The next morning, Lin was in the kitchen cleaning up the boys' breakfasts while Lexi sat at the breakfast bar eating her cereal. She had about ten minutes before she and Emma needed to leave for school. Lin suddenly realized he hadn't heard anything from Emma's room this morning. He walked down the hall and knocked on her door but didn't hear a response. He pushed the door open slowly and found that Emma was still fast asleep in bed, her alarm going.

"Em!" He called her, and she just mumbled incoherently in response. Lin crossed the room and gently shook her shoulder. "Emma, wake up."

Emma's eyes fluttered open and she looked around a moment confused. "Sweetheart, you've overslept. You've got 15 minutes to get ready."

"Shit!" She said, throwing the covers off. This was very unlike her to oversleep. She'd taken two Adderall last night and stayed up until after midnight finishing homework. Emma guessed she was much more tired than she'd realized. Lin left the room so she could get dressed and get herself in gear. In record time, she was ready 15 minutes later, still looking immaculate with her hair in a neat ponytail.

"Have a good day," Lin called as the girls left for the school day.

Emma felt flustered as they hurried to the subway, a few minutes behind schedule. Luckily, they were able to catch their normal train. Emma had realized last night that she was starting to run through way more Adderall than she had up to this point. Before, she'd been able to last on one pill a day, but recently she'd begun to take two. Her supply was quickly dwindling. She knew her parents wouldn't let her pick up more hours at work, so she'd have to think of another way.

Emma knew she had some money in savings from her parents' life insurance policy and the sale of the house. Previously, she'd decided not to tap into that money because it didn't feel right. However, now she was starting to get desperate. School was a little crazy right now, so she wouldn't need two pills a day forever. If she withdrew $100 or, she doubted anyone would notice. It would barely make a dent. She made the decision on the subway that she'd stop by the bank after school on her way to ballet practice.

Lexi was dealing with her own struggles. She was still trying to get back on Amber's good side, but she wasn't making it easy. She'd shown up at the skating park yesterday and had mostly gotten the cold shoulder. Today was Wednesday, and she was planning on going back. Lin was going to make her sign up for the stupid after school math tutoring, but that hadn't happened yet. She needed to make up with Amber sooner rather than later.

Both girls powered through their school days and were relieved when the day was over. Lexi headed straight for the skate park and was glad to see that Amber was already there and, more importantly, she was smiling and in a good mood.

Lexi did her own thing for a while, then gradually made her way to the same ramp area as Amber. She smiled at her friend. "Hey," she greeted Amber.

"Hey," Amber replied. "You ought to try crouching down a little more on your kickflip. Might make it easier."

"Thanks," she said. "I've been having a hard time getting it right."

"Are you going to watch the competition on Saturday?" Amber asked her.

"I'd like to but I can't go on my own," she said. "Wanna go?"

Amber looked at her and said, "Sure."

Lexi felt a wave of relief wash over her. Did this mean they were friends again? That Amber had forgiven her for forgetting her birthday? The rest of the afternoon they skated together and laughed, glad to be friends again. Around 5:00, the storm clouds began to close in and it started to rain hard fast. The girls grabbed their backpacks and skateboards and ran across the street to Lexi's apartment building.

They ran up the stairs, still full of energy and bounded through the door. Vanessa was in the kitchen making dinner.

"Woah, woah, woah!" She stopped the girls, holding her hands up. "Stop right there. Shoes off."

The girls stopped laughing and began to pull off their dripping shoes. They placed them on the mat and then disappeared to Lexi's room to change into some clean clothes. They were about the same size, so Amber ended up borrowing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The two girls spent the rest of the afternoon looking through magazines and watching YouTube videos on Amber's phone.

Around 6:30 it was dinner time, and Amber stayed. It had been a while since she'd stayed for dinner, so they were all full of questions and conversation. The girls decided a sleepover was in order for the weekend, so they made plans to have one on Friday night.

Emma barely touched her dinner and hadn't for most of the week, so after they'd finished Lin told her he would make her a doctor's appointment the next day. Emma protested, but Lin wouldn't budge. She had definitely lost weight and she looked exhausted. The next day when he called, they happened to have an opening Friday after school, so Lin booked it. She would be late to ballet, but this was more important.

