Chapter Nineteen

“Are you okay, Katie?” was the first thing out of Hannah’s mouth when I saw her the next day.

I rolled my eyes.  “Kayla tell you?”

“She texted me last night when she could hear you plucking the violin at two in the morning.”

She was inching towards me, but I put my hand up and told her, “If you hug me I will rip out your eyeballs and shove them down your throat, so don’t even think about it.”

“You really need to work on that personality of yours,” she laughed.

“Did Kayla tell you why I was staying at her place?” I inquired.

Hannah shook her head, so I said, “Dad kicked me out.  Yesterday was his birthday.  I never knew, so now I’m living with Kayla for the time being.”

“Do you know how old he is?”

“He said something about being thirty-four I think.  And Mom is a year younger than him.”

She whistled.  “Seventeen and eighteen?  That’s young.”

“And probably why they’re so messed up.  Anyway, did Kayla or Jake tell you what else happened last night?”

“About Vance?  Then yeah.  That’s sad.  She liked him so much!”

I shrugged.  “She’ll get over it, I think.  With a little help maybe?”

“What kind of help?”  Hannah smiled and looked over to where Jake was standing talking to some other friends of his.

“It’s too soon for that.  For now we can just buy her a giant cookie at lunch.  And make sure it’s warm.”

Hannah nodded.  “Those things are so good when they’re warm but when they’re cold it just makes me want to puke.”

“Which is why we’re going to make sure that it’s warm.  I’ll get in line quick to get it, and so I can save our regular spot.  I don’t eat anyway.”

Kayla walked up then.  “So what are you guys talking about?”

“The new science project that we got.  I am so not looking forward to doing that report,” Hannah lied.  Well, just about what we were talking about.  We really did have to do a report on some animal for our Biology class.

We talked about this as we walked into the school.  Considering it was February and it was snowing, we were all getting more than a little cold, since it was only five degrees Fahrenheit.

I saw Mike at lunch, but I didn’t tell him anything.  I guess I was still scared of what he would do.  He could tell that something was bugging me, but he knew better than to ask, for which I was thankful.

Things stayed like that for two entire weeks.  And then worst-case-scenario happened.

I was called to the office right after lunch and the principal, Mr. Finn, told me, “Your mother has just had another break down.  The hospital sent her to Mayo in Rochester.  Do you know where that is?”

“Southern Minnesota.  I’ve been there before.”

“Good.  She’s at one of the hospitals, and if you want you can take a week off of school in the next few days to go and visit her.”

“Can I wait until the weekend?  So I can call my brother and tell him and he can meet me down there.”

“That sounds fine by me.  You can go back to class now,” Mr. Finn said.

I stood up and went back to class, Science with Hannah.  The look she gave me demanded to know what happened, but I didn’t tell her.  This wasn’t something that new friends told each other.  Only old friends.  Looking up to make sure Mrs. Warner wasn’t watching, I took out my phone and texted Kayla about what happened.  She immediately texted back.

[Do you want my parents to drive you?  They can take off from work, or at least one of them can.]

[Mike is still in break.  His classes don’t start until next month.  I was thinking about asking him.]

[Are you sure you want him to take you?]

[He’d be happier if he knew, and I’d rather have him where I can see him five hours away from here than where he can get his hands on my dad.]

[Do  you want me to text my parents so they know?]

[No, we can just tell them after school.  Warner is handing out worksheets now.  Gotta go.]

[Talk to you later.]

Slipping my phone back in  my pocket, I tried to concentrate on my homework, but it was useless.  I wanted to talk to my brother, the nearly forgotten student currently attending college in the Cities.  Brad would know what to do, and Mike knew where he was so he could pick him up when we went down.

After school I found Mike talking to one of the teachers.  Waiting until they were done, I told him, “Dad kicked me out and now Mom is in Mayo.”

It took him a minute to digest this, but when he did he asked in a hoarse voice, “When?”

“Two weeks ago.  I didn’t want you to do anything stupid so I didn’t tell you,” I admitted.

He shook his head.  “Do you want me to drive you?”

“That’s what I was planning.  Can we leave Friday after school?”

“Right after lunch.  You’re not doing anything important in class anyway.”

I raised my eyebrows.  “And you know this how?”

“I know everything you’re going to do in class for the next month and a half.  Do you want me to drive you to wherever you’re staying?” he asked as we started walking to my locker.

“Kayla’s place.  She’s driving me.  But I want you to come so we can talk to her parents about taking off for a week to visit Mom.”  I looked up at him shyly, “Plus we haven’t talked in a while.  And we have to call my brother.”

He sighed.  “Fine.  I’ll go get the car.  Tell Kayla we’ll meet her at her house.  She’s over there.”  He pointed to where she was standing talking to another one of her friends and I quickly told her, “Mike’s driving me back to your place.  We’ll meet you there.”

She nodded and said good-bye to her other friend.  “What did he say?”

“We’ll tell you when we get there.  See you!”  I slipped into the passenger seat of Mike’s car, which he had parked in front of the school instead of where he was supposed to park in front of the Memorial Building.

Taylor came out and hugged both of this before we had even locked the car doors.  Mike laughed, but I just stared at the falling snow.  She ushered us inside where she had cups of hot cocoa waiting.

George was sitting on the couch again.  Kayla wasn’t there yet.  Taylor sat down next to her husband and Mike and I sat on the couch that Kayla and I had been sitting on two weeks before.  I told them about my mom and that I wanted to go see her and I wanted to take Mike with me.  Just Mike.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Kayla to death, but this isn’t something I want her to see,” I replied to their quizzical looks.

“That’s fine.  We understand.  Are you sure you don’t want one of us to drive you?”

“No, Mike has time off and he knows where my brother lives.  We’re going to pick him up on the way.”

George nodded.  “I guess that’s settled then.  What do you want for dinner?  Are you staying here for a while, Mike?”

“Sure.  I’ll help Katie pack.”  He stood up and we walked up the stairs.  I found my bag and put my few clothes in there.

Kayla came in with some clothes of hers that I would like and that would actually fit me.  Thanking her, I put those in as well.  For some reason unknown to me, Mike and Kayla decided to leave me alone.

So I took out my violin and started playing the bird song.

Author's Note

I couldn't really figure out what to put at the end there. I hope that closes the chapter nicely. Thanks for pointing out my errors, Looouise!

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[Looouise]

"“Brad’s driving me back to your place. We’ll meet you there.”

She nodded and said good-bye to her other friend. “What didi he say?”

“We’ll tell you when we get there. See you!” I slipped into the passenger seat of Brad’s car, which he had parked in front of the school instead of where he was supposed to park in front of the Memorial Building."

^^Where it says Brad....it should be Mike right?