Chapter 6- Waves of Escape

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Callie arrived at the end of the beach about 45 minutes later, where she saw people gathered around near the pier. She saw people selling foods of all sorts as well as tourist activities. She looked towards the end of the pier towards the water and saw people boarding a boat that looked like it could hold up to 20 people or so. Her mind went back to the time she was on a boat with Robert for father's day. "Those pictures of my mom he had looked like she really enjoyed the water" Callie reminded herself. She began to search in her backpack to see how much money she had. She walked up to what looked like the captain of the boat.

"How much for a boat ride?" she asked him.

"Well that depends on if you want the 2 hour ride now, or the 4 hour sunset ride later on today" he told her.

"I kind of want a ride now"

"The two hour boat ride costs $30. On this trip you may see dolphins and other fish that like to pop out of the water every now and then. We also have starfish for you to see and pet from the earlier boat tour" he explained.

Callie pulled out the money she had. "I have $25 dollars. Any I can still ride? I've always wanted to ride on a boat" she lied. The captain observed Callie for a moment before answering.

"Well, I suppose since you seem like a struggling college student. I remember those days, but not too well. It only lasted one semester for me before I dropped out. Too hard and too much money".

Callie smiled as she handed him the money and found her spot on the boat. She watched the waves as the captain went over rules and safety procedures. Callie's mind was more preoccupied with what Stef and Lena would think if they found out what she was doing. "I guess I am technically grounded" Callie reminded herself as she remembered her conversation with Lena earlier. She shrugged it off and reached her hand up to her necklace as the boat engine started.

Back at the school, Lena anxiously awaited for Stef's visit to have an early lunch. By now third period was close to ending. She heard a knock at the door and knew it was Stef.

"Come on in" she beamed.

Stef opened the door with a smile and some soups and sandwiches for the both of them. They began to converse, and the topic of Callie popped up early into the lunch.

"So I talked with Callie this morning" Lena began.

"Really? Did you figure out what's going on with her?" Stef eagerly asked.

"No. She looked like she really wanted to tell me but didn't. It's like there was some sort of internal battle going on. I reminded her that she could tell us anything whenever or wherever and that we would make time for her"

"That's good. She needs to be reminded of that. I spoke with her- well, tried to speak with her this morning, and she said something that might be a clue to what's been up with her. I brought her up to the room and she mentioned something about me bringing her upstairs to hit her…"

A small frown formed on Lena's face. Her heart still broke for kids, and she knew that all the struggles of their lives before they became family couldn't be easily erased. "When I told her about her punishment, she said I couldn't punish her" Lena explained. Stef's face displayed confusion. "Well, I told her that being disrespectful is not the way that you and I are raising her to be, and she told me that I didn't raise her, so I couldn't punish her" Lena explained, feeling hurt again at the memory of Callie's words.

Stef nodded her head in understanding. "I think whatever is going on with her has something to do with or is in some way related to the past. The comments she's made, the screaming at us, not taking my hug yesterday morning- I think they're all connected" Stef hypothesized. Lena sat there for a moment thinking about Stef's point.

"That means it'll make it even harder for us to get her to open up so we can try and help" Lena noted.

"How do we deal with her for now? I know that she's grounded, but that doesn't mean that she won't still misbehave" Stef pointed out.

"I guess we'll just have to show as much love as we can through it all. Let her know that no matter what she does…"

"…we'll love her regardless" Stef finished. They continued their meal as Lena checked her email.

"Oh look, finally attendance came in. I mean come on people, it's not that hard to send in attendance when you finish calling roll" Lena complained. Stef couldn't help but chuckle. Lena's complaints and jokes soon ceased, and a look of concern spread across her face.

"What's wrong?" Stef asked.

"I'm looking at the attendance for first and second period for the classes Callie is in, and she isn't counted for…" Lena explained. Stef pulled out her phone.

"I'll check the tracking app. If she's near the school, we'll know right away" Stef confirmed.

"I'm emailing those two teachers to see if Callie was in class… maybe it was a mistake" Lena assured. Stef's face didn't show any confirmation that Callie was in the building.

"Dang it. Her phone is either off or dead…" Stef responded.

"Neither of the teachers saw her today…" Lena added. They both knew that there was a good chance that Callie had left the school building and was off who knows where.

