A/N: I know at the end of chapter one I said I'd have this out in two weeks, but forgive me- my last couple of exams required lots of revision. Oh, and the Law almost hit me for 6...I swear I have never seen more difficult questions in my life. BUT, that's all over now, and I have embraced summer with open arms (even though it is Hurricane Season) .
Here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Charah vs the Teens, Chapter 2 -More Trouble Sariyah?
CJ sipped his orange juice, and found himself wondering how the situation between his sister and his parents would turn out. Of all the people at school that she had to get into a secret fling or relationship or whatever she was calling it, did it have to be Jake Smith? She hadn't gone any further than admitting to having a thing with Jake but the way she had been defending him last night made him wonder what sort of things Jake had been telling her. Had he been fulling her head with lies and telling her sweet nothings to gain her trust. And how far had things gone between the two? While he wished there had been nothing there at all, he hoped that at least, things hadn't gone too far. He knew it was inevitable that she would become interested in boys and his parents, unless they expected her '...to abjure forever the society of men...endure the livery of a nun...to live a barren sister all her life, chanting faint hymns to the cold, fruitless moon...' as Shakespeare had put it; then they should have expected it as well. He chuckled to himself - for three years he had done Shakespeare and for the life of him, he could never really remember the quotes correctly but here was remembering A Midsummer Night's Dream when it was no longer of academic import.
His parents had seemed pretty mad when they looked through her phone and he sensed that there was something much bigger going on there than just her having a secret relationship. He didn't think Sariyah would be confiding in him about it after the way things went last night.
His thoughts were interrupted when Sariyah came into the kitchen. She made eye contact with him but quickly averted her eyes. He kept his eyes on her as she moved to the fridge, grabbed the fruit punch juice and then moved on to the cupboards for her utensils. "Seriously Sariyah? You know sometimes you really get on like a little –" He stopped just short of the insult and shook his head. He would be the bigger person. "Good morning."
"Morning," Sariyah replied, sitting at the table and putting some pancakes into her plate. "Did you make breakfast?"
CJ shook his head no. When he had come down, his mother had been finishing up and he'd eaten with his parents and little sister.
"Oh." She nodded, eating a forkful of scrambled eggs. The tension between them returned as Sariyah ate, purposely not making eye contact with her brother.
CJ once again reaffirmed that his sister was just as hard headed as his parents could be. While he didn't expect them to be all buddy-buddy this morning, he certainly did not expect her to have this sort of attitude. "Are you gonna talk to Mom and Dad?"
Sariyah shrugged. After their behaviour yesterday, she saw no reason to open up to them, at least not if they were going to react like that. "I don't really see the point." She finished eating and began clearing her table space. "Anyway, I'm gonna finish getting ready so I can catch the bus."
"You're not gonna let Mom drop you?" CJ questioned, getting up from the table as well and moving to the sink.
Sariyah shook her head. "And subject myself to a tense car ride filled with glances and possibly more yelling or chastising? Nah, I don't think so."
Oh this is just great. She's avoiding our parents. Hopefully she avoids Jake too!
/\
"I can't believe Mr Spencer is making us do a prosaic, poetic or comic interpretation of 'Twelfth Night'!" Sariyah's best friend Laura complained as they made their way to Math class. "Who even does that?" She huffed.
"It won't be that bad. Who knows, you might even have some fun."
"I know you didn't just use fun to describe English Literature of all things," Laura joked. "Why are we still best friends?"
"Because you'd be absolutely lost without me."
"And you'd be boring without me."
"Whatever," Sariyah laughed, bumping her shoulder playfully.
"So, bestie dearest, care to tell me why you didn't message me back last night? What if I had been having a crisis? What if I had needed your help in constructing a reply to Oliver's message?"
Sariyah glanced around uncomfortably. "My parents took my phone away."
"They what?" She nearly screeched. Her parents had been threatening to take away hers as well, but she had managed to avoid it so far. She'd probably be scarred for life from the withdrawal. "Why would they do that?"
"Because they found out about my thing with Jake."
Laura stopped walking and tugged Sariyah on her arm, pulling her aside. "And?"
Sariyah shrugged. She didn't really want to get into this again, and especially not in the hallway where there were always prying ears who were itching for the latest gossip. "Can we talk about this later?"
"You can't throw that out and not elaborate," Laura chided. She looked at Sariyah with wide pleading grey eyes. "Deets, you have to give me more than that."
"My parents freaked out," Sariyah delved into it a little bit more. She wasn't going to go any further than that. Tugging on her strawberry blonde hair best friend's hand, they continued their trek to the classroom.
"So are you gonna talk to him at lunch?" Laura prodded as they took their seats in the second row of the classroom.
