Adopted By Mean Girls Cast

Chapter 35

"Matilda." Grey said as he kept rubbing my back and I kept crying. "Hey. Tilda."

"What?" I asked softly. Grey pulled away and asked, "How did Lex die?"

"Um..." I said, about to say that I didn't know when Lex's mom walked up to us. "Matilda, honey, I'm so, so sorry. Lex died of a bad head injury at a derby meet this afternoon." she said.

Then she walked away. Grey backed away from me, all color draining from his face.

"Dad?" I asked.

"Matilda...I don't think I want you to do derby anymore. I'm sorry. I can't take my chances. Not after...this." Grey said. I almost cried again, right then and there. 

"Dad! What the heck!" I screamed. Grey pulled me aside and said, "We're in a public hospital, stop screaming!"

"Okay, I've hit my head during derby meets before and I'm well alive! I'm standing right here! I could go to the arena and do derby right here and now if you want the proof!" Grey gasped and dragged me out of the hospital.

"Matilda, I'm sorry, but I don't want to take my chances! You're my daughter!" Grey screamed. I did not like fighting with my dad, I really didn't, but I didn't want him to take my sport, my passion, my world away from me just because of Lex. Sure, derby was dangerous, but I'm used to it. I'm used to falling, it's kind of the point of the sport. 

"Grey..." I said as we got in the car. "Dad? Are you mad?" Grey took a deep breath in the driver's seat and said, "Tilly, I'm not mad, okay? I'm just...scared. For you. What happened today...I know you're hurting, but think of how much I'll hurt if something ever happened to you. I just want to keep you safe. Now come on, let's go home."

We drove off from the hospital parking lot when something hit me.

"LEX!" I screamed and the car screeched to a stop as Grey pulled over on the side of the road. 

"What?" Grey asked, unbuckling his seat belt and turning towards me. I drew my knees to my chest and cried into them.

"Lex...she was supposed to come over to hang out after my appointment today and after her match..." I said in between tears. I didn't want to look like a baby, but it was hard. What I was going through was hard. I missed my best friend. Badly.

"Can we just go home? I just want to get my mind off of Lex and derby and all that." I said. 

"Your liver." Grey said softly. "We left here without even going to your appointment."

"So we have to go back to the hospital? Like, now?" I asked. Grey sadly nodded and turned the car around, the tears still flowing out of my eyes.

________

Back at home in my own room, I shoved my roller skates, my helmet, all my derby posters, and all the pictures I had with Lex and the team into a trash bag. I undid my signature braids and threw the ponytail holders across the room, crying. My normally straight bleach blonde hair fell into neat waves from the braids, and I threw myself on my bed and started sobbing into a pillow, shoving my glasses under the bed where a bunch of random notebooks and my dad's calculator was.

"Matilda? How you holding up?" Grey called from another room. I groaned and said, "Horribly!" while putting all my derby T-shirts and jerseys and sweatshirts in the same trash bag. If Grey was going to make me give up what I loved, I should probably give up all that was left of what I loved, too. It's the only thing that made sense in that moment. At least I wasn't totally throwing this stuff away.

Grey came in the room and gently hugged me, brushing my now un-braided hair with his fingers. "What happened to your braids? And where are your glasses?" Grey asked. I sighed and grabbed the ponytail holders from where I left them and my glasses from under the bed.

"Want me to redo your braids, Tilda?" Grey asked. I shook my head and said, "Braids remind me of derby and Lex too much. I used to only wear braids for derby meets, and Lex would always do my hair beforehand. So no, not right now, I'd much rather keep my hair down."

Grey nodded and said, "Understandable. Well, I'll leave you alone for now, Tilda. I love you." He kissed my head, stood up, and walked out of the room.

I stared out the window for a bit, thinking of Lex and derby and everything I loved.

How can I convince Grey to let me have my sport back?

AN: Adopted by Mean Girls is coming to a close pretty soon! Only 5 chapters left! With Tilda's story ending, it means all three of my original Adopted By books will be completed! Don't worry, it'll end well. Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later!