Monday hadn't come quick enough. I just wanted to get to school and focus on something other than Mandy. Claire had called me when she got home and apologized for Mandy's behavior but I still was pretty upset. It shouldn't have been Claire apologizing anyway. If Mandy was really sorry for what she said she could have called me. She has my number.
I walked out of the house and met Justin at his car. He had been trying to get me in a better mood after what happened with my friends and it worked for the most part but I still felt pretty bad about it. I mean, I learned that a lot of friends don't stick around when a girl gets pregnant but I never thought my best friend, who was like my sister, would leave me. I thought she would have been the most supportive. I was completely wrong.
Justin and I rode to school in comfortable silence and I took that time to think of all the other friends I had that were probably putting on a show around me. Maybe Hannah. I mean, she's with Brady now even though I warned her about him. I mean, she was pretty much my only friend here but still. She's been kind of distant to me lately. Great. Just when I needed friends, they all decided to leave me.
***
I walked down the hallway with Justin by my side. Once we got to our lockers we opened them but mine was suddenly shut. I looked up to see Brady standing there looking really pissed off at me. "What's your problem?" he asked.
"My problem? You're the one coming over like you're on a mission. What's your problem?" I asked. I felt Justin stand beside me with a hand on my arm.
"My problem is you think I'm not good enough for Hannah. At least, that's what you told Mandy." he said.
"What's your point? You know you're not good enough for Hannah." I said.
"You know what, I thought before when you lived in Texas you were a stuck up bitch, but now that you're pregnant you've gotten more stuck up. You know, I really hope your daughter doesn't turn out like you. I'm sorry I ever went out with you. I'm sorry I ever had sex with you. And thank god it wasn't me that got you pregnant because you wouldn't been pregnant for long." he said.
Justin got up in his face pushed me behind him gently. "You need to back the fuck up. Nobody, not you, not her friends, not anybody is gonna talk to her like that. And you're not gonna talk about my daughter like that. You hear me? So you better just turn around and walk away before I beat the fuck out of you." Justin said.
"You think you're scary, Justin? Really? I feel sorry that baby with you two as her parents." Brady said.
Justin threw a punch at Brady and then it was an all out brawl. I backed up a little bit. Hannah ran up to me and stood in front of me in a protective stance. "Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded but I didn't take my eyes off of Justin and Brady.
"Justin!" I called to him. Nothing.
"Brady!" Hannah called. Nothing.
One of the male teachers walked out of his classroom and separated Justin and Brady. Justin backed up towards me and I grabbed his arm gently. I just wanted to hold onto him. "You two get to the office now." the teacher said.
Justin was about to walk away alone before I grabbed his hand and walked with him. "You don't have to come with me babe." he said.
"I want to." I said. "You were fighting him because of what he said to me. I need to go with you."
"Come here." he said as he pulled me into his side more. We got to the office and the principle called us in his office. Well, he called Justin in his office but I didn't want to let go of him so I went with.
"Sit down. Dahlia, you should go to class." Mr. Hunter said.
"No. I don't want to. I need to be here. It involves me." I said.
"I don't think it does." he said.
"It does. Trust me." I said. "They were fighting because of me."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Brady said such terrible things to me and Justin about our baby. About our daughter. Justin was just standing up for the both of us." I said.
"Okay. Well either way, fighting in school is not acceptable. Not to mention, it won't solve anything. Just because you fight somebody doesn't mean they're gonna stop talking. You're having a baby. People are gonna have an opinion about that." he said.
"Was it an opinion when Brady called me a bitch? Or when he said that if I was pregnant with his baby I wouldn't have been pregnant for long? He said that he would kill the baby himself." I said. "Look, I've known Brady a lot longer than anybody here. I know what he's capable of and I know who he is. I know how to read between the lines with him."
"That makes no difference to what's going on right now. You can know somebody all you want, but at the end of the day, this is a school environment and we don't allow fights to take place here."
"Look, Mr. Hunter, I don't care about what you allow. I will not let anybody get away with saying the kinds of the things that he did about our daughter. I will not be the kind of man to stand back and let someone talk about my family like that." Justin said. "So if you're gonna give me detention then do it. I don't care what kind of punishment you give me because at least now, he's learned that I'm not gonna let it slide."
"Well, okay, I guess we'll get right to it. You're suspended for three days." Mr. Hunter said.
I looked down. These hormones were really getting the best of me because I never would cried over something like this but here I was, crying like a baby once we walked out of the office. Justin pulled me into him and held me close. "It's okay. We'll see each other when you get home. It's not a big deal." he said.
"This is all my fault." I cried.
"It's not. Do not think that. None of this is your fault." he said. He cupped my face gently. "I love you and if I had to do all of that over again, I would in a heartbeat. Nobody talks to you like that and nobody talks about our daughter like he did. It's gonna be okay. I'll be back to school in three days and then everybody can suck it."
I chuckled a little. "I love you too Justin." The principle walked out of the office and crossed his arms as he looked at us. "You better go. I gotta get to class anyway. I'll see you when I get home. I love you."
Justin nodded and then kissed me once before he walked out of the building. I sighed and then turned around before I made my way to class alone.
