call us reckless(herophine+90210)

33. The Volunteers

Josephine

"Have you saw my sweater?" Brenda shouts down the hallway, I open my door and peak out.

"Have you checked the laundry room?"

She shakes her head, "No, but thank you Josephine."

I nod, then close my door and go back to my bed. I sit down and work on my homework. I have a paper due in English 12 on the first day back. We have to talk about our High School experience, but I don't know where to start. Do I start Freshman Year back home? Or junior year here in Beverly Hills?

I grab my laptop and pull open my door, then head into Brandon's room for help. He's sitting on his bed with Reid on his lap. It was his night with Reid. Brandon got one or two nights every week with his son, then Kelly had him for the rest of the week.

"Josephine, what's up?" He asks when he notices me in the doorway.

Brandon and I shared English as our second block, meaning, he was the only one I could talk to about the assignment, "Can you help me with my English paper? I don't know where to start?"

He nods and I sit across from him and Reid as he shows me through the process. He helps me make the decision to write only about school at West Beverly, and even helps me write pieces of it.

I finish just as Brenda walks in, "Guys, everyone's here, turns out Kel has plans for us for today."

We nod. I put my laptop in my room, then follow Brandon and Brenda downstairs. As the three of us go down the stairs, we see our friends sitting on the couch, everyone including Donna, David, Steve, Andrea, and Hero sit around on the floor and in the chairs.

When we enter the living room, Kelly takes her son from Brandon and we all sit down.

"So, I called us all here because I signed all of us up to volunteer at a Christmas village. Tonight at 7:30, we're meeting at the village, we're dressing as Elves and working various events and activities around the town. You can't say no because I already told the woman who runs it that we'll all be there." She replies as she bounces up and down with Reid in her arms.

"Wait? We're dressing as elves?" Donna asks. She rises from the couch and faces Kelly. She doesn't sound angry. Just confused.

"Yeah, all funds raised go to the children's hospital." She replies.

I take a seat in Hero's lap and rest my head on his chest.

"Can you send the address to the group chat?" Brenda asks from the desk chair.

Kelly nods, "Okay, we're done."

Brandon gets up and approaches Kelly. He hooks and arm around her waist. He kisses her lips, then they hug for a moment. As everyone gets up to leave, I don't move Hero's lap.

"I missed you." He whispers. I look up and kiss his jaw.

"I missed you too." Since we have different schedules at school, I haven't been able to spend as much time as I want to with Hero. So whenever we get to spend time together, it's worth every minute.
~
We arrive at the Christmas village on time. Mrs. Walsh is watching Reid while we work. The drive over to the town was nearly an hour away. It's away from the hustle and the bustle of the city, and is in a smaller suburban area. Andrea called when we were on the way and told us that her Mom and Grandma wouldn't let her go because she had other plans.

Kelly waits for everyone to arrive, then leads us into a small shack behind the facade of the village. In the night, the lights flowed like twinkling stars. A large Christmas tree sat in the middle. At was once a post office, was where you could now write letters to the man himself. A Santa and Mrs. Claus meet and greet was in the town hall. There was a fair set up at the soccer felid, and a diner in the community center.