I'm Going To a Juvenile Delinquent School For Guys. Wait Wha? For Guys?!?

[Ch 4]I'm going to a juvenile delinquent school for guys. Wait wha? for guys?!?

I giggled as I keep my mind on that train of thought. Butterflies. They are so beautiful and so colorful. They are so graceful and light. I wonder how-

"Hey Mellie, what's so funny?" I hear Jake ask from beside me, his tiny mouth forming a small grin.

"Oh," I feel a slight blush spread across my cheeks. "It was just... I was just thinking about butterflies. I just finished my picture." I state smugly.

Jake's face lights up. "So did I! Let's go find Daddy and show him," Jake jumps to his feet only to run straight into none other than... Daddy!

"Show me what, Little One's?" my father asks, his small brown eyes touched with curiosity. I ignore his nickname for us. Something he calls all his kids under the age of ten. Or at least, he calls me and all the siblings younger than me that. Of course, I shouldn't be called that in a few days seeing that my birthday is tomorrow and I will no longer be ten years young .

"Well, Jake and I made you something." I reply, holding my freshly made sand picture behind my back.

"Here daddy, look at mine first! It's a sailboat!" Jake states enthusiastically. I almost laugh, he says everything with great enthusiasm.

"I love it, Goober. Now go show Mommy, Okay?" He refers to my step-mother.

"Do you want to see mine?" I ask daddy hopefully.

He sighs exaggeratedly. His expression suddenly bored. "Sure."

I bite my lip nervously, trying to read his expression to the best of my ability.

"Do you like it Daddy?" I can tell my eyes glisten with hope. I just want him to like one of my creations.

"Melanie," his eyes quickly flash to mine before returning them to scrutinize the picture. He clears his throat. I feel my heart shatter. I know what he is about to say. Something I have heard many times.

"You know I hate to tell you this," He starts. His careless speech is already engraved in my brain forever. I cannot bear to hear it again.

"It's okay Daddy, I understand." I stare at my hands as I hold back the tears. I shouldn't let him get to me. Yet every time...

"It was a good effort." He mutters as he flops the picture back into my hands. I feel my heart tear as he speaks the last line to his painful speech. I mentally slap myself for being so stupid as to think he would care. I knew he wouldn't. Yet, I still persist. Why?

"Oh, Pumpkin?" he starts, "Say your good-byes, it's time to go. I'll grab your bags and I'll be waiting in the truck. Sean is getting a ride into town tomorrow with Kimberly, so it's just going to be me and you." He smiles at me with an unpleasant glow to his eyes. I nod, biting my lip, holding back the shutter that wants to make its way down my back. His eyes never seemed so... eerie before. I shake the thought off; my over-active imagination must just be playing tricks on me.

I slowly make my way to the barn. All of the children hang out there during the day, although only Sean and I stay there at night. They don't have enough rooms for me and Sean to stay in the big house with everybody else.

I quickly walk inside the barn and say my usual good-byes, saving Sean for last. I know he will like my picture. He always likes everything I make him. Yet I still feel my palms get sweaty with anticipation.

"S-Se-ean?" I stutter. Great, now he knows something is wrong. I never stutter. Sean opens his mouth, as if to comfort me, but before he has the chance I interrupt him. I can't handle explaining my situation to Sean right now. Not yet.

"I made you something," My tone is light, happy.

"Oh really, what is it?" Sean asks, curiosity plain on his features.

"Here," I smile smugly as I hand him the picture. I know he will like it. He likes everything I make. It almost erases the pain of daddy's rejection... almost.

I watch as his face lightens up. "Thank you so much Mellie! I love it," He wraps his arms around my tiny frame, squishing me.

"Sean. Can't. Breath." I manage to squeak out, yet my eyes still crinkle at the edges. He likes it.

He chuckles before releasing me. He knows not to keep daddy waiting. We both know how angry he gets. "You better go. I'll see you tomorrow, kay?" Sean says. My curly hair bounces as I nod my head slightly.

"Kay. Love you! Bye!" I squeak out as I quickly make my way to my dad's black Chevy. I hop into the passenger side of his truck. As soon as his truck roars to life, an awkward silence fills the car. Strange. I don't think I've ever had an awkward silence before. It's weird, Foreign.

I looked over at him every now and then, only to be greeted with guilty eyes. Odd. I wonder what he could be guilty about. He didn't do anything... Other than dislike my sand picture. Which, he would never feel guilty about. He never has and he surely never will.

"So we have some time before I have to drop you off at your mothers... would you like to catch a movie or something?" He wondered with a ghastly glint in his tiny brown eyes.

"Umm," I started nervously. Should I just ignore the look in his eyes and go to the movies anyways? Or should I just say forget it and go home? I mean, a movie sounds really good right now, but I don't really feel that great about it. I doubt anything could go wrong, but my gut tells me otherwise. Although, I'm sure-

"Pumpkin?" He interrupts my pondering, an annoying habit of his.

I glance at his eyes to see that his small eyes had returned back to normal.

"I'd love to. " I reply with a nervous grin, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling that grows in my stomach as I realize what a terrible mistake I just made.

My tear-streaked cheeks were barely noticeable when I entered the dorm room, an effect of the downpour, most-likely. I doubted anybody here would be able to tell the difference, they hadn't known me long enough to be able to read my face well enough to notice the subtle redness that scattered around my chocolate irises. Of course, they didn't really get an opportunity to guess. My father was closer behind me than I thought.

"What do you want? Do you want to say you're sorry? Apologize after all these years? 'Cause you and I both know you're not," I stated mater-of-factly. It was impossible for him to feel sorrow and regret, for people other than himself, anyways.

His eyes flickered around the room as he took a step back. Oh, the guys. I don't know them very well, but I do know that if one of theirs is in danger, they won't hesitate to stand up for them. I smiled lightly. It feels nice being considered as one of them. Something I couldn't have asked for.

"Will you talk with me, please?" My father pleaded with me, this was a first.

"So talk."

"I'm sorry-"

"I thought we already covered that. That's bull-" I stated in a clear even voice without a hint of anger.

"Let me finish," he snapped at me. Ahh. The old father was back.

I raised my eyebrows, signaling him to continue. I knew my voice would give me away if I tried to speak.

"I didn't treat you right," I snorted, that was an understatement. "and I wanted to apologize for that."

"What do you want, really?" my voice was barely above a whisper, "I know you want something otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Come home with me." He looked at me with expectant eyes. Idiot.

I scoffed, "no."

"Melanie-"

"I said no. Now get out." I pointed to the door.

"You're worse than Sean," he muttered under his breath, "You'll regret this, Melanie. You'll regret staying with these...these delinquents." And with that, he was gone.