***
I walked out of the building once the last bell rang and I saw Justin sitting in front of the school in his car. He came back to pick me up from school even though he was suspended and I loved that. I missed having him beside me today and I'm sure it will be that way for the next two days also.
I made my way over to Justin's car and he got out before giving me a hug. "You okay?" he asked.
"I am now." I said. "Let's go home. I'm pretty tired and I want a nap."
He chuckled. "Come on." He opened his door for me and I climbed in, sinking into the seat. I loved Justin's car. It was a sport's car, of course, but it was amazing.
The drive home was full of conversation about what happened today. Brady was way out of line with what he said and the fact that he just stormed right up to me without a care in the world. I don't know who he thought he was but that shit just don't fly with me or Justin. He needed to watch out because he definitely didn't want to test either one of us.
Justin pulled up in his driveway and we got out before walking into my house. My dad was sitting on the couch watching TV and he paused it when we walked in. "Ah. Just the two people I wanted to see and talk to. Come sit you two." he said. He sounded serious.
I looked at Justin cautiously and then we both walked over and sat down on the couch with my dad. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Well, first of all, I want to elaborate that I still don't approve of this situation you guys are in but I am growing to accept it on my own terms. Second, I got a call from the school today. The principle called me and he told me that Justin was in a fight and that it involved you. Now, I don't know what kind of woman you think me and your mother are raising but you do not start fights." he said.
"Woah. Wait a second. I didn't start a fight." I said. "Brady did. He walked up to me and started saying these awful things about the baby and he called me a bitch. Dad, I didn't say anything to him that was inappropriate and Justin was just defending me and the baby." I took a deep breath and looked at my dad in the eye. "Daddy, I know I've let you down by getting pregnant in high school, but I'm still the same girl you considered your little flower. I'm still your daughter. The daughter you raised. Please, you have to believe me."
"I don't care what the reason is and I don't care who started it. What I care about is the fact that Justin was in a fight and you were involved in it somehow. Now, I've been sitting here thinking about what should happen and I know that Justin, you've been suspended, but Dahlia, you should face a punishment too. I'm thinking you should be grounded from Justin for a month." he said.
"What!?" I yelled. "You cannot do that. I'm pregnant with his baby. We're starting our own family. You cannot ground me from him."
"You wanna bet? I'm still your father and I still make the rules in this house. Justin you need to go home. Dahlia, you need to go to your room and think about if this is really how you want your life to be. Pregnant in high school and the father of your baby getting into fights. Sounds pretty childish to me. You two aren't ready to be parents." he said before getting up and walking to the kitchen.
Justin kissed me once and then walked out of the house. I was so beyond pissed off. This wasn't right. I was being punished for a fight that neither Justin or I started? It was bad enough that Justin was suspended from school for three days but now I'm grounded from seeing him for a month? That's a whole month of this pregnancy he would miss other than when we're at school. This was ridiculous. I needed to get out of this house. I need to move out on my own and be my own person. I can't believe this.
I walked upstairs to my room and slammed my door shut before locking it behind me. If my dad wanted to be that way then fine. I'll make sure he has nothing to do with me. At this point, he's the one pushing me away. I'm not doing anything. In fact, I'm trying to hold onto the relationship I had with my dad and he was making it hard to do just that. I would just need to talk to my mom and hope that she can talk to my dad before everything got way out of hand because I can tell it's going in that direction.
***
I didn't come out of my room for the rest of the night. My dad had brought a plate of food up to me but I didn't unlock the door and I didn't open my door to get the food. I let it sit there all night and in doing that, I made a statement. A bold statement. If my dad wanted to play games, then bring it on.
Morning came quickly and I was thankful for that. My mom knocked on my door lightly and I opened it, letting her in. "Hey sweetie. How are you doing?" she asked.
"Did dad tell you what happened yesterday?" I asked.
"Yeah. He did. He told me that he grounded you from Justin and I suggested that it wasn't a good idea but you also should not have been involved in a fight yesterday at school." she said.
"Mom, it's like not I put myself there. Brady walked up to me first and he started going off on me like he had a problem and, mom, the things he said to me about my baby were very cruel. I can't blame Justin for fighting with him. I mean, I would rather have a guy that's gonna stand up for me and his family than a guy that just lets someone talk to me and about our child like that. And I really don't like dad for thinking he can ground me from the father of my baby. What's he gonna do next? Ground me from giving birth?" I asked.
"Dahlia, your dad would never ground you from giving birth." she said. "Listen, I'll talk to him. Like I said, I can't make you any promises but I'm gonna talk to him. But in the mean time, I want you to stay away from stress like that. Fights. Anything involving fights whether it's verbal or physical. You don't need that and that baby sure as hell doesn't need that."
"I know. And I have been. I think I've been handling all of this responsibly. I've grown up a lot, mom. You know that." I said.
"I know." she said. "I'll see what I can do but you're gonna be late for school if you don't get ready."
"Okay." I said.
This is a nightmare. My dad thinks I'm like the plague and my mom is on my side and going up against my dad which could cause such horrible problems and Justin's been suspended from school and Brady is walking around like he's so much better than me and Justin and I can't take it all. It's too much. I hope these next few months go by quick so I can get this baby out and move out on my own. I was getting really tired of being so damn emotional.