Jude POV
I was standing by the window in my room looking out to the street. A chill came over me as I saw how the wind was moving the leaves on the trees. I pull my hands in the sleeves and walk back over to my desk.
I look down to the math homework, which I have been doing for the last hour. For as long as I remember, I have always had trouble with math. Lena has always told me that it was because I have been bouncing schools ever since first grade and I never got the basics right. She's probably right, I don't remember staying in one school for a whole school year. Whenever I started to feel like I belonged somewhere, I was always pulled away.
Brackets first – I hear Lena's voice in my head as I look down to the math problem. I needed to find the X. I drag my finger over the numbers to make sure if all the brackets are done.
"Multiplication or division comes next" I mutter to myself. Gosh, I just wanted Callie to come home so she can check if I found the X right. I have been over this problem 4 times and each time I have gotten a different result.
When I hear the front doors open I toss my pencil on the book and push the chair back. It makes scratching sound as it grinds against the wood floor.
I call out for her even before I have left my room "Hey, Callie? Can you check my math homework after din-" I stop in mid sentence when I see Callie stand in the hallway with Jesus and Mariana. I stop in my tracks and just stare at them. The twins were the last people who I wanted to see. They were also the last people I thought Callie would ever invite over. But here they are.
"What are they doing here?" I ask harshly, crossing my arms on my chest, as I glare at the twins. Callie takes off her scarf and jacket and goes to hang them up.
"Jude, be nice" Callie scolds me lightly for using that mean tone of voice. Jesus looked surprised by Callie's statement. Obviously, he hadn't excepted her to treat them nice.
"Callie invited us," Mariana replied as she watched how Callie walked from the hallway to the kitchen to put on the kettle. Jesus and Mariana then took off their shoes, but they left their jackets on. Even from where I stood, across the room, I could tell both of them were cold, they were shivering.
I open my mouth to say that I don't believe Callie invited them, but Callie beats me to it.
"I didn't invite you!" Callie replied as she filled the kettle with water "You were being idiots and I didn't want your mothers to blame me for getting the two of you sick! You are just here to warm up and wait till your moms comes to get you!"
"Why would they blame you?" Mariana got the words slowly over her lips, her face screwed up in confusion. Callie doesn't reply, she ignores her question.
"I texted Lena. They will be here to pick them up in 10" Callie informs me as she washes her hands
"Why are you here?" I ask them again as I walk to the middle of the room. This time I don't sound so harsh, but I'm not exactly welcoming and kind either.
"We came to apologize" Jesus replied after he blew a breath on his hands to warm up
"Yet you showed up to my job and tried to get me fired!" Callie mumbled in a mean tone from the kitchen when she get's two cups from the cupboard
"No we didn't" Mariana turned to her "We just went to talk to you, because neither one of you would pick up your phones!"
"You couldn't fucking wait till after my shit?" Callie snaps and angrily tosses a teaspoon of sugar in the two cups
"It's not our fault you lost your composure after we gave you the tip-" Jesus reasons back, but that just made Callie even more angry. She turned around and pointed her finger at him.
"You think I need your fucking money? I already told you-you won't buy me of!" Her hands then fell to her side "You two think you are so better then us..." She glances to me and corrects "Than me!"
"We don't think th-" Mariana started, but Callie stopped her
"Yes you do! You didn't exactly hesitate to tell me just how shitty my life is! What shitty education I got, what crappy job I have, how I don't have a future how I am not good enough for Jude! You shoved all my mistakes in my face and made yourself look like some freaking God's or something! You humiliated me!" Callie was all worked up, she was gesturing a lot with her hands. Her voice was very loud and she sounded angry.
All I could think - finally she spoke how she really felt about it. Callie has never been good with telling people how she felt, even to our mom. Callie always kept her feelings to herself.
When Callie took two more steps closer towards them she added in the same harsh tone "Have you ever thought where would you be, if you hadn't met Stef and Lena?"
Mariana moved a little close to her twins side, as Callie was almost up to them. I think she was afraid that Callie would hurt them, physically. But I know my sister, she would never hurt them, even if she was angry with them.
As the twins remain silent, Callie finished her statement "No idea? Let me tell you then! You would be nothing, you would be nobody's! You would be living the same shitty life that I have! So don't pretend that you are so better than me, just because you got lucky and the two woman saved you and gave you a family and a chance at life!"
Callie then took a small step back from them and looked at their body language. She scoffed seeing how Jesus was partly in front of Mariana, ready to protect her if needed.
