Picking Up Shattered Pieces

Chapter 4

Callie ran out of the hallway and out onto the beach. As she was making her way out, Brandon happened to be in the hall as well. He noticed that Callie seemed a little bit upset and was curious as to why, so he decided to ask if she was okay. He knew her well enough that if she said she was okay, Brandon knew by the way she acted that she really wasn’t.

“Callie, where are you going?” Brandon asked, running after her.

“Stop, okay? Just stop.” Callie responded bitterly. Callie always was open toward Brandon. This time, Brandon saw that she wasn’t. In order for something like this to happen, it must have hurt Callie pretty badly.

“Callie, what happened?” Brandon asked again. This time, Callie just glared at Brandon.

“How can I get her to open up to me? I don’t want her to feel like her privacy is being invaded. She always is really calm around me, why isn’t she this calm right now? If only I knew what happened, I could help her. But how can I know what happened if she won’t tell me? Brandon thought silently. Instead of pushing her with further questions, he decided that he would take her to a more peaceful place, and that it would hopefully get her to let her walls down.

“Come on, let’s sit out on the beach.” Brandon suggested, leading her out before she had a chance to respond. Callie sighed in defeat and let herself be led outside. Once they were seated on the warm sand, the two were quiet, just staring at the waves crashing onto the shore. Breaking the silence, Callie, her eyes still brimmed with tears, said, “Jude and I got into a fight.” Brandon looked down, unsure of what to say.

“What were you two fighting about?” He finally asked.Callie pursed her lips before responding.

“He could tell that I was hiding something, and he wanted to know what it was. I didn’t want to tell him because I knew he wouldn’t take it well. We started yelling at each other, and…” Callie took a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t know what made him do this, but...he said I wasn’t legally a part of the family.: Callie took another deep breath, closing her eyes to try and hide her tears.

“You know that he didn’t mean it, right? You’ve been protecting him since you guys were put in the foster system.” Brandon said, wrapping his arm around Callie’s shoulders. Callie just shrugged and rested her head onto Brandon’s shoulder.