A/N Hey all! So I had trouble responding to the reviews submitted last chapter so I will be responding to those in this author's note. That's all and if you submitted a review I will respond to that below, and if not enjoy this next chapter!
JenniferCatlinDiNozzo:Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter as well. :)
drumms:Thanks, and hope I updated soon enough for you :) Maybe I will…..guess you'll have to keep reading to find out ;)
NCISConnection:Hope this update was posted soon enough and now you won't have to wait :D
ziva-abby11:Once again thanks for those great words, they mean a lot to me. :)
hellokittii16:I'm glad you did! And, wow! That is awesome and I can't thank you enough! :)
MegpieLovesTiva:Yeah :( , but I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
EowynGoldberry:Thanks! Me too ;)
Tigerlily02:Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Alright that's done, so enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter Five
Tali bent down to the bottom of her locker to grab her history book and folder putting her science textbook and folder in their place. She pulled her hands out of her locker just in time as it suddenly slammed shut.
"Lucky." Sneered a voice beside her.
Tali sighed recognizing the voice of Nathan Daniels, the most annoying, idiotic, jerk in the whole school. She tried to move past him but he blocked her way, shoving her books out of her hands. She didn't respond to his taunting and bent down to pick up her books without a word, but he kicked them out of her reach just before she grabbed them.
Tali stood back up, "What is your problem?" she spat, no longer able to hold in her anger.
"Me?" he replied, taking a step towards her, pushing her up against the lockers. Nathan rested his arms against the lockers on either side of her head. "I don't recall ever having a problem."
"Just leave me alone." She pleaded turning her head away from him so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes threatening to escape.
"Now why would I…" he was cut off midsentence and he was no longer right up against her.
"Why can't you just act like a normal, nice, human being for once?" asked a voice that Tali didn't recognize.
She cautiously turned her head to look in front of her and found the voice belonged to a girl that looked to be her age. She had light brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin and she was currently holding him by the collar of his shirt.
"What do you care?" She's just a no-good-Israeli-terrorist." He spat; a tear escaped and fell silently down Tali's cheek.
"Oh really?" She hissed back. "Because you know what you are Nathan? You're a…"
She went on to describe him with a string of words that made Tali blush. When she had finished she let go of his shirt and shoved him away.
"Now I suggest you leave her alone. Got it?" she said with a triumphant smile on her face because of the look she had caused to appear on his face.
He gave Tali and the girl a dirty look, muttered a 'whatever' and continued on down the hallway. Tali stayed silent for a moment, and then bent down to pick up her books still shocked for what this girl had just done for her. The girl bent down as well, picked up Tali's history book and handed it to her as they stood back up.
"Um…thank you…for what you did." Tali said, wiping her tear-stained cheeks quickly before giving the girl a small smile.
"Don't mention it. Nathan's a jerk and he's been asking for something like that to happen for a while." She replied returning Tali's smile. "I'm Izzy by the way."
"Nice to meet you, I'm…"
"Tali yeah I know." She finished with a laugh as they began to walk down the hall. "Sorry I haven't been able to say hi before now. I didn't know you were here until third period…today. I'm always the last to know everything that happens in this school."
Tali laughed. "That's alright, you're the first person to actually introduce themselves."
"That stinks." She frowned as they began to walk down the hall. "Oh and I am also sorry about my choice of words back there, I saw your face get red as an apple after I said them." Izzy winked. "I usually try to keep my swearing to a minimum, but when it comes to Daniels I just…"
Tali grinned as Izzy shook her head and huffed. "I get it, don't worry."
She smiled, "Good. Well what class do you have next?"
"History."
"Dang, I've got Computer Applications." Izzy frowned as they stopped outside the computer room. "Do you have your schedule with you?"
"Yeah, why?" she asked pulling it out of her pocket.
Izzy grabbed it and pulled a pencil out of her back pocket and started writing on the paper, then handed it back to Tali. "I marked all the classes we have together, find me or I'll find you and we can sit together." She explained.
"Oh, okay. That sounds great." Tali replied hesitantly.
"Not everyone in this school is a jerk, I promise." Izzy said with a smile before stepping into the computer room.
Tali smiled to herself and sped down the hall to history, taking her seat just as the bell rang. Mr. D took roll and when he came to her name he paused for a moment, giving her this look and his eyes were filled with an emotion she couldn't place. Tali just brushed it off, taking out her pencil and grabbing a piece of paper so she could take notes.
The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than normal, this was mostly due to the fact that what Izzy had done for her had gotten around the school and people were leaving her alone. Tali also smiled and laughed so much more than she had since she had gotten to Virginia and again this was mostly because of Izzy. They had all but two classes together and they sat beside each other talking the whole class period, at least Izzy did. Tali mostly just laughed at all the comments she made under her breath about some of the more mean teachers.
Now Tali was on her way home. She pulled her iPod out of her backpack as she walked out of the front of the building and down the steps. Tali didn't ride the bus, but instead took a fifteen minute walk back to her house since they lived so close to the school. She stuck her ear buds in and began scrolling through songs trying to find something she was in the mood for. She found a song and her thumb was poised above the screen, but she heard someone call out her name. Tali turned around, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Tali, wait up!" She smiled, it was Izzy and she was hurrying to catch up.
