The Substitute Teacher (The Sequel)

Sequel Part 43 ~ The Value of a Woman's Heart

"Dad . . . I'm wearing his hoodie! . . because it's the only thing that makes me feel close to him right now . . I wanna be close to him . . I wanna talk to him and tell him how much I love him. ."

"Take it off and throw it in the trash . . . he broke your heart, didn't he? . . . he doesn't deserve your tears, honey . . wearing his hoodie will not help you feel better . . it will make you feel worse . . ."

"I'm feeling the worst I have ever felt, dad . . . there is no cure . . . I'm just gonna sit here and drown in my own tears . . ."

"Leah . . please look at me"

She slowly looks up at me. "What?"

"You are a beautiful, young lady . . any boy would be happy to have you"

"No . . . I'm not pretty . . compared to Cassandra I'm a nobody!"

"Why would you say that, Leah?"

"Because she's gorgeous . . . she's perfection . . I'm not surprised that he's got a thing for her . ."

"Leah . . you're every bit as pretty as Cassandra is . . . I'm sure of that . . . Anthony is young. . he's too young to know the value of a woman's heart. One day his heart will be broken too and then he will realize that breaking someone's heart is not funny . . . because it hurts . ."

"Yes it does . . . my heart is hurting so bad, I can't even breathe . . . ."

I lay down on the bed . . Leah is laying on my shoulder, sobbing like crazy. "Your heart may be broken now but a heart can be fixed"

"No it can't, dad . . . not mine . . . mine is destroyed . . ."

"I have a heart and I went through so much in my life and it still works! . . your heart is strong enough to get through this . . you'll soon be happy again and you won't even care about Anthony"

"Maybe . . . but not right now . . . I really miss him . . ."

"I know you do, sweetie . . but that pain will go away . . sooner than you know . . . trust me"

"Thank you dad" Leah says, cuddling up to me. I kiss her on her forehead. "Dad . . I know I'm grounded and everything . . but . . I think it would really make me feel better about myself if I could get some new clothes . . . ."

"Get new clothes? . . . need I to remind you that you recently bought a ton of clothes with my credit card money?"

"I know . . . but I want new ones . . . whenever I feel down, shopping for clothes makes me feel better . . ."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes . . . can you take me shopping tomorrow after school? . . ."

"Ok . . . if it really makes you feel better, we can do that"

"Thank you daddy . . . thank you!!!"

"You're welcome . . . now get ready for bed . . it's a school night"

"Ok . . . . I love you, dad"

"I love you too . . . . night night"

________________

I walk downstairs . . Ariana is in the kitchen reading a magazine. I sit down on the couch and check my phone. I have 2 missed calls from Carli . . . should I call her back? I walk out to the backyard and decide to call her back. Not sure what to expect from Carli right now . . she was acting really weird today. I dial her phone number and wait for her to pick up. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Carli . . . . you called?"

"Yes . . . umm . . . Corey told me about the vacation . . . going to Switzerland sounds lovely!"

"Good to know! . . happy you like the idea! . . I still have to break it to Ariana and the rest of the family . . I think she's expecting us to go somewhere tropical . . but Corey really wants to go to Switzerland and I want to make that wish come true for him"

"Michael . . . you have no idea what this means to me . . . Corey and I have went through so much struggle . . . money-wise . . . and taking us on this vacation with you means the world to me . . . I just cannot put in words what your generosity means to me . . ."

"Hey. . . don't worry about it . . it's my pleasure to take you all on this vacation, Carli"

"I've really been struggling with money . . . I work so much just to make ends meet . . I can't afford nice things . . not for me and not for Corey either and it breaks my heart . . I just want you to know that I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart, Michael"

"Don't even mention it . . . . it's my pleasure"

"I love you Michael . . . and I mean that in a friendly way . . I really do love you . . . ."

"That's really nice, thank you Carli . . .me too . . of course I love you too . . you and Corey"

I look to my right and my heart freezes. . . she scared me . . . Ariana is standing there and she's mad. "What did you just say?" Ariana asks, walking up to me. Before I get to answer, she takes the phone out of my hand and throws it out of our backyard. "WHAT THE FUCK, MICHAEL?!"

To be continued . . .