Scene 8 [mish mash]

Hello, I am writing this on my new Quickpad. Let’s hope this works well. Thea’s story goes a little like this. When last we saw Thea, she was trying to tell her mom about what had happened at school. Her mom seemed uninterested, and Thea gave up trying. She couldn’t understand what had happened to her parents since they had moved. They had always shown interest in what was happening in Thea’s life, but lately, they seemed like they were only interested in watching Thea, but not in talking to her or helping her deal with the move.

She hadn’t been able to get in touch more than once with the twins or Angela since the move. It was as if their friendship had meant nothing to the girls. They hadn’t even tried to return Thea’s calls. Once, Thea could have sworn she heard Kelly’s laugh in the background, but Kelly’s mom had said it was just the TV. No way. Kelly’s laugh was one of a kind.

Thea’s parents had promised that they would get the internet first thing after they moved, and the computer was still in its box.

Thea had written in a journal since she could write, but since they’d moved, she felt strange about writing things down. She had a feeling that someone had been reading it, so she’d put a strand of her hair between two pages toward the front of her journal, and wrapped it around and threaded it between two pages toward the end of the journal. The next day when she’d gone to write, the hair was gone.

Thea had never had any reason to doubt that her parents loved and trusted her until they stopped talking to her. She didn’t know what was going on yet, but she had never been one to go down without a fight.

If she couldn’t trust her parents, if she didn’t have friends, she would figure out a way to do without.

Then she remembered Josh, and felt a little hope. Yes, he was weird, but he had helped her out of a difficult situation, and Thea was glad that she had finally found someone willing to help. If she had to, she’d go it alone but she really hoped that Josh was going to be her friend.

When they got home, Thea went to her room and lay down on her bed. She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She didn’t wake up until morning, but she felt like she’d been running all night long. There had been dreams that people were chasing her, and of needles, and of white rooms with bars and screaming children.

When she told her mom, she was still sick, her mom took one look at her drawn, gray face and sent her back to bed. She stayed home from work at the pharmacy that day, and Thea remembered how things had been before they’d moved.

Her mom took care of her, brought her soup, and fussed over her all day. Thea’s mom held her as she had when she was little. They sat on the couch and watched old movies.

After the third movie, Thea looked at her mom and asked, “Mom, what’s really going on? Why is everything so different now. What did I do wrong?”

Her mother's eyes welled up and she stroked Thea’s cheek and wiped the tears that Thea didn’t remember crying.

“Oh, baby.” She put her finger up to her lips and started the movie. She turned up the volume, and then led Thea out into the back yard.

“Baby, I love you so much, but we can’t be the same as we were. I can’t tell you what’s going on, sweetheart, but if you look hard enough, you will figure it out. All I can tell you is, stays calm no matter what happens, and don’t trust anyone with your secrets. Stay strong, baby. I’m sorry I can’t do more to help.