On The Run: Part Two

Chapter Twenty-Three - "Open And Shut And Open"

“Wednesday?” she asked, her face bathed in worry.

“Or you simply start in September. I just thought you might want to catch up.”

“School,” she repeated.

“Is it such a foreign concept?”

She shrugged, “A little.”

“You don’t have to, Chloe. We talked about it, I said I’d look into it, and now I have. Whatever you want to do is fine by me.”

She nodded slowly, and stared at the St. Andrews Cover, “Lexie’s school,” she murmured under her breath.

“You know somebody who goes there?”

“Yeah. Alexandra Worthington. She’s—”

“You know Alex? How?”

“She’s Ricky’s girlfriend.”

Ah, that was his name. Fitch’s brother.

“Small world,” I breathed and turned back to her, “Well, that could be good. You’d have an automatic friend.”

She smiled wryly, “I’m nervous. I really want to do it, but I’m nervous now, and it’s not like I’ve even said yes, yet. What happens if I say yes?”

“What if, as your legal guardian, I said you have to go to school, or else,” I said slowly.

She let out a breath, “Can I go to this one?” she said, holding up the Fairless High prospectus.

I smiled, “Of course.”

“Did I choose right?”

“Either one’s a winner. So, Wednesday?”

“You keep doing all these things for me. Why?” she blurted.

I stared at her with a frown, wondering if the question wasn’t as it sounded. But she continued to look blankly and utterly confused at me, her earnestly appreciative eyes winning the battle against her firm expression.

Right then, I realized she’d forgotten who I was. Not as Sarah, or her ex-boyfriend’s lawyer, but who I really was. For a second, I thought it might be better that way; I’d be the kind friend who helped her out because I had taking a liking to her, instead of the person who’d set her on a path of turmoil. But I wasn’t going to give myself that satisfaction. Not today.

“Because you’re my daughter.”

Maybe the concept of a mother had become so foreign to her that she’d forgotten what it was like, either way, she stared at me as if realization had suddenly dawned on her and nodded, as if she was only just starting to understand.

I grabbed my bag and said, “The car will be back to get you in another hour. I’ll see you at six-thirty, okay?”

“Sarah?”

I turned, and she opened her mouth to say something and then closed it firmly, as we were washed in pure silence.

“Cat got your tongue?” I asked.

She smiled slowly, “Thank you.”

I nodded and made my way towards a day that would change everything. Only, I didn’t know it yet.

*

I slowly walked into the courtroom dreading the next few hours. Why did James have to be late on this day, of all days?