Rusty's Secret

29. Departion

"Kids! The bus is here!" Their mum yelled from the kitchen. Digger shut off the TV that they were watching as all three of them walk into the kitchen. Rusty noticed his brother's suitcase by the front door. He sighed as he waved goodbye to his mum and shut the door behind him.

Rusty slowly walks onto the bus with his head down. He shook off the rain, still covering his fur. "Hi Rusty!" Jack shouted from across the aisle. Rusty's face lights up, just a little. He sits next to him as his smile turned back into a frown. "What's wrong?" Jack asks worrily. "Well...My brother Digger has to go on a trip for a little while, and I just don't want him to leave. I already have my dad gone. I don't want to lose him too...." Rusty explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." Jack said as he rested his head on Rusty's shoulder. Rusty hesitantly grabbed his hand just as the bus started to move. Everything was quiet and peaceful, with nothing but the rain drops beating the window.

BEEEEP

The bell rang as soon as they stepped into the school. "Oh, that's the bell! C'mon, Rusty!" Jack says as he yanks Rusty into social studies class.

They both sit down and prepare for another boring lesson on Southeast asian history.  "Alright, class! So, can someone recap on what we did yesterday?" Mrs. Collie anouces. Snickers raised his hand as
he blabbers on about what Mrs. Collie taught yesterday.

Jack looks over at Rusty. He still looks upset. He digs through his pencil box and takes out a neon pink sticky note. He writes a message on it and sticks it onto Rusty's desk.

Rusty reads it and then writes something else on it. He handed it back to Jack.

Jack takes out another sticky note and then hands it to Rusty one more time.

Mrs. Collie watches them as they pass notes to each other during class.. "Passing notes in class, are we?" She says as she snatches the notes off their desks. "No, please don't read those!" Rusty begs. Mrs. Collie reads them "oh...uhm...just don't pass notes next time" She said as she crumpled them up.

Lunch time...

"Wow, it's really pouring out there" Indy says as she stares out the window. "Is Rusty still upset?" Mackenzie whispers in Jack's ear. "Yeah...he just hasn't been himself all day" Jack whispers back. The whole table isn't quiet. The only sound was the rain hitting the concrete outside. "Hey, uhm...Do you guys wanna come over to my house tomorrow?" Mackenzie says, trying to cheer Rusty up. "Y-Yeah...that would be nice" Rusty says quietly.

As the group is finishing up thier lunch. Stephanie, Coco, Snickers, and Chloe sit together. Stephanie was all the way across the table from them. She hasn't said anything to them yet. Coco stares off at Jack's table and lets out a loud sigh. "What's wrong, Coco?" Snickers asks while eating his food. "Oh...Nothing..." she responds.

Snickers looks over to what she's staring at. "Oh..are you still trying to get over Jack?" Snickers realized. "Yeah...I still have a crush on him for some reason....I-I know it's wrong because he has a boyfriend...And I know he'll never like me back cuz he's...well y'know...Gay....but I just can't get over him..." Coco says sadly.

"Do you want revenge?" Stephanie interupts. "What? No? Why would I want that?" Coco asks as she turns to her.  "Well...I saw that he rejected you that night at the dance. Didn't that make you angry that he didn't want to be your date?" Stephanie says maliciously. "I mean...Kind of...But, it's his choice whether he wants to be my date or not...I can't control it..." Coco argued. "You can Coco...You can...think about my offer...I'll help you get revenge on anyone you want..."

BEEEEEP

"You're not gonna except her offer, are you?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "Well, Mabye..." Coco said nervously. "Are you forgetting that this is the girl that stabbed three people in the bathroom and had a whole ass fist fight on the blacktop?" Snickers said with a concerned expression.. "I know...but-"

"C'mon, let's just get to class..." Chloe says.

As Rusty steps out of the bus and onto the wet sidewalk, a feeling of dread takes over him as he walks into the house.

When he opens the door, his mum is in the kitchen preparing for dinner. Dusty sits at the table, looking a bit sad. "H-Hi Mum, Hi Dusty," Rusty says as he wiped his feet on the door mat. "Hi Rusty!" Dusty responded as she smiled a little bit. Rusty sits down at the kitchen table with Dusty. "W-Where's Digger...?" He asks, hoping he hasn't left yet. "Oh...he's just in his room, packing" his mum replied.

Rusty nodded as he walked towards his brother's room. He opens the door to see him packing stuff in his suitcase. "AH!...Knock before you come in! I could've been....Y-You know what..N-Nevermind...." Digger jumped. "Sorry. Are you done packing yet...?" Rusty asks sadly. "No, not yet..." Digger sighed. Rusty sat next to him on his bed. "Listen, I know you don't want me to leave, but I have to go on this trip. It's the only way I'll get into a good college!" Digger explains. "I know....But....I'm just scared of losing you. Dad is usually gone for months...I'm just afraid you'll be gone that long, and leave is forever..." Rusty sighed as he started to get teary-eyed. "It's just for three weeks.  you'll be alright" Digger said as he patted Rusty on the head. "Rusty, I know I'm growing up, and things are changing fast, but...I'll always be your brother. And you'll always be mine...and nothing could ever change that..." Digger said comfortingly. Rusty gave Digger a long, tight hug.

"Dinners ready!" Thier Mum calls from the kitchen. "C'mon, let's go eat" Digger says as he gets up from his bed.

They both walk into the kitchen and eat the food their Mum made for them. " "Digger, are you finished packing?" His mum asked while washing the dishes. "Yeah, all packed" Digger smiled. "Do you have your phone? Hat? Phone charger? Car keys? What about yo-"

"Mum! Mum...I have everything I need!" Digger laughed. "I'm sorry...I'm just not used to you leaving for such a long time..." His mum says, with a sad look on her face.

After dinner, Digger set all his stuff by the front door as he prepared to leave. He was standing at the half-open door, saying his goodbyes. "Be safe!" His mum tells him. "I will, Mum," Digger says with a smile. "Bye-bye, Digger..." Dusty says sadly. "B-Bye..." Rusty tries to say. "Be good to Dusty for me. You're gonna be alright" Digger said softly."Love you guys" He said as he shut the door behind him.

Rusty waved goodbye, trying not to tear up. "Alright...Help me clean the dishes..." Their Mum says, wiping tears from her eyes.