Sariyah looked at her friend, bewildered. "What part of my parents freaked out did you not get?"
"I figured you'd have to tell him that you guys need to take a break or something," Laura reasoned. "Just how much do you parents know?"
Sariyah pursed her lips. "Everything."
"Everything?" Laura parroted, her voice rising. "Like everything, everything?"
Sariyah shot her a dirty look, telling her to keep her voice at a normal level at least. There was no reason for her entire class to know her business. "Uh huh."
"What did they say about the picture you sent?"
Sariyah's eyes widened. Oh crap, she had forgotten about the picture she sent. It had been weeks ago and it had slipped her mind. Laura noticed this and was about to launch into another tirade of questions but their teacher came in, dropping a stack of papers on the desk and silencing the buzzing conversations.
"Good morning class," the balding teacher greeted, "please put away all your books. Today you will be doing a pop quiz."
The children groaned as the teacher began handing out the examination papers. Flipping though the papers, she realised that most of the questions were on circle theorems and vectors. She hadn't studied those in a while. Sariyah sucked her teeth. This was just great.
/\
"So, I probably failed that Math test," Laura exasperated. She and Sariyah were now sitting at their usual table in the school cafeteria, waiting for their other friends to join.
She snorted. "Well me too." If the marks from this test did go to their mid-term reports, then her average would be going down. As if my parents weren't down my throat enough as it was. Just add dropping grades to it. Marvellous. Just marvellous.
Laura scoffed and brushed her bangs from her face. "The day you fail a test will be the day the zombie apocalypse happens."
"Well I hope you have your chainsaw and crowbar handy, because that day is today." There were just some times when you know that almost everything you wrote on a test was garbage and this was one of those times.
Laura laughed before taking a sip of her water, idly looking around the room to see if their friends had arrived yet. She caught sight of Jake coming through the doors and scanning the room.
"Um, Sariyah, we have a bit of a problem."
"What?" Sariyah asked, briefly stopping her task of unwrapping her sandwich.
"Jake, at your three o' clock."
Sariyah looked up, and glanced around the room, her eyes finally landing on the teen who was making his way toward them.
Sariyah's mouth twitched as she considered her options. Fight or flight. She really needed to talk to him but she was unsure exactly what to say. She did not want to make a scene in the cafeteria and her gut told her that Jake would.
"I can create a diversion if you need me to," Laura offered, also having seen Jake coming.
The sounds of a tray clattering and Jake yelling pulled her out of her musings. Sariyah turned to see a fuming Jake arguing with her brother. CJ was apologizing for having spilled a container of greasy lasagne and a large diet coke all over Jake.
Laura giggled. "I guess we don't have to worry about him," she quipped when a still fuming Jake stormed out of the cafeteria.
CJ walked over to the two and sat down next to his sister. "What's up Laura?"
"Same old same old. I think I just flunked a Math test though."
"Ah, no worries, I'm sure you can make up for it on the next one." He smiled.
Laura laughed. "Heh, there's always hope."
"What about you sis? Did you ace that test?"
Sariyah was surprised that he was even engaging in banter with her. "Nope, I probably failed it too. What little knowledge I did have of circle theorems and vectors wasn't helpful."
Laura clapped her hands, drawing the attention of the siblings to her. "Enough talk about Math... CJ, I give you props on your little accident."
CJ looked at her in confusion. "Me? I have no idea what you are referring to."
"Come on CJ." Sariyah shoulder bumped him. "You think you are so slick."
"Hey, it's not my fault Dad passed on some of his clumsiness to me."
Sariyah snorted. She knew he had a cat like grace about him. "Whatever."
CJ's expression turned serious and Laura, noticing this, turned her attention away from the Bartowski siblings. "I want you to stay away from Jake."
Sariyah smacked her lips. "I don't need this shit from you CJ."
He raised his eyebrows at her foul language. "What's with the potty mouth?
"Forgive me, I forgot I'm talking to the Bartowski saint."
""I'm serious Sariyah."
"Whatever."
"I mean it."
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" She was tired of his presence.
"If you'll excuse me," CJ said, rising from his seat when two other girls around their age came to the table, "I have a lab write up to finish. Have fun talking about who's hotter- Ian Somerhalder or Chace Crawford- or whatever and whoever you spend your lunch time talking about." He laughed at the looks the girls were sending him. "Bye." After stealing a couple of chips from Laura's plate - an action which earned him a swat on the wrist- he smiled at them and was gone.
/\
Sariyah and a group of her friends sat on a bench, discussing the latest episode of their favourite TV show as they waited to be collected.
CJ came running up to them. "Sariyah, we gotta go."
"Go where?" She hadn't seen either of their parents pull up in the car park.
