Tornado

Part 3

Once both girls left the administration office, they walked through the halls in silence. Cara waited till they were outside in the sunlight to say, "Kailee, what was that all about?"

Kailee shrugged. "You heard what happened in there."

"Yeah, but you barely spoke. I wanna fully hear your side. Coming from you."

"Well, you're already gonna tell Mom what happened. Shouldn't we just go through it once when we're all together? And is she really working now?"

"Yup. She called. Which gives us time to talk about what happened and decide what we need to tell her."

Kailee looked at her sister and sighed. "Okay." They began their five-minute walk to a bus stop. "So, that girl Claira. Remember I told you about how Hazel overheard her making shady comments about me fishing for sympathy by mentioning Dad?" Cara nodded. "Well, today she made more nasty comments after English class, so I went to her locker to know what her problem was. She gave me so much attitude for no reason. And then, what ticked me off was when she said, 'Your father's lucky he never got to know you.' That's when I shoved her into a locker. She called me a bitch and I slapped her. We fought and it got broken up. That's it."

"Define, 'we fought.'"

"Ugh, Cara. Does detail really matter right now? I mean, you get the point."

Cara nodded. "Okay. You're right." Silence for a couple of steps. "But Mom made a point yesterday. You can't let everything other people say affect you. Everyone will always have an opinion. Whether it's negative or positive. You can't control it."

"I know."

"Is this the first time someone made a comment about you that you didn't like?"

"I mean... No, but today I just popped off." She shook her head. "Claira really hit the wrong button today."

"Well, can you promise me this won't happen again?"

"I guarantee this won't become a habit Cara. If no one tries me."

Cara glanced at her younger sister. "Okay. I won't tell Mom."

Kailee looked at her sister. "What about my suspension?"

"Hm. Uh..."

"We tell her I don't have any school?"

"For two days? On a Wednesday and Thursday? Will she believe that?"

"I don't know..."

Cara shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it'll have to do. If not, we can think of something else."

They walked a few more steps before Kailee looked up at her sister, and said, "Thanks."

Cara nodded and smiled a little, her eyes holding sincerity. They walked the rest of the way to the bus stop in silence. Cara couldn't help but think about the decision that she had just made. She was always on her sister's side and constantly looked out to protect her. She also didn't see the point in creating unnecessary stress for her mother. Lying wasn't her thing, but when it came to those she loved, she did whatever she could to protect them. Besides, she knew she could trust Kailee. Kailee never gave her reason not to. *

Once they got home, Kailee went straight upstairs. Cara went into the kitchen, finding a batch of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. She smiled. What an unexpected surprise. She grabbed one. It had been a while since her mother baked. She went upstairs to tell her sister about it. As she neared Kailee's room, she heard her sister say behind the closed door, "Omg Hazel, I fuckin' got suspended! For two days!"