Carolina Wren

Chapter 33

Wren's POV

The presence of money in my backpack burned like embers through the layers of the bag and my shirt as I walked to school. I knew exactly where it was and exactly how much I had— not nearly enough, and I'd have to take another cut to my own shares to make it stretch, but enough that the kids weren't going to starve this week. That was enough, it had to be.

Sleep had evaded me again last night between my mind racing and being up and down all night with Juni. It had given me time to plan out our meals down to the smallest detail--which meals would stretch, what things we needed more than others. I'm pretty sure I've got it planned down to the last five cents. Thinking about food so much only made the hollow feeling in my stomach worse, but it was something I was just going to have to work through.

It had also given me time to consider how best to handle telling Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green about the kids. There's been too many close calls and I'm starting to come to terms with having to let them know. Knowing that I can't hide them forever does nothing to ease my anxiety about it. I had formed a tentative plan in my head, though, and I was holding onto the thin hope that their first reaction wasn't to call CPS.

Nerves tickled at my stomach as I made my way into the school. Sheila's little fit last night was a potential complication to my plan. A few of the guys had suspicions already and nothing about my appearance was reassuring at the moment. Several of the cuts on my hand are still bleeding and my instincts are to hide my injuries, do anything I can to hide the truth of what happens at home, but I can't cover these in makeup and hope for the best. If I try to pretend like they're not there, it'll only make them more suspicious.

If I can convince Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green that I'm just clumsy, I might be able to convince them that I'm capable of taking care of the three kids on my own before they realize just how bad things are. If I can get them in my corner, they might be able to pull strings for me.

Sneaking through the main doors instead of going around to where we normally meet up before class, I glance around to make sure none of the guys are loitering around near the offices. I'm hoping that I'll find Dr. Green in there by himself, although I've resigned myself to having to explain myself to Mr. Blackbourne, as well. If one of the guys sees me, word will spread like wildfire and I already know that several of them are going to suspect that I'm lying about my injuries. If North sees me first, the entire school is going to know what's going on.

My plan hinges on me gaining the teachers' trust by coming straight to them about my hand and the ghastly bruises from where my face met the floor last night. I need them to believe it was an accident. Baby steps and hopefully by the end of the week, I'll be confident enough that Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne won't fly off the handle that I can tell them about Keegan and Juni.

It may not be the most foolproof plan I've ever come up with, but I need them to not fly off the handle and hand the four of us off to CPS without giving me a chance to prove that I've got things under control with the kids.

The receptionist waves me back without looking up from her phone when I tell her that I'm here to see Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green. Balling up my uninjured fist, I knock soundly on the door before I can talk myself out of it. A few seconds later it swings open and a small wave of disappointment hits me when it's Mr. Blackbourne standing there. Part of me had held onto the hope that the living embodiment of perfection wouldn't see me like this. That those grey eyes that always seem to see more than I want them to wouldn't be analyzing me while I stretched the truth about the origin of my injuries.

It takes him approximately .6 seconds to realize there's something wrong and his face turns sickly pale as he looks at me. "Miss Nelson, what happened?" he demands as he ushers me through the door and into his chair.