he wondered why Kayla didn't come to see him.
"Hi" Taylor said, walking in and staring directly at Kayla and the boy she was sitting next to. Kayla grinned up at him and got up.
"Hey!" She said, wrapping her arm's around him and hugging him.
"When did you guy's get here?"
"About half an hour ago... anyway, Tay.. this is Brian... he's C.J's brother... Brian, this is-"
"Yeah I know... he's Taylor Hanson" Brian interrupted. Kayla smiled and nodded, not noticing Brian's tone of voice. Kayla sat down on the floor and pulled Taylor down so that he was next to her. Taylor eyed Brian and Brian eyed Taylor back, making it clear to Taylor that he didn't like him.
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A few day's later, C.J seemed to be getting better. She had started to eat again and was talking and laughing like her usual self. C.J had moved in with Jaymi, so that Mrs. Appleton could get the guest room and Brian was staying in Malcom's room. C.J was humiliated. She couldn't believe that she had told Zac of all people her secret. She had been able to avoid seeing him but that night they were going to the Hanson's for dinner.
"Come on honey... we're all ready to go..." Mrs. Appleton said, sticking her head into Jaymi's bedroom. C.J sighed and followed her mother down the stairs. The two families piled into two cars, Mrs. Bennet's car and Malcom's. They drove to the Hanson's and soon the teenagers were sitting outside on the lawn in the backyard. C.J kept her eye's away from Zac, but whenever she looked up at him, he was staring at her, looking as if he wanted to say something. Kayla, Jaymi, Brian, Taylor, and Isaac had all agreed not to bring up C.J's rape, and they were going to try to keep her mind away from it.
"ZAC! TAYLOR!" Mrs. Hanson yelled from the back door.
"WHAT?" Zac yelled as Taylor got up to see what his mother wanted. He came back out a few minutes later.
"We have to go to the store for Mom". Zac groaned.
"I'll go with Zac if you don't want to go" C.J spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise. C.J blushed and looked down at her shoes. "I mean, thats if Zac....uhh..if you want me...." C.J stammered. Zac smiled.
"Sure, I don't mind...and I promise not to leave you at the store again.." Zac said. Eveyone but C.J laughed. C.J stood up and followed Zac out of the side gate and onto the street. The two of them walked in silence for a while. "So, how are you feeling?" Zac asked her. C.J shurgged her shoulders.
"As good as I can, I guess.." She trailed off, not really wanting to talk about the rape, which she knew Zac was trying to ask her about. Once again, they walked in silence. C.J began to wonder why she had offered to go with Zac. She glanced sideways at him and saw that he had pulled a leaf off of a tree and was now ripping it apart. She smiled a little and then walked along with her eye's closed.
"Watch out for that Dinosaur" Zac said, knowing it would make C.J open her eyes. It did.
"Where?" she asked. Then she realized what Zac had said and burst out laughing. It was the first time she had really laughed for a few days. She stopped walking and sat down on the curb. Zac sat beside her. After a few minutes she calmed down.
"Thank you." She said. Zac looked at her, confused.
"For what?" He asked her.
"For making me laugh... for making me feel happy for once" C.J said quietly, not looking at Zac. He glanced at her and noticed that she was blushing.
"I'm so sorry for what I put you through the other day... I shouldn't have told you like that..." C.J said. Zac shook his head.
"It's ok.. I was pretty shocked... I can tell you that... but I dunno... you needed to tell someone... something in the movie sparked your memory... so... " Zac trailed off once he realized that he was babbling. C.J gave him a weak smile. They got up and started for the supermarket again, both of them felt that things would be better between them, not perfect, but better.
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A few day's later, Jaymi ran out of the bathroom and flew into her sisters room.
"What's up?" Kayla asked after seeing the frantic look on Jaymi's face.
"I'm late"
"What?.. you're late?... by how many day's?" Kayla asked once she knew what Jaymi was talking about. Jaymi shrugged.
"Three or Four day's... Kayla... you don't think I could be pregnant do you?" Jaymi asked frantically.
"But you used protection didn't you?" Kayla asked. Jaymi nodded.
"Yeah... well, the first time we did"
"The first time?.. you mean you've done it more than once?" Kayla asked. Jaymi looked at the floor and avoided her sisters eyes."Jaymi?"
"Ok! yes we have" Jaymi cried.
"Oh my god... I can't believe you! you should know to use protection!" Kayla said.
"I know... we just didn't have any..." Jaymi trailed off. Kayla rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed.
"You are such an idiot... you have to go get a pregnancy test done"
"I can't do that! I'll just get one of those home tests" Jaymi said. Kayla shrugged her shoulders.
"Are you gonna tell Ike?"
"I don't know... do you think I should?"
"Do I really need to answer that?" Kayla asked. Jaymi shook her head. Jaymi knew that Kayla thought she should tell Isaac. She would, but she was going to wait a few more day's before doing so.