Vanessa met Emma at the doctor's office Friday after school. The teenager reluctantly followed the nurse back to the treatment area. She had Emma step on the scales, which showed she weighed 110 pounds. According to her chart, that was about 8 pounds less than her average weight. She collected a urine sample, got her blood pressure and temperature taken, and then was left with Vanessa to wait for the doctor.

"I still don't see why I need to be here," she said to Vanessa, her arms crossed. "I'm missing ballet."

"Emma, you've lost eight pounds in the last month or so," she pointed out. "That's a reason for concern."

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed. Soon, the doctor came in.

"How are you, Emma?" She asked as she sat on the swivel stool.

"Fine," she said flatly.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I don't think there is one, but my parents do," she said.

Vanessa looked at the doctor and began. "Her father and I are concerned that she's been losing weight and she doesn't seem to be getting enough sleep. She has a tendency to overdo things."

"Emma, are you very active?"

"Yes," she said. "I do ballet four days a week."

She nodded as she lathered on some hand sanitizer.

"How's your cycle been?"

Emma squirmed in discomfort. "It's been regular," she said softly.

"And are you sexually active?"

"Not at the moment, no," Emma commented.

"Alright, fair enough," she said. "We've got some initial urine test results back. And everything looks normal, but your urine did test positive for Adderall. I don't have on file that you have a prescription."

Emma felt her heart drop and her face flushed. They could tell that from a urine test?

"That can't be right," she said uncomfortably. "I've never used Adderall before."

The doctor turned his laptop around and showed the test results, which Vanessa looked at closely. "The test does not lie," she said. "You've got the amount in your urine that we'd expect from a child taking the medication regularly."

"My younger daughter has a prescription to Adderall," Vanessa said. "Have you taken hers by accident?"

"Maybe," Emma quickly latched onto that. An accident.

The doctor sighed and crossed her ankles. "Mrs. Miranda, sometimes we see teenagers taking Adderall as an upper. It has the opposite effects it has on young children. Instead of calming them down, it gives them more energy."

Vanessa was silent for a moment, then looked at Emma. She stared at her feet. "Lexi's prescription ran out early. Emma, have you been taking Lexi's Adderall?"

She didn't want to lie to Vanessa. Technically, she wasn't taking Lexi's meds any more.

"I'm not taking Lexi's meds."

"Are you getting them elsewhere?" the doctor asked. Emma wanted to put duct take over the doctor's mouth. She was giving away all her secrets.

Emma sighed and knew there was no use dodging the questions. The results were in her urine, so she had to explain. "I've been getting some from a kid at school," she admitted, mumbling.

Vanessa sighed loudly and crossed her arms. "Emma, I cannot believe you would do such a thing! How long has this been going on?"

"Only about a month," she said, knowing she was in big trouble. "But I wasn't planning on doing it forever. Just to get me through some hard times at school."

"Have you tried stopping?" The doctor asked.

"I ran out once," Emma replied.

"And how did you feel?"

She sighed. "I got a headache and felt pretty drained."

"Those would be some symptoms of withdrawal," she clarified, then pulled out some paper from her desk drawer. "Here's some contact information for some drug addiction centers in New York City, in case you need it. Emma, it's very difficult to quit these cold turkey, so I would recommend taking half a pill for a couple weeks, then dwindling it down from there."

She nodded, a little relieved that she wasn't going to suddenly have to do without.

"Who have you been getting these from at school?" Vanessa questioned her daughter.

"A kid named Sam. He's in my grade."

"I'll be contacting the school Monday about this," Vanessa said. "I cannot believe this has been happening. So, doctor, could her weight loss and lack of energy be the result of her use of Adderall?"

"Most likely," she said. "There's nothing else that have come back from the tests. We're going to take some blood samples to make sure though."

The doctor excused herself from the room and told them the nurse would be in soon to take a blood sample. As soon as the doctor left, Vanessa lit into her daughter.

"Emma Elizabeth Miranda, what do you have to say for yourself?" She looked at her daughter incredulously.

