Polaroid // Reggie Mantle (2)

Chapter Two

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Jack Sinclair exclaimed, taking in the sight of his daughter sitting on the floor surrounded by the envelopes he had so purposely hid. He entered into the house, shutting the door behind him. Before leaving the threshold, he flipped the door lock so that it was sitting in the locked position.

Caia gulped. The look in her father's eyes was not something she was fond of. He was angry. She couldn't tell if it was because of the information she had come across, or the alcohol coursing through his veins. Probably both.

Jack stripped off his jacket, and threw it onto the couch. He strode menacingly across the room, to stand right in front of Caia. "Get up," he demanded savagely, reaching down and grabbing Caia by her caller, forcing her to her feet. "What the hell are you doing?" He demanded.

Caia gulped. "I- I just stumbled across these papers-"

Jack fiercly brought his daughter closer to him. "Stumbled across? Are you dumb enough to think that a locked drawer is an invitation for you to snoop? Well, heads up, it's not." He shoved Caia back against the desk, causing pictures and trinkets to fall onto the floor. "I think you need to learn a lesson, huh?"

A pang of fear shot through Caia's body. She knew what was coming next and she also knew there was no way to get out of it. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the hit, and a second later, it came.

When her dad was finally satisfied, he left Caia and stalked off to his room upstairs. Caia sat leaned up against the wall and gingerly touched her sore face. She grimaced as soon as pressure touched the fragile skin. Her father had been in such a rage that he hasn't even bothered to do anything with the pile of bills that had sent him into the rage. Caia knew she had to get help with this. There was no way she had enough money to save her house, and she knew her father didn't either.

Caia put all the rest of the bills back into the drawer, keeping only the one that she had opened. She shut the drawer and got up, making her way to the door. She surveyed around her, making sure her father wasn't anywhere close before opening the door and stepping out into the chilly air. She shut the door quietly behind her and dug her phone out of her pocket.

Caia opened her phone and clicked on the call icon. She selected the only person she could think to call. Betty. She put the phone to her ear and tapped her foot anxiously, willing her blonde friend to pick up. However, all she received was the dial tone.

Cursing under her breath, Caia brought her phone down and locked it. She figured the only logical place Betty could be was at the hospital. So that's where Caia went.

She pushed through the swinging doors on a mission to find Betty. Unfortunately, she was not there. She made her way to Archie, intending to ask where Betty had gone.

"Hey Arch," she greeted, still looking around for the Cooper girl. "Have you seen Betty?" She made eye contact with Archie, who was staring intensely at Caia's face.

"Uh, no. What happened to your face?" He questioned. He cocked his head trying to get a better view.

Self-conciously, Caia brought her hand up to her jaw. She had forgotten to cover up the bruise before charging out of her house. "I- uh, I fell off my bike," she stuttered.

Archie furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought you didn't have a bike."

"Yeah, yeah Sincliar, I've never even seen you rude a bike. Ever." Caia wiped her head to the right. It was the first time she noticed that Reggie was standing next to Archie. Her eyes widened at his presence.

Gulping, she turned back to Archie. She scrambled for a response. There was no way she was going to be able dig herself out of the hole without lying again. "I just got one."