↠Thursday, November 7, Directly After School

"Well, uh, I guess it all started over the summer... My dad decided to get another job, and now he's barely home anymore. And when he is home, he sleeps, not to be disturbed. I want to understand that he only does it to help us make more money, but it's... it's hard."

"Does your family struggle financially?"

"I--Y-Yeah."

"And what types of jobs does your father work?"

"In the day, he... he works really hard manual labor. He used to just work odds-and-ends jobs wherever he could at night, but he decided we weren't making enough...

"And what about your mother? Is she in the picture?"

I went silent, shifting uncomfortably in my chair.

"Is she... not with you?"

"Uh, she is, but..."

I felt so stupid for not being able to say it. I saw the look on Mrs. Abbott's face, and I knew that she was thinking my mother was some sort of alcoholic or abusive or--

But that just wasn't it.

"She works... at a restaurant. Part time."

"As a waitress?"

I nodded slightly.

"S-She was in college... Several years into getting a nursing degree..."

I glanced down, messing with my fingers anxiously. I could barely manage to keep my voice above a whisper as I explained.

"And then she got pregnant. And dropped out."

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Mrs. Abbott was nodding. She suddenly understood.

"With you, right? And you blame yourself... for her not being a nurse today?"

I didn't say anything.

"Okay. I think I understand now. Let's talk about something else."

I let out a small sigh of relief, sitting up slightly.

"Tell me, do you have any siblings?"

"T-Two sisters. They're twins."

"How old?"

"Fourteen."

"Are they identical? Fraternal? What are their names?"

By this point, I had figured out what she was really doing, but I decided to play her little game. There wasn't any harm in telling her, was there?

And that's the story of how I spent my entire afternoon in the Counselor's Office. The short side of it, anyway.

↠Friday, November 8, Directly After School

Friday, with no scheduled meetings after school, I could turn my full attention to Beckett. A part of me was certain that nothing would change, that he would continue to deny my friendship.

But, little did I know, that part of me was wrong. And Friday was the day that was going to change that.

In almost the exact same manner as the previous day, I hurried through the hallway. Beckett's last class of the day was some form of science with a teacher that I didn't have: Ms. Carabotta.

I knew that Beckett would already be out of class, so I scanned the crowd. And trust me, it was NOT difficult to spot him.

For one, he was like really tall. I mean, almost everyone in the school was taller than me, but Beckett was definitely up there.

Secondly, how often do you see someone dressed it literally nothing but black? I guess a lot more at a high school than anywhere else but--

Let's not talk about how I managed to find Beckett in a crowd in teenagers, but just know I did.

Nearly being swept away by the current of students, I tried to make my way towards Beckett. Of course it was my luck that he was walking away from me.

"Beckett!" I cried out, nearly getting elbowed in the face.

He must've heard me, because he suddenly stopped walking. He suddenly turned around, his backpack swinging around after him.

The hallway began to clear out, but I still had to avoid several kids before being able to catch up to him.

"Beckett...!" I was nearly out of breath, but that's not something I was going to admit to myself.

"Spencer," Beckett said, barely politely. He was clearly impatient, but he hadn't given me an excuse yet so that was something. "What is it?"

"I need to... t-talk to you," I said, cursing my infernal stutter.

"Spencer, I've already told you I don't have time. I have to be at work--"

"Work? You never told me you had a job," I blinked. "You said that your parents didn't like it when you got home late...?"

"Uh," Beckett stammered, and I suddenly realized. 

He had lied to me.

"I'm sorry, okay? You caught me," Beckett said sharply, shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably. "I don't like telling people about my job. Too many people already know--"

"Know? Know what?" I asked. 

"Oh, you're just gonna think it's stupid that I'm making a big deal out of it. It's not worth your time."

"I'm not gonna think it's stupid...!"

Beckett's shoulders slouched. "Well, I don't want to talk about it."

"O... kay." I mentally rolled a dice, searching for a conversation topic.

"Uh," I said, as smooth as crunchy peanut butter, "What's your sign?"

"Like..." his nose scrunched up, "My star sign?"

"Yeah, like that."

"Are you... hitting on me? Spencer, I'm flattered, but--"

"N-No! That's not what-- I didn't-- I don't like--" My face felt very hot very suddenly.

I suddenly noticed the soft grin that was on his face, and I realized he was only messing with me.

"You are so mean," I said, forcing myself to frown instead of smile.

"Huh, guess it's because I'm a Capricorn," Beckett said nonchalantly.

"Oh I totally guessed that. That was completely obvious."

"Was it? I never paid much attention to that kind of thing. Seems really... superstitious to me."

"I think it's fun! You see, I'm a Pisces because I was born February 29th--"

"February 29th? Really?"

"Yep! One in a million."

"That makes January 6th look really boring, doesn't it?"

Taking a mental note, I didn't skip a beat before replying, "Of course not!"

Beckett suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing down at it for a second.

"Well, I think I have to go, but here," he said, holding out his phone to me. "Give me your number."

"Uhhh..." I said quietly, gently taking his phone. "...okay."

I typed in my phone number slowly, before handing the phone back over to Beckett. He slipped it back where it belonged in his pocket before saying.

"I'll text you after my shift, okay?"

"S-Sure thing..."