"Vanessa..." She wasn't allowed to finish.

"To turn to drugs to get through school? I told you you're pushing yourself too hard."

"I'm not doing drugs," she said. "It's Adderall."

"You don't have a prescription so it's drug abuse," Vanessa said. "And it's incredibly dangerous. You can't do things like this to your body to get ahead, Emma. It's not healthy."

Thankfully, the nurse knocked at the door and came in with a needle and several vials. The nurse seemed to sense the tension in the room, so she didn't talk much. She wrapped a band around Emma's left arm and began feeling around for a good vein. It was easy to find one. Emma looked away as the needle went in and she began to draw blood.

She didn't mind getting blood drawn, but Emma felt her eyes well up with tears. She knew Vanessa wouldn't understand why she needed to take Adderall. It's not like she was on crack or meth. It was a prescription drug that her sister was on. She was just using it to get through school. Tons of kids did it.

"Alright, all done," she said, putting on a band-aid. "You can leave as soon as you're ready."

Vanessa and Emma picked up their purses and headed to the checkout counter. When they were finished, they walked out the building to catch the subway. Emma could even tell from the way Vanessa's heels hit the ground that she was pissed.

"You're not gonna tell Lin, are you?" Emma asked nervously, hoping it could be a little secret between them.

"Of course I'm telling Lin," Vanessa said. "This has to do with your health and well being."

"But I'm going to fix it," she said as they walked down the steps to the subway. "He doesn't need to know. Come on, Vanessa."

"You don't seriously think I'm going to keep this from him, do you?" She asked her daughter. "You made the choice to do this, Emma, and you are going to have to face the consequences."

Vanessa knew Emma was terrified of how Lin was going to react. For some reason, fathers seemed to be more intimidating than mothers. That was fine. She knew Emma would get an earful from Lin.

Emma felt her stomach drop, dreading the conversation with Lin. She knew it was unavoidable.

Emma still had ballet practice until 6:30, so she thankfully had an escape. She spent the whole practice with her stomach in knots, wishing it would never end. She'd do anything not to have to go home and face Lin. However, 6:30 rolled around, as it tended to do, and she hopped on the subway home. She assumed Vanessa had told Lin, so she walked in hesitantly. Lin was busy cleaning up the dinner dishes.

"Hey, sweetheart," he greeted her cheerily as he rinsed a plate. Emma guessed he hadn't yet been told and realized Vanessa was going to make her do it herself. Evil.

"Hi," she said quietly, then disappeared to her room to find clothes to change into. She took a nice, long shower, letting her aching muscles relax. As she got out of the shower, she noticed Vanessa and Lin were getting the boys ready for bed. As usual, they were full of energy, not at all ready to settle down.

Vanessa walked up to her with Franky in her arms, in his pajamas. "When we're done, we're going to your room and you're telling Lin what you've been doing."

"Vanessa, seriously?" She protested, thinking that sounded absolutely awful. Vanessa just nodded and took Franky to his bedroom. A few minutes later, Lin came out of Sebastian's room, having read him a couple stories and put him down.

"V said you needed to talk to me?" He said.

"Yeah," she said uneasily. "I think she wants to be there too."

"Okay," he said. "I'm gonna go get a drink, then let me know when you're both ready."

Waiting was horrible. She wished Franky's bedtime routine would last forever, but it soon came to a conclusion. Emma sat on her bed, picking at her nails. Vanessa walked by her room a few minutes later.

"I'll go get Lin," she told her. A minute or so later, Lin and Vanessa both came into the room. Vanessa sat on her bed and Lin sat in her desk chair, leaning forward with his arms resting on his thighs.

"So what's up?" Lin asked, oblivious to the bombshell that was about to be dropped. Emma looked at Vanessa, her eyes pleading one last time not to make her do this. Vanessa just nodded wordlessly. Emma took a deep sigh and looked at the floor.

"I went to the doctor today to see what was up and they did a urine test," she began. "And...they found Adderall."

Lin furrowed his eyebrows. "Adderall? Do you have a prescription for that?"

"No," she said softly. "I've been using it to help me with school."

