The weekend went by fast, and then it was back to school for Arielle and Christopher. After dropping him off at the elementary school in her mom's old car she had been given two years ago, she headed towards school herselof. She blasted some Chris Daughtry along the way, singing along. When she reached school, she saw her two friends Amy and Christina getting out of a guy's car. She didn't recognize him, and wondered who he was.
Stepping out of the car, Arielle smiled their way. " Hey Amy. Hey Christina. Who is this?"
" This is my cousin from California." Christina told her. " Arielle, this is Brett." She introduced them, watching the two shake hands. " He flew down yesterday and is in town for awhile."
" It's nice to meet you, Arielle." Brett smiled at her.
This guy who stood before her stood at about 5"10 and was pretty muscular. You could tell he did some serious working out, althought he didn't have those big strong muscles that most mean had either. He had blue green eyes and short brown hair. Arielle knew from talking to Christina about him that he was twenty years old, but he looked older than that. He was very handsome.
" It's nice to meet you too, Brett." She smiled back. " Are you thinking of moving here? I know from what Christina has said that you are in culinary school right now."
" Yes, I am in culinary school. She is trying to talk me into moving out here. I'm not really sure about that though. I did tell her I would come here though and give Oklahoma a chance."
With a nod, she grabbed her books and school bag out of her car. " Well, I hope you like it here. I wish I could stay and chat but the bell is about to ring." She shut the car door and locked it up.
Amy looked at her with an amused looks on her face, then turned to look at Brett. " We'll see you later. Thanks for the ride."
With a smile and a nod, he said goodbye and got back into his car. They watched him drive away and then headed inside.
Christina looked from Amy to Arielle, noticing the dreamy look in her eyes. She laughed, knowing all too well what that meant. " Sorry to have to tell you this, Arielle. He does have a girlfriend back in California, and she is in fact pregnant."
Arielle looked at her sadly. " I should have figured. No one that cute remains single for long."
Amy nodded her head in agreement. " It sucks, but there isn't much we can do about it."
They seperated and went to class, barely making it before the first bell rang.
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" Mom, can I call dad? Please." Begged Ezra, giving her that sad puppy face look.
" I suppose. He may not answer though, honey. He may be in the studio." Natalie started to clean up from their breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast. " If he doesn't answer you can try again later."
Getting up from his seat at the kitchen table, Ezra grabbed the cordless phone from the counter and dialed the number.
" I want to talk to him too." Penny said, finishing up her glass of orange juice.
" I'll hand you the phone when I am done talking to him, if he picks up." Just as he said that, someone on the other end did pick up. It was Ashley. " Hi Ashley. Did my dad leave for the studio yet?"
" He's on his way out, but I am sure he has time for you. Hold on." Ashley called out to him, and seconds later he was on the phone.
" Ezra, how are you? I miss you, son." Taylor spoke softly, and Ezra could tell by that just how sad he was.
" I miss you too, dad. So very much. But I am doing good. Mom made a breakfast of eggs, sausage and tast this morning. It was good."
" Good. I am so glad your doing alright." All of a sudden there was a pounding on the front door, which made Ezra jump. Taylor even heard it through the phone. " What was that?"
" Natalie, open up this door right now. We need to talk!" Nathan's voice came through loud and clear.
" It's Nathan. Dad, I... I have to let you go. Mom needs me." He told him.
" Ezra, if something is going on you need to tell me right now. I know your mom didn't just leave because of bad memories."
" Go away, Nathan. I don't want to speak to you." Natalie screamed at him loud enough for Taylor to hear her.
" I can't tell you, dad. I just... I have to go. Bye." He hung up on him, and brought Wilhelmina up to her room, along with the rest of his siblings. Then he went back downstairs where he saw that the door had been busted down. Nathan was backing his mom up into a corner. " Stop it! Leave my mom alone!" He screamed at him, running over to him and began hitting at him with his fists.
" Ezra, just... go upstairs. This is not your fight." Natalie ordered, but he didn't stop flailing his fists at him.
" No. I am not going to let him hurt you." Ezra kicked Nathan in the ankle, who almost went down.
That pissed Nathan off, and it was enough to send him over the edge. He shoved Ezra down to the floor and glared at him angrily. " If you know what is good for you, you will get the hell out of here." He snapped.
Natalie saw her chance then, and she grabbed the nearest item to her. Hitting him over the head with a rolling pin, Nathan fell to the floor himself, nearly on top of Ezra. " Get out of here, Ezra. I will go grab your brother's and sisters. Please just go." She begged him.
He nodded, and ran out the door to the neighbor's house across the street. She ran up the stairs to get the other kids, and they barely made it out the door before Natahn came back around. He tried to grab her by the ankles, but Natalie was too fast for him. The neighbor let them in, and called the police for her.
