I paused as my hand rested on the door handle to the school. This was it. This was the beginning of a hopefully better life. I looked back at my sister, and she smiled at me. We both hoped that our lives would change for the better after this moment.

I opened the door, and stepped inside with Charlie.

The school was quiet, and it was unsettling to see the hallways so empty. Our footsteps echoed along the walls and my hands were restless.

We walked down the halls until we found a classroom with the lights on.

Mrs. Taylor, the name tag read.

Charlie glanced at me, too a deep breath, and stepped inside. I followed close behind. Butterflies were flying in circles in my stomach right now, despite the fact that we were leaving our rotten life behind.

Hopefully.

The classroom was empty except for Mrs. Taylor, who was leaning over her desk, her brow furrowed thoughtfully.

She looked up and caught sight of us, and looked us over with a frown. “Hello, Charlotte, Reeve. Why do you have all that stuff with you? Is something wrong?”

Charlie nodded furiously. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Taylor, but we really need to talk to you. It’s serious,”

Mrs. Taylor stood up from her desk, eyebrows raised. “Well, what’s going on? Have a seat,”

We sat down at the desks closest to her, slinging our crammed backpacks onto the floor. Charlie spoke first. “Ma’am, we need you to drive us to the police station, please.”

“Oh? And why do you need to go there?”

“That is none of your business, ma’am. It’s a matter of reporting something to the police,”

Mrs. Taylor folded her arms. “Well, if you don’t tell me why, I have reason to suspect you two are up to something. Tell me why you need to go there, and I’ll consider it.”

I shared a glance with my sister, and Charlie pulled out the hundred dollar bill and set it on Mrs. Taylor’s desk. “Please, we need to go there. It’s a matter of life and death.”

The teacher’s expression did not change. “Kids, I’m sorry but I can’t be bribed by money,”

Despite her words, I noticed the hungry expression in her eyes.

“Please, Mrs. Taylor,” Charlie begged. I could hear the pain in her voice. “We really need to go there. It’s about a situation at home. Please. If you don’t take us, we’ll find someone else.”

I knew that the teacher still thought I was dumb, so I clasped my hands together in a pleading motion. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

“Hey, Mrs. T, I forgot my paper in here. Can I quickly che-”

I whirled around. I knew that voice like the back of my hand.

There, in his hood less jacket, was Austin, standing there with a lopsided grin that was quickly fading into a scowl.

I stood up, hands shaking. Even if we stopped the abuse coming from home, I’d still have to put up with this kid.

Hell no.

But then Austin’s scowl was replaced by a sincere smile, as if nothing was wrong. “Oh, hey Reeve,” he said, looking embarrassed. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“No.” I said before I could think.

Mrs. Taylor gasped. “Reeve, y-you can talk?”

“Yes. Yes I can.” I said, not caring about anything else right now. Only Austin mattered. I glowered at him. “What do you want? And you’d better make it quick.”

He held up his hands. “Hey, I’m sorry about that incident a couple days ago. I was really stupid, and I don’t know why I did it. Um, can we be friends?”

I almost fainted.

“Uh, excuse me?” I said, splaying my hands wide. “You want me to accept an apology from you? After what you did to me? What is wrong with you? Why the sudden change?”

“Hey, I’m really sorry about what happened. It was a dare, and I got fifty bucks from it. I’m sorry.” Austin pulled out his phone. “And I wanted to thank you for saving my brother’s dog. Man, you can really run.”

I was tempted to slap the phone out of his hands. “What are you talking about? How do you know about that?”

He showed me a video on YouTube, and I was horrified to see myself chasing after that fluffy white dog. “H-how’d that g-get on there?”

He shrugged. “One of my friends was there, and he recorded the whole thing. I…” he swallowed and tried again.. “I wanna start over again with you. You seem like a really cool guy, and I kinda owe you for saving James Arthur Newton.”

Charlie grabbed my arm. “Reeve, I have an idea.”

I looked at her, watching intently as she told me something in sign language.

“Are you serious?” I said, barely restraining myself from throttling Austin. “You’re gonna trust this guy?”

“Just ask, please!”

I sighed, hating every moment of this day. I turned to Austin. “Hey, I’ll consider being your friend. But in the meantime, do you have a car?”

Austin nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t have my license yet. Why?”

“We need you to take us somewhere. Now.”

“Dude, I just said I don’t have my license yet. I can’t drive yet.”

“But do you know how?” Charlie asked, her eyes pleading. Austin glanced at her, and his expression softened.

