Holes of Life

By Samantha Tragedy

Chapter 7 Like the Secret Place Inside Your Soul

A/N Okay. I rewrote this 4 times! And I'm still not very happy with it. But whatever. Here you go. Oh and the title is from the song Say Goodnight Not Goodbye. Which I don't own.

A few days later and it's Tuesday morning. The house is a mess with all the kids getting ready to leave. Alana, Erica, and Dylan had quickly become acclammated to their new life. Elliot, Paige, and Bridget had also gotten used to their new siblings quickly. Summer had brought her kids over yesterday and the nine of them had had a great time. Everyone was happy. Everyone except Parker.

"Elliot! Get up this instant!" Marissa shouted up the stairs. She turned back to the table and smiled. Ryan was at the head of the table with Parker sitting to his right. Next to Parker was Dylan, then Alana, then Erica. Marissa took her place at the opposite end from Ryan. Next to her was Bridget, then Paige, and then, just as she was about to shout up the stairs again, Elliot came sliding into his seat next to his sister.

"So nice of you to finally decide to join us." Ryan said. "That happens again tomorrow, no video games for the rest of the week. Got it?"

"Whatever."

"So, Parker," Marissa changed the topic. "Are you excited for school? Ryan and I have a lot of memories at that place."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Parker hated Marissa even more than Seth.

"I'm going to take Parker to the high school. Are you going to take the rest to Harbor Elementary?" Ryan asked.

"Kirsten is going to be here any second. She's going take Elliot, Paige, and Alana. I'm going to take Dylan, Bridget, and Erica." Just as she finished saying this the doorbell rang and Paige ran to answer it.

"Grandma!" She said as she gave Kirsten a hug. "You're taking me to school today!"

"I know sweetheart. Are you ready?"

"Yep! Alana! Elliot! Let's go!"

"Paige. In door voice please." Marissa scolded as her daughter rolled her eyes.

"Whatever mom."

"I want to go with Grandma!" Bridget said as she ran to Kirsten.

Kirsten laughed and bent down to talk to the child. "Oh Honey, Your mommy is taking you to school with Dylan and Erica. It'll be way more fun than riding with me."

"Okay! Come on Mommy! Let's go! Today is show and tell and Katie P. is bringing her new Malibu Princess Deluxe First Edition Signature Pink Barbie Car!"

"Yeah and who would want to miss that." Elliot said as he walked out of the house.

"Elliot! Be nice. And have a good day at school! Someone will pick you up to take you to basketball practice okay?"

"Bye!"

"Bye kids! Be good!" Ryan shouted after them. "Marissa, you should be leaving too."

"Yeah and so should you. I'll see you tonight. Love you. Bye."

"Okay Parker. You got all your stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then let's go." Ryan led him out to the car. Parker opened his door, tossed his backpack in and then flopped into his seat. Ryan sighed as they pulled out of the driveway. "Parker, come on. I know you don't want to do this, but you don't have a choice. You have to go to school. And I expect you to get good grades."

"Yeah, sure,whatever."

"Hey, will you please tell me why you hate school so much."

"I've never been to school with out her."

"Without who?"

"Jenna."

"Who's Jenna?"

"The best friend I've ever had."

"Is that why you think you belong in back in Chino?"

"I guess that's part of it." Parker was looking at his hands again. Ryan glanced at him while keeping one eye on the road.

"Hey, Parker. You and I are really going to need to start working on looking people in the eyes. Now, why didn't you tell me about Jenna?"

"It's not like I really had the chance to. Besides she probably hates me now."

"Why would she hate you?"

"Because I left. I promised her we would leave together. I said we would get out, move to a good city together, buy a house, and never come back." Parker was staring out the window as he said this. He kept his face emotionless and, unlike Ryan, his eyes never showed a thing. "And now she thinks I left without her. I never should have gone to see the lawyer."

"You did the right thing. Your safe now. And you're right. Jenna does, most likely, think you've ditched her." As soon as he said this Parker face got even more cold. "But when you call her tonight and explain to her what happened, she'll probably be happy for you."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now aside from the fight I know you are going to get into today, school shouldn't be a problem."

Parker laughed and Ryan smiled. He had never seen Parker laugh before and he loved it. He couldn't wait to see him laugh again.

"Hey, don't worry I promise I'll pick someone much bigger than me. That way they'll at least have a chance."

"Yeah okay. Just as long as they look worse than you do and they start it. That way you can't get punished by the school. But fair warning. If you do actually get in a fight today, I won't be happy. Okay? So please at least try to give it a chance."

"I guess I could give it shot."

"Thank you."

"But I'm still not promising anything."

A/N Okay Count of three 1...2...3 AAAAWWWW! Yeah. I'm capable of writing fluff. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and wished me well. I'm feeling much better! I had Fun in Mad Town yesterday. And next weekend I'm going to Green Bay. And Sunday I have a job interview! Cross your fingers! So I don't know when the next update will be. But it will be soon!

Next up: Parker goes to school and meets his new classmates, someone visits Marissa.