I woke up at about noon. I heard birds chirping, mom clanking the dishes together, and the boys chasing each other outside. I hesitated to get up. I groaned as I stood up. I rubbed my eyes to get a better view. I changed into a long black sweater that had a pocket on the left chest side. I put on very short shorts and a black plaid skirt. My dog, Benjamin, walked into my room. I gasped and whispered, "Hi baby!" I picked him up and he licked my face. I giggled just a bit so it wasn't heard that loudly. I sat on Dillon's bed and set him down next to me. Ben sat down to my left and looked up at me. I closed my eyes and smiled. I reached for a hair tie and tied my brown hair into a high pony. My bangs lay down on my forehead. I lay down and sighed, the whole scene from yesterday replaying in my head. I heard Dillon walk in and turn on the T.V downstairs. I also heard a car pull in our drive way. "Oh no." I whispered. A man walked out holding 2 big gallons of gasoline. I heard him step on one of Ben's toys. Ben barked as Zach walked into the scene. "Mom!" He yelled. The man walked back to his car and put the gallons back. The man and mom started bickering but I couldn't quite make out what they said. I only heard my mom yell, "He is not taking them do you understand!" The man nodded in reply. 5 minutes later they walked inside.

I slowly walked downstairs and overheard their conversation. They were talking about the church and what happened there. I tilted my head a bit as he said, "You weren't supposed to be here.." I walked back upstairs to my room. I looked my guitar and thought. I picked up my guitar trying to not think of the conversation. I strummed the strings. The melody made me satisfied. My guitar helped me through anxiety. I wanted to sing, but I was anxious that someone would hear me so I set my guitar down. I promised myself that I'd get up early so I could play and sing. I heard another car pull in our drive way. It was dads. I heard my heart rate grow faster and faster as I saw cops pull up too. I went downstairs and looked for Zach and Dillon. I grabbed them by their arms and ran to the basement. "Stay here. Okay?" I whispered. Dillon looked at me in a way. I knew what he meant. It was those kids he was worried about. I groaned a bit and said quietly, "Fine I'll stay here with you and Zach." Zach looked at us confused. "I'm gonna go look for a second, okay? Just stay right there and make no noise." I was slightly proud of myself for talking more. I popped my head out and looked out there. The man that visited us was talking to a police officer. I felt relived and stepped down to the floor. I smiled at them. They smiled back.

Milo showed up. I turned around at Dillon and pointed my eyes at Milo showing him I disprove. "So," Dillon sat up, and Zach looked at all of us in disbelief. "she does talk." Milo said. I cradled my arms around my knees as I covered Zach. "What do you want Milo?" Dillon asked. "I don't want anything, at the moment." He replied with a grunt. "Then what are you doing here? I looked from Dillon, to Milo, Dillon, to Milo as they kept talking. I slowly stood up and looked outside. Clint was gone, and so were the cops. I grasped my shirt right where my heart is and sighed. I waved my hand at Zach, signalling that we were good. "Bye Milo." Dillon said as he walked away to us. We slowly got out of the basement and checked our surroundings. The man and mom were talking after Clint and the cops were gone. I saw the man walk back inside to his car and my mom waved. I smirked at my mom, she laughed and rolled her eyes. She walked over to us and said, "He is going to stay over for dinner, so be on your best behavior." We all nodded and turned to each other.

Dinner was really awkward. Me and my brothers ceased to touch our food. "Sorry I uh.." Mom stuttered. "Their used to--Clint always ate first." mom explained. "Well I'm not Clint, so go ahead. Eat." the deputy replied back. My brothers smiled and digged in. I looked at him and smiled brightly as I popped a piece of cooked broccoli in my mouth. "So were you like a cop or something?" Zach asked. "Oh yeah I was the sheriffs deputy." the deputy said as he cleared his throat. "So you saw dead bodies and stuff?!" Zach said excitedly. "Zachary." mom said strictly. "What? Cops see dead bodies." Zach snapped back at her. "Well, yeah. I did. More than I'd like." he replied. "Did you catch a lot of bad guys?" Zach said cutting off Dillon from a question he was going to ask. "Not "bad guys". Just..people..having bad days." he replied. I smiled at the former cops generosity. "But your not a cop anymore?" Zach questioned. "Uh, no." the deputy replied. "Why not?" Zach questioned again. "Because I got tired of seeing people on their bad days." the man said back. "I think your good at dealing with people on their bad days." Dillon told him. "Thanks." the man said back as he put a spoon full of the porridge mom made in his mouth. "Do you miss it? You know..being a cop.." I stuttered to him. That's the main reason why I don't talk to others. I stutter a lot and only my family is used to it. "Most days. Yeah." he replied. I popped another broccoli piece in my mouth and smiled at him. He smiled back. I felt comfortable and safe around this man, and so did my mom. That made me trust him even more.