Ira's POV

I woke up early today to go out with my mom. Yesterday, after dinner, we made a plan: first, we will go shopping for school supplies, then, we’ll have lunch at a restaurant and finally, we will go clothes shopping before coming back home.

I got up from bed, took a shower, got ready, and went downstairs fast, before my mom could yell at me. I noticed her sitting on the couch happily with her purse in her hand. I think Ray was right. We should spend more time together, my mom and I.

"Ready, sweetie? Let's go!" said Mom with a cheeky smile as she walked to the garage.

"Ok, let's go," I said as I followed her.

"Do you want to play some music?" my mom asked, connecting her phone to the car speaker.

“Oh no,” I thought to myself. “She's gonna play one of those old classical songs again.”

"Mom, can you play something which is not classical?" I asked her.

"Yeah, sure! Ok, I used to love this song. I don't know if you remember, but I used to play this around you all the time when you were young!!" she said as she searched for something and started playing the song.

“Oh wait. I think I have heard this before. Wow, this brings back so many memories!” I thought as I started jamming to the song as well.

The song ended, but we kept playing it until we reached the mall.

"That was so fun!" I said loudly.

"I know, right?" Mom said as she turned off the song.

"Let's go!" she said, stepping out.

"Oh yeah!" I said. I stepped out too.

My mom locked the car and we walked inside to the store from where we tend to buy our things.

                        ~Time Skip~

Ira's POV

After looking and deciding what to buy, and then buying it, we got to the restaurant.

"Okay! So what do you want to get, sweetie?" my mom asked me, placing the menu on the table after taking a look at it.

"Uhm, I'll have some pasta!" I said.

"Okay," Mom said as she ordered our food.

"What actually happened when Rose left?" I asked Mom, but she flinched a little at the sudden question. I guess I won't get the answer this time either.

"I think you're old enough for this now," Mom said with a sigh.

No way! She's going to tell me about why she left?

"Okay," I said, a little surprised.

No One's POV (past)

It was summer vacation for all the high schoolers in the city. The weather was a bit humid, with wind blowing. Both parents were worried sick about their daughter, who had been out for 3 hours past her curfew. She was not picking up her phone either.

"It says that her phone is switched off!! What am I supposed to do?!?" Paul, the father of the child, yelled frustrated.

"Oh Paul! I'm so worried! What if something bad happened-" Melissa, the mom, started crying before she could even end her sentence.

"It's going to be just fine. She'll be here in no time now-" before Paul could finish his sentence, the noise of a car was heard outside.

Without wasting any time, the couple ran outside to see if their daughter was finally back home. She was, as they thought, but someone completely unexpected was with her. A cop. The two cops were leading the way while Rose and her friend Darcy were following them, their eyes red and puffy, nose red and looking tired. They had obviously been crying.

The couple was speechless seeing their daughter like that. What had happened?

"Mr. and Mrs. Black?" the female cop asked the parents.

"Ye- yes?" the mother stuttered as she answered the cop.

"I think we need to talk," the male cop told them with a serious tone.

"What's wrong officer? Did Rose do something?" The mother asked the cop.

"Yes, and it's serious. Can we come inside?" the cop asked.

"Yeah, sure," the mom said, stunned as she moved aside, giving the 4 people some space to enter the house.

"Sorry, but we need to raid the house. I'll call some other colleagues of ours and then we'll start," the cop said firmly, looking around the house.

"What? Right now? But Officer, you didn't even tell us what's wrong!" the father said, who had been awfully silent up until then.

"Right. Officer Lidia, can you do it? I'll go give the police station a quick call," the male cop said as he walked outside the house.

"Ok, I need you to sit down and stay calm, alright?" the cop told the couple politely, before turning to the young girls, standing aside with emotionless faces.

"And you two may do the same, I suppose," she told them, a firmer tone this time.

Both of the girls sat quietly, without saying a single word. They looked terrified.

"Ok, so what I'm going to tell you might be shocking, so please brace yourselves," Officer Lidia told the parents.

"Your daughter Rose is involved with a small gang and is selling drugs. It's not that big of a problem here, as it hasn't caused any harm as far as I know, but we need to check your house. If we find anything, then your daughter will go to jail. If not, then we'll leave you alone. Did you by any chance know about this? What your daughter was doing?" the officer asked.

The parents were speechless and had shocked and horrified faces. They couldn't speak a word.

"Ok, I'm guessing the answer is 'no'," the officer said. But before she could say anything else, the other cop came inside.

"Our team is coming in a few minutes," he told everyone.

"Officer, is this necessary? I'm sure my daughter would never do such a thing!" the father said.

"I'm sorry, but I have proof, your daughter is not innocent and neither is her friend," the cop said firmly.

"Sweetie, Rose, tell me this is not true," the father said, turning to his daughter.

She just cried more, proving that this was all true and she had been caught red-handed.

"Officer Brown!" a voice said from the door. The investigation team had arrived, with all their equipment. "Shall we start now? They asked the main officer."

"Oh yes, we shall," Officer Lidia Brown said, turning to them. "I want all of you guys to sit right here in this room while we do our work! No one leaves!" she said firmly to the family.

"Let me take the other kids from their rooms," the mother said, getting up from her seat. But she couldn't even stand still without her body shaking continuously.

"Mom I'll-I'll d-do it," Rose finally said, getting up.

"Fine, but I want you downstairs in a second," Officer Lidia told Rose. She just nodded her head and disappeared upstairs.

Rose's POV

Ok, I've got 2 minutes to do this. With that thought in my mind, I go to my room silently, making sure that no one sees me. I go into my closet and get my bottle of drugs. It's not that harmful, and it is the only one I consume. I only sell the other drugs, nothing else. I go to my brother's room, and see him already sitting on his bed wide awake. I tell him that we need to go downstairs.

"Ok Ray, so Rosie wants you to hide something for her, okay? Where can you hide it, so no one sees it? Someone is looking for it, and it's my treasure," I tell him softly.

"Umm, I can hide it somewhere! Give it to me!" little Ray says, taking the bottle while giggling, as he runs downstairs.

"Oh shit! He's going downstairs! But I need to take Ira!" I think to myself, hoping Ray doesn't get caught.

With that, I go into Ira's room to find her sleeping soundly. It's so great to be a baby, isn't it? I pick her up carefully, trying not to wake her up, and go downstairs.

"Give." Mom says as I arrive downstairs, taking Ira from my arms. Hatred in her eyes.

>>>>

No One's POV

The investigation started hours ago, but still hasn't ended. They emptied the cupboards and shelves, broke the walls and doors, but couldn't find anything. They even checked the backyard, still nothing. Not even money.

Finally, the main Officer Lidia went to the family and Darcy, telling them that it turns out Rose must have been forced to do it and left. They took Darcy with them to her house, to check there.

When they were leaving, Darcy turned to Rose and nodded her head secretly to her. Rose did the same.

The next day, they were both gone. Rose had left half of her drug money with a letter, to help her parents pay for all the damage done.

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Thank you for reading!

And I know that the song doesn't really go with the whole chapter.

So just listen to it till Ira and her mom reach the restaurant? Do as you like!

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Story line and writing by me Star
Editing by Rory Campbell
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