Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

76. Brendon

We pulled up to the school and I saw Callie's friends waiting for her. They waved at us as our car pulled up. Sarah had sat in the back with Callie, hopefully talking to her about going back to school. She wasn't happy.

"Okay, Honeybee," I said, using the name my dad had given her. "Are you ready?"

Callie shook her head.

"I don't want to," she said.

"Callie, sweetheart," Sarah said. "For one, you have to go to school. You know that. And two, Melanie isn't in your class."

"What if she comes and finds me?"

"We've spoken to the school. If she does, tell a teacher or the principal. Or text us. You're going to be okay, okay?" I said.

She didn't seem so sure.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Sarah asked. Callie looked over at her friends who were waving  at her to get out of the car and join them.  They were also making faces at the press across the road. We'd expected they'd show up after Callie's whole incident. I had to laugh at the kids making their faces at the press. They really wouldn't be able to use any of those photos.

"No, it's okay," Callie sighed. She opened the door and crutched as quickly as she could to her friends. She kept her face averted from the press and I saw her sign frantically at her friends who followed her in quickly. Sarah climbed into the front passenger seat.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" She asked me, concern crossing her face.

"I hope so. I didn't want to send her back, but she has to go to school. And we can't let that little... that kid win. If Callie had wanted to change schools, I'm not sure I would have stopped her. I'm glad she didn't, though," I said.

Sarah sighed.

"I just hope this first day goes better than her first first day," she said.

"I can't imagine it getting any worse than that," I said as I pulled out of the school driveway and headed back to the house. Sarah was planning on going in to do some work and I was planning on doing some work out in my studio. I was hoping we wouldn't get another phone call from the school.

Once we got home, Sarah gathered up her things that she needed for work, and her car keys and took her time getting ready to leave. She seemed to be waiting for something.

"Babe," I said. "If you are waiting for something to go wrong, you aren't going to get anything done. She's going to be fine and I'll be home all day."

"Please, Brendon, keep your phone close and on and really loud or whatever. Please don't miss any calls or texts from Callie or the school."

"Babe, she's going to be fine. My phone won't leave my sight and I'll see you at two so we can go pick her up, okay?"

Sarah seemed a little more relaxed but not entirely. She gave me a kiss and left. I grabbed a coffee and went outside to my studio. I sat down, turned on my equipment and, after checking emails and responding to ones that were more urgent, I started playing around with some sounds I'd recorded.

I almost lost track of time when Sarah poked her head into my studio.

"You're still out here? Have you had lunch?" She asked.

I looked at the cat clock I had hanging on my wall. It was 1:30.

"I have not. Let me grab a quick bite and the. We'll go get Callie."

"Your phone didn't ring at all?"

I double checked the phone I had face-up on my desk.

"Nope. Scott called, but I sent him to voicemail. I'll call him later."

"I didn't get a call from the school either," Sarah smiled.

I went into the kitchen and made a quick chicken sandwich and scarfed it down with a coffee. Once I'd put everything away, I smiled at my wife, hugged and kissed her and said it was time to go pick up our kid.

We got into the car and drove to the school. We pulled up into the pick-up roundabout and waited for the kids to be dismissed.

Five minutes after the end of school, Callie came out of the school looking defeated. She was practically dragging her school bag.

"What happened?" Sarah wondered to me. I shrugged. Hopefully Callie would tell us.

"Hi Honeybee!" I signed at her, a huge smile on my face, happy to see my baby girl.

She frowned at me as she threw her bag - literally - in the car.

"What happened?" I asked her.

Callie got in the car, put on her seatbelt and slammed the door. She crossed her arms and looked out the window. Clearly we weren't getting answers right now. Sarah and I looked at each other.

Sarah tried to get Callie's attention on the drive home, but Callie wasn't being very forthcoming. We agreed to let her stew a little. At least until we got home, because we felt this might need both of our full concentration, and I was driving.

It was a very quiet drive home. Sarah was trying to get Callie to talk to her and I just concentrated on the road.

Once we were in the driveway and parked, Callie grabbed her bag and started towards the front door. Unfortunately for her, it was locked and she had to wait for us to come open it.

As soon as I opened it, she started stomping towards the stairs. I grabbed her arm and turned her to me.

"Uh uh," I said. "Something has obviously upset you and we want to know what. Tell us."

Callie frowned deeply at me and shook her head.

"Callie," Sarah said. "Sweetheart. We need to know what happened so maybe we can fix it."

"You can't fix ANYTHING!" She signed aggressively, snatched her arm away and crutched up the stairs as hard and fast as she could and slammed her door.

Sarah looked at me and I looked at her. Did we give her time to cool down or try to talk to her now?

Why don't kids come with instruction books?