"Grandma is here. Come on, I'll explain once we're in the car."
Sariyah quickly gathered her things and bade her friends goodbye and she and CJ made their way to the car park.
Sariyah's thoughts ran a mile a minute. "CJ, Grandma, could either of you please tell me what's going on?" She asked as she got into the back seat and put on her seatbelt. "Why didn't Mum or Dad come and pick us up?"
"Because they're at the hospital." Mary replied.
The hospital. Ohmyfreakinggosh. She hoped nothing had happened to them. "Why? Are they hurt? Were they in an accident?" She hadn't said much to them that morning besides a simple good morning and see you later. She was simply more concerned with limiting her interaction with them to as little as possible.
"Oh no dear, your parents are fine," Mary began to clarify and Sariyah calmed down a bit. 'It's Skylar."
/\
Skylar had been brought to the hospital, having been stung by a yellow jacket during recess. Chuck and Sarah had been called immediately. Her entire arm was red and swollen from the sting on the hand and she also had a low-grade fever. When it was time for the doctor to take a blood sample, Skylar whimpered when she saw the needle and edged closer to her parents. Chuck had to distract her by singing one of her favourite songs from Sesame Street.
Currently, Sarah had stepped out of the room so she could give Emma a call. Chuck meanwhile was with Skylar, trying to keep her mind off the fact that she was in a hospital. Skylar Bartowski was not a fan of the institution and Chuck was doing his best to keep her in high spirits.
"My tongue has hair on it Daddy," Skylar scrunched up her face.
Chuck smoothed down her hair and smiled down at her lightly. "Once the medication kicks in it'll go back to normal."
"Can we go home now?"
Chuck shook his head. "We will have to see what the doctor says."
/\
When Chuck and Sarah brought home Skylar, it was after eleven. They thanked Mary for her help, and after Mary inquired about Skylar's health, she was off. They expected the older children to be asleep by now, so they were cognizant of their noise levels. Chuck carried Skylar up to her room and after pulling back the covers, he laid her down. Sarah meanwhile searched her drawers for her pyjamas. Working together, they changed her into her pyjamas and tucked her under the covers.
They sat in comfortable silence, each lost in thought about Skylar. They were both relieved when the doctor had said it was ok to take her home. CJ and Sariyah looked on at their parents for a moment before he finally cleared his throat, alerting them to their presence.
"Mom, Dad, how is she?"
"She's ok. The swelling has gone down, and she said it wasn't itching." replied Chuck, glancing down at his little girl.
"Oh, well that's great." Sariyah spoke for the first time, keeping her gaze mostly on Skylar.
"Uh huh," Sarah agreed. "Why aren't you in bed?"
CJ shrugged. Their grandmother had ordered them to bed sometime after ten, but sleep had not been easy to come by. Both were worried about their sister. They had wanted to go to the hospital to see her, but when Mary had called, Skylar was asleep. They also had to take into consideration the fact that they had homework assignments due the following day.
"We just wanted to make sure Sky was ok."
Chuck and Sarah shared a smile. It was heart-warming to see the closeness between their children and even more so the love and concern they had fir each other. It reminded Chuck of his relationship with Ellie.
Sarah yawned and this didn't escape Chuck. "It's been a long day; I think we could all use some sleep."
CJ agreed and bid them all good night before leaving. Sariyah turned to leave also, but Chuck cleared his throat and told her to wait for them in the hallway.
Sariyah lagged behind, her gaze uneasily darting between her parents when they exited Skylar's room and the pictures on the wall.
"Sariyah, you've been avoiding us," Chuck began.
"We need to talk," Sarah added.
Sariyah cocked her head slightly to the side. "I'm not talking to Jake anymore." She informed them, hoping that that piece of information would placate her parents for now. Sarah was somewhat pleased by that. The three stood in the hallway, Sariyah shifting slightly on her feet as she wondered if her parents would delve into this further. To save herself from that possibility, she faked a yawn, and after telling them good night, she scurried away from them to the sanctuary of her room.
Finally alone, she reflected on the day's events.
Sariyah had forgotten one of the text books she needed to complete some homework and she rushed back to her locker. Once she found the book, she placed it in her knapsack and made her way down the hall. As she passed one of the classrooms, she was sure she heard Jake's voice. Curious, she turned the knob.
"Jake?" Her eyes widened in shock.
"Shit!" He bent to pull up his pants while the girl hopped off of the table and fixed her skirt. She then whispered something in Jake's ear which made him blush and proceeded to leave the room, bumping into Sariyah in the door way.
"Why don't you go catch up to her? You can finish what you were doing." She was surprised she could form a coherent sentence. Her brother had been right.
