Several days go by after the meeting. Talia refused to go back to school, and she refused to do the assignments she missed because of it. She doesn’t answer her cell phone when her friends call her and doesn’t want to speak to any of them, either, when they come over to check on her.

Talia fell into a depressing state and thought about committing suicide. She hated her life and didn’t want to continue. Several times her mother and father tried to get her attention, but she refused to open her door to them.

Even her brothers tried to get her attention, but she wouldn’t answer them. She just buried herself in her bedroom and shut everyone and everything out. She wonders why she was being punished for wanting to have a life. She thought about hurting herself, but couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Brenda and Conner were worried about Talia and tried several times to enter her bedroom. They found it locked and barricaded. Brenda was concerned about her daughter and worried that she might try to take her own life.

“Conner, we have to do something. I’m worried about our daughter’s state of mind.” Brenda was getting concerned because Talia had never acted like this before.

“I know what you mean.” Conner was worried about his daughter’s state of mind. She has never acted like this before.

Conner walks upstairs and knocks on Talia’s bedroom door. “Talia Marie Miller, open this door right now before I kick it in.”

Conner got no response from his daughter. He turns the door handle and pushes on the door. He could feel that she barricaded the door. He pushes hard and manages to push the door enough to slip into the bedroom. He notices that the curtains that covered the windows were stapled to the window, blocking them.

The room itself looked like a hurricane had come through, because there were clothes, books, torn pictures, and trophies Talia had won scattered all over the floor. Two of her bedroom walls had large, cracked holes in them where she either punched them or threw stuff against them. He spots Talia passed out on the floor, holding her teddy bear.

He makes his way over to her and checks to make sure she is still alive. He checks her pulse and discovers she is fine. He could tell she had been crying from the raccoon look of her ruined makeup.

“How is she?” Brenda managed to make her way into Talia’s bedroom and saw how messy it was.

Brenda looks over towards her husband, as he knelt next to Talia’s unconscious body. She makes her way over to her husband and daughter, “Is she?”

Conner looks at his wife, “She’s just unconscious.” As he picks Talia up off the floor and carries her out of her bedroom and towards their bedroom.

Brenda looks around Talia’s bedroom, looking for her night clothes, but couldn’t find them. Her bedroom was torn to pieces and was going to take several days to straighten out. She leaves the bedroom and follows her husband to their bedroom.

“Here, let me clean her up before laying her down.” Brenda walks over to her vanity table and grabs some wipes to remove Talia’s ruined makeup.

She walks back over and removes the ruined makeup from Talia’s face. She tosses the wipes into the trash can and strips Talia out of the clothes she was wearing and puts one of her nightgowns on Talia. Conner lays Talia down on their bed and tucks her in.

“I’ll lie with her.” Brenda gets undressed and lies down on the bed, and holds her little girl.

Conner looks down at his wife, holding their little girl. He couldn’t blame Talia for how she felt. The thing was, if he could, he would pack everything up and move from this damn state. So, she could have a normal life and be herself.

Conner walks out of his bedroom and spots his sons in the hallway.

“How is she, Dad?” Tommy was worried about his little sister.

“She’s asleep, and I think she took her anger out on her bedroom.”

“I can’t say I blame her, Dad. What do you think she is going to do?” Ralph wonders what his sister is going to do.

“I don’t know, but whatever her decision is, your mom and I will support her.” Conner couldn’t believe how unfair life was being unfair to his little girl. If she wants to drop out of school and get her GED, he’ll support her.

“Well, whatever Talia wants to do, she can count on us for support.” Tommy was willing to support his sister.

Brenda holds her daughter as they sleep. She hated seeing her little girl like this. She doesn’t know what she could do to try and fix her daughter’s problem.

During the night, Brenda is woken up by Talia crying and clings to her. She holds her little girl against her and rubs her back. She wished there was something she could do to help her girl, but there wasn’t much they could do, even if they left the state. Talia’s birth certificate would always show her gender being male, unless they could find another state to issue her a new birth certificate.

She doesn’t know if that was possible, but it was worth looking into. Brenda manages to calm Talia down and get her to fall back asleep. She lies there with her and falls asleep herself.

Later during the night, Connor joins his wife and little girl. He holds her as well and wishes he could do something to protect his little girl. He didn’t know what he would be able to do. He called his lawyer and started the process of suing the state over its stupid law.