Stef

About an hour and a half after lunch, Callie and I are jogging down the street. We're going for a mile because Callie is not a runner and I don't want to wipe her out.

"How are you doing?" I ask her, peering quickly at her before turning my eyes back to the road in front of me.

"Good," she pants, cheeks flushed, "How much longer?"

I shake my head, "Not long," I tell her, "We're almost home." We continue running in silence sans the sound of our sneakers hitting pavement.

"Will I get better?" Callie suddenly asks, eyes fixed straight ahead, "Will it go away, my anger?"

I see the house and reach out my hand so that Callie slows down to a walk, "There's a word to describe what you're feeling and I don't think anger is the best one. You're…protective. You have this need to ensure everyone's safety ahead of your own."

Callie looks down at her feet and I continue, "What happened with Bradley was brought on by emotions that were not properly dealt. At least that's what I think. Mama's the one with the child psychology PhD."

She chuckles a little and I smile. At this point we've reached the house and we head inside. We still have a little time before Lena and the kids get home.

"How about after we shower we hang out in the living room?" I ask Callie as we walk into the kitchen, "We can relax until everyone gets home."

Callie nods, "Okay." She hands me a bottle of water before getting one for herself. We sip in silence for a few moments.

"Can I still go to Girls United?" Callie asks me suddenly, "To help Rita and Michelle?"

I lower the water bottle from my lips, "Um, yeah," I answer, "If you would like to." Callie caps her water and heads towards the stairs, "I'm going to go shower," she tells me before promptly leaving the room.

Mariana

School has ended and I'm heading to the car. Kelsey's words are still fresh in my mind.

"Maybe you should ask Callie why she beat up Bradley in the first place…"

"Mariana, let's go!"

I lift my head to see Jesus sticking his head out of the passenger side window and waving his hand. I roll my eyes and head towards the car. So far, only Jesus and Lena are there.

"Hi, Sweetie," Mama greets me as I climb into the car, "How was school?"

I shrug, "Fine, I guess."

Jesus lets out a groan, "I forgot my math notebook in my locker," in a split second he pops off his seatbelt and is jogging towards the school, "I'll be back in a minute!"

Lena shakes her head to herself, "That brother of yours."

I smile a little and look down at my lap, "Mama?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know why Callie beat up Brad?" I ask cautiously. I begin to toy with a few strands of hair, "Did she say anything to you guys when you talked to her last night?"

A look comes over Lena's face for a moment before she quickly schools her features, "Callie is still dealing with things that happened in the past," she replies ominously, "Mom and I are doing our best to make sure she gets the help she needs."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion and I open my mouth to say something when I notice Jude and Brandon heading for the car. I press my lips together, figuring it would be best to not talk about Callie in front of Jude.

"Where's Jesus?" Brandon asks as he gets into the car.

Jude points, "I see him."

Lena starts the car, "Buckle up. The second Jesus gets here, we're heading home."

Callie

I come down to the living room, freshly showered and my hair slightly damp. Stef is already showered and sitting on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels.

Stef sees me and pats the empty space next to her, "Come sit, Love." I walk over and sit down and Stef immediately pulls me into her. Her free hand comes up to smooth over my hair and a smile tugs at my lips.

"Any preference?" Stef asks, gesturing at the TV with the remote. I shake my head and lean more into her, reveling in what is now a familiar touch and smell.

"Thank you," I say, "For taking me running and for last night. Thanks for not giving up on me."

Stef kisses my hair before pulling me closer and resting her head on top of mine, "You're such a good girl, Callie," she tells me, "Don't ever think you're not worth it, okay?"

"Okay."

A moment later, we hear the door open and the sound of footsteps as everyone comes in from a day of school.

"Hi babies!" Stef calls and she gets some called back responses in return. Lena comes into the living room and pecks Stef on the lips before kissing my forehead.

"What have you two been up to?" she asks, setting her bag down on the coffee table and taking a seat on my other side.

"Well we went for a run," Stef says and Lena's eyebrows raise at this, "And now we're just doing this," she finishes, sweeping her hands at the room. From the corner of my eye I see Mariana studying me with an odd look on her face before she suddenly disappears upstairs.

