Bullet Point

Chapter 5: Saying Goodbye and Saying Hello

"What is it? What's wrong?" Ninette pouts, staring at Kellan devastadedly.

"Well, a threat came to the white house of nuclear warfare. They traced the call back to Japan. There staging a stakeout there and I have to go along. They put me in charge of the case."

"What!" Ninette shreiks. "How long are you going to be gone?"

"There's no telling. I'll be there until we bust whoever sent the threat. No one knows how long it will be. But, it could be a while. They're predicting that with a struggle it will be for at least 5 months or so."

"How come they put you on it? You're so young!" Ninette cries, holding onto the lapels of his shirt.

"You're younger than me, and they've put you in charge before." He explains to her.

"Well, when do you leave?" She asks with pleading eyes.

"In the morning." He says softly. "I have to be on the plane at seven.

"But-"

"There's nothing I can do about it. If I don't go I'll lose my job. And if you lose a job in the CIA, you can never find work anywhere again." 

"Then we have to step it up. We need to do something romantic! right now!" Ninette's eyes light up with ambition and dirty thoughts.

"That's the other thing." Kellan breathes.

"What?"

"I want you to move on."

"What?" Ninette's eyes widen and the gleam vanishes.

"I don't want you waiting around for me. I want you to move on. Find someone your own age, find someone more reliable than me."

"But I only want to be with you!" Ninette argues. 

"Listen to me. I know that. But I also know by now that it's better to let you go now rather than dissapoint in the end."

"But, why?" 

"Because I love you." 

"You love me?" Ninette asks, blushing.

"I do. But that's why you need to forget about me." He concludes.

"But what if you come back?"

"Well, that's another story. If I come back then maybe something will happen, but for right now this is the best thing to do for both of us." 

Ninette looks down slightly and sighs. 

"I wanted my first time to be with you, Kellan." 

"I'm sorry but I can't do that to you. It would be wrong. Not to mention illegal."

"Please-"

"No." He stops her. "I have to go now. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye." She sneaks in one, long kiss before he vacates the couch and leaves out the front door, the slam making Ninette jump a little.

.

***

.

The next morning, all the kids pile into the van and Madison takes the wheel. 

Ninette, from the passenger's side, turns the radio on full volume and Adrian kicks the back of her seat.

"Turn that shit off!" He yells.

"Shorty's right. This station sucks." Hailey battles it with a different song on her phone. 

Christal smack Adrian upside the head and they start pulling at each other's hair.

"Enough!" Ninette shouts, pulling her gun from the glove box and pointing it toward the back seat. "All of you just shut the hell up!" She lets her anger from the previous night slip out.

And the rest of the ride is silent. 

Madison pulls her sunglasses down over her eyes. 

"Hey, Eamon." She purrs. "That's a nice shirt." 

Ninette rolls her eyes and faces front again, putting the gun back in its place. 

"Thanks?" Eamon says, awkwardly shifting in his seat, like the seat belt is about to suffocate him.

Once they get to the school, all the kids disperse in their different directions and Eamon is left standing there and feeling lost. 

"What's your first class?" Ninette asks with a sigh, not wanting to help but feeling obligated to.

"Uh, Trig." He says, looking down at his new school uniform. 

He tugs at the clean pressed blazer awkwardly.

Ninette can't get over the fact that he really does look hot.

But she can't let herself think that.

"I'll show you."

By the time they get into the halls neither one has said a word.

"Do you do this for all the new foster kids?" Eamon asks.

Ninette frowns a little bit.

"Yeah.. Kind of." She feels bad saying it, but she knows she shouldn't.

"Is that like you job?" He says with a hint of a grin. "Showing the new kids around?"

"Not always," Ninette says. "Some kids are alot different than others. I mean when Naya first showed up here, my mom caught her having sex with 5 guys in one week." 

Ninette pretends to gag and Eamon's eyes bulge a little. 

"And when Hailey came here, it only took a few days before her and Naya were literally pulling chunks of each other's hair out. " She conitnues.

"Wow. Girls are violent." Eamon says blindly.

"This is the foster system." Ninette states. "Everyone is violent. Adults and kids alike."

"So Naya and Hailey hate each other?" He asks.

"No, actually they're best friends." Eamon looks confused. "In a petty way." Ninette guesses. 

They both laugh and when the bell rings, they go their seperate ways.