"It's not what you think," Jake began, moving to embrace her.
"Bullshit Jake!" She snarled and left the room.
She had rejoined her friends at the front of the school and engaged in the conversation as though everything was fine. As though she hadn't realised how big a fool she had been. But when she had gotten home, she told her grandmother and brother that she had a ton of homework and proceeded to lock her door. Only then had she allowed the tears to fall.
~/0\~
"Momma, I wanna go to school." Skylar announced, resisting Sarah's attempts to keep her in bed.
"Baby, you can go to school tomorrow."
Skylar shook her head defiantly. She didn't want to miss school. "No Momma, I wanna go today."
Sarah tried explaining to Skylar that since she had been in the hospital yesterday, it was best if she stayed home to make sure she really was feeling better. Despite the fact that she told her daughter that both she and Chuck would stay home with her, Skylar was displeased and frowned at her. Chuck entered Skylar's bedroom, a warm smile on his face.
"Good morning sweetie," Chuck sat down next to Sarah on the bed and leaned in to kiss Skylar on the forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Daddyyyyy," Skylar whined, "Momma won't let me go to school." She pouted and looked accusingly at her mother.
"We just want to make sure you're ok."
"I not sick Daddy." Skylar huffed, annoyed at the situation. "I feel better."
Sarah sighed. She might feel better right now, but there was the chance that she would feel ill again as the day progressed. "Skylar, no. You'll be staying home."
Skylar frowned at both her parents. She looked at them, with sad eyes, pleading. They didn't cave so she tuned on the waterworks. She sniffled and the water began to collect in her eyes as Skylar continued to look at her parents. Chuck and Sarah glanced at each other. They knew that Skylar was trying to get them to bend to her will.
"I wanna go to school!" Skylar wailed, the tears leaking out of her eyes and streaking her face.
"Skylar." Chuck said, his voice warning. They wouldn't let her get away with tantrums.
She stopped her wailing momentarily, stunned by her father's sharp voice.
"Morning guys," they heard CJ greet from the doorway. "What's going on?"
Skylar bolted from the bed and ran to her brother, tugging on his pyjama bottoms so that he could lift her up. "Momma and Daddy don't want me to go to school." She whined, burying her face in the crook of his neck and sniffling.
CJ chuckled to himself. If he were in her position, he'd revel in the opportunity to miss school. "It's ok Sky." CJ tried to placate her, rubbing his hand up and down her back.
"Noooo, I have ta go today." Skylar insisted. "Today we get to play with clay." Did they not realize the importance of this? She had been thinking about what she would make since forever. She didn't want to miss it.
Chuck and Sarah silently communicated. The doctor did say it was a mild reaction, and since she had been given the medication yesterday Skylar seemed fine. Chuck got up from the bed and took Skylar from CJ, declaring that it was time for her to brush her teeth and then have breakfast. Sarah meanwhile would call Ellie and to confirm that there would be minimal harm in sending her to school.
/\
"Wake up lazy," CJ yelled, hitting Sariyah lightly with a pillow.
She grumbled into another pillow and rolled over onto her stomach, pulling the covers closer around her body.
"Nuh uh Sariyah, get up or we will be late for school." Sariyah made no attempts at moving so he decided to take charge of the situation. Grabbing the bottom of the covers, he engaged in tug of war with his younger sister. Although Sariyah was drifting between sleep and consciousness, she managed to put up a fight, clinging to the covers desperately. Eventually CJ was able to pull the covers completely off of her. He dumped them on the floor, so that she couldn't easily reach them and snuggle. Then he walked over to her window and pulled back the curtains, allowing the sunlight to fully penetrate the room.
"CJ!" Sariyah growled from under her pillow when she felt the warmth from the sun rays on her back.
He walked back over to the bed and pulled away all the pillows, forcing her to greet the day. Sariyah squinted at him. "I'm gonna kill you."
"Would you rather have had Mom come to wake you up?"
Sariyah shook her head. Things had still been tense with her parents, so she was glad that CJ had been the one to give her a wake up call.
"I guess I know what I'm giving you for Christmas," CJ quipped, picking up a damaged alarm clock from the floor.
"Stupid alarm clock." Sariyah muttered. She vaguely remembered hurling it at the wall when it alarmed at half past six. Gosh she hated mornings.
"Anyway, I call first dibs on the shower. That should give you enough time to become fully awake."
When he closed the door behind him, Sariyah reached over to the side of the bed and picked up one of the pillows. With a heavy sigh, she snuggled into it. She hadn't picked put an outfit for today yet but she figured she would throw on a jeans and the first shirt that didn't need ironing. Besides, CJ usually took long in the shower and the time he spent in there would be best employed by running into the welcoming arms of sleep.
