"Javier? Everything okay?" Sitting down next to him, I took in his worried face as his pencil was aimlessly doodling over his sketchbook. I had noticed he was awfully quiet throughout the entire class and now, he just looked sad. Even now as I sat next to him, it didn't really seem to bother him. He simply shrugged while some of the other students in class started laughing.
"I thought Aly and I could continue working on the project you assigned. But he isn't here today."
So that's why he seems so bummed. "You two were already ahead of everyone else; you're not going to be behind at all. And even if he's out for awhile, it'll be okay." He shrugged again while leaning his head onto his hand. He looked so bummed about not working on the project and probably being around Aly, that I dug deep into my brain. "But I can give you a seek peak of the next project."
This time his eyebrows rose as he asked, "Really?"
After quickly walking back to my desk, I grabbed a paper before handing it back to him. He carefully studied the paper before he dove into his sketchbook and lost himself in his work. When I walked back over to my desk I took my purse out of my bag before quickly asking Perry if he had heard from Aly.
By the time class was over for the day, I had completely forgotten about my phone. I simply walked out of my classroom and started to walk towards the parking lot. "Cleo!"
When I turned around, I screamed while seeing Penelope leaning against the wall behind me. She had been my roommate throughout college, and was one of my best friends. Once we graduated she moved to California for a music teacher job she accepted. It was really hard when she moved away, because we had been so close.
I instantly noticed the baby stroller resting by her feet, her baby girl sleeping inside. After Penelope had moved to California she met her boyfriend Jayden, who became her fiancé. Four months before their baby girl was born, Jayden was killed by a drunk driver. I had begged her to move home, but she was so emotionally destroyed that she just didn't know what to do. I had flown to California for the birth of Amelia, my Goddaughter, who was now a year old.
"Oh my god!" I screamed while wrapping my arms around her. "You look fantastic!"
"Oh please," she said while gripping onto me with just as much power. "Look who's talking!"
We laughed as I pulled back to get a good look at her. Her blue eyes were twinkling under the fluorescent lights in the hallway, her light brown hair pulled up into a bun. She seemed to have even more freckles sprinkled across her face as two dimples could be seen while she was smiling. She still had multiple earrings in her ears, simple rings splashed across her fingers. When she wiped a piece of hair out of her eyes I noticed the little heart tattoo on the side of her wrist, the one I knew she got with Jayden.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming?"
Penelope laughed as she said, "Because I wanted to see your face! It's so rare that I get to surprise you. And I'm on a little vacation right now; coming to visit my best friend seemed like the thing to do."
I hugged her again before cooing at Amelia before we walked out to my car. As we made our way back to my house, I helped her inside while picking Amelia up into my arms. As I watched her sit down, I noticed just how tired she looked. There also seemed to be a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"So tell me," I said while looking at her with a stern look. "How have you really been? And don't lie to me."
She sighed while taking a long sip of her water. "It's been better I guess. It's hard being a single mom, especially as she's getting older. Work is alright, but it seems to have lost its spark."
"What do you mean?"
"I think it's just the environment I'm in. The other teachers are just these preppy California women and the men aren't much better. I still love teaching music, I always will. But unless I get a sugar daddy, I don't know how I'm going to afford to keep living there."
I frowned while holding onto one of her hands. "Come move in here with us."
She laughed while rolling her eyes. "Right, like Sebastian would be so down with that."
"You know he loves you, and Amelia. But I don't want you having to live in a situation where you're not completely happy. And if you're closer to me, I can be a babysitter for when you want to take a nap."
Penelope laughed as she gave me hand a squeeze. "Stop tempting me."
Before I could say anything else I suddenly heard the front door open. I then saw Sebastian walk into the room, a smile forming onto his face when he saw us. "Penelope!" He came over and gave her a giant hug before pulling back to look at her. "You look amazing!"
"Ditto," she said while hugging him again. Sebastian had always been like a brother to her, and had been pretty protective of her. He walked over to me and gently kissed me before giving Amelia a huge kiss on her cheek.
