A Flower in War

Chapter Fifty-Four: Cruel, Cruel Summer

"Calanthe, you don't have to-"
"No, I want to. You may have adopted me but I'm still an adult in the eyes of the state. I can be on my own. I can, at the very least, drive myself to school." Cal scoffs lightly, finishing up making her lunch.
"Sweetheart, you have to know that what you did was wrong..." Amanda says gently, watching as Cal stops her movements, before turning her head up to look at her with ice in her eyes.
"No. The reason we went to Johnny is because of you and Uncle Danny, not me, and not Robby. We went to him because we knew that you two would fly off the handle if you found out Sam was drunk. The only thing we did wrong was not telling you we'd be out all night. I'll own up to that, but you need to own up to the fact that we felt this wasn't a safe place for someone who's inebriated to be." Cal turns on her heel before rushing out the door and to her car, unshed tears encased at her waterline.

-

"I got you some pencils and some paper. I wasn't sure what you'd need." Johnny explains as he rifles through the red backpack in his lap.
"Thanks." Robby says softly, taking the bag from him.
"Couldn't find a trapper keeper. Are those still cool?"
Robby's eyebrows scrunch together, "I don't know what that is."
"I had one with a fighter jet. It was awesome." Johnny smiles to himself.

Robby zips up the backpack slowly, worried about what he may be walking into.
"You okay? Nervous about your first day?"
"No... I just feel bad about Cal and the LaRussos." Johnny sighs, irritated.
"I know you don't want to hear it, but Mr. LaRusso was good to me. Miyagi-Do Karate helped me out a lot." Johnny nods before his cell starts to ring, he picks it up and declines the call before turning back to face his son.
"Look, all I'm saying is maybe you guys can learn a thing or two from each other."
Johnny suppresses the urge to roll his eyes and nods instead, "All right, you better go."
"Thanks for driving me, dad."
Johnny watches Robby leave the car, "Hey!" Robby turns around quickly, leaning down to the open window, "You tell that girl of yours I say hi all right?"
"Yeah, okay." Robby chuckles, the ghost of a smile on his lips as he turns and walks into the school.

He meanders around the halls looking for Cal's locker and finally finds the dark haired girl with the downtrodden expression.
"Excuse me?" Cal turns around quickly, a soft smile on her features when she sees it's him.
"Im new to this school. Can you help me find Miss Santino's class?"
"Hey." Cal says softly, looking back to her locker.
"Oh... it's that bad, is it?" He asks in a hushed tone.
Cal nods, sighing before turning back to him, "It's not your fault. Just... weird. They're making me feel like im an idiot. Like we should have just gone to the house and been honest with them. But I told them that sort of trust is earned and we didn't feel safe doing that so it's not just on us. They made the environment feel unsafe."
"Im sorry, flower. It's my fault too... From now on, no more lying."
Cal nods in agreement, "Okay."

"I have to tell you something..."
"If you kissed someone else Im going to be going to juvie."
"No," Robby shakes his head quickly, "Uh... Miguel gave me the Medal of Honor. And I put it in the backyard so someone would find it."
Cal sighs, "Why would you do that?" She asks crossly.
"I... I didn't want him to earn any points with you... you always talked about him and the others before we started dating and I guess... I guess I just felt insecure."
Cal nods, "Thank you... for telling me the truth. Is that all?"
"That's it, promise. It feels better to get that off my chest." Cal nods in agreement.
"Robby-" But the bell cuts her off.
"Well, can't be late on my first day." Robby smiles, leaning forward to give Cal a soft kiss, "See you later flower."
"I'll find you at lunch." Robby nods in agreement.
"See you then."

-

As first period slowly came to a close the announcements began.
"Good morning, students and faculty. Welcome to a brand new year at West Valley High. I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are ready to dive back into the school year." Cal tunes it out, staring at her notebook like it's the most fascinating thing in the world as her mind teems with everything that's gone on over the past few days.
"You can also purchase tickets for the fall musical, which will be a production of the global hit, Grease." Cal's ears prick up at that, she hasn't been in a musical in ages. It was always an escape, maybe it could be again.