A bright neon sign woke me up several hours later. I didn't know where we were but the car radio said it was four in the morning. I assumed we'd been driving since midnight, wanting to get as far away from town as we could.

Mom opened my car door and unbuckled my seat belt. I got out of the car and waited for her like I always did. I had no idea where we were and I didn't like new and unfamiliar places.

She led me through the parking lot and down a sidewalk to a door marked '5'. She opened the door and pushed it open for me to step inside.

The room was dark and a little sketchy looking. There were two queen-sized beds with a bedside table in between. An alarm clock with bright red letters sat beside an old phone. There was a big TV that sat on top of a dresser, all facing the beds. The room even had a small kitchen, with enough room to make some kind of meal. It wasn't perfect by any means but it was a good place to start rebuilding our lives.

I sat down on the first bed and pulled my legs under me.

Mom carried in several gray bags and set them on the counter separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. She was pulling things from the bags when she noticed me watching her. "Lyla, why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"I'm not tired." I was exhausted. I never did like being woken up in the middle of the night and sleeping in a car wasn't great either. But I was tired of being treated like a baby.

She sighed and looked at all the bags in front of her. "Do you want to help me put these away? Your dad and I are thinking we'll be here a while."

I left the bunny on the bed and walked over to the kitchen area. The floor had white tiles on it, making it feel nicer than it was. But at least they tried.

I pulled out a two-pack of pacifiers from the bag in front of me and grimaced as I set them on the countertop. I knew mom hadn't bought them to embarrass me. That ship had sailed a long time before. I was glad she was thinking ahead and planned for me to have time to get over being treated like a baby. It would take a while before I was comfortable sleeping without my bunny or a pacifier or having mom and dad help me with everything.

"So, um... What's our plan?"

She set a jar of peanut butter on the counter. "We're looking for an apartment that we can rent while we find jobs and save up more money."

"What about me?"

She raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "What about you, sweetie?"

"What's going to happen to me? Will you... Are you going to send me to school?" I didn't want to go to school just yet but there weren't many other options. I couldn't be left alone when I couldn't take care of myself anymore. I was too dependent on mom and dad. There was no way I could function like I used to. Not yet anyway.

"Not for a while. We... we know you need some time to get used to our new normal."

"I want things to be normal again." I said softly.

She stepped back from the counter and turned to face me. "I'm so sorry, Lyla. I can't even begin to tell you how guilty I feel. We put you through so much and it wasn't fair to you."

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I wanted to accept her apology and heal from the traumatic experience I'd been through but it would be a long time before I could.

"You were just trying to help me."

"You tried to tell us that you weren't happy and we never listened. We thought we were doing the right thing."

I stared at the floor before I put my arms around her. "I'm not mad at you, mom."

"You should be."

I shook my head. My eyes found the pack of pacifiers on the counter and I sighed before picking them up. I stepped back from mom and held the pack out to her. "Can you open this for me?"

She popped a pink pacifier from the packaging and handed it over to me, watching me cautiously. "Are you feeling okay, Ly?"

I pushed the silicone nipple into my mouth and nodded. It felt weird to want to use the pacifier. There was so much going on and I needed the extra comfort. Maybe I had adjusted to Alpine but I didn't even know it.

She brushed my hair from my face. "Why don't you go lay down?"

I nodded and went to the bed bunny was on. Mom pulled the covers back and tucked me in, kissing my forehead before she went back into the small kitchen.

I knew things would get better and would go back to normal. But I needed time to recover. I needed time to get past my anger at mom and dad for what they had done to me. They never believed me or listened to me when I told them that I wanted to leave. They didn't understand how bad things were until it was nearly too late.

Was it too late?