/\
Downstairs in the kitchen, Skylar was blissfully eating her breakfast, happy that her Auntie Ellie had managed to convince her parents to let her to go to school. Across the table, Chuck and Sarah were drinking their coffee and discussing Sariyah and plotting their course of action.
They had originally planned to talk to Sariyah yesterday when she came home from school, but with Skylar's allergic reaction, most of their focus had shifted elsewhere. However, that didn't mean that they had completely forgotten about the issue with Sariyah. Both of them knew that they could not allow said issue to be swept under the carpet. There was already a level of uneasiness and an underlying tension between them and their teenage daughter which could not be allowed to fester.
"So, this evening..."Chuck said.
Sarah nodded. By the hook or the crook, they would be talking about this sexting thing with Sariyah.
~/0\~
Sariyah yawned lazily and checked her watch as she made her way towards her locker. She noted that it was only 9:20 AM. She still had another six and a half periods left. She had forgotten her History text book in her locker, and since the substitute was being a troll, he said they couldn't share. She was forced to go get hers so she could complete the assignment.
"Sariyah!" She heard someone yell her name.
She looked up in the direction her name was called from and she groaned. She didn't want to speak to him right now. She pretended that she hadn't heard or seen him and grabbing the heavy text book, turned around and headed towards the direction of her class. She heard Jake's sneakers squeaking against the floor and sighed when he caught up to her. He stopped in front of her, blocking her path. She tried to go left, and then right, but he mimicked her movements. She glared at him. She did not have time for this. If a teacher passed the hallway and saw them there, they'd be in trouble for not being in class.
"Sariyah," seventeen year old Jake stood almost a foot taller than her. He ran his hand through his ginger hair and sighed, "Would you just hear me out? I've been texting you but you don't reply. I tried talking to you this morning after assembly but that was a bust. I just need to explain."
Thinking about him messaging her reminded her that she was still on punishment. Her parents would not be amused if she was caught in the hallway with him when she was supposed to be in class, especially considering that she had said that she wasn't speaking to him anymore. "Don't you have a class?"
He shrugged. "Yea, but I got a hall pass. I was just coming from the fountain when I saw you. I guess today's my lucky day." He smiled.
"Look Jake, I've got a History assignment to complete, excuse me." She tried to make her way around him but he pushed her back lightly.
She growled at him. "I said excuse me."
"Not until you at least promise me that we can talk about us later." When he had first started talking to her a couple weeks ago she was cool and as he put on the charm he believed that she was into him. And yes, getting caught with another girl yesterday had put a little wrench in his plans but that was all he would allow it to be. A delay. He was certain that if he could just get her alone for a few minutes that he could draw her to him once more. He had put too much effort into her for her to just blow him off like this. No, he was not done with her as he had not gotten what he had wanted yet. She was beautiful and had a 'girl next door' type of thing going on and even though she was only fourteen and not as busty or curvy as some of the other girls he had dealt with, Jake was very aware and appreciative of how well her body was developing. Thank God for puberty.
Sure sweetening her up was a bit of a lengthy process. Most of the girls he had previously gone after had been easy. But Sariyah Bartowski was a challenge and he was anxious to reap the rewards from a successful undertaking. He had had to go through the motions of asking her mundane questions like what was her favourite colour, TV and all that to establish a base for their 'relationship'. And that had taken him longer than it ever had with his previous conquests. When she had finally accepted his proposition that they be an item he thought he had her right where he wanted her. He had even bragged to his older friends that he was on the precipice of taking her virginity. It was sort of a game between him and his buddies to see who could bed the most girls in a month. Scores for well, scoring were tripled if the girl was a virgin. Of course they often made their results superflous but they celebrated it all the same by going to a bar in a shadier part of town where the bartender couldn't give two hoots about seeing an ID and drank their way into merriment.
"I'm supposed to what? Throw myself at you after I saw you having sex with another girl yesterday?" She huffed and wondered why she was even giving him the time day. "And not that you even deserve an explanation, but I won't be replying to any messages because my parents took away my phone and they saw the pictures you sent me. I told you that you shouldn't be sending them but you just don't listen!" She added harshly.
He made a face. Pulling out his phone, he smirked. He found their conversations and scrolled through them. "Oh really?!" He taunted. "I didn't get that impression that you wanted me to stop. It's not my fault that you're a little slut who can't hide things from Mommy dearest properly."
Sariyah's cerulean eyes turned a darker shade. Did he just call me a slut!? Oh hell no! When she spoke, her voice was laced with fury. "This is the last time I'm gonna ask you to move out of my way, you incompetent jerk! And if it hasn't sunk into that thick skull of your yet, this thing we had, it's over." He was surprised by her retort and she was able to walk pass him without any interference. However, he was not about to let her go just like that and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him. "Let me go," she said through clenched teeth.
