Valentine's Day 1991; Instead of doing something romantic with her boyfriend, Camille was heading to the hospital to have her second daughter. Ten hours later Lindsey made her debut. One loud shriek and then the baby girl went quiet. Initially it worried the doctors but the tiny bundle kicked up a fuss once the nurses tried to clean her up and get her ready to meet her parents for the first time. Little did Camille and Richard know it would set the tone for their daughter's life.
For the most part Lindsey was a quiet little thing. Constantly watching what was going on around her. It wasn't until she learned how to walk and talk that things got a little louder in the Ortega household. Lindsey was quick to tell her parents NO (what kid didn't like that word?) when she didn't like something. The trend continued straight up until the time that Kindergarten started, it was there that the vivacious brunette would learn how to communicate properly. From then on Camille never had to wonder what was on her daughter's mind.
School was something that Camille never had to fight their daughter about. Lindsey loved going to class and learning something new each day. So when she came home and announced that she wanted to be a teacher at the tender age of six it was no surprise. Instead of discouraging their daughter from such a tedious job, Camille and Richard found ways to encourage it. On weekends they sat in "class" while Lindsey taught them whatever her over active imagination could think of. It wasn't obvious to Miss Lindsey that her parents were struggling to sit in the same room together.
The fairy-tale life that Lindsey knew came to a screeching halt just before she started eighth grade.
Camille suddenly announced that she had Richard were no longer together and that the family was moving. While heartbroken and confused Lindsey didn't ask too many questions. She simply said goodbye to her friends and packed up her room as she was told. They remained in the same town; just a different house. It seemed like everything would be much of the same until Camille started to bring a string of men home. As Lindsey grew older those men seemed to start having heart-eyes for her rather than her mother.
Lindsey tried to bring it up a few times but Camille always balked. Often she asked why a grown man would want a little girl like her or accuse her of trying to seduce them. She tried to reason with her mother but it never worked and, soon enough, she gave up. It would be another three years before Camille would bust one of her boyfriends trying to get Lindsey in bed with him. Instead of attacking the man Camille launched at her daughter. It was the last straw for the sixteen year old. That night, once all the dust had settled and her lip had been iced, she packed as much of her belongings that she could.
The plan had been to run away but she was intercepted by her best friend, Megan, and her family. They convinced her to come home with them while a new plan was figured out. That night was the first night in a year that Lindsey felt safe enough to sleep. There wasn't some strange guy trying to crawl into her bed. Her mother wasn't screaming about how she was a whore or any other twisted thoughts that came to mind.