Here's chapter four, anything you find confusing will be cleared up at the funeral! It's in a couple of chapters. Thanls for the reviews guys! They give me fuzzies! :)
Without further a due…
Solve for y with the equation 7x+3=y and given x=9.
Jude tried to focus on his class work but found his mind constantly drifting off. He looked over at his friend Connor, who had asked why Jude was absent the previous day but Jude simply said he wasn't feeling well. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell Connor just yet. There was a gentle rap on the door and Jude looked up to see Callie standing in the hallway.
"Ms. Beverly, can I go to the water fountain?" Receiving an affirmative, Jude slipped out of his seat and headed into the hall.
"How are you doing?" Callie asked, adjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder.
Jude shrugged, "Okay, I guess. I didn't tell Connor. Should I?"
Callie shook her head, "Not if you don't want to. I'll meet you by the front of the school at the end of the day, okay?"
"Yeah," Jude nodded, "Okay." He turned towards his classroom, "I'd better go back."
Callie began backing away, "Bye, baby. See you after school." When she saw that he had gone back inside, she continued walking down the hallway and out of the school. She had no intention of returning to class. Callie made her way to the beach which was for the most part deserted. She made sure there were no adults around that would rat her out to Lena before settling down in the sand and taking out the journal Timothy insisted his students keep.
My dad is dead.
The four word sentence alone was enough to steal her breath away.
He killed my mom by drinking. He killed himself by drinking.
Is that poetic justice?
I should be sad. I should be... But instead I'm mad. Angry mad? Crazy mad?
I think I'm mad.
Lena was filing away some last minute papers at the end of the day when there was a knock on her office door, "Come in."
"Hey, Lena," Drew Hallandale, a science teacher for the upperclassmen entered the room, "Is Callie sick?"
The vice-principle furrowed her eyebrows, "No…we kept her home yesterday but she came to school today. Wasn't she in class?"
"Not in mine," Drew answered with a shake of his head, "I was just asking because it's been two days."
Lena peered out her window from which she had a perfect view of the front of the school. She could easily make out Brandon, Jesus, Mariana, Jude, and Callie all waiting for her so that they could go home. She sighed, "She had a rough day, a personal matter. I'm sorry, I'll find out what happened."
Drew put up a hand, "It's fine. I'll see you tomorrow." Lena watched him leave before shifting her gaze back to her children.
Oh, Callie.
Callie was lying on her bed, failing miserably at reading her assigned novel for English class. She looked over at Mariana who was sitting at her desk, messing around on her laptop. Callie sat up straight on her bed, "Hey, Mariana?"
"Yeah?
"Do you have a black dress I could borrow?"
Mariana tore her gaze away from her laptop screen to look at Callie, "Maybe…I'm not a big fan of black. But if I don't, we could go to the mall after school and look?" She had a hopeful look in her eyes; the chance of any form of shopping excited her.
Callie, seeing how eager she looked, couldn't refuse, "Thanks; that sounds nice." She returned back to her book but could feel Mariana's gaze.
"Callie?"
"Hm?"
"You don't like your dad very much…do you?"
Callie closed her book and placed it on her bed. She shook her head, "No," she answered quietly, "I don't."
Mariana spun a lock of hair around her index finger, "He hurt you?"
Callie shrugged, "Not really…I mean sort of." She took a deep breath, "Did I ever tell you how we ended up in Foster care?" Mariana shook her head. "Well, my dad was driving drunk and he killed my mom, along with some other people. He went to jail and Jude and I were put into the system."
"I'm sorry," Mariana said quietly, "Did you talk to him after everything?"
"We wrote letters at first, but he stopped responding and we stopped caring." Callie ran a hand through her hair. "I haven't spoken to him in years."
"Are you sad that he died?"
Callie looked up at Mariana who was looking back at her with honest eyes. She could be dramatic, unbearable at times, but she was truly a kind, lost little girl, "Like I said, I haven't spoken to him in years." There was a knock at the door and the girls looked up to see Lena.
