Battle Scars

chapter 3 - I have him back

Lunch came quick. When the bell dismisses us to lunch, I nearly run out of class. I shove my books and binder in my small locker and slam it shut before going outside for lunch.

All eyes are on me. Not in a good way though. I guess the word got out that I was in juvie just last week. I really don't even care. All I want is to find Brandon. I scan the beach and all the tables.

Eventually I found him. He's with someone else though. A girl. She has gorgeous red hair and even though she's not as tan as most girls that live on a beach are, she's gorgeous. There's no way I could ever compete with her. By the way they have their arms wrapped around each other, I know they aren't just friends.

I should have known he doesn't care. He's just like any other guy; he pretends he cares then the next thing you know you're nothing to him. More hurt than angry, I run. I don't know where I'm going but I just run and let the tears fall from my eyes.

"Hey! Callie, wait!" I hear from behind me and I know it's Brandon. My running slows to a walk but I don't stop. He eventually caught up to me but I act like I don't see him. "Where are you going?"

"To find Jude." it just slipped out. I guess I knew that's what I was doing all along but I just didn't know I knew.

"Who's Jude? Like your boyfriend or something?"

"No." I let out a small laugh.

"Who is he then?"

I turn around to face him. I let him see my tears this time. "He's my brother. And if I don't go now, he's just going to be stuck in that house. I have to go." I was walking away again. Faster this time and he followed me.

"Wait let me call my mom! She's a cop, she can help!" he yelled after me.

"A cop? Really? You don't know me at all!"

"Callie, she can help you."

"I know cops!" I stopped walking at this point and me and Brandon are face to face.

"She's not like that." He says calmly, sympathetically.

"Look, if you call your mom she's just going to find a bunch of complaints my old foster dad made on me. I'll be sent back to juvie and he'll be stuck in that house." I explain with tears in my eyes and some rolling down my cheeks.

"At least let me help you."

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We finally arrive at the house. On the bus ride there, I told Brandon everything; why I was sent to juvie, what happened the night I went to juvie, why our foster dad beat Jude, everything that he needed to know about this foster home.

Brandon agreed to get Jude's foster dad's attention by knocking on the front door and asking for directions while I sneak in through the back. I see Jude doing the dishes through the window and I can't believe how much he's grown. I watch his foster dad answer the door so I open the back door and don't even close it because it will make too much sound. Brandon asks for directions but I don't hear where. All I care about is that I'm so close to my little brother and soon I'll be with him again. He's the only family I have left.

Everything goes wrong when he turns around. "Hey! Get the hell out of my house!" he screams.

"Just let me speak to Jude." I say but I doubt he heard me over the yelling. He grabs his gun and threatens to shoot. Brandon's now yelling for him to drop the gun, I'm saying I just want to see Jude, and he's screaming at us to leave.

Suddenly there's two armed cops in the house with us. A man and woman. The man tells him to drop the gun and put his hands up. For once he obeys. I run over to Jude and I don't even care that I almost just died. I have Jude and that's all that matters. I wrap my arms around his tiny body and realize that I'm crying again. We hug for as long as we can until the two police officers have our old foster dad cuffed and in the back of their car.

Brandon and Jude get in the back of Lena's car. I stand outside with the woman, the cop.

"If you wanna send me back to juvie it's fine, just make sure Jude is safe." I tell her.

She looks at me sympathetically and says "You're not disposable. You're not worthless." She opens the car door for me and I get in next to Jude. The man that cuffed our foster dad stands at the other side of the car by Brandon with the door open.

"I'm gonna kill you if your mother doesn't do it first." He says. Brandon nods and looks over at the woman. Wait, she's his mom too? I thought Lena was his mom?

"I love you, B." the man says.

"Love you too, Dad." Brandon says. Lena's sitting in the driver's seat up front and through the review mirror, I see her smile a bit. The two cops shut the doors. Brandon's dad gets into the police car and drives off while the woman gets in the passenger seat in our car. Before Lena drives off, her and the cop hold hands and kiss each other. Oh. Now I understand.

Lena drives my and Jude to the Schratter house. Her partner explains all that happened tonight, who Jude is and tells Cathy that we can't be split up again. Of course, Cathy refuses to take both of us and shuts the door in their faces. While Lena and the woman- Brandon's mom- talk everything out, we sit silently in the car.

"You didn't have to come you know." I say to Brandon.

"Yes I did." I hear him say and I smile.

"Well?" Brandon asks his moms when they get back in the car.

"How would you two like to stay with us?" Lena asks me and Jude. I look at him and he has a hopeful look written on his face. We smile at each other and like we're all reading each other's minds, Lena says 'ok' and everyone in the car has a huge smile on our faces.

We drive off. No, the day I got out of juvie wasn't the best. Today was though, and that's all that matters. I have Jude by me and we both have each other.

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Author's Note:

Ok so I know I started this story off in a house that's definitely not the Foster's home. I have my reasons for that though ;) anyway, even if you don't like this, comment why you do\don't care for it please! I have plans for this and I promise that it will be more of a Brallie story soon. Thanks for reading!