Fragile #Wattys2015

Chapter 2

My morning started like every other one did. Get up, get ready, get Benji and Evelyn ready, go to school. Simple and effective. Unfortunately, the rest of my day didn't go that smoothly.

My shitty day started with bumping into one of the most popular girls at school who, of course, laughed at me and made it a way bigger deal than it was. Her glossy blonde hair and perfectly polished teeth seemed to make the more embarrassing. Whatever, it wasn't too bad.

Next, I went to calculus. I fell asleep in class because I was fucking exhausted. In my defense, it's not easy taking care of two kids and balancing school. Everyone seemed to be so amused that I feel asleep, so they threw paper balls at me and drew penises on me. God, I hate my calculus class.

After calculus I arrived at Spanish 10 minutes late. I barely stayed awake during Spanish and as a consequence I was given extra homework. In case you didn't know, extra homework means more exhaustion.

I was headed to lunch when I heard my phone ring. Groaning, I pulled it out. It was Evelyn's school.

"Fuck." I muttered and hurried outside to answer it. "Hello?"

"Is this Indigo?" A friendly voice asked.

"Yeah, what's going on? I'm at school.."

"We're sorry to bother you, but you need to come here immediately."

"Can't this wait? I'm busy."

"Indigo, we need you to come. Now."

"What's going on?" I was getting impatient.

"I'm legally not allowed to say over the phone, but it's urgent."

"Shit. I'll be there soon."

I hung up and hurried over to Evelyn's school. I burst into the office where I found Evelyn silently crying. Her principal and the school counselors were there too.

"Is everything okay?" I was seriously worried now.

"Sit down, please."

Reluctantly, I took a seat. One of the counselors handed me a large envelope and a few pamphlets and began speaking.

"Miss Peterson, your sister is very ill. Her teacher and her friends have all come to us expressing concern about her health. Evelyn is underweight and very pale, she looks like she may faint. After looking into the matter more it is evident that she is anorexic. Miss Peterson, this has been going on for a very long time and if she doesn't start getting intense therapy immediately she may die."

Another counselor began to speak, "In addition to all of this, she has been muttering things to herself these pass few weeks, probably a side effect of trauma and lack of food. Evelyn needs care immediately. In fact, I would recommend taking her to the emergency room right now."

"Holy shit...Evelyn, why haven't you said anything?" I wrapped her in a hug and turned to the principal. "I can't afford to take her to the hospital. I'm a minor without insurance."

"What about your parents?" She raised an eyebrow.

"They won't pay. They don't care."

"We'll have to look into that too. I'll call Child Protective Services and have them stop by your home tomorrow."

Oh fuck. That's bad. Child Protective Services can split our family up and take our parents away from us. They may be terrible, but at least they give us somewhere to live. I can't let Benji and Evelyn live in foster homes.

"Please don't do that. We'll be fine." I pleaded.

"Indigo, legally I am required to call CPS if there's a bad home situation."

"No, really. We're okay. Our home is fragile, but it's fine. We'll manage."

"Miss Peterson," The principal warned "you need to take Evelyn to the hospital right now. While you're there I'm going to call CPS."

"But-"

"It's not a suggestion, it's an order."

Without another word I grabbed Evelyn's thin hand and led her to my car. She was still crying. I held her hand the hold ride to the hospital and we walked into the emergency room together.

Immediately after entering the emergency room Evelyn started muttering something and then she passed out. I heard a sickening crack and winced as I looked down to see her pale body in an unnatural shape.

"Help!" I screeched. "We need help!"

It seemed like years later when a team put Evelyn on a gurney and wheeled her into another room, motioning for me to stay where I was. Tears in my eyes, I sat down in a chair and waited.