He backed her up against the lockers and leaned down to her eye level, "Why? Are you one of those girls who like playing hard to get Sariyah?" True she had told him to stop on an occassion or two, but he knew this game too well. Other girls had told him the same before but he would lure them in until they reached a point that they didn't even realise when they started playing right into his hands. In the times that he had gone after the cute, shy girls, often they were surprised by the first picture but by the sixth or seventh one when which was usually with him in a towel loosely around his waist, he would have filled their minds with such sexual thoughts that they would be lusting after him and would easily give in. Did he feel bad about it? Hell no. Most times though, he kept the relationships or rather 'sexuationships' slash 'situationships' with the girls going for at least three months before he would break things off. After all, why should stick with one piece of meat when there were fresh pieces in the market? Working the girls at his school though was kind of tricky, especially after his fling with Macy. Rumours were circulated about him being a womaniser but he knew how to get what he wanted.
He refused to accept that he would not be adding Sariyah Bartowski as another notch in his bedpost.
"There's no shame in being a slut, baby," Jake chided. "Seriously, look at Amber Rose and her Slut Shame walk."
She refused to look at him and turned her head on the side, wondering how much trouble she'd be in if she did what she thought her mother would do in this situation. Surely a kick to his groin followed by a swift upper cut or round house kick would be justified. Wouldn't it? Sariyah gasped when she felt Jake kissing her on her neck which was exposed to him, and then he sucked her skin. Was he out of his mind?!
She pushed him off her, and he placed hands against the locker, boxing her in and staring at her intently. She kept her gaze on him, unwavering and with murder in her eyes. He was going to pay for this! Sariyah heard someone clear their throat and their heads snapped to see their principal staring at them. Well, this just got ugly, she thought.
Jake distanced himself from her. The principal motioned for the two to come to her. "Why are you in the hallways during class time?"
"I came for my text book." Sariyah replied.
"And I went to the fountain."
The principal, Mrs. Olford shook her head. "Is that what they're calling it these days? From what I saw, you two were displaying PDA. I'm sure you're both aware that that is not condoned here." The principal informed them.
Sariyah's jaw dropped. That was not what was going on. "Ma'am, I can explain..." She began, only to be cut off.
"You two are in violation of the school rules. For that, both of you will be suspended for two days. Follow me to the administration office so your parents can be informed and collect you."
Sariyah was in shock. What is wrong with the adults in my life? Did they all just start making judgements without knowing all the facts?! Suspended? Her parents were not going to take this news well at all. The principal turned on her heel and made her way to the office. Sariyah glanced at Jake. He was calm about the whole thing. And was that a smirk on his face? She hated smirkers. The nerve of this slime ball! This was so unfair. She took the text book and swung it at him, causing him to fall back on to the lockers, disoriented. Sariyah smiled satisfied. She had managed to knock the smile off his face. The principal looked back when she heard the metallic noise, but by then she was far enough from him that it didn't look like she had anything to do with it. "Pick up the pace Mr. Smith," she chided.
/\
Sarah was in the middle of a presentation to potential German clients when her secretary interrupted. She excused herself for a moment and took the call. Chuck waited for her to return to the boardroom and looked at her concerned, when he saw her sullen expression. She walked over to him and mumbled to him that Sariyah was suspended and one of them needed to go pick her up.
Chuck was surprised. His daughter was suspended? It was barely ten o' clock! What could she had gotten herself into in the one hour she was at school? If she was trying to create some sort of 'bad girl image', they'd be putting a stop to that. He sighed, but offered to go collect her. Sarah was leading this project, and he had complete faith that she would be able to see it through; especially after working on it for the last month and a half. He apologized to the clients and his colleagues, explained that it was a family emergency and left the meeting. For the rest of the meeting, Sarah's mind was elsewhere as she wondered what she and Chuck were going to do to get their daughter back on track. Though she was able to finish the meeting and secure the contract, Sarah's mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Sariyah.
She made her way to her office and instructed her secretary that she was not to be disturbed unless it was Chuck. Plopping down into her office chair, she kicked off her heels and closed her eyes, idly spinning the chair. She felt at a loss with Sariyah. She had grudgingly admitted to herself and Chuck that the way they had initially handled the issue was not the best, and that is why they intended to talk to her this evening. During that talk, she would have tried her hardest to keep her emotions under wraps and not lash out prematurely at her daughter. She had been preparing herself for said talk- mentally and emotionally. But, now that she was suspended, Sarah felt the worry and anger at Sariyah's behaviour bubbling up again, itching to be released. Her head began to hurt as she thought more about it and rubbing her temples did nothing to relieve the dull thud. Sighing, she picked up her phone and dialled her mother, hoping that a conversation with Emma would ease her mind, if only for a short while.