“Yeah, but I could go to jail if I was pulled over and didn’t have my license on me. And besides, it depends on where you wanna go. Gas ain’t cheap, you know. And school’s about to start, too.”

I grabbed the hundred dollar bill from Mrs. Taylor’s desk, who looked sad to see it go. “W-we’ll pay f-for the gas. W-we need you to get us t-to the police station.”

Austin frowned, finally looking at us more closely. He paused as he saw the red marks on my neck. He looked at mine and Charlie’s deep, still red scars racing up our arms. He took in our overstuffed backpacks, and the dark circles under our eyes, and Charlie’s messy hair.

“Are… Are you guys okay? Why do you need to go there? Is something wrong? And don’t lie, `cause I can tell.”

We glanced at Mrs. Taylor, who was leaning forward, head resting on her hands.

“Thank you for your time, Mrs. T, but we need to go now. Thank you for your help.” Charlie smiled at her, but it was a bitter smile.

The three of us headed out of the classroom and down the empty hallways of the school. We reached the exit, and stepped outside into the cold, harsh wind.

Austin waved us over to a silver truck in the parking lot.

“I thought you said you didn’t have your license?” Charlie questioned, glancing at Austin.

“Well, I don’t. But nobody needs to know that, alright?” It was a clear message. “So, tell me why you need to go to the police station.”

I was about to say that it was none of his business, but Charlie elbowed me in the ribs. I glared at her as she started talking to Austin.

“Well, it’s kind of a personal matter. But we need to report something really serious, alright?”

Austin folded his arms, one eyebrow raised. “Well, can you tell me what the personal matter is?”

“And why should we tell you?” I butted in the conversation.

“Well, because I’m the one driving you guys there, and I risking a couple years in prison to do so. Besides, I have a pretty good idea why you’re going down there.”

“Well, since you’re so smart, why don’t you tell us?” said angrily. We were wasting time here.

Austin frowned down at me and my sister. “I’m guessing you’re running away because something happened at home. Something serious, right? Did your folks get in a fight, or something? Or did they hit you? Close enough?”

I stepped back, my eyes widening. Then my expression darkened as I looked at the ground. “Our mom left us, and our dad’s been abusing us since I can remember. We’re going to the police station to report him, and hopefully get a better life.”

“Oh,” Austin looked sincerely sorry for us. He had the nerve to feel sorry for us!

“I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll take you right now.”

Charlie stepped forward, and I thought that she’d punch him, judging by her expression. Then she quickly embraced him, and stepped back.

“Thank you,” she muttered.

Austin’s face was beet red. “Oh… Uh, yeah. No problem. Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry about what you guys have had to go through.”

He looked us over again, and shook his head. “My dad sometimes hits me, but I can’t even begin to imagine what those marks on your faces and arms have done to you.” Then he turned to Charlie.

“Uh, has he ever… um. Done…”

I cut him off before he could say anything. “And why do you care?” I growled, tugging Charlie behind me. “It’s none of your business to know what he’s done to us.”

I opened the back door to the truck. “Now take us to the police station. Please.”

Austin raised his hands. “Alright, alright. Hop in. And it’s not my fault if we go to jail.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped in the truck. I glanced behind to make sure Charlie was sitting in the back. She caught me looking, and gave me a thumbs up and smiled. “We’re gonna change our life, Reeve. We are, I promise.”

I smiled back.

And it was a real smile.

It was Austin who worked up the courage first to walk up to the police officer sitting at the front desk. We hadn’t asked him to come with us, but it seemed like he felt the need to. And would never admit this, but I was grateful for him for taking the lead in this moment.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said as soon as Charlie and I were standing right by him. “Uh, may we have a moment of your time?”

The officer glanced at us for a moment, then turned to his computer and pressed some buttons for a good three minutes.

“I’m sorry about that,” he looked up at us, his voice surprisingly gentle. “My name is officer Reynolds. What can I do for you?” He looked at us with piercing green eyes. He had a look on his face as if to say,I’m listening to you kids just to be nice, so you better not waste my time so hurry up and speak I don’t got all day.

“Um, sir,” Charlie said nervously. “Me and my brother would like to report multiple acts of child abuse inflicted upon us.”

The cop stared at her. Even I was surprised by how professional she sounded.

“Mind telling me your names, children?” he asked, hands flying over the computer keys.

“My name is Charlotte Anderson,” my sister said, gesturing to herself, then me. “And this is my twin brother, Reeve Anderson.”

The police man’s brow furrowed, as if he recognized the names. He looked at Austin. “And who is this gentleman with you?”

