Illusions That May (Court High 2)

“The black looks better.” I waggled my eyebrows. “You want me to lie?”

She blew a raspberry, her gaze going to her phone. “She said thanks,” Paige stated, but then her eyes flashed up. “You called her beautiful?”

Shrugging, I threw an arm around my friend’s neck, wrestling with her out of the room. I got a sock in the gut for that, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to lie to her sister, no reason to.

Nineteen

December - Present

Rosanna said I could come stay with her and her family… but only if I went back to school. She also said she was going to tell my dad what’s going on, which was the main reason I didn’t tell her I was back in town in the first place. I knew she’d tell my dad and probably felt obligated to morally. I mean, she worked for him, so yeah, I pretty much knew she was going to tell him. Needless to say, my phone started ringing with Dad’s calls again, and my aunt’s weren’t far behind.

“You need to talk to him,” Rosanna had said that first night. She put me up in her daughter’s room, her oldest away at college. Rosanna had three kids, the housekeeper a single parent, I guess.

I told her I’d agree to her demands. I’d go to school, but that didn’t mean I’d be talking to my father. I was still mad at him and my aunt, so no, I wasn’t talking to either of them. Frequent calls I could deal with and did, if anything to not be homeless again. It’d kinda sucked the first time, and it was cool to be able to see Rosanna again. She’d hugged me so tight when I arrived at her door, like a mom, and I didn’t have too many of those in my life. I loved my aunt, but she wasn’t my mom. No one could be. I only had one, and she was a pretty good one from what I remembered. She’d do exactly what Rosanna was making me do, go back to school, and while I waited for her to hammer out all those details, I got to chill with Hershey at Rosanna’s. She didn’t have to go to daycare with me at the house and I finally got to be with my girl legitimately. We read books and binge-watched TV while we waited for Rosanna to come home in the evenings, and one day, she didn’t come back empty-handed.

About two bags full of stuff came with her, my stuff, and the things I left behind at my dad’s. She had my school uniforms and everything, ironing them the next day for me. She also had a wool jacket for me and a matching uniform scarf.

She said they’d been my sister’s.

More of my sister’s hand-me-downs graced my body, my hands smoothing over a pleated skirt I paired with the coat. I could only hope this time wearing my sister’s clothes didn’t turn my life on its head. I didn’t think I’d be able to survive a second time.

“Good luck at school today, sweetie,” Rosanna said, she and her two girls at the table with bowls of cereal. She smiled small. “The school says they’ll get you caught up. You should still be able to graduate.”

Yippee for me.

Nodding, I genuinely thanked her for what all she’d done for me, and when I opened the door, I fully expected to take the bus.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my ride.

Hubert, my dad’s driver Hubert, opened the door of a sedan for me. He took off his hat. “Happy to have you back, Ms. December. I’m here to take you to school.”

Dad’s orders. Though he didn’t say. If my dad couldn’t control me directly, he’d do so through kind-faced drivers and housekeepers.

“Good to see you too, Hubert,” I said, very happy to see him as well. I got inside, getting good at holding my skirt so it didn’t ride up against the seats. We took off, and my destiny awaiting, I let it happen.

I didn’t have a choice.

“Ah! You’re back. You’re back. You’re back!” came about twenty minutes later—Birdie when she, Kiki, Shakira, and about half the female basketball team waited outside my locker. They had donuts and everything, vegan donuts.

I could have cried.

I couldn’t help smiling as I gave hugs to friends, true friends who were obviously looking out for me. I admit I had been a little sore about not being able to stay with Birdie, but she said it’d been her dad and that wasn’t her fault. She was also by no means obligated to help me. It was what it was, and I was happy to see her now.

“Good to be back,” I said, kind of sorta not lying. I was happy to see them so… I shrugged. “What did I miss?”

I immediately realized it wasn’t me as we walked to first period—people taking a second to notice I was back but after that gratefully going back to their conversations. It seemed me, my situation, and my leaked news about my past seemed to be old hat, and Birdie put her arm around me, confirming that.

“I told you they’d all move on,” she said, whispering the words while the other girls told about their college plans. Apparently, many had gotten their entrance letters while I’d been away. Many like Royal.

I tried not to thin

k about him because anytime I did, I saw his dad. I saw him hurting him, and I saw Royal lashing out at me because of that. I knew that’s what that was. He was probably embarrassed about what I walked in on and raged at me. It didn’t give him any excuse to treat me the way he had, but being on the outside now, I got it.

Trying to be present, I blended back into the conversations around me, all of us stopping when the headmaster, Principal Hastings, passed us.

He pulled his glasses off, noticing me. “Ms. Lindquist. Good to have you back.”

I smiled. “Thanks, sir. Got a lot of work to do, though, if I want to graduate.”