"Hey guys," she greeted with a smile, "Mariana, can you get started on a salad for dinner please?"
The younger girl glanced at Callie before nodding and walking out of the room. Lena took a seat next to Callie on her bed, "Your teacher came to see me today. He said you weren't in class. Care to explain?"
Callie gave a small shrug and she stared intently at her fingernails. She hadn't thought of the fact her teacher would check up on her. Lena sighed and placed a hand on Callie's thigh, not surprised when the teen jerked away. "Callie if you're upset―" There was the word again. Upset.
Upset. Upset. Upset
"Oh my GOD!" Callie exclaimed in frustrated tone, "I am not upset about my stupid dad! I'm FINE!"
"Callie―"
The teen got to her feet, "Why can't you just leave me the hell alone? I want to be left ALONE!"
"Whoa! What's going on in here?" Lena and Callie turned to see Stef standing in the bedroom doorframe, still in uniform. She must have just gotten home.
"I was just talking to Callie about skipping class," Lena said in a gentle tone, "Which you're not in trouble for by the way. I just want to know―"
"Know WHAT?!" Callie asked, "Why do you want to know everything about me? Why do you guys even care?!" By now, Callie was willing the tears in her eyes to stay where they were and not fall.
Stef made her way across the room, "Callie, we understand that people have let you down in the past―" At this, Callie rolled her eyes and scoffed but Stef kept going, "And we're sorry about that, but we are trying to help you and we can't do that if you aren't going to put some effort in on your part."
"You can't help me! Nobody can help me!" By now, Callie's voice was cracking with the threat of tears.
"Why not, baby?" Lena asked gently, "What can we do for you?"
"You can't do it! You can't!"
Callie sank to the floor as the tears lost their battle and made their way down her face. Instinct made her clamp her hands over her mouth to muffle the sounds of her sobbing. Stef knelt down and wrapped her arms around the teen who immediately began to move away.
"Please don't," Callie sobbed, as she backed herself against the wall "Don't!"
"Don't what, Sweets? Don't what?" Stef asked as she continued to reach for Callie. She was having a major déjà vu moment from yesterday morning.
"Just don't!" Callie shouted, arms wrapped protectively around herself. Stef looked at Lena who looked as lost as she felt. They both looked up when they heard the sound of footsteps and saw Brandon enter the room. Lena stood up and put a hand out, "Brandon, this isn't really a good time."
"Can I talk to her?"
Stef stood up as well, "I know you mean well, B," she said gently, "But…"
"Please, guys?"
Stef and Lena exchanged a look before giving in, "Alright," Stef finally said, "But we're going to be right down the hall." Brandon nodded and watched them leave before turning his attention to the girl huddled up on the floor. He picked up the guitar by her bed and sat down next to her. He watched as she tried to scoot back even more into the wall. He fiddled with the strings for a bit before playing the chords that he had heard her play earlier.
F chord…E minor 7th chord…
Callie began to calm down as she registered the song Brandon was playing. She watched his fingers move over the strings and listened as he hummed the tune of the song Yesterday. She sniffled and moved closer to him, placing a hand on the body of the guitar. After a minute or two, Brandon stopped playing and looked into Callie's dark eyes.
"Hi."
"Hi," Callie rasped out, voice hoarse from crying, "That was good."
"Thanks." Brandon placed a hand on Callie's cheek and used his thumbs to wipe away some tears. Callie let out a shuddering breath as her eyes slipped closed at the contact. Brandon placed the guitar off to the side and wrapped an arm around Callie, not allowing her to move away. "Why all theses tears?" Brandon asked in a quiet tone. Callie simply shook her head.
"Okay," Brandon said, "We can just sit here. As long as you need." Callie didn't say anything, but she let out a breath and relaxed her tense muscles. Brandon pressed a kiss to her hair.
"As long as you need."
Did you like it? Please review so I know what to change or leave the same or what. I was supposed to write an essay for Georgetown Admissions which is due January 10th but I did this instead so ya'll better recognize.
*Z-formation snap*
-Liv