Chapter 5- Conversations

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On what seemed like a very long trip to school, Jude sat and watched Callie as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his sister. She was worrying him with her defiant actions, as anytime she acted this way in the past it was to protect them both. The only thing Jude didn't know was what she was trying to protect them from. Why need protection from Stef and Lena, who had shown nothing but love, security, and support for them?

Jude continued to examine Callie as she lay her head resting on the car window. She sensed he was watching her, so she reached out her hand to hold his. She turned her head towards him and gave a small smile. Jude didn't want to speak, for it had been a silent car ride, and he didn't want to draw attention to them in the back seat. He reached in his backpack at his feet and pulled out a pen and his notebook. Turning to an empty page in the back, he scribbled something down and discretely passed the pen and notebook to Callie after checking to make sure Lena wasn't watching them.

Callie grabbed the notebook and looked down to see the words Jude had written her: "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine Jude" she wrote back.

"Come on Callie, I'm not a little kid anymore. I know you aren't fine. You haven't acted like this in a long time". Callie glanced to Jude as he stared at her to see her reaction.

"I know baby, but you don't have to worry about me or about anything else. I'm just… I'm just trying to straighten things out the way they're supposed to be". Jude looked at Callie curiously for a moment, and then began to write again.

"Straighten things out how? Things seem so great with our family. A while ago, we didn't think we could say 'our family' and mean more than just us. How else are things supposed to be?"

Callie read this statement, sighed, and closed the notebook handing it back to Jude with a sad smile. She looked out the window and saw that they had arrived at school. Once they all got out of the car and started walking towards class, Callie realized she still had Jude's pen. She caught up with him through the crowd and handed it to him.

"Here. And hey, don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine" she reassured placing her hand on his shoulder. Jude slowly took the pen without saying a word, glanced at Callie with one long blink, and then continued on to class.

Before Callie's homeroom class started, Lena pulled Callie out into the hall.

"Let's go to my office" she stated. It was followed with an eye roll and crossed arms, but Callie trailed behind Lena the whole way there.

"Have a seat" Lena pointed toward the couch as she shut the door. After Callie had settled on the couch and took her backpack off, Lena spoke up.

"I know that yesterday was a tough day for you. Even though I don't know why, I hope that the rest of today can be a better one, and that you can talk to us if you need to, no matter what. Whenever the time, or wherever the place, we'll always make time for you".

Callie could feel a lump forming in her throat. She wanted so desperately to share her troubles and what was constantly bugging her about her dream, but she just couldn't shake it. As she stared at the ground and began to chew on the inside of her lip and shake her foot nervously. Lena observed her, and could see that Callie was dealing with some type of internal battle.

"You know you'll feel so much better if you share what's on your mind" Lena mentioned, trying to get through to the teen. Callie was really considering sharing everything she was bottling up, but as she went to open her mouth, her mother's face popped up yet again in her mind. Callie shut her eyes for a moment before speaking "I have to be faithful to her" she thought.

"I'll feel better once I'm back in class" Callie spat. Lena sighed, knowing that Callie wasn't giving up her fight yet.

"Well, mom and I have discussed the consequences of your actions from you raising your voice at us last night, as well as your actions this morning at breakfast. Being disrespectful is not who we are raising you to be"

"What about your mother Callie! I gave birth to you and I raised you!" echoed in Callie's ears.

"You're grounded for a week. Only school and home" Lena explained.

"You didn't raise me…"

Lena was taken aback at Callie's response. Her heart broke a little from her comment. There was a stinging silence in the room.

"I know that I didn't raise you from a young age" Lena nearly whispered, tears threatening to form. "I know I would if I could".

"You didn't raise me, and you can't punish me" Callie stated, her words shooting out like spears. Just then, the bell rang.

"One week" was all Lena managed to say. Callie stood up, grabbing her backpack in hand and walked out of the office without another word.

On her way down the halls, Callie could feel a sharp pain shoot in her shoulder. She grabbed it, assuming her backpack was too heavy and that was the cause of the pain.

"My mom would've been happy that I made sure Lena knew she didn't raise me" Callie encouraged herself. "What else would my mom be happy about?" she thought to herself.

Just then, Callie looked towards the beach and saw some people enjoying their time walking the beach and chasing the waves. It was as if the waves were pulling her and calling her out. Callie slipped out an exit and made her way towards the beach, walking down about 2 miles to the other end of the beach …

I know this chapter is short, but the next one will be longer. I'm glad to see people are enjoying this so far! Reviews welcome!