Callie's hair was blowing in the sea breeze, as she looked out. She definitely couldn't see any land and knew that they were a bit ways out. She pulled out her phone to take a picture of the waves. Before placing her phone back in her pocket, she looked at the time, and saw "no service" at the top of her phone. Callie grabbed her mother's necklace she was wearing and imagined her mom sitting in the seat next to her smiling. "I know my mom would be happy now. I'm doing a better job at showing that I haven't forgotten about her" Callie thought. She felt an uneasiness in her chest, also feeling bad for not listening to Stef and Lena. "Moms will- I mean Stef and Lena will understand someday" Callie persuaded herself. She was mad at herself for still referring to Stef and Lena as "moms" in her head. "They're not like my mom" she tried to convince herself.

She felt the boat begin to turn back, and she knew she had another hour left to feel close to her mom. She couldn't help but think about how much trouble she would be in when she got back, but she believed it would be worth it to make her mom happy.

Once she arrived back on the shore, she was lost with what to do next. She looked at her phone for the time and also saw 11 missed calls and 23 text messages all from her moms, and one from Mariana. She scrolled through the texts.

Where are you? I didn't see you in the hallway like I usually do. I thought we were supposed to meet up before lunch. –Mariana

Please answer your phone -Lena

Callie this is mom. Where are you love? We need to know that you are safe and are coming back to the school.

Callie placed her phone back in her pocket before sighing and kicking the sand as she wandered the pier. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two cops near a nearby ice cream stand. She tried to hide in the crowd before they noticed her, but little did she know that they noticed her first when she was walking off of the pier and were calling Stef.

"Hello?" Stef answered, calling in earlier to search for Callie.

"Hey Adams Foster. Mike said you weren't coming in today because your kid was missing, right?" the cop said as he stepped out of the line to try and follow Callie from a distance.

"Yeah, has anyone heard of anything or seen anything?" Stef pleaded desperately.

"I think I may see her now. I think I remember seeing her from your pictures on your desk. Looks about 5'6, brown eyes and dark brown hair that's a bit curly?" he asked. "She seems to have a light brown backpack as well".

"Yes, that sounds like her" Stef said relieved. "Where are you?"

"I'm down at the pier on the end of the beach. Anchor beach I think it's called. I'm trying to keep up with her through the crowd" the cop reported.

"I'm on my way. Hold her off if you can. She may run" Stef explained.

"Thanks for the info. See you soon" the cop ended the call.

Callie looked around to see if the cop was still following her. He noticed and ducked down to hide himself. She began to walk slower, thinking that she had escaped. The cop caught up with her and walked up beside her.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in school?" The cop presented. Callie's eyes grew wide as she tried to walk away. He gently grabbed her arm and said "Let's go talk over here to the side". There, his partner was waiting for him with ice creams in hand.

"So why aren't you in school" he asked.

Callie's heart began to pound. She wondered if he knew Stef or if Stef was in on what was happening. "Well, I don't have class for another hour and a half. My professor wanted us to come and get some pictures for our assignment" she explained, building lies on top of each other.

"You don't look like you're in college" the cop stated. "Let me see your college I.D."

Callie knew she was caught, but pretended to search in her wallet for a few moments anyways. "Oh man, it looks like I left it back in my dorm room…"

The cops looked at each other and decided to play along. "Bummer. Well what about your driver's license? You have to have that on you".

Callie swallowed a lump in her throat as she knew that her license would clearly give away her age as well as her new last name, which the cops were sure to recognize. "You know, I actually think I left that back at the dorm too. I rode here with a friend who I lost in the crowd earlier, I was on my way to find them".

The cops laughed and shook their heads. "Oh man, your mom sure has her hands full with you kid." Callie froze at their statement, and she realized the cops knew who she was. See saw another cop car pull up and Stef hop out of it. She knew she was in more trouble now, but she had to act like it didn't bother her.

Stef thanked the cops as they walked off with their melted ice cream. "What in the world were you thinking Callie? You scared mama and I half to death!" Stef began. Callie kept her eyes from revealing any feelings, although she felt nervous, relieved, and tired.

"Callie you know that you cannot just walk out of school like that. What if there was an emergency at the school and you were missing and no one could find you? What are you doing all the way down at this end of the beach anyways?" Stef tried to get through to her daughter. Callie remained silent, not looking at Stef.

"Look at me love" Stef asked. Callie glanced at Stef for a moment and saw concern on Stef's face before looking away again. "I know you've had a hard couple days, but you can't just run away from this. You can talk to mama and I about whatever is bothering you, and we know that something is. We are always here for you no matter what" Stef explained.

Callie looked back up at Stef, remembering the dream again all too well with Stef and Lena saying those words to her. "No…" Callie responded after a moment of silence.

"No what love?"

"You're not my mom"

Callie began to run off after that statement.

"Not this time baby…" Stef said chasing after her.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think will happen next? I'm loving where this is going, and I hope you are too.