Here is another installment of my series. Please tell me what you think. Obviously you have guessed the ship i am going for but hopefully it isnt too weird. There is a line that the two former siblings are fighting and it will be up to them to choose which side they are going for. In this chapter, we will see both sides that Teddy is experiencing. Please review!
P.S. This takes place during the last chapter from Teddy's POV.
Teddy felt weird. She zones out at her locker and stares at something unknown on the ceiling. She knows something is wrong. She can feel it in her gut. Suddenly someone slamming her locker shut, snaps her out of her trance.
"You almost got your binder hijacked if it wasn't for me." Ivy raises an eyebrow at the unusually quiet Teddy. She sees Teddy's eye glaze over for a moment before refocusing on her.
"I guess I wasn't paying attention. Thanks." Teddy says softly. All the emotions she felt earlier this morning really took a toll on her. She cried hard the whole ride to her school. Thank god she arrives early because she went straight to the bathroom to get fixed up again. She has been walking around for three periods feeling like she needs to take a nap with a warm blanket on. It always happens when she cries; she needs to fall asleep after.
"Come on, we got to go to fourth. I can't have another tardy slip or my mom will freak." Ivy gently tugs on Teddy's arm to get moving. Ivy knows that Teddy has been crying because her eyes are still slightly red. She knows that Teddy will tell her what is wrong in her time.
Teddy nods and begins to follow Ivy when a teacher walks by with a slip. He stops as he passes by them and turns towards them.
"Teddy Duncan?" He asks, clearly bored with the chore duty he has had to do.
"Yes."
"This came for you." With that, the teacher briskly leaves towards the direction he came from. Teddy glances at Ivy and sees her interested gaze. They both read the note with intrigue. When Teddy's eyes skim over the note and see the words 'family emergency' and 'check out' she instantly feels like the wind has been knocked out of her. Stumbling back to lean on the lockers, Teddy tries to catch her breath. There is only one reason her parents would allow her to get out of school. PJ. She closes her eyes and listens to her ragged breathing. She feels a warm hand reach out and gently grip her shoulder. Taking deep breaths to try and calm her shallow breathing, Teddy opens her eyes and looks at Ivy. There probably won't be a better time to tell her than now when she is breaking down.
"Yesterday, we found out PJ was adopted." She says in barely a whisper. She timidly turns to Ivy and sees the look of surprise and empathy on her best friend's face. Somehow it makes her stomach clench even tighter in a knot. Finally getting her breath back, Teddy glances at her friend and finds her speechless. "I'd better go." She numbly mutters. She sees Ivy nod slowly before releasing her from her grip. She walks out of the school and into the parking lot. Before she knows it, she is home.
Teddy approaches the door and suddenly feels scared. She doesn't know what is behind the door. Maybe it is the thought that PJ wouldn't be behind the door that scares her the most. As her hand ghostly grazes the cold doorknob, her chest tightens. Anxiety. With a deep breath, Teddy finally manages to gather the courage enough to open the door.
Her breath hitches as she feels the harsh sting of tears hitting the air. Closing the door somewhat dramatically, Teddy rushes over to her parents as sobs ring through the air. In her gut she knows why they are sobbing so powerfully but her heart and mind refuses to catch up. So instead she waits for her parents to be ready for her question that is burning her mind. A minute goes by and slowly the weeping turns into sniffles.
"Where is he?" Teddy's voice says dangerously low. The room is silent with nothing to shelter her from the inevitable truth. She can't make her mom or dad make eye contact with her. Their eyes stumble from object to object in the room, hoping for something to distract them from their daughter in front of them, asking the most painful question they know of.
"Where is he?" Her voice becomes louder. The anger came out of no where but Teddy knows that it is misplaced. She is just mad at the situation and not her parents who are struggling more than she is but she can't help the volume of her voice. Something seems strange. As her parents form a reply and the sound of their voices register in her mind, her heart refuses to believe it. The result is like an out of body experience, with her mind desperately trying to force her pounding, hurting heart back into her body. Suddenly something falling on her leg grounds her and glancing down, Teddy realizes it's Charlie. She lets out a pathetic mew to get the young girl's attention and picks her up. Her heart breaks even more when the red swollen eyes of Charlie's meet hers.
"It's okay, Charlie. PJ will be back…" Teddy's voice dies down as she steals a glance at her parents. Her mom just looks frightened for a moment at her then goes back to sobbing. "Or not." She adds as an afterthought. The thought of not seeing PJ again brings her to plop down on the sofa with Charlie on her lap, absently playing with her curly locks. Teddy shakes her head vigorously.
"No. This cannot happen. Just this morning, I was helping him tie his tie-" Out of the blue, Teddy's body gives up and gives into the temptation of crying. Sobs wrack her body as she grips onto the only thing keeping her grounded. No one should have to live through this kind of pain. Teddy's mind goes blank after that thought. Slowly but surely, the crying turns into whimpers and whimpers turns into swollen eyes that finally close and turn to sleep.
The steady sound of the clock finally wakes Teddy up from her heavy slumber. Glancing at her phone, she sees it is 5pm. She is happy that her parents let her sleep because usually they wake her up from naps since they think it will influence how she sleeps at night. Tilting her head slightly up, she spots a fluff of blond hair resting on her chest that belongs to none other than Charlie. Despite the aching in her chest for PJ, Teddy lets herself be wrapped up in the warmth and seemingly happy moment. In an almost dream like daze, she grabs her phone and scrolls to his name. Glancing at it momentarily, she presses it and writes a simple message. She knows she misses him already but she has no idea why it hurts so much.
Hi.
-Teddy.