"I'm not going to hurt you!" She said to Mariana in a much softer tone and then looked directly to Jesus "And you were wrong - we are the same. I can tell you would do anything to protect your sister. Why do you think I have a record? You would have done the same thing I did, if you two were in our place. You would do anything necessary to protect your sister...so we are the same, don't even try to deny it!" Jesus swallowed a lump in his throat, once Callie was done speaking to him. The tension was high, you could cut it with a knife.
The kettle, that Callie had put on, made a sound, indicating the water was ready. Callie walked back to the kitchen, without saying anything else. Jesus body eased up once Callie had walked away. I saw him let his breath out, his shoulders relaxed, his hands are no longer pulled in fists.
"Jude, can you please get them a blanket from the closest?" Callie said to me as she poured the hot water to the cups. I take one last look to the twins, who were still standing in the hallway, unsure if they can move around in the apartment, if they are allowed to.
I head over to the closet and pull out the only two extra blankets we have here. When I turn around, holding the blankets to my chest, Callie walks from the kitchen holding the two cups in her hand.
"Why are you still standing there?" She asks to the twins as she walks pass them "You can sit down on the couch"
Jesus waits for Mariana to walk there first, he is right behind her, his hand extended, touching her back softly. Callie places the two cups down and then pulls the coffee table closer to the couch. Mariana sits down first, she crosses her legs under her. I hand Jesus one of the blankets. He places the first one around Mariana's shoulders and then sits down himself. Placing the other blanket over his own legs and then extending the other end of the blanket to Mariana's leg.
"This is the coldest winter I have seen in my short life" Callie says as she walks over to the window that overlooked the street. She gazes out to the street for few seconds and then pulls the curtains close. Callie then walks to the kitchen window and closes the blinds.
"Thanks for the tea" Mariana said warily from the couch, trying to establish eye contact with Callie. The twins both look very wary after Callie's blow up.
"Mm-hmm, sure!" Callie mumbles from the kitchen when she looks to the twins "Jude, have you eaten?" she turned her attention back to me
"I had a sandwich when I came home" I replied walking over to her in the kitchen
"We still have the soup from Sunday. You want soup?" Callie asks running her fingers through my hair softly
I nod back "Can you check my math homework afterwards?"
"Sure" Callie smiles at me and walks over to the fridge to get the leftover soup out
"You cook?" Mariana asks her as I head over to my room to get the math homework
"Why do you care?" Callie snaps back at first, but after a moment she decides to answers her "I do, I have been making dinner for Jude ever since we-" I don't hear the rest as I walk in my room, but I know what she was saying. Callie was taking care of me ever since we were placed in foster care. As far as I remember, Callie was the one that made me dinner and breakfast, not our foster parents.
I grab the notepad and my book and head back out to kitchen, where Callie was now heating up the soup. As I slump down by the kitchen table, I look over to the twins. Mariana was holding the cup in both of her hands, trying to keep warm. Jesus had one hand still around his sister, with other he was holding the cup up and sipping it time by time.
"How did you get this place?" Jesus asked looking around the apartment, he looked surprised that Callie has this good place to live
"I applied to a program called Independent living" Callie replies without looking back at them. Her voice was very flat and cold. I think she only talked to them so there wouldn't be awkward silence. But I have to admit, Callie seemed friendlier to them after she told them exactly what she thought of them.
"Never heard of it" Jesus replies still looking around the place
"That's a good thing" Callie comments quietly, I don't think either of them heard her say that
"Was that like a Group Home thing?" Mariana asks sounding quite curious in the top. But not in a mean way, like she had been in at the dinner. She seemed genuinely curious. I could tell that both of them were now really trying to get to know her.
"Yeah, sort of" Callie shrugs back as she keeps moving around the kitchen while making dinner
"Can anyone get apartment like this?" Mariana continued with the questions
"There are rules and things you have to pass before they grant you one"
"Like what?" Mariana asked standing up from the couch. She wrapped the blanket around her and took the cup. Then she walked over to us in the kitchen. Jesus got up as well and follows his sister.
"Can I sit down?" Mariana asked me putting her hand on the backrest of one of the chairs. I nod back. She took the seat next to me, Jesus sat down opposite me.
"You need to have a job, attended group, can't get in any trouble, you have to attend school and have good grades, eventually finish it...stuff like that" Callie explained as she was smearing sandwich that we will have with the soup
"Group like therapy?" Mariana asked warily and curiously
"Yeah" Callie replied simply and placed a sandwich in front of me "Put the books away, Jude. After dinner, okay?"