Austin started to say something. “I’m Austin Jacobson, and I’m their fr-” he stopped, and glanced a me.

I came to a decision, and put my hand on Austin’s shoulder. “He’s our r-really good friend, sir.”

Austin grinned at me, and mouthed the words, Thanks dude.

“Alright. And what are your parent's names?” Officer Reynolds asked, barely looking up from his computer.

“Our mom is Marium Anderson, and our dad is Henry Anderson.” Charlie said, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She did that whenever she was nervous.

The officer froze, and turned his head slowly so he could look straight into my eyes. “Talk for me, son.” he said in a dangerously low voice.

I was confused and terrified, but the look on his face told me that he wasn’t fooling around. “Uh, w-w-what d-do you w-want me t-to s-say?” I asked nervously. The cop was staring at me with dark eyebrows knit together in fury, and concern at the same time.

Immediately after I said that, he swung around in his chair and grabbed the phone on the wall. “Officers, this is Officer Bryce Reynolds. We need four teams here at the Jordan station pronto. We’ve found Henry Anderson’s kids. Asking for traumatic doctors on the scene. Repeat, we need all teams here at the Jordan station immediately.”

He hung up, and turned to us with deep concern in his green eyes. “Kids, I’m going to have to ask you to sit down over there.” then he faced Austin. “I’m going to have you leave now, Austin. We’ll take care of your friends from here.”

“B-but I’m their ride…” Austin said half-heartedly. I could tell that he wanted to stay to see what was going to happen next. He looked at me.

“S-s-sir,” I stammered nervously. I didn’t want to argue with a police officer. “U-Uh, I’d like him here, please. He’s my best friend. And I’d like him to stay here with me and my sister. P-p-p-please?”

Officer Reynolds looked at me as if I were royalty. “Oh, of course,” he spoke gently. “You must be in shock. I’ll have him stay here with you while the doctors ask you guys questions. How’s that?”

I nodded vigorously. “T-t-thank you, s-sir.” I said.

He looked at me sympathetically. “Go on and sit down over there. The doctors will be here soon. Just take it easy for a few, alright?”

I had no idea why he was treating me this way. And it sounded like he had known Henry.

I sat down on the chairs lining the walls with my sister and Austin. He glanced at me. “So, I’m your best friend?”

I looked back at him, forcing a grin despite my nerves. “Well, I’ve never had a friend before, so you’d better consider yourself lucky.”

Austin smiled weakly. “You’ve never had one friend?”

“Besides Charlie, never.” I had never thought about it. It’s not that I didn’t want friends, I just never talked to people because of my stutter. I had just assumed that no one wanted to be my friend because of how I talked.

Charlie squeezed my hand to get my attention. “Well, it sounds like our situation’s a big deal, huh?”

I laughed uneasily. “Yeah, I’m still kinda confused th-though. I a-asked the o-officer to let Austin stay w-w-with us, and he treated me as if I w-was a king.”

“He sounded like he knew your dad,” Austin said, sitting down across from us. “Do you guys know that guy?”

“Never seen him before in my life,” Charlie spread her arms wide. “And why’s he talking about doctors coming?”

Austin leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head. “I’d guess that the doctors are gonna see if you guys are alright. You know, since you’ve been abused and stuff. They’ll probably check if your dad did any lasting damage.”

As if on cue, two men with black bags dressed in white came running through the door. Officer Reynolds stood up to greet them, but the men shook their heads. The cop sat down, and guestured over to me and my sister.

I watched them approach carefully, trying to figure out what their expressions meant. Concern? Anger? Interest? I couldn’t tell one bit.

Their strides were long, and they walked with purpose. One had glasses and silver streaks in his hair. The other had brown hair, and a bounce in his step. He was clearly the younger of the two. But both wore the same serious expression.

The old guy extended his hand. “Hello children,” he said warmly. “I’m Doctor Golden, and this is Doctor Conner. I take it that you’re Reeve and Charlie?”

How did he know that? I immediately didn’t like these guys. Charlie shook Golden’s hand, but I just stared at him icily.

How does he know our names? I kept asking inside my head.

Connor turned to Austin. “And who are you, young man?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

Austin seemed frozen, unable to speak.

I didn’t want to, but I spoke for him. “He’s our best friend. H-h-he gave us a r-r-ride here.” I folded my arms.

These doctors... They held themselves as if we were all peasants, and they were royalty.

Connor looked at me kindly. “Well, I’ll have to ask him to sit over on the other couches while we ask you some questions, alright?”

Austin started to protest, but I shook my head at him. I really didn't want to make these guys mad...