The next morning, Callie opened her eyes to find the room still dark. "What time is it? No sun?" she thought. She reached over to her nightstand and tapped her phone to check the time. 5:17am. She rolled back over, still a bit disoriented from sleep. For a few seconds, Callie hadn't remembered anything about her dream, or Stef and Lena, or her small blow up at them; but then it all came crashing back at her. Her eyes opened again as she stared at the wall remembering all the events of the day before, guilt building up in her chest. She chose to ignore it. "I have to be strong and tough. That's just the way it has to be" she convinced herself. Callie tried to get a bit more sleep before it was really time for her to get up, but her thoughts kept her from doing so. When 7:00am rolled around, she turned off her alarm and got ready for the day, running into the other teens in the bathroom brushing their teeth.

"Hey Callie" Jude greeted as he placed toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"Hey. How did you sleep?" she asked.

"I slept okay. I had this really cool dream where I was in this cool robotic machine and I was super tall and got to roam around the town in it!" He responded before bringing the brush to his teeth. At this moment, Jesus also entered the bathroom, hearing the latter part of what Jude said.

"You had a dream that you were super tall?" Jesus asked. "There's so many other things and better things you could dream about than just being tall and walking around town". Jude turned to him, removing his toothbrush saying "No, that I was in a robot suit" as some toothpaste feel from his mouth.

"Eww gross Jude, just brush your teeth!" Mariana stated as she entered the bathroom pulling out her flat iron.

Callie quickly finished rinsing out her mouth and tousled Jude's hair before leaving the bathroom. She took a while sitting in her room pretending to put things in her backpack before heading downstairs. She was trying her best to avoid being downstairs first or second, not wanting to be alone with Stef and Lena. After about 15 minutes, she was the next to last person to be downstairs since Mariana was straightening her hair. She sat down in her spot without making much eye contact. "I have to keep a straight face and be strong. No budging" she told herself. She felt like if her face showed any emotion to the moms that she would appear weak, and that they would try and talk to her.

"Good morning Callie" Lena stated placing a plate in front of her. "I made some eggs, potatoes, and turkey bacon. Eat up, because you know Mariana isn't going to eat much of the eggs or turkey bacon".

Callie looked around at the food that Lena had prepared without moving. She knew that she better eat breakfast, but she couldn't help but think about her birthmother yet again. "Stef and Lena always make us eat something in the morning, but my mom would be upset that I took their food over hers". Callie slowly moved her fingers onto the edge of her plate and pushed it away from her. Everyone at the table was watching her by now.

"Callie, you need to eat something" Stef warned.

Callie turned towards Stef, still with her face free of emotion, and shook her head. Jude was surprised by Callie's boldness and started to get nervous. If there was anything ever off about his sister in the past it usually meant there was something going on, or that Callie was trying to protect them somehow. He placed his fork down on his plate as he tried to hide his visible frown, but it didn't go unnoticed by the moms.

"Jude honey, what's wrong?" Lena asked. "Why aren't you eating anymore?"

"A wonderful breakfast was made, and everyone is going to eat it" Stef pointed out, more towards Callie than towards Jude. Mariana came around the corner and observed what was on the table.

"Eww eggs, I'm not eating that" Mariana declared.

"Don't worry moms, I'm eating" Jesus insisted as he scarfed down some potatoes.

"Me too" Brandon added, swallowing some turkey bacon.

Callie looked toward Jude and gave him a small nod, letting him know it was okay to eat. He was confused, but he cautiously picked up his fork and took a bite. He looked to Lena and explained "Nothing is wrong… I really like the potatoes".

"Well thank you Jude" Lena responded. "It would be even better if your sister had a taste of them too". Both Stef and Lena watched as Callie continued to sit there still.

"Callie, everyone is eating something" Stef stated as she grabbed a scoop of eggs and two slices of bacon and placed them on Callie's plate, staring at her the entire time giving her a visual warning to stop fighting them.

Callie looked down at her plate and knew what she had to do. "Stong. Don't budge" she reminded herself. She grabbed her plate, stood up, and walked over to the trashcan. She looked Stef dead in the eyes, seeing Stef's "Don't you dare" warning on her face, and turned her plate over into the trash. There was an eerie silence in the room, as everyone stopped what they were doing and looked between Callie and the moms. Lena began to tap her fingers on the table with her mouth pursed shut.

"Upstairs. Now." Stef demanded, standing up from her spot. Callie crossed her arms and stayed where she was. She knew that she had gotten herself in big trouble now, but she wanted to make sure that her mom wouldn't be upset at her for accepting Stef and Lena's food and instructions. As Callie stood there, she felt a small ache in the back of her neck, but she wasn't budging. Stef moved over to where Callie was.

"Now" she stressed, pulling Callie's arm as she nudged her up the stairs. They went into Stef and Lena's room, and Stef closed the door.

"Okay, you better tell me what in the world is going on with you missy, or-"

"Or what?" Callie interrupted, still showing no emotion in her face. "Or you're gonna hit me? That's what you brought me up here for" she dared.

Stef paused, sighing and crossing her arms. She knew that in the past, Callie had unfortunately endured things like that, but she also knew that her and Lena made it clear that would never happen in their house. "Callie, you know that we would never do that to you. You know that we would never and will never hurt you. You need to tell me what's going on with you or you will not be participating in your extra-curricular activities until you figure out what it is" Stef explained.

Callie stood there considering finally admitting what was on her mind and how she was feeling the past two days, but her mother's words popped up again: "You chose them over me?" These words were enough to keep her resisting. "Strong. Don't budge" she reminded herself once again.

"Fine. I won't participate in them then" she shrugged as she headed to walk out. Stef stopped her and blocked her from the door.

"That's not it young lady. You need to apologize to mama for the way you disrespected her, and you owe both of us an apology for the way you spoke to us last night. No matter how tired you are, you don't speak to us that way".

The entire time, Callie avoided making eye contact. Her head started to hurt, but she ignored it as she felt Stef's hand gently move her face so she could look at her.

"If there's something that's bothering you, we would love for you to just let it out and talk about it. We love you no matter what, and we hate to see you hurt" Stef pleaded. Callie tried hard to not show anything on her face after she heard Stef's comment. She pulled back from Stef's touch and looked away again.

"Can I go now? I don't want to be late for school…"

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews always welcomed. Really, I love reading them! Let me know what you think about the story, about how Callie's feeling/acting, and how it's affecting everyone else! Will be posting the next chapter soon.