the wasted youth;

"Lissy!" Maggie cried, her voice so high pitched, as if she was actually happy to see her younger cousin. "Lissy, babe, we've missed you!" The tiny brunette bounced, throwing her arms around her cousin and pulling her into a tight hug.

"We've absolutely been dead bored without you." Amanda added, drawling in her usual posh tone, standing by and watching. "You should visit more often."

Ariel just stared at her through narrowed eyes.

"Yeah." Elise nodded nervously, looking at Ariel and patting Maggie's back awkwardly. "I don't think I will."

"Clear the way, clear the way!" A familiar voice commanded. Maggie stepped out of the hug and joined her sisters in their line. "Mother coming through!" Mrs. Carter said as she pulled her own daughter into a tight hug. "Hello, mi barbicita."

"Hi Mamá." She replied in a small voice.

"Your father is working," The older woman sighed, rolling her eyes, as if her husband should be doing something else but working. "He's working with that famous actress. You know, the one in that romance movie." She said, taking her daughter's hand and leading her through the house. 

"That narrows it down."

"Yes, well," Mrs. Carter swung open the doors to Elise's room and took her bags from her. "He'll be home soon. You have two hours till dinner." A kiss on the cheek.

And she was gone.

Just like that, she'd left her daughter. Elise wasn't sure if she should be glad or upset that she hadn't been able to tell that something was wrong with her daughter. Maybe her not picking up on it would make it easier. The brunette shook her head. Nothing could make it easier.

She dropped her bags and ambled out of her room and into the bathroom suite down the hall. Careful to lock the door, Elise stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair fell in perfect curls, her make up was next to flawless, and her clothes complimented her well and looked good. She looked beautiful. Like she should.

But when she turned to the side, the real reason she hated herself became crystal clear. Her stomach extended in front of her. Just barely, but enough that she could notice it. She put her hand on her stomach and sighed. The tears had stopped falling long ago. Now it was guilt. Guilt welled up in her so much to a point where she could barely stand.

The door swung open.

"I knew it!" Ariel cried, her eyes wide and her finger pointed at Elise accusingly. Maggie and Amanda stood behind her, their mouths wide open and their eyes wide. "Come on, you little slut." Ariel hissed, grabbing Elise's open hand and dragging her through the halls again-- Were people ever going to stop dragging her around her own house?-- to the sisters' guest room. Ariel sat Elise down on the bed and stood between her two sisters. "Fess."

"I've known since before March."

"Ugh." Ariel rolled her eyes, glaring at Elise. "Who's the dad?"

"I don't... I was drunk when it happened. I don't remember who the guy was." Elise curled her legs up to her chest. "It was my first time."

"And you got pregnant?"

Elise just nodded.

"You're such a liar." The first smack came from Amanda. "It was not your first time. I bet you've been having sex for years."

The brunette touched her cheek and glared at the short haired girl who'd hit her. "I'm only sixteen."

"So?" Ariel snapped. "Maggie's been having sex for years and she's your age."

Maggie gasped, looking more scared than she did offended. "I have not. Elise is the slut, not me."

"Whatever, Mags." Ariel waved off her sister. "The point is, you," She pointed at Elise. "You're going to be burned at the stake for this. And I'm going to make no effort to save you."

"Me neither." Amanda huffed, her arms crossing over her chest.

A silence. Everyone, even Elise looked at Maggie.

For a moment, it appeared Maggie was considering it. Elise was her age. The shocking reality of Elise's pregnancy was crashing down on the sixteen year old's mind. Elise could only imagine how scared she was.

"I won't either." She finally spoke, looking up at her sisters.

Elise just stood. "Fine. I wasn't expecting you to, either." She pushed past her cousins and marched down the hall. "Mamá! When's Papácoming home?" She called, leaning on her mother's door frame.

"Now." Her father said from behind, picking her up in a hug and spinning her around. "What's up, mi tesoro?"

The girl giggled and hugged her father. "Papá! Te extrañé. ¿Te has divertido en el trabajo hoy?"

"Yo también te extrañé, Lissy." He kissed his daughter's forehead lovingly and put her down. "Sí, sí, tuve un montón de diversión. ¿Cómo estás?"

