Carrie AU

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)

"Yeah. I know mama that was my reaction too. I can't believe someone could do such a thing to a child, their own no less! God when I saw her sitting there alone in the rain sobbing and heard why she was there, I wanted to go to her house and beat her mothers face in with that bloodstained bible she likes so much!" That was the first thing Carrie heard after she had gotten out of the bath thirty minutes later and silently made her way down the stairs to find the kind teacher. Carrie looked around curiously for any sign of someone besides the two of them in the house, before she caught sight of Desjardin through the kitchen doorway and noticed that she was on the phone as she cooked. Carrie was about to go in there and make her presence known but she hesitated slightly, she didn't want to interrupt the womans conversation.

This was the first time anyone had let Carrie stay at their house after her mother had kicked her out for the weekend, most people just ignored it whenever they found Carrie asleep or crying in the park or woods. No one had ever cared enough to let her stay with them, or treated her so nicely! Miss Desjardin had worried more over Carrie than she did the cleanliness of her home, she had let Carrie take a long hot bath in her tub using her shampoo and soap, and had even given Carrie something warm and clean to wear! Although Carrie had never worn a baggy blue t-shirt with the bright red character on it or the comfortable pair of shorts that had a snowflake design on them that Miss Desjardin had kindly let her wear.

"The only reason I didn't go do what you're threatening to do to her is because I wanted to get Carrie out of the rain and cold before she caught the flu or Pneumonia. That poor girl just can't seem to catch a break!" Carrie heard Desjardin say into the phone after a moment of silence while the person on the other end talked.

"It's sickening how everyone in town except for me seems to not give a rat shit about her simply because of who her mother is and how said mother acts! Hell the other teachers tried to warn me that Carrie acts just like her mother and is a troublemaker of the highest degree. I've seen Mrs. White once at the dry cleaners and Carrie is nothing like her! That woman was miss-quoting bible scripture at Mr. Collins, who is one of the other teachers at the High School, and screaming and raving about how he's going to hell simply because of something small what was it again? …Now I remember she was screaming about how he was going to hell because he had told her to shut up and actually do her job instead of pestering everyone. I haven't heard Carrie utter a single un-kind word to anyone, even the people who bully and torment her near daily!" Desjardin said into the phone and Carrie heard something being cut up at a fast pace. Desjardin was silent for a minute as the person on the phone spoke to her while she plopped something into a pot that Carrie could barely see through the doorway.

"I got so pissed off at those kids the other day because of something they did to her mama. She always wears a small necklace that has Jesus on it, and a few days ago it went missing. Apparently she had set it down on the bench in the girls locker room while taking a shower after gym class and one of the other girls took it. I didn't know that until after school when I was on my way to the Teacher Work Room and saw her looking around a hallway frantically with tears in her eyes. That necklace belonged to her father, and he had died months before she was born so she never knew him and lord only knows what her mother would tell her about him. I sent her home and looked for that necklace all over the place for two days before I found it in the park beside the school." Here Desjardin paused as she cut something else up, and Carrie caught sight of her as the girl hesitantly entered the kitchen. She had changed into some dry cloths as well and had her hair pulled back like in gym class, she also had a phone in between her ear and her shoulder while she chopped up what looked like chicken.

"Trust me I was ready to pound some of those other girls faces in myself mama and that was just the first incident! The next day I gave her back her necklace and I can't even begin to count the number of thank you's she said when she saw it and she even gave me a hug! That girl never gets close to anyone, she doesn't even bump into the other kids on accident in the hallway between class periods, and yet she hugged me. The look on the other kids faces…I had to resist the urge to hit them all with detention boot camp style…as well as my clipboard. You don't know how hard it was for me to keep from laughing though when Carrie grabbed one of the dodge balls during the game that day and managed to whack the ringleader of her tormentors right in the face! ...Yeah that girl was not happy and poor Carrie looked so scared…hell mama she looked terrified! I asked her to stay behind while the other girls went to get their showers so that I could talk to her about something, that way the other girls couldn't corner her in the locker room." Desjardin said grinning slightly at the part about Carrie hitting Chris in the face with a dodge ball, although she was frowning most of the rest of the time she spoke. She looked rather angry as she chopped up some carrots now, tossing them and the chicken into the boiling pot that had some noodles in it. Carrie giggled at the memory of Chris's face when she had been hit full in the face with the dodge ball, causing Desjardin to jump. Rita swore when she chopped up a piece of carrot a little too hard and ended up breaking her cutting board clean in half as she spun around and put a hand over her heart at the sight of Carrie standing there.

"I'm fine mama. I didn't hear Carrie come into the kitchen while I was talking to you and she startled me is all. Nah I didn't cut anything but the carrot and the board…yeah I'll be needing to buy a new cutting board tomorrow. Alright…alright. I'll let you go and talk to you tomorrow. Love ya mama, and tell papa I love her too. Night." Rita said as she tried to steady her racing heart, hanging up the phone and setting it down before she gave Carrie an amused but stern look.

"Please don't sneak up on me like that Carrie! If I forgot you were here in the house with me I could have really hurt you…although I guess you found it a bit funny to scare me half to death huh? Payback for when I startled you earlier?" Rita asked grinning slightly at a nervous Carrie who released a breath of relief that the older woman wasn't mad.

"Sorry Miss Desjardin." Carrie apologized sheepishly anyways.

"Rita." Rita said absently as she patted the top of Carrie's head before turning back to the soup and stirring it idly.

"Huh?" Carrie asked tilting her head slightly in confusion although she had blushed a little at the pat on the head she had been given. Rita made a split second decision as she looked over her shoulder at the confused looking teen behind her.

"When we're not in class call me Rita."