Lin sat up, leaning against the chair, staring at his daughter. He didn't know what to say for several long moments. "You've been using it to help you at school," he repeated, which was never a good sign.

"Yes," she said meekly, not daring to meet his eyes.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"A month or so," she said quietly, biting her lip.

Lin scoffed and put his linked hands on his head, leaning back. "I can't believe this."

Vanessa butted in. "The doctor said that accounts for her weight loss and lack of energy. She also said Emma's likely addicted and gave us information on addiction centers."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Lin asked his daughter, and she just looked away. "Look at me," he ordered her, and she complied, torqueing her jaw.

"School has been really hard this year and I've had to stay up late to get my work done," she explained. "I tried some of Lexi's Adderall once and it helped."

"You were taking your sister's pills?" He clarified and she nodded. "Do you realize how badly that could have affected Lexi? She can't concentrate without those. That was so selfish."

"Tell him where you've been getting them," Vanessa said, folding her arms.

"A kid at school named Sam."

"And the money?" Lin asked.

"That's why I got a job," she said.

"Wow," Lin commented, running his fingers over his goatee. "So let me get this straight. My 17 year old daughter is addicted to drugs and is using money from work to feed it?"

Emma had had enough. She stood up, pissed. "You're acting like I'm addicted to meth or something. It's only Adderall. Tons of kids use it to keep up at school."

"It requires a prescription for a reason, Emma," Vanessa told her. "A doctor needs to prescribe it. You're not using it the way it was intended to be used."

"So what?" She protested, her voice raising. "It's not like it's causing me any damage."

"Besides weight loss, no energy, and being addicted?" Lin asked. Emma collapsed back onto her bed, knowing this was a losing battle.

"You guys don't understand," she said, starting to tear up. "I need to get ahead. Hunter is so hard."

"We went there, Em," Vanessa pointed out. "We know. And we didn't use Adderall to get through it."

"Well, I have a job and I'm doing student government and ballet," she said, getting upset. "Sorry if I'm not as amazing as you two, but I've needed help."

"I think you need to drop something," Lin said. "Obviously this isn't working. I want you to quit student government and your job."

"I'm not quitting my job!" She yelled.

"Well, you're not doing any more Adderall, so you won't have any use for it," he pointed out. "Your priorities right now are school and ballet. And if you don't get your act together, ballet will be gone too."

"You can't do that," Emma spat, her arms crossed.

"Try me," Lin told her seriously. Emma didn't dare contradict him at that moment. "Where are your pills?" He asked, standing up.

"I don't have any more," she lied.

"Bullshit," he said, then walked over to her desk and started pulling out her drawers. Emma immediately protested and walked over, pushing his hands away.

"You have no right to go through my stuff!"

"I'm your parent. Yes I do," he said, reaching for her top drawer again. Emma reached for his hands again and he caught her wrists. "V, can you take her out to the living room? I'm going to search her room top to bottom."

Vanessa stood up and took Emma's hand. "Let's go."

"You can't do this!" She shouted as Vanessa began to drag her out of the room. Lin just ignored her and began sifting through her drawers. He found a bag of pills tucked in the back corner of her top drawer. He pocketed it and kept looking. Lin looked everywhere – her closet, her bedside table, her purse, under her bed. He found another stash in her backpack, way down at the bottom. Lin strode out to the living room and held the baggies up. Emma was on the couch crying.

"Is this all of them?"

Emma looked over and nodded her head.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," she said in annoyance.

Vanessa walked over to him. "The doctor did say she needed to wean herself off. If she quits cold turkey she'll get really bad withdrawal symptoms."

Lin sighed and nodded, not liking the idea of Emma still taking pills, but he needed to do what the doctor thought was best.

"Emma, I'll be keeping these locked up in our room," he explained, walking over to Emma. "I will give you half a pill each day so you don't get withdrawal symptoms. Is that clear?"

"Yes," she moped.

"You can go to your room for the evening," he told her. "You're grounded until further notice. I'll be visiting your school on Monday to talk to the principal."

Emma cried softly as she stood up and walked back to her bedroom. Her day had been absolutely awful, and she had to work tomorrow. She shut herself up in her room and curled up on her bed and just let herself cry.