/\
"What happened?" Chuck asked, stepping inside the attendance office. Anger was clearly evident in his voice. He stepped to the desk to sign Sariyah's dismissal papers and turned around and looked at his daughter.
"Daddy, I -"
"She was found in the hallway with a boy leaning against the lockers in an intimate embrace during period one," the administrator said.
Sariyah looked at the man with wide eyes. An intimate embrace?! Was this some sort of a sick joke?
Chuck clenched his jaw, singing the relevant papers. Apparently the picture fiasco wasn't enough. He turned to Sariyah, "Let's go!"
Once in the car, Chuck messaged Sarah to let her know he was back on his way. He looked over at Sariyah and frowned when he saw the red mark on her neck. He growled. "So, this is your thing now? Receiving hickeys on your neck while you're supposed to be in class? I swear Sariyah; I don't know what's going on with you anymore."
Sariyah pressed her hands to her face. She knew her father still didn't trust her. She had refused to talk to them following the night when they found out about the pictures and she knew that they were upset about that. This latest incident would shatter the fragile balance already between them. She really hated Jake Smith right now.
Chuck started the car, purposely keeping his sight away from Sariyah. The drive to CI was uncomfortable for both of them.
When Chuck pulled into his car space at CI, he heard Sariyah sniffling. He hated when she cried, but right now, he couldn't coddle her. Sariyah dried her eyes and opened the car door. She was not going to enter her parents' company with tears in her eyes. They walked up to the forty story building which served as CI's head office in silence. Sariyah usually loved coming here, but today, she was dreading going inside, because that meant that her father would be telling his mother what happened. Chuck opened the door for her, and followed behind, nodding to the security guards and the receptionist. They then made their way to the elevator. He pressed the 35 button and waited. The elevator door opened on the floor. "Go to the break room. I'm gonna get your mother and we'll be there in a minute." She nodded and did as she was told.
Inside the break room, Sariyah banged her head against the table. This was so messed up. Maybe if she banged hard enough she would pass out. That would be better than having to face her parents. She felt a hand on her shoulder and tensed, she knew the hand was too light to be her father's and though it was light enough to be her mother's, the arm was too hairy.
When she looked up, she saw her Uncle Morgan looking down at her. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. "Wanna tell me why you're trying to give yourself a concussion by banging your head against the table?"
"I got suspended," she told him.
Morgan was at a loss for words. He remembered Chuck had said that she was giving them some trouble- raising her voice at them, spending way too much time on her phone and wearing some of Sarah's makeup even though she had been told not to- but he thought maybe Chuck was just overreacting to the normal teenager phase. But now, hearing that she was suspended, which was not in her character, he wondered if Chuck had not been overreacting. He hoped Chuck and Sarah would be able to get to the bottom of it, and that when his time came to deal with his own daughter who was now twelve, that he and Alex were ok.
Morgan looked up and saw Sarah and Chuck making their way toward the break room. He patted Sariyah on the head. "Hang in there, and remember Uncle Morgan is always here if you need to talk." He left the room to give the family some privacy.
Sariyah watched him leave. She wanted him to stay. If he was here, he could be the mediator; maybe his parents wouldn't be too hard on her. She watched Morgan's retreating from until he fully disappeared from sight before turning to her parents,
Sarah had her arms crossed. Sariyah knew she was furious. She had been on the receiving end of this look far too frequently lately. "Sariyah, what are you doing?"
Besides being misunderstood and written off as guilty without a chance to explain myself? "Nothing."
"It's obviously something if you're getting suspended!" Sarah yelled.
"The pictures, the lies, the makeup, the damn hickey! It's getting out of control!" Chuck yelled as well.
Sariyah flinched. They were both being loud and a few of their employees had glanced to the break room. Sarah followed her eyes and turned back to her. "People overhearing us should be the last thing you're thinking about," Sarah started, "We have bigger fish to fry. Why did you get suspended?" Chuck had already told her, but she wanted to hear what Sariyah had to say.
"It wasn't my fault." Sariyah defended herself, "I got my history book from my locker and I was going back to class when Jake-"
Sarah immediately cut her off when she uttered the boy's name. "Jake?" The name made her furious. "This involves him? I thought you said you weren't speaking to him anymore?" That was the only thing she had told them about this whole Jake fiasco.
"Or did you lie about that too?" Chuck interrupted, stopping Sarah from continuing her tirade.
"He goes to school with me, so of course there is a possibility I could run into him," Sariyah tried to explain.
