She could make her come back, because technically, the court thought she still had custody. But Faith was 17 now, and should have been able to make her own decisions. Her dad was not happy when he heard. He was angry, and said he wanted to see Sandy, now. Emily put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, and said they would take care of it. Then she asked Faith what she wanted to do, and she just cried more. But I didn't leave her side, just like she didn't when I asked her not to earlier in the day.

Uncle Soda paraded over to my house, Emily on his tail, holding a crying Nora in her arms. She asked me to get Johnny out of his room and come over when we had a chance, because they needed to talk to my parents. I wondered in the back of my head if they knew about my mom. Once Faith was calm, she spoke to me.

"I should have held myself together more. Nora hates seeing me cry. So does Johnny," she said as she wiped her eyes. I nodded, and went to go get my little cousin while Faith calmed down. I found him sitting sadly on his bed. He ran up to me.

"My sissies are sad," he said. Frowning, I picked him up and told him that they were both okay. There was no sense in upsetting a 5 year old, especially since Nora probably didn't know what she was crying about, other than because her big sister was too.

We walked out of his room to find Faith standing in the living room, in the exact position I left her. Her face was dry, and the waterfall coming from her eyes was stopped, but her face was red.

"You okay?" I asked, squeezing her hand with my free one. She just shrugged, and took her brother from me, hugging my tightly. He put his arms around her neck, and she let a small smile appear on her lips. I watched as it stayed there through the entire walk to my house, but disappear as soon as we let him go to play with Nora. We went into my room.

"Sh-she can't really do it, right?" Faith yelled as soon as we were alone. "She gave me up. Let me go, left me with my dad. She can't change that now... right Hope?" But I couldn't tell her she was right, give her a false sense of hope for something I couldn't promise. And it hurt. I just shrugged, but that upset her even more.

"H-how long would it even take for her to be ready for me? Would I be able to finish out the school year? Prom is coming up soon!" She exclaimed. My heart sank. I never really thought about that kind of thing. She'd never had a boyfriend, or shown interest in dating yet, so it was hard for me to understand  that she wanted to go as much as I did. I hadn't really thought of the fact that she'd also grown up with these people and wanted to graduate with them, not the random class that she'd be starting at if she left.

"Hope, I have to tell her I won't go." She sounded determined, but her voice was still shaking with nerves. I was worried too, scared that this crazy woman that I had just met wouldn't take that as an answer, and fight for Faith against her will. I didn't say that though, for fear of making everything worse.

"C'mon, Hope. Come with me. I'm going to call her and set things straight," she decided. I followed her, slowly and unsurely out of the room. My parents were sitting with hers at the dining table. My mom was frowning, my dad and hers looked angry, Uncle Soda yelled a little bit, but was careful not to scare the little ones, and Emily dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief every once in a while. Faith looked at them, but looked away quickly. I understood why.

They were a sad looking bunch, the for of them all alone like that. They looked angry and sad, and just as lost and confused as Faith and I were. But at least we were taking it into our own hands. In the other room, Faith rolled the dialed to her mother's number, and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello? Mom, it's me," she started. I stood next to her, although I couldn't hear Sandy's words.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We got home safe. I just called to tell you I made a decision. I do-" she stopped after that. I looked at her for an explanation, but the look on her face said it all. Whoever it was, it was bad.

"No, Mom, that's not what I was going to..." She stopped again, and looked at me with a stare that was both angered and annoyed.

"What's she saying?" I asked. She put a finger to her lips.

"Wait, what?" Silence for a few seconds.

"Mom, wait. Can you stop for a second?" Quiet, the nerves were getting more noticeable. The hand that she used to hold the phone shook. I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mom! Here, why don't you talk to dad," she suggested. There was barely a pause there.

"Well why not? He's the one that's been raising me. Aren't you going to have to some time?" She asked. And then a second later, "O-okay. I'll get ready." I stared at her as she hung up the phone. She stood there for a second, blinking furiously. 

"What did she say?" I asked, although I had a feeling I already knew.

"I... she said I should go start packing," Faith responded. Without another word, even to her dad, she walked out of the house. I watched from the window as she opened her own door, still shaking slightly. Her words replayed quietly in my head, and I wondered in the back of my head if there was anything I could do to stop this.

"I should go start packing."

A/N: I'm back!! I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I tried to think of a prank, but I didn't think anything could top last years. Broken readers, do you remember? Do you think I could top it? I'll be thinking for next year 😉

Oh and also, chapter thoughts? Do you think Faith'll be able to go through with it? -Katy