For The Love of Callie

You Should Be Here

Callie's POV

As the suns rays pierce my freshly opened eyes, I take a glance around the room. Daphne is no where to be seen. I haven't spoken to her since the night I got here when she tried to 'mend things'. Quite honestly, you don't beat the shit out of someone in prison and expect an alls well that ends well mindset.

I groan and roll out of bed knowing that in just a little bit breakfast will be done and we will have to start thinking about group therapy. I hate group therapy. I don't belong here. I didn't do drugs or join a gang or anything like that. I ran away, yes, but why a high profile criminal home would be the place they put me is beyond me. Quickly, I get dressed and head into the bathroom for my morning hygiene before heading downstairs for breakfast. If I brush my teeth now, I have an out for breakfast though Rita is starting to catch onto that trend.

As I open the bathroom door, I am met by Cole. Cole is a transgender guy that was put in a girls group home because the system sucks. He's working on getting an out to an LGBTQ home where things will run smoother for him but it's a lengthy process I guess. That's what I've heard in group anyways.
As I open the door, Cole's eyes meet mine and immediately he starts yelling at me to leave the room. He was handling something obviously personal and me walking in clearly embarrassed him. "I'm so sorry." I say quickly but he pushes me backwards. I want to push him back but quickly rethink it before simply slamming the door. When I do, I hear a loud "Ow!" and quickly back up. Did I hurt him? I quickly run back to the room. Daphne is sitting on the bed and watched the whole scene unravel. Perfect.

Rita comes plummeting up the stairs to figure out what all the commotion is. When she greets Cole just outside the door, his nose is bleeding. I place my hands over my mouth knowing damn well I hadn't meant to slam it on him, just get out of the situation as fast as possible.
"What happened here??" Rita asks strictly.
Cole doesn't even process when he looks directly at me and quickly looks back at Rita. "Callie and Cole, both of you downstairs now." She's sterns but not yelling.
I follow Rita down the stairs along with Cole who's holding a tissue to his face. Both of us walk almost with our tails between our legs. Nervous yet listening to what she says.
"Alright someone is going to tell me what happened. Cole?" She asks knowing as the victim he will be able to be truthful. He sighs and says "Callie accidentally walked in on me in the bathroom while I was handling something private and I told her to leave. When she did, she accidentally slammed the door on my nose because I was too close to the door." Cole was truthful which I am beyond thankful for.
"Callie?"
"He's telling the truth." I say defensively.
"I don't believe either one of you." Rita furrows a brow waiting for one of us to say something else but that IS the story. Nobody ever believes that a foster kid like me would be telling the truth though, right?
Daphne peers over the railing at the top of the stairs. "I saw what happened." She informs Rita.
"What did you see Daphne?" Rita asks.
Great. She's going to lie because of her obvious lack of respect for my entire existence.
Daphne comes down to the bottom of the stairs and says "they're telling the truth. Callie walked in on Cole, Cole freaked out because he was doing something in there and yelled at her to leave. He pushed her back just enough to get her out of the bathroom and then Callie shut the door quickly and it happened to hit Cole. All of it looked like some freak accident."
I'm a little taken back by Daphne's honesty with Rita. I thought for sure she'd make something up and get me into trouble.
Rita nods "okay. Callie and Cole you will be sharing rooms for here on out to ensure we have a good connection after an altercation like this, accident or not. You both need to be more careful."
Cole and I exchange glances and sigh but do not complain.
Rita gets up and leaves the room and Cole heads up the stairs leaving just Daphne and I.
"Now we're straight." She says giving me one last look to ensure I know she means it before disappearing into the kitchen to help with breakfast.
I throw my head back onto the wall, look up at the ceiling, and sigh.