A New Beginning (Second Chance #1) (21 page)

            
 
The next day passed quickly and when school was out Conner, Callie and Rylee came over to give Karla her assignments and update her on everything that was going on at school. “Apparently James has been in trouble for something like this before.” Rylee told her as soon as they were all seated at the kitchen table.

              “How’d you find that out and what happened?” Karla asked.

              “I found out through his friend Hunter. According to him at the beginning of the summer James asked a girl named Lindsey out and she agreed to go play mini golf with him. He did the same thing he did with you, took a simple date as a relationship promise. When she found out about it she told him the same thing you did and he went nuts. He beat her up so bad that she had to go into the hospital. James had to go to anger management and do community service all summer because it was his first offense. This time he won’t be so lucky.”

              “Wow.” Karla was shocked that she didn’t see the signs. In the past she’d always known what was hidden beneath someone’s calm exterior. “I can’t believe I missed the signs.”

              “Karla, none of us knew this about him. We’ve known him for years and didn’t know.” Callie told her.

              “Yes, but I have dealt with this type of personality for years and can usually pick up on it immediately. I missed it with James. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t looking for it though. James is unstable and now, hopefully, everyone will see that and get him the help he needs.”

              “According to Hunter last time it was just her word against his. This time they have video evidence and Mr. Johnson’s and Mrs. Wright’s witness statements. He’ll go to juvie this time.” Rylee assured her.

              “Karla, can I ask you something?” Conner asked tentatively.

              “Anything Conner.” Karla answered.

              “If I hadn’t said what I said at dinner on Thanksgiving, would you have ever agreed to go to the movies with him?”

              “Probably not, but that does NOT make this your fault Conner. James is the unstable one. James is the one who took it to this point. James is the one who hurt me. Not you.”

              “She’s right Con. James is at fault here, not you.” Callie told her brother.

              “I just can’t shake the thought that if I hadn’t said what I did then you’d have never agreed to go out with him and none of this would have happened.”

              “If it wasn’t me it would have been someone else Conner and that person could have gotten seriously hurt. I’m fine. My physical wounds will heal. I don’t blame anyone but James. He did this, not you, not anyone else, just him. He’ll hopefully get the help he needs now.”

              “Hopefully.” Conner, Callie and Rylee all agreed.

****

              The next morning Karla was still pretty sore, but she needed to be back at school. She needed to get back into her routine. When she went downstairs Leslie and Andrew were sitting at the bar sipping coffee and looking at their laptops. Andrew looked up when she entered the kitchen and a look of concern crossed his face when he saw that she was dressed for school. “How are you feeling this morning honey?”

              “I’m a little sore still, but I need to get back to school. I don’t want to miss anything important. I’m fine Andrew. I promise.”

“If you’re sure then I’m okay with it. If it gets to be too much you have to promise to call Leslie and leave though okay?”

“I promise. Thank you Andrew.” She smiled at him and grabbed an apple for breakfast.

After she was finished eating she went upstairs and brushed her teeth, grabbed her stuff and headed back down. She checked her phone and saw that it was almost time for the bus so she called out a quick good bye to Andrew and Leslie and headed out the door. When the bus pulled to a stop she got on and went immediately to her usual seat with Conner and sat down.

“How are you feeling?” He asked her when the bus started moving.

“I’m alright. Just a little sore, but I needed to get back to school today.”

“We’ll be here if you need help with anything. You know that.” Callie said from the seat behind them.

“Yeah, I know and that’s why I knew I could come back today.”

When Rylee got on the bus Callie looked at them and smiled. “I need everyone’s help.”

“What’s up Callie? We’ll be glad to help if we can.” Karla answered her

“Well Chase’s birthday is Sunday and I haven’t gotten him anything yet. With Karla getting hurt and Conner being in a mood I hesitated to ask, but I’m really starting to freak out a little. I have no idea what to get him.”

“He’s a really big football fan right?” Rylee asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t know anything about football.”

“Do you know his favorite team?” Conner inquired.

“Yes. He likes the Titans. Why?”

“I was thinking that you could get him a jersey or something like that. I’m sure he’d like anything you got him though.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. You are an awesome brother Conner. Thank you.”

“I know I’m awesome.” He replied with a grin and a wink. “You’re welcome sis.”

“Who’s up for shopping Friday after school?” Rylee asked with a smile and Conner groaned.

“I am. I have to buy some clothes for my trip anyway. Leslie insists I need at least four new outfits.” Karla responded with a smile at Conner’s groan.

“Awesome. This is going to be fun.” Callie chimed in.

