By Your Side

Chapter 6: guilt

Callie's POV

We all gather in the living room which fills with an awkward silence.  I sit on the floor next to Jude and wrap my arms around him allowing my head to rest on his shoulder.  We stay like that for a minute until Marianna decides to ask the question that has been on most of our minds since the shooting began. "So, are you guys every going to tell us what happened?"

"Marianna, all you need to know for the time being is that you are safe in this house." Lena said with a weak smile.

"We don't want you- any of you, leaving this house until we say that it's okay.  And we don't want you texting or communicating at all with any one" Stef continued.  I'm pretty sure they don't need to worry about us texting anyone since they did take away our cell phones and all.  Not that I am in the mood to talk to anyone anyway.

"Why can't we talk to our friends? I haven't even checked to see if everyone is okay yet."

"Sweetheart, if there was something that we thought you needed to know then we would tell you." Stef continued.

"Yeah, sure" Marianna sasses back while rolling her eyes.

"We need you all to promise that you will not bet in contact with anybody and that you will stay here with us until everything is sorted out" Lena says with a serious look on her face.  We all agree to their terms, even though we do not really understand why they are necessary.  "okay good. Now who's up for a board game?" she asks with a complete change in tone. When none of us answer she says "alrighty then" and makes her way over to the game closet. Lena carried back Pictionary and we divided our teams into boys against girls. Just as I was about to take a seat on the end of the couch, Marianna slid in before I could get there making me sit in the middle.  As I get situated, I notice that Brandon is on the other side of me.  He sees me looking at him and as soon as we make eye contact we both quickly look away.  When I do, I see Lena eyeing me from across the room.  It feels like my every move is being watched and it is very uncomfortable.

We play the game for about an hour, but we were all a bit on edge.  Once moms finally give us permission to leave the room to have some down time, I decide to just go lay in my bed.  There wasn't much else to do since they took our cell phones away. It was really a boring afternoon, but I suppose it's better than being yelled at by Lena and Stef like I expected.

+++++

I open my eyes and realized that I had fallen asleep.  Marianna was not in the room anymore either, so I looked to our alarm clock to see the time.  I had been sleeping for two hours, which was out of the ordinary for me, but I had been up for most of the night so it's not surprising.  I get out of bed and stretch my arms above my head as I make my way towards the door.  Someone is already in the bathroom so I wait outside in the hall way until they are finished.  I lean against the wall still not awake enough to hold myself up.

When the door swings open I find Brandon on the other side.  I smile awkwardly at him and he does the same.  His hair is messier than usual and he is wearing sweat pants and no shirt, so I assume he has been sleeping too. "What's up?" He questions wearily.  Gosh this is weird.

"I'm just...waiting for the bathroom" I answer while pointing behind him.

"Oh, okay... right" he chuckled trying to hide his embarrassment. "Well then, I guess I'll just go back to my room."  I step aside so that I no longer am blocking the door way.  Before he leaves we make eye contact for a moment.  This is foreign territory.  We don't know how to act around each other now that we are keeping our distance.  I am afraid that the smallest thing will set off moms at any moment.  But still, he is the person that always makes me feel at ease, and it will destroy me not being able to have him as my rock anymore. I watch him as he walks back to his bedroom and close the door behind him.  I shake my head slightly and then turn back to the bathroom door.