Before I gather up my stuff, I peak a quick glance to the twins. Mariana seemed kind of taken aback by how Callie was treating me. It was like she hadn't expected her to be this caring and loving. I could tell how Mariana's thoughts about Callie changed right that moment.
I gather up my stuff and place them on the counter, which I can reach with my hand if I lean back in the chair.
"What's it like living on your own? It must be cool, you can do whatever you want, no one is bossing you around, no curfew" Jesus asks with a smirk before lifting the cup up to his lips and taking one long sip
"It's okay..." Callie says shrugging back and turning back the pot of soup on the stove
I didn't believe her. The way she said it, her tone, how her body changed, how she hide her face by turning away – I know that is now how she really felt about it. The twins may have believed it, but I sure didn't.
Callie POV
Okay?- I question my own choice of words. Okay doesn't even cover it. Okay is no where close to how I really feel about it.
When I first started to live here, I used to leave an empty apartment in the morning and I returned home to an empty place. There is no one to greets you, there is no one to ask you how your day was. I ate breakfast, dinner and supper alone. After the first week living here, I realized there is no point of making dinner for one person, it's easier to buy frozen microwave stuff and later heat it up or just run in the bakery and grab a pastry or two. There is complete silence, all the time. There is no one to talk to, no one to laugh with or cry to, there is no one to watch a movie with, no one to discuss the news or events of the day with. There is just you and your thoughts.
It is lonely. It is incredibly lonely. Almost depressing.
The doorbell rang and brought me out of my thoughts. "I will get it!" Jude called out and hurried to the doors to let Stef or/and Lena in. As Jude lets Lena in, I pour the soup in Jude's bowl and the little that is left in my bowl.
Jude and Lena talk briefly in the hallway, before Lena calls the twins "Come on you two!"
"We have to finish our tea" Mariana says lifting the cup up, to show Lena
"5 minutes" She says as she walks to the kitchen area. Jude sits down and starts to eat the soup.
"You want tea?" I ask Lena still standing up by the kitchen table
"No, thank you. I just want to get these two and get going" Lena says back giving a look to the twins. To me it looked like the twins were in some trouble with her.
Lena then looked back up to me "I'm sorry they bothered you at work. They told us-" she gave another look to the twins "-that you are off work at 5 and you had agreed, over the phone, to talk with them after your shift"So they basically had lied to their moms to come see me. I am not sure how I felt about that.
"There was no such agreement" I reply sitting down
"Still, if we had known the truth-" Lena said back
"It's fine, don't worry about it" I add quietly looking up to the older woman and offering her a small smile
They finish their tea in 5 minutes and Lena doesn't head to the door, not until Jude and I have finished eating. When Lena, Jesus and Jude walk over to the doors, Mariana stays back for few seconds.
"Listen, I know you hate us. I hate us too for how we treated you. But, please, just gives us another chance" Mariana pleaded as she stood by the table "We just got over-protective. And we were wrong to say you are not Jude's family. You are, more than we will ever be. We are sorry, truly sorry!"
"You are lucky that I believe in second chances" I say getting up. I have gotten a second chance myself, even a third chance and fourth chance. I have to give them a chance to redeem themselves as well.
"Thank you. You won't regret it" Mariana says smiling at me before she walks to the doors to get her shoes on
When Mariana is up to Jesus and Jude by the doors I start to gather up the dirty dishes. But I have to look up when I hear Jude talking to the twins in a hushed yet stern voice "-Callie is my family. She is my sister. And if you ever treat her like you did on Friday-"
It was nice to hear that Jude had my back. No one else has really had my back like that. I couldn't help it, a small smile creeps on my face.
"We won't. We promise!" Jesus replies, sounding like he actually meant it. Jude nodded back and waited for them to leave.
When he closed the doors behind them, I quickly look down and pretend I hadn't heard their conversation. I put the dishes in the sink, freeing the kitchen table.
"Let's look over that homework" I say smiling to him and sit back down at the table. Jude gathers his books and sits down next to me, opening his math homework.
AN: Gosh, these chapters keep getting longer and longer. Sort of good news/bad news - I have an ending in mind! I have actually figured it out how I want it to end. I am thinking there are some 3-5 chapters left. That can change because nothing is set in stone. The outline is only in my mind and I have no idea how it will write it up. But yeah, the story is coming to end.