Author's note: I haven't had time to write so much because the school is keeping me busy. Sorry for not being able to update very often. Don't worry, soon the last exams are over and I can conentrate on writing again :D
Enjoy!
[Alex] -Do you have time to talk soon?
Piper looked at her phone under her desk. She was wondering why Alex needed to talk to her.
[Piper] -How soon is soon?
[Alex] -You answered pretty quickly considering that you are at school. But as soon as possible.
[Piper] -1pm in front of the biology classroom?
[Alex] -Yea, see you then.
Piper looked at the clock, it was only half past twelve. The teacher was talking something about the life cycle of the flowering plant. Piper rolled her eyes, where would they need this information? Piper spent the rest of the class thinking about why Alex wanted to talk to her and why it couldn't wait that Piper was at the bookshop.
When the bell rang exactly at 1pm, Piper hopped up and left the classroom. She saw Alex leaning against the wall and walked towards her. "Hey."
"Hey", Alex said back smiling.
"So, what's up?" Piper asked.
"I wanted to-"
"You have found a new girlfriend?" Somebody said laughing behind them.
Piper turned around and there stood no one else than Jessica and the others.
"I know that you wanted the place but..." Piper made a point to look Jessica from head to toes. "You aren't exactly my type", she ended smirking.
One of the minions stepped up. "She wouldn't touch you even with a long stick. You are-"
"Let's go. She isn't worth it", Jessica huffed and they left.
"So, you were saying?" Piper asked Alex like nothing had happened.
"I really think that you should talk about-"
"That's not what you came to tell me. Just tell what you had in mind and let me deal with Jessica", Piper said strictly.
Alex furrowed her brows but left the topic. "Well, I think that we should end this tutoring thing. Don't get it wrong, I appreciate what you did in order to help me, but I can't keep taking money from the school when I'm not even doing anything. So, I thought that we should tell that you don't need tutoring anymore and I can tutor someone who really needs it."
"If you want to, then let's go to talk with Mr. Harris. I have time before the next class", Piper said casually. She liked Alex attitude that you can't get anything if you don't do anything.
"You need to keep your grades up though, for yourself", Alex said as she looked at Piper's eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not interested in taking classes at summer so..."
"Good. Let's go then."
They started walking towards the history class and Alex thought about the ways she could get Piper talk about the bullying.
Soon they were there and Alex knocked the door.
Mr. Harris came to open the door. "Ah, Alex. Hey."
"We wanted talked to you about something. Do you have time?" Alex asked.
"Sure, sure. Come in."
Mr. Harris let them in and closed the door. She went to sit behind his desk and Piper hopped on it smiling sweetly at him.
He glared at Piper but didn't say anything. "Piper hasn't been too much trouble, has she?"
"Oh no", Alex laughed a little. "I think that Piper doesn't need tutoring anymore. She has internalized all the most important things and her grades has been better. "
Mr. Harris looked at Piper skeptically. "Is this just some trick to get out of this?"
"Nope. I'll keep my grades up and I promised Alex that if something hard comes up, I'll contact her", Piper said.
Mr. Harris looked at Alex for the confirmation and when she nodded he sighed. "Okay then. Thank you Alex for all this. You've been a great help. Are you interested in continuing the tutoring with others?"
"No problem and yes, I would like that."
"Okay then, I'll inform you when we have a fitting student", Mr. Harris said.
"Thank you. See you again", Alex said as she started to leave.
Piper hopped off the desk and was leaving too when Mr. Harris talked again. "Remember Piper, detention at 4pm!"
Piper rolled her. "Yeah, yeah."
When they were out of the classroom, Alex asked. "Detention? For what?"
"The punching thing at Friday", Piper said.
"Did Jessica or the other boy get anything from it?"
"Nope."
"But that's unfair! You didn't-" Alex started heatedly before Piper interrupted her.
"Yes, it's unfair. No, I don't care. Like whatever it's just an hour of sitting, what kind of punishment is that anyways? Just let it go", there was finality in Piper's voice.
"Fine, okay. But shouldn't you be working today?"
"Yes, I already informed Diane that I'll come a little late", Piper said.
"Okay then. We'll probably see at the shop later", Alex said.
"Okay, see ya", Piper said and then went to her next class
Diane was sitting behind the counter and listing the books that she should order when the door opened and a teenage boy came to the shop.
"Hi", Diane said smiling.
"Hey", the boy answered. He walked around, looking between the shelves but didn't even glance at the books.
"You trying to find something specific?" Diane asked.
"Well, actually... Is Piper here? I think she should be working here?" The boy said, sounding unsure.
Diane furrowed her eyebrows. Who was he and why he was trying to find Piper. "Piper does work here, she'll come a little after five."
"Oh, okay. Do you know where she is? Because I went to check on her apartment, but she wasn't there."
Diane became suspicious. As far as she knew, Piper didn't have any close friends. Who could he be? "I'm sorry, who are you?"
The boy laughed a little. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Cal, Piper's brother."
Diane's eyes widened. So, this was the brother. "Oh, hey. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Diane, Piper's employer. Piper has a detention, but she should be here..." Diane checked the clock. It was almost five. "In fifteen minutes."
