Miya sat with Sage and the others at school the next day. Mrs. Date wouldn't allow her to stay home again, no matter how much Miya wanted to stay. She knew that people were going to be talking and she had no interest in listening. The only thing that prevented this was the fact that she was always with at least two of her friends throughout the day. Now they were all sitting together at lunch, although Miya was the only one not eating. She felt like she had no appetite.
"Come on Miya, you should at least try to eat something." said Cye.
"I can't." said Miya, looking down.
"Hey, I'll eat her lunch for her!" said Kento.
"Can it Kento. You need to try so you can keep your strength up. I understand how much you're hurting right now, but Rowen needs you to stay strong for him." said Sage.
"I know, but I just don't feel hungry right now." said Miya.
"Sage, you know, if she isn't hungry than you can't force her to eat." said Tori.
"I am not trying to force her to eat, I just don't like seeing her like this and I just want to make sure that she stays healthy." said Sage defensively.
"Guys, come on, don't fight. This isn't what Miya needs right now." said Hana.
"You're right. Sorry Mi." said Sage.
"Yeah, sorry Miya. I wasn't trying to fight with your boyfriend or anything." said Tori.
"It's okay, I know that you both mean well and both care about me. I'm glad that I have all you guys to help me get through this. I just really miss my brother and I don't think I'll be able to get back to normal until I know that every is gonna be alright." said Miya, leaning against Sage, feeling his arms around her, holding her in his strong but gentle embrace.
"Hey, we're always here for you if you need us, you know that." said Ryo.
"Yeah, you aren't alone in this. We'll be right here by your side." said Ashiyu.
"Thanks guys, that really means a lot to me." said Miya, smiling like she hadn't in a while. She was happy that her and Rowen had such good friends.
Right then, they all watched as Sage's mother pull up. She stopped the car and got out. Miya couldn't help but fear the worst.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" asked Sage.
"You're father just found out some news about Rowen." said Mrs. Date.
Sage and Miya got up, walking over to where Mrs. Date stood. Miya was scared to hear what she had to say about her brother.
"What is it? Is something wrong with Rowen? Did something happen?" asked Miya.
"No, Rowen's fine. But he is going to be put on trial. And we are getting lucky because he's being released but he's going to have to stay with us and he'll be watched. He isn't allowed to go anywhere else but our house and school." said Mrs. Date.
To Miya, that was the best news that she had heard so far. She wanted to run home to see her brother right then and there.
"Your father is bringing home when you guys are getting out of school. He'll be picking you guys up so that you guys can see him and ride home together. I just thought that I would come by and give you the news in person." said Mrs. Date.
"That's
great, thanks mom." said Sage, happy for both Rowen and Miya than he was about being able to see his friend. "Hey, I know that the others are really going to want to be able to see Rowen too so would it be alright if they came over?"
"I don't see why not. Rowen is going to need all of you to help him get through this, just as much as Miya has needed you." said Mrs. Date.
" And I appreciate everything everyone has done for me. It has been a big help, even if it didn't show." said Miya.
"Hey Sage, what's up man?" yelled Kento.
Miya headed over to tell everyone the good news while Sage finished talking to his mother.
"What's up Miya? Was that about Rowen?" asked Ryo.
"Yes, it was. Sage's dad said that Rowen gets to come home today! He's picking Sage and I up after school and he's bringing Rowen with him!" said Miya excitedly.
"Miya, that's great news!" said Cye.
"That's wonderful! Ro didn't deserve to be in that awful place anyway." said Aileen.
"And if you guys want to come over to see him, my mom said it would be alright." said Sage as he walked back over to the group.
"Are you mental dude? Of course we're all coming over to see Ro." said Kento.
"Your mom may want to lock up all of her food Sage." said Tori with a smile.
"Hey!" exclaimed Kento, obviously feeling insulted.
All of the others could not help but laugh. Kento crossed his arms across his chest in a huff.
The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Everyone grabbed their stuff and headed toward their classes. The friends also grabbed their bags and headed to their own perspective classes. Miya's next class was with Cye and Ashiyu. She gave Sage a kiss before heading to class with her two friends.
All of them grew more and more anxious as the time ticked down to the final minutes of class. They were all ready for school to end so that they could see Rowen. They all missed him and wanted to be there for him in his desperate time of need. He would be going through a lot for a while, maybe more than he had already been through. They all wished that time would go by faster. And when they final bell rang, signaling that it was time to go home, they all jumped out of their seats, grabbing their things and heading out. They met up in the hall as they headed for the main doors.
As the group walked outside, they looked around for Sage's dad. They spotted him after a few minutes, but didn't see Rowen.
"Hey dad, where's Ro?" asked Sage as they walked over to his dad's car.
"He's right here."
They all turned around to see Rowen standing under the tree behind them, leaning back against with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.
"Rowen!" exclaimed Miya happily, dropping her bag, running over and throwing her arms around her brother's neck.
Rowen wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her, happy to see her again. He didn't want to let her go. He regretted what he had done, but only because of how much it had hurt and was still hurting his sister. She was the most important person in his life. She had always been there for him and had stuck by his side through everything that their father had done to them and made them do.
Flashback
Miya and Rowen were heading home from school together, just like they did every day. The walk was fairly quiet, but they didn't really need to have a conversation. If they did, it would just be about what they were getting ready to face when they walked through the front door. It had been happening every day for the past week. They dreaded what was getting ready to happen as they walked through the front door.
As they walked through the front door, they found their father standing by the hall, leaning against the wall with a beer in his hand. Rowen stood protectively in front of his sister while she held on to his arm, scared even though she knew what was to come. Both prayed that it wouldn't happen, but they knew that it was going to when they saw their father standing in the spot he always did when this was going to happen.
"Don't stand there looking stupid, get in there." said their father.
Rowen reluctantly led the way to their room, Miya holding on to him as she followed him. They passed their father, even more scared now that he was behind them.
As soon as they walked into their bedroom, their father grabbed Miya by her hair, pulling her away from Rowen.
"Dad, don't." said Rowen, turning around to help his sister.
"Shut up!" yelled their father as he punched him, knocking Rowen to the ground.
"Rowen!" cried out Miya, terrified. She felt herself thrown down on her bed, her wrists tied to the bed posts. "No!"
Once both of her wrists were tied, their father grabbed Rowen by the neck hard and pulled him over to the bed. He forced Rowen to kneel on the foot of the bed at Miya feet.
Rowen quickly snapped out of it. He didn't want to even think about that right now, he didn't want to think about it ever again.
Miya finally pulled out of the hug but stayed close to her brother.
"Let's go home." she told her brother with a smile.
Miya, Rowen, and Sage climbed into the car with Mr. Date and Sage's dad drove away from the school, heading toward the Date residence.