Keep up the great reviews! I love reading everyone's opinions! I'm really busy with summer school *insert swear word of choice here* but I'll update again by Wednesday! Enjoy and review! And if you haven't heard the theme song for the show, you should check it out! It's called "Where You Belong" by Kari Kimmel!
For a moment I was too startled to react. I stood over his bed in shock and stared into his menacing eyes, his hand wrapped around my wrist.
He was too weak to say anything, but he didn't need to. The look he gave me spoke volumes. He was still here. He wasn't going to die. He was going to find me. A smile crept across his pale face.
"Brandon!" I screamed. His was the first name that came to mind.
Brandon ran into the room, saw Tyler's hand on my wrist, and his hands curled into fists.
"Brandon-" I started to say. I didn't want him to do anything stupid. But Brandon was already punching Tyler in the face so hard his eyes rolled back into his head and his tight grip on me loosened.
"Hey! Stop!" a nurse shouted to us. "You can't be in here!"
"We were just leaving," Brandon told her angrily. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room. I was grateful that he was guiding me down the hallway and back to the elevator, because my feet had forgotten how to work properly.
This had been a huge mistake. I needed to get as far away from this place as humanly possible. My chest felt weird and tight. The cold white walls were closing in on me, trapping me, suffocating me.
Brandon lead me over to a bench outside and held my hand while I tried to remember how to breathe.
"What can I do?" he whispered, his eyes full of concern.
"I need to focus on something else," I told him. "I need a distraction."
Brandon nodded. "Just focus on me. I'm right here, Cal."
His grip was just as tight as Tyler's had been, but for some reason this didn't bother me. Brandon's touch made my skin burn, like he was setting me on fire. And I kind of liked it.
"Did you practice any of the new chords I showed you?" Brandon asked. He was determined to teach me to play the guitar before I was moved to a new foster home.
"Yes," I managed to say. "But it sounded like a strangled duck."
"Come on, I'm sure it wasn't that bad. You sounded amazing when we played together."
I blushed and looked away from him. "That was different. I always play better when I'm with you."
"Good. Be my partner in that talent show for your therapy group."
"That's only for foster kids, which you are not," I reminded him.
"But you are," he pointed out. "And I missed my last performance because of you and nearly died. You owe me, Callie Jacob."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess if I have to." But I was fighting a smile all the way home, something I hadn't done in a long time.
X
Up until then, boys were never complicated. Until Liam.
I groaned and closed my journal. I couldn't concentrate on writing after everything that had happened today! And now I had to learn a whole song to perform with Brandon for my therapy group!
I must have still been high when I agreed to that. It was the only logical explanation.
I picked up my guitar. I didn't want anyone but Brandon hearing me play, and Mariana was in our room, whispering to someone on the phone. Probably Lexi.
"I'd wait until after moms are asleep."
I froze, my hand on the doorknob. I looked back at Mariana. "What?"
"If you're planning on hooking up with Brandon, I'd wait until Stef and Lena are asleep." She shrugged. "Unless you want to get caught."
"Isn't that what you want, Mariana?"
Mariana bit her lip and put down the phone. "Look," she said finally, "I'm not going to tell anyone, if that's what you mean. I'm not some spoiled, selfish bitch."
"Really. So you stole your brother's pills and letting him take the fall for you because you're such a saint?"
Mariana crossed her arms. "It's not like I got that money for me! I was helping my birth mom!"
I raised my eyebrows. "Your birth mom? What, is she a drug dealer? Are you joining the family business?"
"She needed the money," Mariana snapped defensively. "Whatever. I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not like you care."
I glanced down at the phone in her hand. "Is that who you were talking to just now? Your birth mom?"
"Ana." Mariana nodded. "She wants me and Jesus to meet her boyfriend."
"That sucks. Your mom uses you like an ATM machine, then introduces you to the man she abandoned you for? If it were me, I'd stay the hell away from that woman."
"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Mariana snapped. "Whatever. You just don't understand."
"I know what it's like to have a mom who cares more about buying drugs than her own kids," I said. "My mom got addicted after my dad left. She overdosed when I was ten and died."
Mariana looked shocked. "I'm sorry. That sucks."
I laughed. "Yeah. Just be careful, okay? She might disappoint you."
"Callie? You really don't have to worry. I'll keep your secret."
"There's not a secret to keep," I told her. "Brandon and I aren't together. But thanks."
Mariana flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "Too bad. You guys make a cute couple."
X
"Hey, you," I said as I knocked on Brandon's bedroom door where he was playing the piano.
Brandon stopped playing and smiled at me. "Hey, did you come for more lessons?"
I held up my guitar. "If you're not busy. I don't want to bother you."
Brandon shut the door behind me. "You could never bother me."
"Um…okay." I sat down on the bed beside him and tried not to think about the last time we'd been alone together like this.
I strummed the few notes I remembered and sighed. "I suck at this."
Brandon put his hand over mine. "If that was true, I never would have given you my guitar. I wouldn't give it just anyone, you know."
My breath hitched in my throat. "Then why did you give it to me?"
Brandon looked into my eyes, holding my gaze with his piercing blue eyes. "Because you're special."