Back in the living room, Lin tossed the two baggies onto the counter and shook his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered as Vanessa got two wine glasses out of the cabinet. "I cannot believe she would do something like this."

"I know," Vanessa agreed as she got out a bottle of Malbec. She poured two very large glasses for the two of them.

"And I cannot believe she took some of Lexi's meds," he continued. "Didn't you say her prescription ran out early?"

"Yep. That's why." Vanessa slid a glass towards her husband. They both took a few big gulps.

"Where's Lex?" He asked.

"Sleepover at Amber's," Vanessa reminded him as they both walked towards the couch. They were both feeling their anger dissipate a bit, but they were still in foul moods. Vanessa signed into their Netflix account and looked for a comedy to lighten the mood. They finally settled on one and cuddled up with each other on the couch.

___

The next morning, Emma was up around 8:00 to get ready for work. She tread lightly around her parents, who were already up with Sebastian and Francisco. She quietly made herself a cup of coffee and found a breakfast bar for the trip. Lin set down the breakfast he was feeding Franky to come talk to her.

"Do you want your half pill now or later?" He asked her, crossing his arms.

"Now please," she requested silently. Lin nodded and went back to his bedroom and got out the stash of pills. He brought them out and found the pill cutter in a drawer. He carefully cut one of the pills in half and pushed one towards his daughter.

"Don't forget you need to put in your notice at work," he reminded her.

"Lin-"

"No arguments," he told her firmly. Emma dropped it, knowing she was on thin ice. She swallowed her pill then washed it down with a bit of coffee. Wordlessly, she left the apartment to head into work.

The boys were playing nearby, so Lin and Vanessa sat down on the couch to talk a bit more about what to do about Emma.

"How are we going to make sure she doesn't get any more pills?" Lin asked his wife as they nursed cups of coffee.

"Well, talking to the principal about Sam, first of all," Vanessa said. "Do you think it's an invasion of privacy to keep searching her room?"

Lin swallowed his coffee and shook his head. "I think she's lost the privilege of privacy," he said. "Right now, I want to search her room every day. And I think we need to keep track of Lexi's pills. Make sure none go missing."

They nodded in agreement, then began looking at the addiction treatment centers the doctor had given them. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but it was good to know it was an option. Lin researched a couple of them and narrowed it down to what he thought would help Emma best. It was a bit surreal, knowing their teenage daughter would need such a service. They were both still in shock somewhat.

Lexi came home a while later, looking like she hadn't slept much the night before. Not surprising with a sleepover with Amber followed by a skateboarding competition. She sleepily greeted her parents then went straight to her bedroom to take a nap.

Lin and Vanessa took the boys to the park later and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. When they returned, Lexi was sprawled out on the couch watching MTV and playing with her gum by stretching it out of her mouth.

"Don't get that in your hair," Vanessa told her.

Emma arrived home an hour or so later, looking tired. She'd been on her feet all day.

"Dinner will be ready in a half hour," Vanessa told her, stirring a pot of pasta.

"Okay," she said and disappeared to her room. Lexi took off towards her sister's room. Having a sister who worked at Hollister had its perks. She got an employee discount and had promised to buy her a shirt with her allowance money. Lexi knocked then pushed the door open to find Emma reclined on her bed.

"Did you get it?" She asked excitedly.

Emma sighed out. "Sorry, I forgot. I'll buy it on Wednesday."

Lexi grumbled in disappointment and sat down on her sister's bed. "What's up with you?" She asked, noticing her mood. Emma kicked off her shoes onto the floor and sighed.

"I got in huge trouble with Lin and Vanessa," she said. "I've been taking Adderall to help with school and they found out yesterday."

"Adderall? Like what I take?"

Emma nodded. "Except for teenagers and adults it gives them more energy. I've been taking them to keep up with school."

Lexi thought for a moment. "Wait. Is that why my medication ran out too fast the other week?"

"Yeah," she admitted sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I haven't been taking them lately. I've been buying them at school."

"From that creepy guy?"

