I woke up as someone gently shook me awake. My eyes fluttered open and as my vision began to focus, I made out Brennan's face. He was giving me a soft smile, his hand cupping my shoulder. I smiled back at him. "Hey, sleepy head," he said softly. My smile stretched out a little bit more as he talked to me.
"Hi," I replied. He gave a light chuckle and touched my knee. "What time is it?" I asked as I stretched my arms high above my head. He cleared his throat, glancing up at the school.
"It's ninth period actually. Mr. Burkwell asked me to come out here and get you before you caught your death." I chuckled and he stood up, his hand held out to me. I took it firmly and he slowly helped me up. "There may not be snow on the ground anymore, but the wind is very chilly right now." I shivered as a gust of air blew passed us, chilling my exposed forearms. Brennan noticed and hurriedly took off his jacket. "Here," he said as he threw it around my shoulders.
I shoved my arms through the sleeves, and zipped it up. It was warm from his body heat and I felt something around my waist. I looked down and saw that Brennan had wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I smiled to myself as he walked me back up to the school. He held the door open for me as I walked in and he was right behind me. The building was warm and Brennan caught up to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Hello, Lindsay," a voice behind us said. We turned around and there stood Olivia Scotts. She was dressed in a tight, dark green, business dress, with black high heels, a black overcoat, and her hair was pinned up in a professional bun.
I felt Brennan's arm flex on my shoulders as I cleared my throat. "Hi, Ms. Scotts," I said, my tone firm as I tried to sound unwavered. She gave me a kind smile and I froze. She had never given me a kind gesture at all just a few months ago. She slowly walked over to me and she rested her hands on my shoulders.
"It's great to see you, Lindsay," she said kindly, her smile still on her face. I forced a smile and she looked over at Brennan. "Aw, Brennan Reich, what a pleasure it is to see you again. I thought you were transfering out of the state though?" I felt Brennan pulling me closer to him, his hand coming to rest on my waist.
"My mom changed her mind," he said, trying to sound tough. She reached forward and touched his arm.
"Then it is great to see you again, nephew," she replied kindly. She looked over at me and clasped her hands in front of her. "Lindsay, I would like to speak to you. We have to finish our conversation from last year." I nodded my head and started to approach her. I looked back at Brennan, his blue eyes hard like ice. I gave him a reassuring smile as I turned back around to walk with her into the office. She stepped aside, allowing me to enter her office first. I walked in and sat down in a leather armchair, while she sat behind a glossy wooden desk. She clasped her hands together as she rested them against the desk. "How have you been, Lindsay?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Fine." She nodded her head curtly and her gaze lowered to Brennan's jacket. They flickered back up to meet mine.
"I hear that you got yourself pregnant," she said, not beating around the bush. I nodded my head slowly. "What are you having?"
"A little boy." She smiled and I noticed that her knuckles were turning white. I looked back up as she stared at her desk, her eyes sad and cold. "I..um...heard about your daughter. I'm really sorry for your loss." She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from me, her hand over her mouth. She was losing it. "Are you alright?" She nodded her head, but I could hear the sniffling. She wasn't alright, in fact she was far from it. She took a deep shaky breath and turned herself back to face me. Her face was red and puffy, tear stains ran down her cheeks.
"Sorry. Not many people want to talk about my daughter." I nodded my head slowly.
"Your other daughter...she's in my English class. She broke down the first day of school...I didn't even know that you had kids until Angie told me." She nodded her head and leaned back in her chair.