"Detention? Same Piper still, I see... Do you know why she got it?"
"I think that you should just ask her", Diane said, thinking that Piper wouldn't probably like that they were talking about her when she wasn't there.
"Yeah, you're right. Well, could you advise the way to the closest café? I'll go get something and come back a little later", Cal said smiling.
Diane looked at him confused, hadn't he lived here? "I'm sorry, you don't know the town?"
"Not really, I've been here just a couple of times when visiting Piper."
"I thought that you lived here?"
"Oh no, we lived in Hartford, but Piper moved here and nowadays I'm living in Philadelphia", Cal said, unsure how much Piper had shared with this woman.
Diane was confused why Piper was living here if her family had lived in Hartford. Piper had lived here even before the accident because she had been working for her. Diane decided not to ask more and talk about it with Piper later. "Okay then. The closest café is just when you turn right and walk ahead until you see it on your left side."
"Thank you. We'll see soon again then. And oh, could you please not tell Piper. She doesn't know that I'm here and I wanted to surprise her", Cal asked.
"Sure thing", Diane smiled.
"Thank you again. See you soon", Cal waved and left the shop.
Piper stepped into the shop a little after five and greeted Diane.
"Hey."
"Hi. How was your detention?" Diane asked.
"It was pretty fun actually. We played UNO", Piper answered.
"Really?" Diane asked in surprise.
"No", Piper said shortly before went to backroom to drop off her bag.
Diane shook her head smiling. Always the same sarcastic Piper.
After a while Cal came back and Diane nodded towards the shelves where Piper was organizing books.
Cal sneaked behind Piper. "Hey sis!"
Piper squalled in surprise and got up quickly. "Cal!" She exclaimed and hugged her brother.
Diane looked at them smiling. She had never seen Piper so happy.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to come tomorrow?" Piper asked once she had pulled away.
"You don't know how exhausting it is to live with Auntie", Cal said chuckling.
"Luckily. I can picture what it would look like if I was there too", Piper grinned.
"Yeah, let's make that never happen."
Piper laughed. "We can catch up later, I'll get off at eight. You can go to my apartment already?"
"You can leave now, if you want. There isn't much to do anyway", Diane hopped in the conversation.
"Oh, no need, I already came late and all. But thanks for the offer", Piper smiled.
"Seriously Piper. It's just one day and you've deserved it", Diane tried again.
"No, I'll stay", Piper said strictly.
Diane lifted her arms up as a surrender and went behind the counter again.
"I'll just get you the keys", Piper said to Cal as she went to backroom.
Soon she came back with the keys and Cal took them. "Oh, how was today's session?"
"What?" Piper asked confused.
"With the therapist? You're seeing her on Mondays right?"
Piper glanced nervously at Diane, hoping that she wouldn't say anything. "Oh yeah, well it got canceled because of the detention, but we're seeing next week again", Piper said smiling a little.
"Oh, that detention... We have to talk about that when you get off", Cal said seriously.
"Yeah, yeah. Go now", Piper said.
"See you soon", Cal said before left.
Diane waited that the door had closed before opened her mouth. "You said pretty clearly to me that you wouldn't be seeing therapist?"
Piper sighed. "After the accident Cal was worried about me because I lived here alone and didn't have any close friends who I could talk to, so he made an appointment for me and I went to see a therapist. I was done after five minutes and just left and never went back. But it's important to Cal to know that I can talk to somebody, so that's why I keep lying that I'm seeing a therapist."
"That's pretty big thing to lie about", Diane said furrowing her brows.
"Firstly, I don't need you to criticize my decisions. But I know it is, I'll tell him soon. Now I don't need to lie anymore because now I have you. So, I don't need a therapist", Piper said.
Diane felt oddly honored that Piper thought about her that way. She knew that Piper didn't let just anybody in. Diane was happy that Piper had let her in and now felt that she was kind of responsible of Piper.
"Okay. That's good", Diane said before something came to her mind. "Oh, your brother came here earlier before you were here, and he asked the way to the closest café. I thought that your family lived in here because you were working for me even before the accident. But Cal told me that you had lived in Hartford, so may I ask why you were living in here alone?"
Piper tensed a little. "I had problems in my junior high school and they continued in my freshman year. I needed to change the school anyways and I wanted to get out of the city, so my parents and I decided that Litchfield would be a perfect place and I could practice living alone. My family was pretty wealthy, so they bought an apartment for me and yeah, here I am."
Diane decided not to ask Piper about the problems she had in Hartford. She would tell when she was ready. "Oh, okay then", she said and left the topic.
Piper was grateful for that. She wasn't ready to share her memories about her last year in Hartford.
When the clock was almost eight, Alex came in. Apparently, Diane had given her car for Alex's use, so Alex usually came to get Diane home.
Alex talked with Diane for a while before made her way towards Piper who was reading on one of the sofas.
"Hi", Alex said as she sat next to Piper.
"Hey", Piper said back as she closed the book.
"You know, I read the book you recommended."