Huh.

"Brandon has work for you," Lena's voice invades my thoughts, "I'm sure he'll be able to help if you have any questions."

I nod. I slowly push off from the couch, "I'm going to go ask him for it now," I fib. I head up the stairs and immediately walk into my room. Mariana is sitting on her bed, phone in hand but she's clearly distracted. Hearing my footsteps, she looks up with the same odd expression on her face as earlier.

"Are you okay?" I ask carefully, "You look a little off."

Marian puts her phone down and sits up a little straighter, "Why did you beat up Bradley?"

My breath catches in my chest and suddenly I'm rendered speechless. It never occurred to me to discuss with Stef and Lena what to say to Mariana, mostly because it never occurred to me that she would find out this had anything to do with her. After a few seconds of silence pass, I offer up a feeble, "What?"

Mariana roles her eyes, "Why did you beat up Bradley?" she repeats in a slightly more exasperated tone, "Did it have something to do with me?"

Shit.

"Why do you think that?" I ask calmly although on the inside I'm freaking out.

Mariana looks down at her bedspread, "Kelsey mentioned something today at school," she answers with a little shrug. I roll my eyes. Figures it would be that girl. Mariana catches the expression on my face and shoots to her feet, "So it does have something to do with me," she declares, "So what happened? Did he say something about me?"

I keep my lips pressed tightly together.

"Was he going to ask me out?" Mariana continues to guess, "Oh my god, you didn't attack him because he wanted to date me, did you? He's actually pretty cute—"

"Stay the hell away from him, Mariana!" I tell her firmly as I take a step closer to her, "He's bad news."

"Why?" Mariana demands immediately, arms crossed stubbornly, "Talk to me, Callie."

I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. I just need a second to collect my thoughts.

"Callie."

I sigh and open my eyes, "You can't trust him," I finally say.

Mariana raises an eyebrow in question, "Okay…?"

I bite my lip and begin to wring my hands, "I trusted Liam. I was wrong. You can't trust Bradley. You can't."

Mariana's eyes light up with recognition and then a look of horror crosses her countenance. She brings up a hand to cover her mouth and she shakily takes a seat on the edge of her bed. After some time passes, she lowers her hand to her lap.

"Did he…" she begins in a whisper, "He didn't—"

"He tried," I cut her off quietly, "But I stopped him."

"By punching him."

"Yeah."

Mariana nods to herself and grows quiet once again. I can tell she's thinking over what I just told her. Uncomfortable with the silence, I begin to shift on my feet. In my peripheral vision I see a drop of water fall from the end of my hair.

Mariana doesn't say anything.

I take a look around the room and for the first time I realize Mariana fixed the dresser. Not that the mess was big to begin with. Everything back in the proper places. I wonder if she did it last night as I slept in Stef and Lena's room so that they could watch me, or this morning as I made breakfast as an apology to Jesus.

Just as I'm about to say something, Mariana stands up and wraps her arms around me in a hug. I'm startled for a moment but quickly reciprocate the grasp, winding my arms around her back and resting my chin on her shoulder. My hands feel weird—like they're too still—so I begin to awkwardly pat her back.

Mariana pulls away, "Thank you," she says sincerely, "For protecting me."

"You're my little sister," I say with a shrug, "It's my job."

She gives me an affronted look, "Little? Please, we're barely a year apart."

I chuckle, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Mariana sticks her tongue out at me and then sobers up, "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah," I say, smiling softly as her words make a warm sensation spread through me, "I love you, too, Mari."

She begins to head out of the room and I follow, "I saw him at school today," she mentions as an after thought. She turns to face me momentarily with a wicked grin on her face.

"He looks like shit."

I'm sorry for my absence.

School has been eating away at my being. I'm very disillusioned with college and living on my own. I want to go home. I have about a month left of school.

Can anyone help a sister out with Microeconomics? I'm absolutely drowning.

I'm too tired to proofread, so my mistakes are my own.

Be kind to one another.

-Liv