"Slow down Iz, where's the explosion?" Tali joked.
"Explosion? What?" her eyebrows furrowed together, and then realization dawned on her face. "Oh! You mean where's the fire?"
"That's the saying? But wouldn't you be running faster if there was an explosion?" she questioned.
"Well I guess you have a point." Izzy grinned wryly at her, adjusting the textbooks in her arms. "I didn't know you walked home."
Tali nodded, putting her iPod away as they continued walking down the neighborhood sidewalk. "Yeah, I live on Bluestone Drive; it's not that far from school."
"You live on Bluestone?" Tali nodded. "So, do I!"
"Really? That's awesome!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know! You can come over and we can hang out sometime."
"That sounds like fun." Tali smiled. "So how did your last class go?"
"Ugh! I absolutely hate Mrs. Vaughn…"
They continued walking, talking about teachers, school, pretty much anything that they could think of until they got to Tali's house.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then." Tali said playing with her hands.
"Oh come here." Izzy engulfed her in a hug. "I promise I'm not going anywhere Tal. I know school sucks right now, but I promise I'll be there for you."
"Thanks, Iz." She squeezed Izzy, before letting go.
"See you tomorrow Tali." She started to walk towards her house, but had only taken a couple of steps before turning back around. "Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yeah, sure." Tali took hers out of her pocket, Izzy did the same. "Want to put each others numbers in then?"
"That was exactly what I was thinking." She smiled and they exchanged phones, putting in each others numbers. "I'll text you later; we can work on that science homework together."
"Sounds great." Tali grinned handing Izzy back her phone as she handed hers back. "Hey, do you want to walk to school together tomorrow?"
"Yeah! I didn't even think about that." She replied starting to walk backwards toward her house that was a couple of houses down the street. "I'll meet you here tomorrow at 7:00?"
"Yeah, that's perfect. Bye Izzy!" Tali called as she walked up to her porch.
"Adios, amiga!"
Tali smiled, pulling the lanyard from around her neck that had her house key on it, but as she grabbed the knob, she found that the door was surprisingly unlocked. She put the lanyard back around her neck and walked in the door.
"Mom, I'm home!" she called walking back to her room kicking off her shoes then setting her book bag in her closet.
"Talia Katelyn David! Why on earth are you so late?"
Tali did a one-eighty, confused at why her mom was yelling at her. "Ima, what are you talking about?"
"It's almost three-thirty!" She yelled exasperatedly.
"Really? I'm sorry Ima, I guess I lost track of time." Tali said, walking past her mom into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. "I walked home with this girl I met at school today."
Her mom calmed down a bit at this, "Really, who?"
"Her name's Izzy. She's the funniest girl ever, plus she knows how to deal with that Nathan kid I was telling you about yesterday. She's…" Tali stopped talking as her history teacher walked into the room, which was shocking to say the least. "Um…"
"Oh yes, we have some company Tal." Her mom said glancing at her teacher. "There's something that I-I mean we, need to talk to you about."
"Okay…" She replied hesitantly.
"Why don't we sit down?" Her mom suggested, gesturing to the kitchen table.
They all took a seat, and an awkward silence filled the room.
"So…" her mom started.
"I'm you're Dad." Her teacher blurted out.
"Tony!" her mom slapped him on the arm.
"What? Why should we draw it out?" he replied.
Tali just sat there stunned, her eyes large and her mouth hanging open a little bit as her stomach churned.
"Ahava, are you alright?" Her mom put her hands on top of Tali's.
Tali jerked away from her, anger rising within her. "No, I'm not alright!" She shouted.
"Tali, please don't do this." Her mom warned.
"Please don't do this? Are you kidding? I've got every right to do this!" she yelled, standing up. "You have been lying to me my whole life about who my father is! You told me that you didn't know him, that it was just some meaningless night, and that I shouldn't dwell on it!"
Tali saw Mr. D's face sadden when she said 'meaningless night', and part of her regretted her words.
"Tali please, would you sit down so we can sort this all out?" her mother pleaded.
"No, there's nothing more to sort out! We've established the fact that you have been lying to me my whole life, so I don't think there is anything else we need to talk about." Tears began to fill her eyes and she rushed out of the kitchen, running into her room slamming the door behind her and then locked it.
She fell onto the bed tears streaming down her face, her body wracked with sobs. Tali could faintly hear them talking in the hallway, but ignored it. She couldn't believe that her whole life was basically a lie, that her mom had known who her Dad was the whole time, and by the sound of it wouldn't have told her who he was unless they had coincidently moved into the same town as him.
Later that night, Tali laid in bed still dressed in her clothes from school and stared up at the ceiling. Her mom had made a few attempts to talk to her, but each time Tali just gave her the silent treatment. She had nothing more to say to her mom at this point. As the beams of moonlight streamed through her window, Tali began to grow angry. A plan began to develop in her head and she stood up walking to her closet, taking her book bag off the shelf. She emptied it of all its contents and began shoving clothes from her closet inside. Tali walked around her room filling the bag with other necessities, she didn't no where she was running away to yet, but she knew she couldn't stay here.
A/N: Ahhhhh major cliffy! Hope you liked this chapter from Tali's point of view! Reviews are appreciated!