Piper was a little nervous what Alex had thought about it. She didn't know why but didn't want Alex to think that she had bad taste in books. "Oh, what you thought about it?"
"Like you said, it was very interesting. Yourcenar writes very beautifully and somehow she wrote the book that Hadrian didn't feel like the main character, he was..." Alex trailed off as she tried to form her thoughts into words.
"He was more like the whole book himself", Piper finished smiling.
"Exactly!"
"Well, I'm glad you liked it", Piper said, amazed that Alex thoughts about the book were same as hers.
Piper opened the door to her apartment and went in. Before she even had the time to close the door, Cal came from the living room.
"You really should get a TV", Cal said.
Piper shrugged. "I don't need one."
Cal rolled her eyes. "I checked your cabinets and I didn't find any alcohol. Have you hidden them?"
Piper shook her head. "Maybe I'm just not drinking anymore."
Cal looked at her sister suspiciously. "I'm not buying it."
"Fine. Diane, my boss came here a couple of days ago and took them from me. Haven't really had time to get new ones."
"Good. She seems nice", Cal said.
Piper was quiet for a while. "Yeah... she is. About that, she knows about the accident", she started.
Cal was surprised. Piper never talked about it. "You told her?"
"Yeah. Well, I showed her the article and she figured it out. But anyways my point is that I can talk to her if I feel the need and I actually like her..."
"That's good sis", Cal said smiling. She knew that it was a huge step for Piper.
"Yeah... So, now is probably a good time to tell that I'm not really seeing a therapist", Piper said as she averted her gaze. Even if she was older, Cal took care of her after the accident when she couldn't do it herself, so it feels like Cal is the older of the two.
"What?" Cal asked.
"Uhmm, I went there once and I just couldn't talk about it with some random woman who really didn't even care", Piper said.
Cal sighed. "I know. I thought that it was a little weird when you never complained about it. But I'm glad that you told me now and I'm glad that you have Diane."
Piper smiled a little.
"So, tell me what you've been doing. And that detention", Cal said as she went into the kitchen.
The next day Piper called to the school and said that she was sick and spent the day with Cal. They had been walking around the town the whole day and just after 7pm were ready to head to Piper's apartment.
"So, I checked the bus schedules and there goes a bus to Hartford at 11am. We could take that one?" Cal said as they were walking.
Piper got nervous. "Yeah, about that... I need to work tomorrow..."
"What? Piper, you were supposed to ask that day off!" Cal exclaimed.
"I forgot, okay?" Piper said defensively. Of course, she really hadn't but she didn't want to go to Hartford. She hated that place.
"No, you did not! I get that you don't want to go there but it's important for me, so please Piper, ask Diane about it."
Piper felt bad and realized that she was acting childish. "The shop is near, we can pop in and ask about it. But I can't promise anything, it's pretty short notice."
Soon they were stepping into the shop and Piper immediately saw Diane and unsurprisingly Alex too. They were talking but stopped when they heard someone coming in.
"Hi", Piper said to them.
Diane and Alex greeted them and Alex looked at Cal questioningly, so Piper decided to introduce them.
"Alex, this is my brother Cal. Cal this is Alex, my former tutor and Diane's daughter", she said.
Alex was surprised to see Piper's brother and Cal was surprised to hear that Piper had been seeing a tutor. They managed to nod each other and Piper turned towards Diane.
"So, I know this is such a short notice but could you give me tomorrow off? I could change it with my Saturday's day off", Piper said. "But of course, if you need me, I can stay", she quickly added, hoping that Diane needed her.
Diane was surprised since Piper had never asked a day off. "Sure, no problem."
Piper huffed in annoyance and glanced at Cal like saying: You happy now?
"I need another book", she said to herself and disappeared between the shelves.
Alex and Diane was looking after her confused, she had just gotten a day off and she looked pissed.
"We are going to Hartford, she doesn't want to go, so she hoped that you wouldn't give her the day off", Cal elaborated.
Diane nodded in understanding.
Cal walked in front of Diane and started to talk in a low voice. "I know, how Piper can be. I know she can be annoying and she keeps shutting herself off. But she truly is a good person once she drops the act. I hate that she lives here alone and doesn't have any close friends. I hate that I know she's hurt but I can't do anything about it. For the first time in a long time, she actually seems to trust someone. So, please Diane. Take care of her."
Diane was amazed how much Cal seemed to care about Piper. Well, if they had experienced something that hard together, it must make your bond stronger. "Of course I will. I know she is a good person. I understand her situation and want to help her."
Cal gave Diane his number. "Please call me if something happens."
Diane nodded and put the number in her pocket. A while later Piper came back with two books.
Diane was about to say goodbyes but Piper surprised her as she went behind the counter and paid her books.
"Piper, I've told you that I'm not taking your money. You're working here so you don't need to pay for them!"
Piper just rolled her eyes. "I will always pay for them. We'll go now, bye. And thanks", she said before walked out, Cal following closely.
Diane shook her head. She didn't understand why Piper needed always to be so stubborn.
Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you thought about it! Suggestions are always welcomed as always :)
-Iina