"Of course," Sarah replied sarcastically.
"Mommy, I was letting him know that there wasn't anything between us anymore. He wouldn't let me pass," she said desperately.
She shouldn't have had to break up with him in the first place. "That hickey on your neck says something completely different," Sarah said. "Were you breaking up or making up?"
"It's not my fault!" Sariyah yelled. She had enough of this. "He's the one who kissed me, and I pushed him away. That's when the principal found us." She was furious with her parents right now. "You two expect me to be perfect all the time. And I made one mistake and that perfect image you created was shattered, and now you won't believe me when I'm telling the truth."
"Let's get some things straight." Chuck said. "We don't expect you to be perfect." They didn't hold their children to unattainably high standards, but they did expect some things from them which were reasonable. "We expect that you'd tell the truth. But this is a case of the boy who cried wolf. You broke our trust Sariyah, and that trust will need to be rebuilt. You've lied numerous times, even when we've given you more than one opportunity to tell the truth."
"How do you want me to talk to you when you never listen?" Sariyah yelled.
By now, the few employees who had been there when Sariyah came in had left the area, scrambling back to their usual tasks, unaccustomed to seeing their bosses so angry.
"And another thing, you've been raising your voice at us an awful lot lately. I suggest you take your tone down a notch or two. We are your parents and you will not talk to us like that."
She snorted. "But you can talk to me like I'm a piece of trash or something?! Geeez! How equitable of you!"
"Sariyah," Sarah said sharply and glared at her. Sariyah stared right back, fed up with their behaviour.
"You must really want to pull off this rebellious phase or good girl gone bad or whatever the hell it is really badly." Chuck commented. "Your behaviour is unacceptable. You're on punishment."
She rolled her eyes. "Newsflash Daddy! I'm already on punishment!" She said angrily. "What are you gonna do? Ship me off to some boarding school in Paris? Have Uncle Casey get into contact with some of his buddies and ship me off to West Point?"
"That's not a bad idea," Sarah mused.
"It actually might not be! Cause at least I'd get the hell away from you!" Sariyah retorted.
Her parents ignored the jab and continued. "You can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble. We decided that you will volunteer a few hours per day at the homeless shelter and the children's home alternately."
"That way, you can fulfil your service hours for graduation."
Sariyah stared at Chuck, her mouth agape. She didn't have a problem with helping others, but this was just taking it too far. "But, but..." She stuttered. Her parents were so unfair. "I'm only fourteen."
"How convenient that you remember your age now but you couldn't when we said no boyfriends till sixteen."
Sariyah growled. It was just two year's difference! "I have four years to complete them."
"Well, you're doing all forty this year." Sarah countered.
Sariyah scowled. When she stood up, the chair rolled backwards and hit the wall. "Argh! I am so sick of the both of you!" She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. At that point, she really didn't care. Her parents were mad at her already and wouldn't let her tell her side of the story, so she felt slamming the door was greatly justified. At least now they had something to be angry about. Screw the consequences!
They won't let me give my own account of events before they jump conclusions. Hypocrites. That's what they are. I swear I'll never tell them anything again if that's how they behave. I'm dammed if I do and damned if I don't. Did they not expect me to start liking boys at some point...damn, they run a multi-million dollar business...surely they can't be so dense.
She had tears in her eyes now as she made her way to the elevator, but unlike the ones she had shed in the car, these weren't because her father had expressed disappointment in her. The tears came because she was furious! Stepping into the elevator, Sariyah pressed the button that would take her to the ground floor. When the doors closed, she let out a scream to express her frustration at the situation she found herself in and frustration with her parents.
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. This was getting way out of hand. They were going home. Now!
~/0\~
John Casey was enjoying his retirement. Retirement meant he had more time to spend with his family. And when his trigger finger did get itchy, he could always go hunting or to the shooting range with Gertrude. His phone buzzed on the centre table and he paused the Reagan DVD he had been watching. The number was unknown, but he answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Uncle Casey, it's CJ. Can you come pick me up?"
"From where kid?" He asked, already making his way to the door.
"I'm at the police station."
A/N: Cliffy? My, my...what has CJ done? Charah certainly won't be pleased.
As I said in the first chapter, I know Charah seems a quite unfair but again, as a teenager myself, I feel like parents are like that sometimes so I'm using my creative license as author of this piece. Don't worry though, I do plan to knock some sense in them.
I think someone hinted at the fact that Sariyah might not have been completely innocent in the sexting fiasco and now that Laura mentioned a picture, maybe you were right. What kind of picture did she send? Hmmmn, you'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter.
Feel free to review, even if it's as a guest.
xoxoxox
~Bg. 13/06/2015
Chapter edited 25/05/2017