C-u-t (Editing)

Chapter 4

"What?" Sarah demanded as she swung the door open and faced her sister. "Suddenly grow a backbone?"

Jamie rolled her eyes. "You have company."

Sarah walked out of her room and began to go around Jamie when she paused. "I wish you were never born." Sarah hissed a split second before she shoved Jamie into the wall behind her. The impact was hard enough to dislodge a photograph a few feet away causing it to fall off of the wall.

Tears began to fill Jamie's eyes. "I hate you. The next time you decide to cut yourself, do us all a favor and bleed yourself to death!" she stalked away and slammed the door to her own room behind her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"The last thing I expected was for you to show up on my doorstep." Sarah smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jacqueline shrugged. "What can I say? I'm all about being unpredictable."

As Sarah walked forward she came into full view of the living room to her left. Warren and Dawn stood silently by, not bothering to hide their curiosity. "Care to introduce us to your friend?" Warren finally asked.

"Not really." Sarah replied as Warren frowned, "But ... this is Jacqueline. We go to school together."

"And you didn't see enough of her at school, Jacqueline?" Warren asked.

"You said I was grounded, but you never said I couldn't have guests over." Sarah reminded him. Warren eyed Jacqueline warily.

"Look, Mr. Cooper, I know how I look, but I'm cool. It's just my way of expressing my artistic side, like Sarah's drawings." Jacqueline explained.

"Dad?" Sarah made it a question after a long pause.

Warren took a deep breath and held it for a moment as he eyed them and considered the situation. Finally, he released it. "Okay."

"She can stay?" Dawn asked, unable to hide her surprise. Warren nodded.

"Come on; let's go up stairs to my room." Sarah led the way. "You look different."

"I got a couple of new piercing. Eye brow, bottom lip."

"That's it." Sarah shook her head. "I don't know how you do it." The girls vanished out of sight.

"I can't believe you gave your consent for that girl to stay in our house." Dawn spoke quietly as soon as they were gone.

"Dawn, I know, but when was the last time Sarah had a friend over?" Warren felt drained.

Dawn paused, tilting her head to the side as she contemplated. "I can't remember anyone except for Danny."

"Exactly. And it has been over two years since Danny. Jacqueline seems like a nice girl, aside from her appearance. She might be good for Sarah."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I don't think your Mom likes me very much." Jacqueline commented as she sat on the bed.

"Please, that gold digging bitch isn't my mother." Sarah took a framed picture off of her dresser. "This is my Mom."

Jacqueline accepted the photograph. "She's beautiful. You look a lot like her."

"Thanks, but I don't think so. My mom was gorgeous ... I'm far from it."

"I don't think so."

"You don't have to lie. I know what I look like."

"Are you serious?" Jacqueline couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Completely."

"How can you think anything besides what you are? Drop dead gorgeous."

"Because I have a mirror. If you look in the dictionary I'm sure 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' does not mean fat with rolls and a double chin."

"You're too hard on yourself. You're far from fat."

"Really?" Sarah arched an eye brow.

"Really. I like my women with a little meat on them and you don't have a double chin. You're thick. You're probably not even 20 pounds overweight and you're tall. Besides, do I look like the type that's attracted to fat and ugly?" Jacqueline joked.

"How do you do that?" Sarah asked.

"Do what?"

"Manage to make me feel better even when my life sucks."

"It's a gift. I think I got it from my mother. She'll like you."

"Tell me about her." Sarah finally sat down beside her.

"She's my best friend. She works two jobs just to maintain the life we have. She's so strong. I don't know how she does it." Jacqueline smiled to herself. "She almost took a third job just because she wanted to send me to private school. Better education and all that, but I told her there was no way I'd let her work herself to death."

"What happened to your Dad?"

"Loser. He and my mom never married. She wanted to, he didn't. He split when I was five and I've only seen him a handful of times in the last twelve years. He's a trucker and ended up having two more kids with a woman he met while driving through Oklahoma. So I have two younger brothers, Clinton and Clayton, ten and nine. I've been in touch with them for three ... yeah, three years now."

"I'm sorry about your father. Sarah wrapped an arm around Jacqueline.

Jacqueline smiled. "Thanks, but when you get off punishment you have to meet my mom."

"It's a date."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How are you doing this week Sarah?" asked Dr. Kenmore.

"Fine, I guess. I get off punishment this week."

"So what have you been up to, aside from being grounded?" Dr. Kenmore clasped her hands in her lap and waited patiently for a reply. Surprisingly, she didn't have long to wait.

"School basically. What else can I do? Trying to get my grades up. Jacqueline, I told you about her, she's been helping me study so I can get my G.P.A. up and encouraging me to go to college. She thinks I should pursue a career in art. Graphic designs, architecture or something, like my dad." Sarah actually chuckled.

Dr. Kenmore found herself smiling as well. "That's great news. It sounds like Jacqueline is a good influence on you. I'm glad you finally decided to open up and allow someone in after what happened with Danny."

The smile quickly vanished from Sarah's lips. "I don't want to talk about that."

"We never really discussed how Danny died, Sarah, or how it affected you. I know all of the facts, yes, but you've never told me in your own words."

"Because I don't think it's necessary. It was a long time ago. I'm ... so over it. I've made my peace with what happened." Sarah tried to appear reassuring.

"Have you?" Dr. Kenmore leaned forward in her seat.

Sarah couldn't meet the intensity of her stare. It was like she was trying to burrow her way inside to uncover all of her hidden secrets and emotions. She took a deep breath and hung her head as she fought against the onslaught of tears she felt just on the edge of her self control.