Our Time In High School- KotLC AU

A little too much

Keefe POV:

The CPS worker sitting on my couch sighed loudly and stared at my sister and I. "Your mother is in the hospital currently, due to her overdose. She'll be fine, but she'll have to go to court soon to ensure that she is a fit parent."

I nodded, digging my fingers into my palms. As angry as I was with my mother for being such an awful parent ever since my dad left, I was still worried. What had she taken? She didn't normally go anywhere near drugs, ever since her brother died years ago from an overdose. Although, I wouldn't put it past her.

The woman- who's name I hadn't bothered to ask for- turned her head to me. "Your sister is going to go into child protective services for the time being. And I understand you recently turned eighteen?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah."

I hated how shaky my voice came out. I knew this day was coming. In fact, I'm surprised it didn't come sooner, since my mother wasn't exactly the most discreet about her addiction. But it was still shocking. And I was eighteen. I was legally an adult.

"Well then, you don't need to go into the system unless you want to. Do you have somewhere else to stay?"

No. I didn't have any friends. I didn't have any family. I didn't have a girlfriend. Girlfriend. I thought of Sophie, then shook the thought out of my head. She was already in enough trouble for having me over for one night. So I guess I'd just sleep in my car. It was the middle of winter, but I could survive one night.

"Uh, yea," I lied. "I can stay with a friend."

She nodded and stood up. "Alright then, go get your stuff. Abigail, you'll come with me."

Abby's lower lip wobbled and she stared up at me with huge eyes that were quickly welling up with tears. I grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom we shared to pick up a change of clothes. "Abs, it'll be ok, I promise."

"Wha happened to mommy?" She whispered.

"You know when you have too much cake, and you feel sick?"

Abby nodded, as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Well mommy had a little too much of something and is sick too."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." I said it as confidently as I could. "You'll stay with that nice lady for a few days, and then everything will go back to normal, ok?"

She hugged me. "I don wanna leave you though."

"I'll see you soon, Abs."

. . .

I drove over to the woods outside my house and parked, flipping through my phone and trying to distract myself from the reality of my situation. I checked my weather app. -35 degrees celsius tonight and a snowstorm was blowing through the town. "Shit," I murmured.

I might not have the best grades in history or math, but I had the sense to know I wouldn't be able to survive that weather in my car tonight without a sleeping bag or something to keep my heat in. I thought once more about going to Sophie's house. We had been on mostly good terms recently and I figured it would be okay.
Sighing, I started up my car. I sat staring at the tall trees surrounding me for a good few minutes before gathering up my nerves and peeling out of my parking spot.

. . .

I knocked on the dark wood door of Sophie's house, embarrassed to be asking to stay at her house yet again. I hoped she didn't just see me as a charity case. When the door finally opened, a tall woman who looked strangely similar to Sophie opened the door. I felt my face go white because I knew right away who she was. Sophie's mom. And our last interaction had been far from great. A shiver went down my spine when I remembered Sophie's mother walking through the front door as Sophie was sprawled on top of me. Of course, she was only trying to wake me up, but still, her mom didn't know that. I think.
"You again?!" Sophie's mom said, colour rising to her cheeks.
My eyes widened. "Sorry... miss I-"
"Get out. Stop seeing my daughter and stop coming to my house."
I nodded quickly and ran down the stairs, barely noticing the door slamming behind me.
No one intimidated me. Not the principal, not my mother, not any of my old bosses. But Sophie's mother terrified me.
I got back into my car and drove a little further down the street. I parked my car in front of a house that had a "FOR SALE" sign on it, pulled my winter jacket out from the back seat and draped it over top of me. Then I slowly reclined my seat and far as it would go and prepared myself for a long night.

. . .

A knock startled me awake. I looked out my window to see a mittened hand wiping snow off of my window. "Keefe? Is that you?"
My heart sped up. I didn't want Sophie knowing about my mom and I certainly didn't want her knowing I had attempted to go crying to her for help, so I chose to play the silent game and pray she couldn't see me through the ice covered window.
"Keefe! I know this is your car!" Her voice echoed again. "Open up, I can see you in there!"
I muttered and curse and unlocked the doors. "Sophie just leave me alone, please!"
She sighed dramatically. "Keefe what are you doing sleeping in your car in this weather?!"
I squeezed my eyes shut at her condescending tone. "Sophie, we don't all have a huge mansion and a family to go home to at night, okay?"
She frowned. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head. "How about I give you a ride to school?"