Karla smiled at her friends as they continued to talk about shopping and when the bus stopped in front of the school she followed them off and into the building. It was going to be a good day, she thought to herself as her friend’s laughter reached her ears and caused her to laugh with them. It was going to be a really good day.

            
 
Throughout the day several people approached Karla and asked how she was. By lunch she was tired of answering questions, but knew she’d be forced to if she remained at school all day. When Hunter, James’ best friend, approached her she was a little nervous. “Karla, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Umm..sure. Have a seat.” Karla said, not offering to move away from her friends.

Hunter sat across from her and looked around at her friends. “I was hoping to talk to you alone, but I guess this will be okay. I talked to James last night.”

“I’m sorry Hunter, but I really don’t want to hear it.”

“You need to hear it Karla because he’s saying things that may cause problems for you.”

“What’s he saying?” Conner asked, anger laced his words.

“He’s saying that Karla came here after being involved in some pretty bad stuff in her past. That her parents sent her away to live with the Peterson’s because they couldn’t handle her anymore and that if she doesn’t straighten out here then she’ll be sent off to military camp.”

“He’s lying. If that were true she wouldn’t be in the Advanced Program.” Callie told Hunter.

“I know it isn’t true. I’m just telling you what he’s saying.” Hunter told them.

“Well no one’s going to believe him and if they do they’re stupid and don’t know Karla.” Conner said as his anger mounted. He wanted to beat James to a pulp.

“Conner, only if a hand full of people believe him then my life here is over. I love it here and don’t want that to happen. There is one way I can stop that from happening.” Karla told everyone.

“Karla, are you thinking about sharing your story with the school?” Rylee asked her.

“I don’t know what to do. If I tell everyone everything it may make it worse than his lies will.” Indecisiveness laced her voice.

“Karla, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. I think you should talk to Mr. Johnson and see if he’ll make a statement to the school telling everyone what happened. That may stop the rumors before they start.” Hunter suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Hunter.”

“You’re welcome, Karla. I know James hurt you, but I hope you can forgive him someday. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just had a really hard life. His dad took off when he was two and his mom has had to struggle to support him and his older brother. I know that doesn’t excuse his actions, but maybe it’ll help you to understand him a little better.” Hunter said hopefully.

“Hunter, James isn’t the only one who had a really hard life. I’m not going into it with you, but he had it easy compared to what I lived through and I have never hurt anyone like that. He intentionally used his words to destroy me and when that didn’t work he used his hands.” Karla told Hunter. “I really feel sorry for him. He chose to take his hardships and use them to hurt other people. He needs help Hunter and I’m glad he’s getting it, but I will never be able to understand him.”

“Understandable. I’m sorry he hurt you Karla.” Hunter said and he got up and walked away.

“I need to go talk to Mr. Johnson. I’ll see you all in class.” Karla stood up, but Conner grabbed her hand.

“We’ll all go talk to Mr. Johnson.” He said and stood with her. They all dumped their trash and walked to the office together.

Mr. Johnson was at his desk when they walked through his open door. “Miss Hall, Miss Newberry, Mr. Newberry, Miss McNabb; what can I do for you today?”

“Mr. Johnson, Hunter Bryant came to us at lunch and told us that James is starting to say things about Karla that are untrue.” Callie started.

“I was wondering if you could maybe make an announcement about what happened between James and I so the rumors he’s trying to get started stop before they can really start.” Karla said to him, hope filled her voice.

“I can do that as long as you’re okay with it.”

“I’m okay with it. I want everyone to know what happened and that James is getting the help he needs.”

“Alright. I’ll make an announcement after the lunch period is over. No one will pay any attention to it if they aren’t in class already.”

“Thank you, Mr. Johnson.” Karla said, gratitude filled her voice.

“You’re welcome, Miss Hall. I hope it helps you.”

They walked out of Mr. Johnson’s office just as the bell rang. They headed to class and had just sat down when Mr. Johnson came on the intercom.

Attention students. It has been brought to my attention that there are some questions regarding the incident that happened here Tuesday morning. Some things have been said that aren’t factual and if I hear of anyone spreading rumors about either party involved the person spreading those rumors will be disciplined. We have a zero bullying code at this school and spreading rumors is a form of bullying and will not be accepted. A student was attacked by another student through no fault of her own and she will not be made to feel uncomfortable here. If anyone has any questions feel free to come by my office and I’ll answer them as I see fit. Thank you and have a good rest of the day.

Karla looked around at her friends with a look of relief on her face. Maybe everything would be alright now. Maybe her life would level back out into the normal she’d gotten used too.