We ordered pizza and caught up with each other before Penelope asked if she could take a nap. She simply laughed when she saw my face before quickly falling asleep on the couch. When she was asleep Sebastian came over and took Amelia out of my arms. "I can't believe how big she's gotten," he said.
"I know, it's crazy." I looked into Amelia's big blue eyes, the ones that were exactly like her mother's. It saddened me that the rest of Amelia looked like Jayden; I know it was hard for Penelope at times. "I really want her to move back to New Mexico. I'm worried about her."
I then told him what Penelope had told me earlier, and how it didn't seem like she was very happy. He frowned as he listened to me, Amelia cooing away in his arms. "Geez, I didn't know things had gotten so hard for her. It would be good for her to move back. Plus, I'd get to see this little pumpkin more often."
When Sebastian started tickling Amelia, her little laughs were echoing throughout the room. He was so natural with children; it made me smile watching him around children. Even though children were definitely not in the plan right now, it made me excited for the future. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be an amazing father.
"Mind taking her for a moment?" He asked while placing her into my arms. "Nature calls."
I simply rolled my eyes while giving her a kiss as her sleepy head landed onto my shoulder. As I was grabbing a glass of water, I heard a knock from the front door. When I opened it I smiled while seeing Andy smiling down at me.
"Hey Andy!"
"Hey Cleo, uhm. Did you guys hide a pregnancy?"
I laughed while opening the door wider so he could come in. "Of course not. This is Amelia, she's my Goddaughter. My roommate from college is visiting us."
"Awesome," he said with a smile. "She's adorable. Anyway is Sebastian here? I wanted to see if he was done with something I leant him."
"Oh yeah, he's just in the bathroom. He'll be right out." As I started walking into the kitchen I yawned before asking, "You thirsty?" When I was met with silence I turned around to see him leaning against the wall. He was glancing over at Penelope, who was still sleeping on the couch. "Andy?"
He jumped before looking over at me. "Mm? Oh no, I'm not thirsty thank you though."
"Hey Andy!"
Sebastian was then walking back into the room, giving Andy a pat on the back. The two of them had really gotten close recently, probably because we were hanging out with Aaron a lot. I watched as they left the room, the room becoming very quiet. Amelia was still asleep on my shoulder by the time Penelope suddenly stumbled into the kitchen, wiping her eyes.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd be up yet."
"I just needed to recharge my batteries for a little bit. Funny though now I feel more tired than I was earlier."
"You still hungry? I want you to just take a breather while you're here. If you need to sleep you can, you can completely recharge your batteries. You definitely need it, and I want to help you."
She smiled as she grabbed another piece of pizza as Sebastian and Andy walked back into the room. I watched as Andy's eyes instantly took in Penelope, who was currently chewing a rather large chunk of pizza. When she noticed someone new in the room she wiped her mouth with a napkin as she gave him a nervous smile.
"Penelope, this is Andy, Aaron's brother. Andy this is Penelope, she was my roommate in college."
He smiled while running a hand through his blonde hair. "Nice to meet you."
"You as well," she said before looking back down at her pizza.
"Well thanks Sebastian. I'll see you guys later." Andy then walked out of the room, Sebastian giving me a smirk as he looked between Penelope and the now empty space where Andy was just standing. I watched as Penelope then stood up and took Amelia into her arms.
As Sebastian started shoveling more pizza in his mouth, I finally grabbed my phone to see Perry had written back. His message suddenly made me sick to my stomach. Long story, but Aly is safe now. He might have to miss a few days of school but I'm not letting anyone else hurt him. Can you let Javier know that he's doing okay? He's been talking about him a lot today. I'll give you the full update later.
As I stuck my phone back into my bag I frowned, not having a good feeling about what happened to Aly. Luckily he was safe with Perry, but it still made me upset that someone would've hurt him. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Amelia laughing. I then walked back over to them, the little smile on Amelia's face making me feel better. That night I was able to distract myself enough to actually feel happy. That was until I got the full story from Perry.