Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

78. Brendon

I was livid.  The school had promised they'd keep Melanie and Callie separated. I realize they're a small school, but they were supposed to work with us on this.

Now Callie was mad, Sarah and I were mad, and this dumb kid was terrorizing our daughter.

I immediately pulled out my cell phone and dialled the school number.

"Merton School," the receptionist said.

"I'd like to speak with the director please," I said through clenched teeth.

"May I ask who's calling and what this is about?"

"This is Callie Urie's father. And I would like to discuss with her that promises have been made and broken and changes need to be made. Like yesterday."

"Callie? Oh," The receptionist said.

"Yeah. Callie. Oh," I fumed.

"I'll get the director for you just now. Please hold."

The music for their hold music was decent. A Twentyone pilots song was playing and honestly, it helped calm me down a little. I was still absolutely livid, but at least the rage I'd been feeling was better.

"Mr. Urie?" The director came on the phone. She didn't seem put out or at all upset. "What can I do for you?" 

"First, I'd like you to explain how keeping Melanie away from Callie will work if you have them in three classes together.  Then I'd like to know how not one staff member noticed Melanie terrorizing Callie all day."

"I, what? I'm not sure I understand."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighed and explained again.

"After the incident on the first day of school, which resulted in us nearly losing our daughter because of that kid, you promised us that Callie and Melanie would not have a single class together and that your staff would ensure their paths didn't cross as much as reasonably possible. Callie came home angry because Melanie is in three of her classes and terrorized her all day. Melanie threw out Callie's lunch - which I'd like to point out, we pay for her to have at school.  She also pushed her into lockers and gave her an article from a tabloid calling into question the reason we adopted Callie. She's now convinced we adopted her as a publicity stunt. Do you have any idea how hurtful that is?"

"I can only imagine and I'm so sorry she did all that," the director sighed.

"It's going to take a couple of days, but I will get this fixed. We're a small school as you know and we don't have the same course offerings as a full service public school. It's possible we had no choice but to keep Callie and Melanie in classes together but I will see what I can do from a scheduling perspective. I will also personally keep an eye on both girls and see what's happening."

"So what you're telling me is that despite having two weeks to figure this out, you waited to see if it would be a problem before moving Melanie?"

"Not exactly. But we have a finite number of teachers and a finite number of course offerings. It may be impossible for Melanie and Callie to be in different classes for every class," the director explained. It wasn't good enough for me.

"Figure it out. Because Callie needs an education in a school that not only she will be challenged in, but that she also feels safe in. And right now, she's getting neither," I argued.

The director made a few more promises that I doubted she'd be able to keep, but we decided we'd see how the week played out while she kept a close eye on the girls.

I hung up and slammed my phone on the counter. I did not feel better.

"Bren?" Sarah's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I turned around and saw my wife and daughter standing at the breakfast bar. Callie looked a little scared and Sarah looked concerned.

"Are you mad at me?" Callie asked, tentatively.  I went over to her and pulled her into a hug. Then I held her at arm's length and smiled at her.

"No, sweetheart. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at your school. Because they also promised us that you and Melanie would be kept apart. Come, I need to talk to you about what the director told me," I said, leading Callie over to the couch. I sat her down and sat across from her on the coffee table. Bogart jumped into her lap. She smiled. I did too. Bogart just loves the kid. Who can blame him? She's a great kid.

I sighed.

"Okay, so, the director of your school kind of agrees they fucked up," I said. Callie covered her mouth and giggled. Sarah frowned at me. "She also told me that unfortunately, since they clearly didn't work hard enough to make sure you were separate, they are going to work much harder at making sure you're not together. And where they can't, because they don't have more than one class, they'll keep you as separate as possible."

Callie frowned.

"No," she said, and crossed her arms.

"No? No what?" I asked her.

"No Melanie," Callie signed. "I won't take any class she's in. I'll change schools."

"The hell you will," I frowned. "We also pay good money for you to go there. Just like Melanie's parents. They're no more or less different than us, really."

"I don't want any classes with Melanie in them. I'll drop them if I have to. I'll go to summer school. Unless she goes, too."

I didn't like that Callie was willing to give up her right to a safe school environment because of one kid. I had... names for her... but I wouldn't actually verbalized them. Not against a child. We were going to fight this. Either the school was going to figure something out that didn't result in my daughter's schedule being changed to lose classes, or they expelled the brat... I mean, kid.

I pulled Callie onto my lap and hugged her tight, rubbing her back. I pulled back and smiled at her.

"We're going to fix this," I said. "Mom and I, we're going to fix this."

Callie's eyes widened.

"You're not going to get her in trouble, are you?"

"No," I said. "She's already gotten herself into trouble."

Callie frowned at me and said she didn't understand. I kissed her forehead and signed at her:

"Trust Me."