Suddenly with the courage of texting PJ gone, Teddy is left to nervously stare at her phone, willing a reply to come up soon. She feels a pit of anxiety arise when her screen says PJ. Somewhere, out there, PJ is somehow thinking of her.
Hey.
-PJ.
The simple message brings Teddy's nervousness to a halt. PJ has always had a way to calm her even when he isn't there. She shakes off the feeling that there is something more significant about that fact.
How are you?
Teddy glances around the living room, bored and waiting for his reply. She fights the urge to call him up and just talk.
Okay. Things seem weird here.
Her heart races as the idea that PJ may be just as miserable without her crosses her mind. Calm down. Teddy scolds herself for thinking such selfish thoughts. Instead of asking the question foremost in her mind, she settles on the second choice.
How is your new home?
Waiting eagerly to hear his reply, Teddy shifts a little to adjust the sleeping two year old on her chest. The steady sound of the Charlie's breathing relaxes her to a point where the sound of her phone startles her out of her apparent reverie.
It isn't a new home. It's a new house. Foster parents seem nice. U should see this place tho, Ted. It is amazing!
Hurt arises out of her as she thinks about his nickname for her. PJ is the only one who is allowed to call her that. Normally it would be weird for her being called a guys name but the way PJ gave her the nickname is more like an endearment.
Teddy absentmindedly plays with her hair while watching TV. Something keeps nagging her mind. Maybe it's the thought that Cindy Fetch didn't invite her to her 9th birthday party. She can't lie. It hurt a lot to be made fun of being named a guys name like Teddy. She still feels her eyes stinging from the tears that had fallen just a few short minutes ago. The noise of a guy going on and on about the news is enough to start to lull her into a half sleep like state.
Her head starts to slowly drift back as sleeps starts to claim her. Out of the blue, a shift in the couch's weight distribution startles her out of her almost slumber. She cracks her eyes open to see her older brother staring at the TV.
"Why are you watching the news?" His high pitched voice annoys her inher half asleep mode but she ignores it to answer.
"I'm not. Clearly, I am going to sleep. Now go before I tell mom you broke her lamp that you blamed on poor 5 year old Gabe." She murmurs. The response to her blackmail attempts is PJ whipping his head to face her with a pale look to him.
"But- but… I didn't know that you- how did you?" PJ stumbles over his words. Teddy rolls her eyes and closes her eyes to go back to sleep, expecting PJ to leave but the couch cushions are still tilted towards PJ's body. It causes Teddy to be leaning towards PJ even more. Growling slightly to warn her brother on the danger of him being here, Teddy waits for him to get up but he doesn't. Finally opening her eyes, she is surprised to see him staring at her.
"What?" She snaps at him. He is looking at her like there is something wrong with her. His eyes somehow soften when his eyes shift up to meet hers. Teddy can't understand how people can make their eyes do that. Can she do that?
"Are you okay?" His voice becomes a little less annoying with the soft tone. The unfamiliar kindness towards her from him startles her. Sensing the urge to cry again, Teddy sits up and glances away from his amazingly intense gaze.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Will you go away?" She whines as she stares at her hands clasped in her lap. She has seen her teacher do this when she was confronted by the principle. The couch cushions shift again so the weight is closer to her.
"What's wrong?" His stupid 10 year old voice is still gentle with her, almost causing her to talk to him. She doesn't because she reminds herself that PJ is just a stupid boy.
"Nothing. I said go away!" Her voice reaches a very high pitch as she yells. For some reason a funny feeling forms in her tummy with the weigh of the couch returning to be focused on her alone. She doesn't like the pit the forms as she thinks about how mean she was just was. Glancing up, she watches PJ just stand there and look at her sadly. Maybe that's what mommy says are puppy eyes. Feeling very sad and maybe what they call guilty, Teddy finally speaks up after PJ turns to walk away.
"Cindy didn't invite me to her birthday party because of my name." And the tears start to gather in her eyes as her vision of PJ turning around is blurred. He sits back down on the couch and Teddy lets herself be pulled towards PJ. With her head resting on his tiny shoulder and her small arm wrapped around his tummy, she feels the tears begin to fall.
"She's stupid for doing that." PJ says as he strokes her arm. Teddy thinks that he saw their daddy doing this to comfort their mommy before so he knows what to do because it really is helping for some reason. His tone is soft and soothes her.
"Why are you being so nice?" She hiccups in the middle of her question.
"No one can make fun of you except me, Teddy." At the mention of her name, she thinks her eyes are watering up again. PJ probably saw her tear up again because he immediately tries to calm her again. "I think your name is special and awesome. Think about it, if you become a superhero then you can go by the name Ted so people wont know your true identity of Teddy cuz' they will assume it is a guy not a girl." The point being made surprises her so much that she begins to giggle at the thought of her being a superhero. It makes her feel better when he begins to laugh too.
They just sit there for a while, listening to the news whether man go on and on about the snowy whether. Once again, sleep is tempting her as her eyes start to drift shut. She closes her eyes and snuggles deeper into her brother's embrace. She senses him shift to get in a comfortable position. Traveling between a deep sleep and the cozy reality, Teddy listens one last time to PJ before deciding to go to sleep.
"Good night, Ted."
Teddy is startled out of her memories by Charlie jumping up and down on her stomach. Letting out a grunt from the air rushing out of her, she quickly texts a reply to PJ. Although the slight pain of being jumped on remains, what confuses her is the pit of longing that she feels in her at the remembrance of that situation. She desperately wants PJ to console her like that now, when she needs him to help her through this.
I will continue the conversation but I just thought i would post that little bit. What did you think? Which side is Teddy leaning towards?