It seemed like a regular Wednesday when I walked into class that morning. Everyone was up and out of their seats, looking out the window and gossiping. I took my seat, exhausted from yesterday nights grueling volleyball practice. Five minutes after I walked in, the bell rang, but no one took their seat. Miss Frances ran into class and forced herself through the crowd of kids around the window. Her eyes were piercing and wild. She cautiously eyed me, inching towards me to whisper into my ear.

"Janet, the principal wants to see you. Grab your belongings and go."

All eyes were on me now. I quickly threw my things in my backpack and swung it on my back.

I walked out the door and nervously made my way down to the principal's office. 

As I opened the door to the main office, the secretaries silently glared at me. Miss Stein, who was usually perky and upbeat, scoffed at me and said, "He's waiting for you in the back. I'd hurry on back if you don't want things to get worse."

I took a deep breath and headed towards the back of the office. As I got closer, I could hear sobs, distinctly growing louder with every step I took. I opened the door, and there in the center of the room, sat my brother. His white t-shirt was stained with blood, and I could already see the bruises starting to form around his face. I've had seen him beat up before, but never like this. The principal looked at my shocked face, and shot me a dirty look.

"Why do you look surprised? You're the one that did this to him."

I looked up at him, confused at what he just said.

"How dare you accuse me, I've never laid a finger on him."

He stared down at me and said, "Darling, there's no point in denying this. Jacob already
confessed that this was his sister's doing ."

I stood there stunned. How could anyone even think that I would do this? I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

“I-I-I-It wasn’t her Principal Morris. It was Jane.”

As the words left his mouth, fear filled my body. Now that the secret was out, our lives were going to be a million times worse.

“Jacob, who is this Jane? According to these records, your mother’s name is Elizabeth.”

Principal Morris loomed over Jacob, waiting for an answer. Jacob looked up at me in terror, realizing what he'd just said.

Principal Morris eyed us both carefully before sitting down in the chair behind his desk.

"I don't know what kind of scheme this is, but I intend to let your parents now about this," Principal Morris said. Keeping his eyes on us, he dialed Mom's number.

Ten voicemails later, Principal Morris slammed his phone down and ran outside towards the secretaries office. As he left the room, Jacob shot up and ran towards me, digging his head into my arms. Between sobs, I could hear him saying that he was sorry, but it was too late. About an hour after he left the room, Principal Morris walked into the room, accompanied by two police officers.

"Kids, this is Officer Wilson and this is Officer Wilde," Principal Morris said.

Officer Wilson stepped forward, kneeling down to get on the same eye level as me and Jacob. His eyes focused onto mine. He opened his mouth to talk, but as he set his eyes on Jacob, he cleared his throat and stepped out of the room. Officer Wilde silently shook his head and took out a small notepad.

"Sorry about Officer Wilson, he's more on the sensitive side. Janet, i'm going to need you to be 100% honest with me. Okay sweetie?"

I nodded my head in agreement. Officer Wilde looked straight into my eyes and asked,
"Janet, where are you parents."

I closed my eyes as warm tears spilled down my face. As I rambled off my story to Officer Wilde, I could feel Jacob shrinking down into my lap, shaking with sobs.

It had happened three years ago. Jacob and I had just gotten off the bus, and we skipped towards the house. Usually Mom’s car would be sitting out front, but that day, the car was nowhere to be found. As we walked up towards the driveway, I noticed that the front door was left open. I grabbed Jacob’s hand, and we made our way into the house. We first went upstairs into Mom’s room. Although the room was well-furnished, it felt empty. I walked into the closet to find it completely untouched, except for Mom’s jewelry vault. The door of the vault was swung wide open and it was completely empty.

While I continued to inspect Mom’s room, Jacob wandered down to the kitchen to fetch an after school snack. I could hear him banging around in the kitchen, opening and closing the cabinets and fridge. Ignoring Jacob’s noisiness, I turned my attention back towards the room. I continued searching the upstairs, but Jacob still hadn’t come back up with his snack. Taking a break, I made my way downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, the house was eerily quiet. I quietly grabbed an umbrella laying around the living room, and headed towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was dark and silent. My fingers frantically searched for the light switch. Finally feeling the switch on my fingers, I flicked the lights on. The kitchen was trashed. Plates lie shattered on the ground, surrounded by red streaks. Towards the back of the kitchen, someone sat with their back towards me. I inched towards the person with my umbrella raised high in front of me. I called out towards the stranger, but there was no response. When I was inches away from the stranger, I saw Jacob towards the side of the kitchen. He was propped up against the wall, whimpering in fear. I ran to him, embracing him and trying to push us out towards the back door. The stranger turned around with an evil smile. That stranger was Jane.

From that day on, Jane became our guardian. She threatened Jacob and I, saying that if we ever told anyone about her, she would kill us. Since we were so young, we didn't recognize the danger that we were facing, and learned to accept and adjust to the new addition in our lives. Jane was a raging alcoholic, but nonetheless, she took care of us the best that she could. At first, she didn't raise her voice or even bother to look at us. However, slowly, she began to spit out words of hate and disgust to us. Then one day, while me and Jacob were working on homework in the kitchen, Jane came staggering into the kitchen, vodka bottle in hand. She passed me and swung her vodka bottle, hitting Jacob square in the jaw. Day after day, she would physically harass Jacob, threatening that if we ever told, no one would believe us and people would hate us. I always tried to get in her way before she got to Jacob, but she always pushed me to the side. Despite her drunken stupor, she said she would never hit a girl.

Officer Wilde lifted his hand, signaling me to stop. He stepped out of the room, ushering Principal Morris to follow him out. Jacob clung onto my ribs, shaking my body with his sobs. I couldn't peel my eyes off the door. An hour later, Officer Wilde walked in with another man in uniform. He motioned for me to come, but not to bring Jacob. I followed the officer out of the room, all the way out to the front entrance. He lead me towards the flagpole and pointed up towards the flag.

"You see that flag Janet?"

I nodded my head and looked up towards it.

"You're like that flag now Janet. We've arrested Jane and we have her under our custody. You're free and now all you have to do is let go and soar."

Tears filled my eyes as I watched the flag wave. I am free.