Before The Ravens Sing (✔️, EDITING)

Chapter 22: Cold Shoulders, Knees, & Toes

Tuesday came and went; Damian had been giving me a major case of the cold shoulder all through our classes together and afterwards. Lizbeth was back in the dorm, but it seemed like it took all the energy she had to function through the day. My alarm hadn't beeped this morning, so when I finally rolled out of my bed, slamming into the floor, all I could do was just sigh and realize that I had missed the first part of my first block.

I scrambled to get ready for the day, glancing the pictures on my study desk as I threw my notebooks and pens into my backpack. One picture stood out to me among all the others. It was a picture of my mom, Seth and myself at the local carnival last year. There had been one of those terribly stupid hole boards, with a picture of a scene, but minus the faces and my mom had wanted desperately to take a picture using it. The scene on the front was a strong man, lifting a pineapple in one hand and his girlfriend in the other. My mom's face was stuck in the pineapple shape, while I was the strong man and Seth's face was in the girl's void face, that the strong man was lifting above his head.

My eyes travelled to the picture next to it, where Seth was hugging me from behind and smiling in the old car lot where I had just purchased my very first car; boy was it a piece of junk. You wouldn't have known it though, by the look on our faces. We looked like we had just won the lottery; but looking now, I realized that we had. We had each other all along.

Suddenly, I wasn't feeling negative about Damian's actions towards me anymore. I understood his dilemma when it came to hanging around me and defying his family. I would have never gone against something my mom asked me to do, so I was in the wrong to expect him to do otherwise. I knew I needed to distance myself from all things Reever and just focus on the upcoming holiday exams, with a much needed break afterwards.

I decided to ditch first block all together, since I was now very late and instead I went outside and sat on the steps of the dorm, pulling my phone out of the pocket of my backpack. I thumbed through my contacts and pressed call. It rang about four times, before the voice on the other end answered.

"Hello?" The man's voice was deep, but seemingly not annoyed about me interrupting him.

"Hi, Killian." I still felt somewhat awkward about calling him dad, but I was slowly trying to do whatever I could to integrate myself into his life, in order for there to be a chance at a future later.

"Hello, Talia. Is everything ok?" he asked and for a second I was worried that he wouldn't be happy about the reason I called.

"Yeah, everything is fine at school. Listen, I was wondering if... Well, this is difficult, because I'm not used to asking for things, but, would it be ok if I went back to Minnesota for the holiday break? I know it's a lot to ask, but the truth is that I've had a hard time adjusting and I really miss my friends. I'd also like to visit my mom."

There was silence on the other end, which for a second worried me. Then I heard him speak up, "I don't see why that would be a problem, Talia. I appreciate that you felt comfortable enough to confide in me about how you felt. I will get my assistant to book your ticket. Would you like a hotel or did you plan to stay with the Carters while there?"

"Mrs. Carter would be very offended if I didn't consider staying there, so I will give her a call and let her know. Killian..." I paused before continuing, "Thank you. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem. I really am sorry that you and I have had such a hard road with one another. I'd really like that to change. I have a meeting, so I will see you next weekend," his voice was calm and for a second, I imagined him sitting and smiling on the other end of the phone. I didn't contemplate it too long, because I heard the click of the phone and then the dead air.