Brallie Metropolis AU | In This Together

Chapter 22 | Forceful Distractions

It was a sunny Thursday morning, the exact opposite five days ago. Around 6:50 am, all the kids were seated at the kitchen table, spooning a variety of cereals and muffins. There was a pot of tea on the counter for Lena and Stef.

"So, what happens when it rains next? Mariana asked, referring to the leakage that occurred the day after the big storm where a tree branch fell onto the house.

"Well, a roofer is going to come by tomorrow to repair the leak or damage or whatever happened." Lena shrugged her shoulders, sipping tea. 

"What time?" Mariana stuck her nose in deeper.

"Around six, I think?" Stef looked over to Lena, who nodded.

"Like, in the morning?" Mariana whined.

"Yes, like in the morning." Stef intoned.

"Is it going to be loud?" Brandon joined in quickly.

"I don't really care, I sleep like the dead." Jude's soft voice got drowned out a little by the third degree Stef and Lena were getting.

"Will it wake us up?" Jesus muttered.

"Can the roofer come later?" Callie added. The way these kids were speaking was like rapid fire.

"Whoa, whoa. Can we stop with the 20 questions?" Lena said sternly, then lightened up. "All of you wake up at 6:30 anyway."

"30 minutes is a lot of minutes, mama. That's 30 minutes less of sleep." Jesus pointed out.

"It's not 6:00 o'clock exactly. It could be 6:00 or 6:05 or 6:15, they didn't specify. Anyway, it's almost time to go. Does everyone have everything they need for school?" Lena looked around to see the children all nodding while trying to finish the last of their breakfast. "All right, let's go kiddos." Lena and Stef said their usual goodbye's and I love you's as Lena and the kids walked out the front door to go to school.

Callie had something on her mind all day at school. One specific thing. She couldn't get it out of her head. It was eating at her focus.  When walking home from school, she tried to distract herself by looking at the glowing sun that was out, and how the trees moved through the light swifts of wind gusts. Look at the pretty trees, look at the pretty trees, she kept saying to herself. It was actually very beautiful, very serine. With every step, the trees, the sun, and the wind, the trees, the sun, and the wind.

 It was about 5 pm when Callie found herself standing outside Brandon's room, staring at the doorknob. Everyone was off doing work stuff and homework and their own thing. She was surprised when she didn't hear the faint sound of music coming from inside. Callie opened the door and saw Brandon sitting at his desk with a pencil in his hand and his head in a book. She was so quiet that Brandon didn't even notice his door had opened and closed, and a person was slowly walking towards him. Callie's heart was racing with every step. She put her hand on the desk and leaned against it, popping her hip. Brandon knew she was there but didn't look up at her.

"So, uh, you know when we said it was okay if we...you know...every now and then to...you know." She stuttered. Brandon's eyebrows raised a little.

"I have no idea what your talking about." Brandon smirked, teasing her, still looking at his book.

Callie laughed, shaking her head and tapping her finger on the desk. "I see what you're doing. But I know you know what I'm talking about."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Brandon looked up and his smirk was still plastered on his face. This made Callie crazy.