"Estoy bien... Pero mamá, mamá, tengo algo que decirte." She took her father's hand and sat him down next to her mother on their bed. "Mamá, Papá--"

"English, Lissy. Please." Her mother said, taking off her glasses. "If it's important, say it in English."

"Sorry, Mamá." Elise apologized quickly, ducking her head. "Um... Mamá, Papá... I'm pregnant." She said. It was better to rip the band aid off rather than drag it out, right?

"... What?" Her father asked slowly. 

"I'm pregnant."

Elise's mother leapt into action, a flurry of angry Spanish flying from her lips as she got off of the bed and stood over her daughter. "Elise Maria Carter, usted debe estar bromeando! No eres tan estúpido. Embarazada." She spit the word. There was no worse word in the world for her right now. "No se puede estar embarazada. ¿Quién es el padre?"

Elise shook her head exasperatedly. "I don't know."

"Usted no sabe. ¿Cómo puedes no saberlo? ¿Has dormido con demasiados hombres para mantenerlos en orden?"

"No, Mamá, I--"

"Get out." Her words were cut off by her father's voice. "Get out of my house."

"But, Papá--"

"Out!" He stood. Before he could make any other movement, Elise was scampering off to her room. She quickly gathered her bags up in her arms and ran down through the halls to the front yard.

She collapsed on the grass there. All the stress and anger and sadness and guilt coming out in one fit of hysterical sobbing in her front yard. Tears streamed down her face and she screamed and hiccuped and wiped violently at her face.

"You know, you're not allowed to come back, right?" A voice spoke. Amanda.

Elise just nodded.

"And you know you're gonna lose all you credit card funds, and all your stuff and everything you've ever had?"

Elise hiccuped and looked at her cousin. "Is this supposed to help me?"

"No. This is a warning. This is advice. Find someone who can support you. Find someone who has money. Find someone who cares about you enough to pay for medical bills and maternity clothes, and a place for you to stay over summer, when you can't come back here."

"But what if no one can do that for me?"

"Then you're fucked. But Elise," Amanda snapped, calling the girl's eyes to her. "You're pretty. You're smart. You'll go far in life. Don't let this baby ruin you."

Elise just shook her head.

"Good. Now get out of here. Your parents are screaming." A crash came from inside, as if on cue.

"Amanda? Where do I stay?"

"Call a friend with a car. Stay in a hostel. Just leave before they actually burn you at the stake. My sisters and I weren't joking."

And then her cousin went back inside.

The front door slammed shut.

She had no mother anymore. No mother, no father. No Mamá, no Papá. No one to call her principesa, or mi barbicita, or mi tesoro anymore. No one to love her. No one to care about her. She was alone. She may have always felt lonely, but now she was truly and terrible alone.

She wandered the streets for hours. She wandered out of her little suburb, away from the pretty mansions and perfect lawns and pretty people, into the streets of Los Angeles. The nitty, gritty, ugly and dangerous streets of the city she lived in but never lived in. Not a hostel in sight, as Amanda had made it out to be. The sun sank below the horizon and Elise's legs shook beneath her. She shuffled through her bag for her phone, but when she opened it-- Of course. Her parents had cancelled her plan already. 

Thank God for payphones.

The brunette held the phone away from her face. God knows who'd touched it before she had.

"Hello?" A distant voice answered.

Relief flooded the girl's system. "Austin!" She said, a smile coming to her lips though the day she had.

"Elise? Are you calling from a payphone?"

"Yes. It's a long story."

"Okay... What's up?"

"I need you to come get me."

"Where are you?"

"Um... Los Angeles."

"..." A pause from the other side. "Why are you in Los Angeles?"

"I was visiting my parents." Elise explained.

"Oh... Why do you need to be picked up?"

"Part of the long story."

"Okay..." Austin didn't sound like he trusted her or this plan. "I'll be there in a few hours. Try not to die?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Austin! I love you for this! Kiss!" She kissed into the phone. Another pause from the other side."

"Never do that again." Elise just laughed.

"I'm on the corner of Michigan Avenue and North State Street. You'll find me there."

"Alright." And then he hung up.

Three hours and two anxious sobbing fests later, Austin rolled up in a car he'd clearly borrowed from Dylan Howard. "Get in. Tell me what's going on."

Elise threw her things in the backseat and climbed into the passenger seat. "I'd rather sleep." She said, leaning her head on the window.

Within seconds, she was asleep.