Butterflies

Ch9- A job

Butterflies

Chapter 9

~Dedicated to what seems like my biggest reader for this book, SarahRoseCM. Thank you for reading and commenting!! You've also inspired me for another character who will soon be revealed :3~

~ALSO! My Limited Internet ran out on my phone! It comes back on the 9th! THREE WEEKS! Noooooo. Or wait until I find wifi!~

Hayden's POV

The building is large, the main one very large, three floors. Two smaller, two floor buildings are attached to it. All of it once painted a white, but now darkened with dirt and abuse. The pole holding flags is soaked in bird poop and chipped paint.

Biting my lip, I clutch Carol's, Nathan's mother, hand. Time is on my mind. Etched like a calendar.

A week at school.

Three days in the butterfly basement.

A month in the hospital.

A month till Luke and John were found.

A week of Luke's clinging.

And now a week to this day.

Three months. Three months I've juggled the stress of my life, school and others life's. I couldn't handle school. The pressure sitting on my shoulders seemed to be dragging me down.

I hadn't even finished my first semester and I was quitting. I'm only fifteen. I'm throwing away my future.

Carol recommended waiting a few years and getting my GED, which I considered.

Carol and I talked for hours making a deal. She and Eric, Nathan's dad, have demanding jobs and never have time to clean. They have a lady who cleans once a week but they're sure she's stealing from them. And carol wants me to learn to cook and cook for them.

I gladly accepted. I could clean and cook. I also felt like I was paying them for my hospital bill and letting me live with them.

Carol squeezed my hand and we walked to the school office. "Hello, I'd like to sign my son out of school." She lied smoothly.

"Name?" The old woman said. She looked at me with a sad face.

"Hayden jones."

She slid a stack of papers to her pointing to various places. "Sign here." She looked to me. "Why are you quitting? You're only a freshman!"

"You have no right to ask him that. He doesn't have to answer that either." Carol said in her lawyer voice.

I squeezed her left hand as a thank you. She squeezed back.

'You're welcome.' Her unspoken words whispered.

Signed out I turned to see Nathan and John smiling and Luke on the verge of tears. "Don't leave me Hayden!"

I hugged him gently. "Luke, I'm going to be at Nathan's house. I'm not leaving or anything."

"But I want you here in school with me!"

My lip quivered and I squeezed him putting my face in his neck. "Luke, I can't handle the stress of school. I can't handle it. I'll break."

He sighed. "I know."

"When things calm down I'll get my GED." I smiled Shyly.

He squealed. "That's the first time you've smiled at me!"

Surely I've smiled at him more than once. I felt guilty for that.

He blew his curls from his face and grinned. "I'll see you later."