            
 
The rest of the day passed in peace for Karla and her friends. There were still a few questions, but nothing Karla couldn’t handle. After the final bell rang and they were waiting for the bus so they could go home Karla was approached by a boy she’d never talked too. “Are you Karla?” He asked.

              “Yeah. Who are you?”

              “I’m Albert Greene, James’ brother.”

              Conner immediately stepped up and placed himself between Albert and Karla. Callie and Rylee also stepped up to protect her. “What do you want Albert?”

“I just want to talk to Karla for a minute.”

“Not without us you aren’t.” Callie told him with a sneer.

“Fine. Whatever. You can all hear this. My brother has never hurt anyone in his life and I don’t know who you think you are, but the truth will all come out soon and everyone will know you’re lying.”

              “You do realize that the entire incident was caught by the security cameras right?” Rylee asked him.

              “It was?” Albert asked.

              “Umm.. yeah, it was. I guess James didn’t tell you that little detail.” Karla told him with a little laugh. “Seems he’s just telling people what he wants them to know. I’m not a liar Albert.”

              “I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you again.” Albert walked off without saying another word.

              “Well that was weird.” Conner said as the bus pulled to a stop in front of them.

              “Should I be worried about him?”

              “If he says anything else to you go to Mr. Johnson. He’ll take care of it.” Rylee told her as they boarded the bus and took their seats.

              “I don’t think he’ll be a problem Karla. You kind of shut him up when you told him about the security footage.” Callie said with a small smile.

              “Yeah I guess. This has been a really stressful day. I say we go to my house, have Leslie order pizza for us and study for finals.”

              “That sounds perfect.” Conner told her with a smile.

              A few minutes later they got off the bus and walked into Karla’s house. Leslie walked into the family room as they came through the front door. “Mr. Johnson called me and told me what happened today. Are you okay?”

              “I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day. Can you order us some pizza for dinner so we can study for finals? I just want to concentrate on finishing this semester and then going to Puerto Rico for a week. Maybe after break everything will have calmed down.”

              “Sure honey. I’ll order the pizza in about an hour. Have you three asked your mom’s about eating over here?”

“I just sent mine a text.” Rylee told her.

“I did too.” Callie added.

“Okay. The kitchen table is free for use. I’ll get you some snacks to hold you over until the pizza gets here.”

“Sounds great Leslie. Thank you.” Karla told her and sat down at the table.

For the next hour they studied and laughed together. Conner cracked jokes and tried to take Karla’s mind off of everything that had happened. Rylee and Callie talked about their upcoming shopping trip and how much fun it’d be helping her pick out clothes for her trip. When the pizza arrived they stopped working to eat.

The evening passed quickly and at seven Leslie drove everyone home. When she got back Karla had already taken a shower and was sitting in the family room with Andrew watching Transformers on Netflix. They had a bowl of popcorn between them and were glued to the screen. “Care if I join you two?”

“Sure.” Karla answered and scooted closer to Andrew. Leslie sat on the other side of her and grabbed a handful of popcorn. When the movie ended Karla went up to bed. Andrew and Leslie went into the kitchen and sat in their usual places at the bar. “Leslie, I have something I wanted to ask you.”

“What’s up babe? You sound really serious.”

“This is serious. I’ve been thinking about something and wanted to ask your opinion.”

“Okay. Go ahead. You know you can ask me anything.”

“How would you like to become Karla’s parents?”

“Are you talking about adopting Karla?”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We both love her like a daughter and I know she loves us. We’re already a family, but I’d love for her to be our daughter. I’d love to make her a Peterson.”

“Oh Andrew I would love that too. Do you think she would though?”

“Well there’s only one way to find out.”

“Before we ask her maybe we should talk to Bob and see what all we have to do. I don’t want to get her hopes up and then not be able to follow through with it.”

“I agree. I’ll call Bob in the morning and see what we’ll have to do to make her legally ours.”

“Andrew you are the best man in the world. I love you.”

“I love you too baby.”

“She had a bad day today. She had a lot of people questioning her and had to deal with a few rumors that James has tried to start.”

“Did it get taken care of? If not I’ll go up to the school tomorrow.”

“She handled it brilliantly. She went to Mr. Johnson and had him make an announcement about the incident. He called me afterwards and told me all about it. I’m so proud of her.”

“Me too. I can’t believe how strong she is, especially after everything she’s been through.”

“She really is strong. I was proud of her today when he told me what she did. She really defended herself today.”

“She’s a great kid and I can’t wait to become her legal father.”

“And I can’t wait to become her mother.”