Rise Up

Talie

It had been a week since my dad had called to say he was marrying some woman in London.  I still hadn't called him.  I wasn't sure what I'd say.  I'm sure he wanted me to say I wanted to come.  But, I still wasn't sure I wanted to.  I wanted to be with him, but I wasn't sure if I'd want to leave New York City.  I was finally starting to settle in at Hunter, and I didn't want to have to start over.

The alternative was spending the rest of high school with the Mirandas.  That wouldn't be a bad situation to be in.  Lin and Vanessa were the best, and I loved their boys.  Lin had offered for me to stay, but did they really want me to?  I mean, they had a cute little family by themselves. Did they really need some random teenager living with them?  Besides a built-in babysitter, what did they have to gain from it?

I stared off into space as we ate dinner one night.  It had been a hard day at school.  There'd been a pop quiz in biology, and a test in algebra.  I think I'd bombed it.  All I wanted to do was crawl into bed after dinner, but I had hours of homework ahead, including late work for Lin.  He knew I'd been struggling, but he didn't let up.  Ten percent off every day it was late.

After dinner, I sat down with my work splayed all over my bed.  Just like every other night, I couldn't focus.  Deep down, I knew why – I needed to talk to my dad.  But, I was stubborn.  I wanted him to worry.  I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having me call him.

Around 10:00, Lin came to check on me.  "How'd the homework go?" he asked me, knowing I'd gotten behind.  One downside to living with him was him knowing all my school business.  All my teachers knew I was living with him and they talked.

I sighed.  "Not great," I admitted, sighing and resting my clasped hands on my head.

He sighed, crossing his arms.  "Is it all because of your dad?  Or are you sitting in here playing on your phone?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

"I'm not playing on my phone," I fibbed.  "I mean...I do when I need a break."

"A break from doing nothing?"

I let out an exasperated breath.  "Lin!  I'm trying."

"I know, sweetheart," he told me.  "Maybe you should try working at the kitchen table or at the library.  See if it helps."

He told me goodnight and I sighed as I looked at my work.  I'd barely gotten anything done.  I decided to pack my stuff up for the night.  Might as well get some sleep if I couldn't get my work done.

____

The detentions started to pile on from all the missed work.  Teachers' homework policies differed.  Some were pretty strict and some were forgiving.  After school I wandered to Mr. Miranda's room and plopped down in the front row, sighing.

"Tough day?" he asked, looking at his laptop.

"Yeah," I said.  "I got two new detentions."

"For what?" he asked.

"Missing work," I told him, resting my chin on my forearm.

"You've got three missing assignments from me too," he reported.  Mr. Miranda didn't assign detentions for that, but he did deduct points.  "Talie, this can't go on."

"I'm trying!" I told him in a bit of a whiny voice.

"Do you need a tutor?"

"I don't need a tutor," I said, annoyed.  When adults were having a hard time no one nagged them.  Kids had all sorts of adults all over them.

"Well, we need to figure something out," he said, closing his laptop.  "You almost have a C in my class."

I winced.  I'd always gotten all A's and B's.  It was nearing the end of the grading period.