"That's the one," she said, pushing herself up. "Listen, Lex. I cannot just give this up so fast. They cut me down to half a pill a day, but I've been taking two most of the time. If I get more pills, could I hide them in your room? I'm pretty sure Lin's gonna be searching my room a lot in the near future."

Lexi was uncomfortable, but wanted to please her sister. They had a special bond – they'd gone through the death of their parents together. Lexi liked it when Emma confided in her.

"I don't know," Lexi admitted.

"Please?" Emma begged her, taking her hand. "I promise I won't do this forever. It's just that I can't go down to half a pill this fast."

"Okay," Lexi reluctantly agreed. Emma hugged her warmly.

"You're the best!" She said. Lexi got up and went to her own bedroom, feeling guilty already. She knew she shouldn't be helping her sister with something like this.

About twenty minutes later, the girls were called for dinner time. As usual, Emma didn't eat a whole lot, but hopefully that would start changing soon as the Adderall left her system. She asked to be excused but Lin shook his head.

"Four more bites," he told her.

"What am I, three?" She protested. Lin raised his eyebrows at her. Emma sighed and got another forkful and reluctantly shoved it in her mouth. Once she'd eaten four, she got up and took her plate to the kitchen, then disappeared in her bedroom. She laid down on her bed and started scrolling through her Instagram feed. All her friends were out having fun on a Saturday night and she was grounded for eternity.

Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. It was Lin. Emma inwardly groaned, wondering what it was he wanted to talk about, or yell at her about more accurately.

"Hi," he told her, closing the door.

"Hi," she replied, setting her phone down on her bed. Lin stood next to her, hands in his pockets.

"I wanted to let you know that for the foreseeable future, I'm going to be searching your room every night."

Emma sat up. "Seriously?"

Lin nodded. "You've proven you can't be trusted, and until I feel you're trustworthy again, I'll be going through your room every night."

Emma rolled her eyes and dropped her head backwards in frustration. "Is that really necessary?"

"I think so," he said. "I just found out you're doing drugs. Your privacy is gone. Go ahead to the living room. I'll do my search now."

Emma picked up her cell phone, glaring at Lin, and exited. She stormed off to the living room and collapsed onto the couch, frustrated.

"What is it?" Lexi asked her sister, snacking on popcorn.

Emma reached over and grabbed a handful. "Lin's searching my room. Again. And he said he's going to for a while."

About ten minutes later, Lin emerged, having not found anything.

"I feel like a criminal," Emma muttered to her sister.

Lin walked over to the couch. "Shove over," he told Lexi, and she made room for him. Lin grabbed a handful of popcorn himself and began to eat it piece by piece.

"Let's watch something besides MTV," he suggested, noticing the trash Lexi had on TV. "How about a movie?"

Lexi logged on to Netflix and began browsing through their queue. They decided on Coco, and Lexi pressed play. Since she had nothing better to do, Emma stayed around. It had been a long time since she'd sat with her family to watch a movie. Though she was mad at Lin, she managed to enjoy herself.

As the movie ended, it was past 10:00, so everyone decided to go to bed. Emma pushed herself up and walked to the kitchen to get herself a cup of water for bed. Lin wandered over and leaned against the counter.

"Hey," he said gently, and Emma turned around to look at him. "Come here." He gestured with his hands to come give him a hug. Emma stepped forward and allowed him to put his arms around her. She sighed as she rested her head against his shoulder and hugged him back. She hadn't realized she'd needed it.

"I'm really disappointed in you right now, but I want you to know that no matter what you do, I still love you. Okay?" He asked, resting his chin on the top of her head. Emma just nodded as they continued to hug. "Vanessa and I are going to help you through this. You don't have to face it alone."

Emma again nodded wordlessly, then Lin pulled back and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Love you," he told her. "Have a good night sleep."

Emma nodded and wandered off to her room with her glass of water. As she changed into her pajamas and slipped under the covers she sighed. Her mind went to her parents. If they'd still been alive, would the same thing have happened? Would she have had to turn to Adderall? Silently, she cursed herself, knowing her parents would be so disappointed.

She let a couple tears escape from her eyes and wiped them away with the heel of her hand. Emma rolled over onto one side and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.