It was four in the morning. An ung-dly hour, that Amanda ever so hated being awake at. Three, long, sleepy hours away from when she normally woke up. But it was four in the morning, and Ophelia was in her room to wake her up. "Mom."
Amanda rubbed the tired from her eyes. "Wha?"
"Mom, I'm going to school now."
Amanda turned to look at the clock. Four oh five on a Monday morning. Jesus Christ. "What are you talkin' about?"
"I need at least an hour to drive to school. I need to go to school. It's Monday." She fiddled with her rubber band.
With a groan, the blond sat up. "Baby, school doesn't start until seven."
"I'm early every day. Every day I get there at six, and I do extra work, and sometimes I help the teacher, and he'll be expecting me, so I have to go, mom."
"Baby I'm not so sure you should."
"I have to!" She raised her voice.
Carisi sturred in his sleep, and Amanda cringed. She stood, and walked her very upset daughter out of the room. "I don't know if that's a good idea, hon. What about Kyle."
"Screw, Kyle. I need to go to school, mom, I have to. I have to." She muttered, plucking the band harder.
Maybe sleeping at her mothers wasn't the best idea. She was already stressed from the event under the bleachers, and on top of that she ruined her routine, and not going to school would surely put Ophelia through the ringer. Amanda didn't know if she wanted to do that. "What do you want to do, then? Should I call your dad?"
Ophelia nodded. "Yes. He needs to drive me to school, mom."
Amanda sighed, rubbing her tired face. "Okay. Let me get him on the phone."
The younger blond began pacing, plucking the band.
Her mother shuffled to her cellphone, and pressed on Josh's contact. He answered within moments, hardly even tired. "Yello?"
"How are you okay at this hour?" She grumbled.
"I'm up at four every morning. I go to the gym, come home an hour later, help Phe get to school early, and so on. Let me guess, she wants to go to school today?"
"She's all kinds of upset, Josh. Which is understandable, her life has been flipped upside down so far, and school is normal, routine. I wasn't able to talk her down." Amanda explained.
He groaned. "Alright. I'll take her..."
"Please make sure she's safe, Josh."
He was silent for a moment. "Of course."
Amanda hung up, and walked back over to Ophelia. "Your dad's comin' to get you, sweet pea."
"That's good." She stated, not making eye contact.
"Baby, you don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I need to. I want to. Kyle can't hurt me anymore." She said softly, pacing harder at this point.
Amanda furrowed her eyebrows. "Say that again?"
"Wes makes sure he can't hurt me." She sputtered. "He makes sure..."
"Who's Wes?"
"My friend."
"You have a friend?"
"I know. I was surprised too. He met me at lunch. He said I was pretty. We're friends now."
Amanda's eyes widened. "Well...is this Wes nice?"
"Yes, I told him about Kyle when it happened."
"And...he's been protecting you?"
"We're in every class together." She stated. "Sometimes I help him with his homework. He protects me."
Amanda nodded. "Okay. Baby, you know that doesn't mean that Kyle shouldn't be punished right?"
Ophelia's eyes wandered to her mothers before looking away again. "Dad said he should rot in hell."
"Agreed."
Ophelia went silent after that, off in her own world. Amanda decided to leave her be, and sit and wait for Josh to come and get her. Ophelia continued to pace. Amanda hated when anyone paced, it made her nervous, but Ophelia was much more nervous than she was, and it was a coping mechanism so she didn't say a word.
It took about ten minutes before her dad made it to the door. He knocked quietly, and Ophelia opened it. "Goodbye, mom." She walked out the door.
"Phe." Amanda called out. The younger blond turned on her heels, wondering what she was needed for. "Hug."
Ophelia walked to her mother, wrapped her in a tight hug, and took in a deep breath. Amanda kissed her forehead softly, and pulled away. "I love you, have a good day."
"Love you." She then walked out.
"Josh." Amanda mumbled.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Has she told you about this friend of hers? Wes?"
"I've met him. He's a good kid."
She took a sigh of relief. "Okay. Thanks."
"Goodbye, Amanda...are you going to be working on the case?"
"Today." Amanda gave a nod.
"Alright..." He muttered. "Bye."
"Bye." She waved him off, and he left. She locked the door behind him and sighed. The apartment felt a little more empty now that Ophelia was gone, and not the nice kind of empty. She trudged back to her bed, curled against Carisi's warm, sleeping body, and fell back to sleep.
It took around an hour and a half to get back to uptown new york, they stopped off at a diner for breakfast before heading to her highschool, and when they did, she was very grateful. "Bye, dad." She hopped out of the car.
"Phe." He called out.
She poked her head into the car. "Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too." She smiled, and trotted off to the entry.
Wes was leaning against the wall, as he usually did. He turned her head to look at her, and grinned. "Phe-Phe. I didn't know if you'd be here."
"I'm always here." She stated.
"Yeah, I guess I should have assumed you'd come." He laughed. "Hug?"
She wrapped her small arms around his toned torso, and he brought her close to him. He leaned down so his cheek was against the top of her head. He took a deep breath, and smiled at the scent of maple syrup hair. "Did you have waffles?"
"For dinner, and breakfast." She stated, although it was muffled due to her face being mashed into his chest.
"Lucky lady." He said jokingly.
A few moments passed before Ophelia said, "Your cologne smells bad."
He snorted. "Seriously? I just bought it."
"I know. It's new. It smells bad, you should stop using it." She pulled away from him.
"Got it. You ready to go to the gym?" He raised his brows at her, and she nodded in response. He grabbed for her hand, and she took it warily. The two walked to the gym together, where they'd meet their P.A. teacher to help sort balls. It was something they did together, every morning. The teacher desperately needed the help, and they didn't mind.
Once they reached the gym, they walked inside, and Mr. Jones turned. His athletic clothes fit him nicely, and his whistle hung down his neck. He wore sneakers that squeaked against the floor, which made Ophelia's sensory tick. He smiled at the two kids. "My two favorite students. You ready?"
"How bad is it today, coach?"
"Not too bad. The freshmans are usually better about putting the separate cages, and they were my last class, but theres a few odds and ends. You don't mind, right?"
The teacher began walking toward them, and Ophelia said, "You pulled a muscle."
"I did, how'd you know?" He asked.
"You have a limp in your left leg. The one in your right is normal, but this one is new."
He furrowed his brows. "I limp in my right leg?"
"You didn't know?" She asked.
"To be fair I never noticed either." Wes shrugged.
Mr. Jones eyed his leg. "Huh..."
Ophelia didn't stick around for more small-talk. She walked toward the cages of different balls and began sorting. Wes took his phone out and started blaring music, Ophelia smiled. Music always made her smile, and Wes absolutely adored her smile.