Rise Up

Lin

A couple weeks later, Talie seemed to have relaxed a bit. It seemed to me she felt more like she was at home. Occasionally, she would go hang out at her own apartment just to get away, which was fine with me. I trusted her. I didn't think she was over there injecting heroin or anything.

Things at school felt mostly natural again. We both seemed to be able to separate school and home life. In the classroom, she was my student and I treated her just like any other kid. If she missed an assignment, she could turn it in the next day for 10% off. If she was tardy, I marked it.

Sebastian and Cisco had quickly become attached to her. She was a regular bedtime story reader and had even started helping with baths. We didn't expect any of this, of course, but Talie seemed to like it. She didn't have any siblings or even cousins, so having other kids around seemed like it was fun for her.

One evening, I went to check on her. I pushed her door open and got some pushback from a pile of clothes behind the door. After the first week of honeymoon cleanliness, we'd learned she was a bit of a slob. I didn't pester her about it; I wasn't her father after all.

"Hey," I told her as I closed the door.

"Hey," she said, her voice melancholy, as she stared at her phone.

"You okay?" I asked. At dinner, she'd been quiet and hadn't smiled once, even when Sebastian balanced his spoon on his nose.

"Fine," she said, though obviously she wasn't. I sat down on her bed and looked at her, concerned. She wasn't exactly usually talkative, but it was obvious something wasn't right.

"Have you talked to your dad lately?" I asked.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "Can't get ahold of him. He won't return my calls."

I shook my head. As a father, I couldn't imagine not talking to my kids daily. How could he ignore his own daughter? "I'm sorry, Talie. He must be really busy. And I'm sure the time difference doesn't help."

"He knows he can call me anytime," she went on, tucking her legs underneath her in a pretzel-style. "I'll wake up if he calls."

That seemed like an odd arrangement. He should be bending to her schedule, not the other way around. Obviously, Talie's dad was a lot different from me.

"Have you tried e-mail?"

"I hate e-mail," she mumbled.

"Hmmm," I said, not sure how to solve this problem. "Well, I'm sure he'll get back to you soon."

I checked my watch. It was almost 10:00.

"Are you about to tuck in?" I asked her. "It's the middle of the night in London. I doubt he'll be calling back tonight."

"Yeah, I guess," she said reluctantly. I stood up and gave her a quick hug, then told her good night.

The next day, Talie wasn't in 5th period as usual, and I knew she was here today since I'd come with her myself. I continued with class as usual, then decided to use my prep period to go see if I could find out where she was. I wandered into the main office and she was sitting on one of the chairs. I grabbed some papers from my mailbox, then sat down next to her. She was leaning back, her arms crossed. A scowl on her face.

"What happened?" I asked gently, leaning forward on my elbows.

"Mr. Parker's a dick, that's what," she muttered, obviously still angry. I decided not to admonish her on the language.

"What happened?" I repeated.

"My dad called me during his class, so I said I needed to step out and take the call," she explained, going quickly. "He told me I didn't have permission. That I needed to put my phone away. But I wasn't gonna miss a call from my dad. I've been trying to talk to him for days. So he sent me to the office and took away my phone!"

I could tell she was fighting back tears. I leaned back, crossing my ankle over my other knee, and looked at her. Poor kid. I felt badly that she'd had such a hard time getting hold of her dad.

"Did you explain the situation to him?" I asked gently.

"He wouldn't listen!" Talie said. "And I got too mad."

I sighed and nodded my head. Just then, the principal walked out and called Talie to his office. I wasn't her parent, but I was her guardian, so I decided to follow her in.

"Mr. Miranda," Dr. Fisher greeted me. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," I said, sitting down next to Talie. "Talie was just explaining to me what happened and I thought I could help shed some light on the situation."

Dr. Fisher was fully aware of our living arrangement. "Please," he motioned for me to continue.

"As you know, Talie's father is living in London for a few months. Talie's been trying to get ahold of him for several days and hasn't been able to reach him. She's been worried and she really misses her dad. He happened to call while Talie was in Mr. Parker's class."

Dr. Fisher nodded and seemed sympathetic. "I'm sorry to hear you've been having trouble getting hold of your dad," Dr. Fisher told Talie. "But we can't just let certain students not adhere to the cell phone rules. If we did, we'd have kids getting calls all the time and learning would be disrupted."

"I understand that sir," Talie began respectfully. "But I think my situation is different. My dad's living in another country, and there's a five hour time difference."

"I do agree you have a unique situation," Dr. Fisher continued. "However, you cannot be answering your cell phone in class. What we can do, is have your dad call the school if it's urgent and we can call you to the office."

I looked at Talie to gauge her reaction. It wasn't exactly the most private place to have a conversation, but it was better than nothing.

"Does that sound fair?" he asked the teenager. Talie nodded, biting her lip.

"Can I get my cell phone back?" she asked.

Dr. Fisher opened up his desk drawer and pulled out her phone. "I'll give it to Mr. Miranda, and he can give it back at his discretion. As far as Mr. Parker, he's assigned you one after-school detention for disrupting class."

Talie groaned but didn't argue. It was decided she would serve it today after school. Dr. Fisher wrote down her detention slip, then a tardy pass to 6th period. I thanked Dr. Fisher and we walked out together.

"Can I have my phone back please?" she asked me, holding out her hand. I tucked it into my back pocket.

"I'll hang onto it until the end of the day," I told her. She gaped at me.

"Why?" she asked, obviously perturbed.

"Did you get to talk to your dad?" I changed the subject a little.

"Briefly," she said. "I want to try calling him back again."

I sighed, considering the situation. I didn't exactly want to encourage her breaking the cell phone rule, but I knew she'd been desperate to talk to her father. "Come with me."

Talie followed me to my classroom, and I got out her cell phone. "You can call him back now. If he doesn't answer, you can try again after school, but I'm keeping your phone. You can't be answering in class."

She nodded, seemingly fully onboard with the plan. I passed her her phone, then went about checking my emails and getting papers in order for my next class. As she waited for him to answer, I silently prayed that he would answer. He didn't.

She sighed and looked disappointed. Talie walked to my desk and set her phone down.

"Sorry, kiddo," I told her, looking at her sympathetically.

"Figures," she said. "See you after detention."

I slipped the phone in my back pocket as she walked towards the door.

"Talie!" I called her as she reached for the door. She turned and looked at me. "Are you okay?"

She torqued her jaw to the side a little, looked down, then met my eyes.

"I haven't been okay for a while."