^^ George ^^

I wait until later that evening to speak to Robin about what the sheriff had told me. She's putting the clean dishes away when I join her in the kitchen and ask her to sit with me at the table.

"I need to talk to you about something," I tell her, and I can see the fear creep into her eyes. I grab her hand and squeeze it softly. "The sheriff came to see me earlier. The station got sent a missing person's poster from Atlanta. Apparently, it's been sent nationwide now," She goes to stand, and I know she wants to run. "Hey, sit down. Talk to me. We're in this together remember,"

She pauses but eventually begins to relax again, and I see her take a deep breath. "I ran way about two months ago. It was easy at first; no one was looking for me. I was gone for two weeks before I was even reported missing, and I bet that's only cos the school did it," I'm terrified of what she's going to say but I relax with her next words. "I wasn't like abused or beaten or anything. I was just forgotten,"

I frown. "What do you mean?"

"My dad died when I was tiny, I don't even remember him. When I was thirteen, my mum met a new guy. He's nice, I guess. Quiet. Anyway, she got pregnant pretty quick and as soon as my baby brother was here, they totally forgot about me. I'd cook for myself; get myself up in the mornings. I can't even remember the last time I had a conversation with my mum," She starts drawing patterns on the table with her fingers, and I think she's fighting tears. "I did all the normal stuff to get attention. I started skipping school, rebelling, wearing different clothes; I even came in drunk a few times. They still never noticed me. So I left," She shrugs, and when she looks at me, her face is blank. "Will they make me go back?"

I sigh. "I don't know. I hope not. The sheriff is looking into it and I'm going to speak to my boss tomorrow and get some advice. He's a good lawyer; he should be able to help. But you don't worry about anything okay? You let me do the worrying, and you just keep up with what you've been doing. If we can show that you're doing okay, and you're happy and safe, we should stand a pretty good chance," She nods, but she still looks scared. "How much did you earn today?" I ask, smiling when she looks up with a grin.

"Fifty bucks, plus tips,"

I whistle. "Not bad for your first day,"

She nods and her grin widens. "Shelby said I'm the first person she's calling next time she needs cover,"

I take a deep breath. "We need to sort something out for school soon," I pause when she groans and rolls her eyes. "I know. But it will look good to whoever needs to see that shit, and it'll be good for you. You're what, a junior?" She nods. "So you're almost done. It sucks, I know, but it's gotta be done,"

"Ugh. I thought you were cool," I'm almost offended until she sticks her tongue out at me.

"I'll drop you off on the bike every day?"

She pauses. "Fine. Just until I can afford my own though,"

"Deal," I laugh.

***

The next morning was manic. I'd gotten up extra early and been to check on Banjo already. He'd been settled since his seizure the day before and was fast asleep when I popped in. His usual nurse was there and reassured me that he'd be okay for a while until I could come back later. I know Skids and Philly were popping up soon, but I had to check in anyway or I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else. I'd called the high school first thing too and arranged to take Robin in for a meeting later. Hopefully, we can sort something out and get her started there while the sheriff is looking into everything.

When I get home from the hospital, Robin is sitting at the kitchen table, laughing at Smiler as he eats pancakes faster than I've ever seen before. She looks up as she sees me and her smile drops slightly. "You ready?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes but stands anyway. "Let's do this," she says, rolling her shoulders like she's preparing for a fight.

"Really?" I ask. "No arguments, or excuses, or attitude?"

She shoves my shoulder and laughs. "I'm not that bad. Besides, I wanna stay, so it's gotta be done, right?"

I raise an eyebrow at Smiler who shrugs. "Right," I say, kissing him briefly before leading Robin to the bike. "Let's go," I grin, laughing when she rolls her eyes again.

When we get off the bike, we both pause and look at the school. I tilt my head. "I mean, it doesn't look too bad, right?" I say, trying to be chirpy.

She gives me a blank stare. "It looks like a school. They're all bad,"

I laugh and lead the way up the front steps, turning to make sure she's following. We're met just inside the door by the principal. He looks to be about forty, and his grey suit shines when he moves. He's starting to go bald and his stomach bulges over the top of his belt, but he greets us with a smile and a firm handshake.

"Welcome to Leesville High," He waves his hand around gesturing at the empty corridor. The walls are surprisingly clean, and the white paint gleams against the dark blue of the lockers that line each side of the hallway. "Robin, Selena here has explained some of your situation to me. I thought maybe you'd like a tour while I talk to her, and then we can catch up?"

Robin pauses for a moment, and I internally beg her not to be difficult. She catches my eye and smiles politely at the principal. "That sounds good,"

We all look up as a tall boy approaches us. His blonde hair hangs over his eyes until he shakes his head to move it. I catch Robin's eye and she raises an eyebrow while giving me a smirk. She obviously approves, then. "Hey. I'm Adam," he says, waving quickly at Robin. "Should we go?"

"Yes. Let's," she says, walking away from me and the principal, without waiting for Adam to follow. He gives me a brief nod before jogging to catch up with her.

"Let's go to my office," the principal says, before holding a door open for me, and gesturing for me to go ahead. His office is pretty much what I expected. His desk sits facing the door, with two chairs in front of it. The walls are covered in what looks like certificates and awards, and his desk has piles of paperwork all over it. "Please, sit," he says, pointing to one of the chairs, and I do.

We spend the next half hour with me fully explaining Robin's situation. He says that not having paperwork and her school transcripts may be a problem long term, but temporarily we can work around it. She'll have to take an entry exam, just to see where her level of learning is and can be enrolled as a temporary student until the legal side of things is sorted.

"I know it's important for you to show she's doing well here, and her education will be a big part of that. So, whatever we can do to help, we will,"

There's a knock on the door and when the principal calls for them to enter, Robin pokes her head in. "Hey," she says. She looks happy and relaxed and I can't help but grin at her.

"Come in, sit down," he tells her, smiling when she does. "My name is Mr Gregory. We've just finished talking and I think we have a plan," He looks at me and continues when I nod. "We're going to give you an entrance exam," He smiles when she groans. "It's nothing bad, it's just to see which classes we need to put you in. We'll enrol you as a temporary student until everything is sorted, and then hopefully we can make it permanent. Do you think you'd be up to sitting the exam now? It should only take a couple of hours, and you can sit in here to do it,"

Robin shrugs. "Sure. I guess, the sooner the better, right?"

Mr Gregory looks impressed as he turns to me. "Do you want to come back at about 1 p.m. to collect her? She should easily be finished by then,"

I nod and stand, leaning down to kiss the top of Robin's head and chuckling when she cringes away. "Good luck. I'll see you soon,"

She looks up at me and nods, and I leave the office feeling like we've at least managed to tick one major thing off the list. When I walk down the steps, I notice Adam standing near my bike. He looks up as I near him and nods at the bike.

"That's yours?" I nod and smile. "It's nice,"

"Yeh, it is," I say. "Shouldn't you be in a class or something?"

He chuckles. "Nah, I had a free period. That's why they got me to show her around. So, she's starting here, right?" I raise an eyebrow and nod slowly. He grins. "Awesome. See you around," He walks away, leaving me wondering if I'm going to have to get one of the guys to escort her occasionally. I have no idea where this overprotective side of me has come from, but I'm not sure I like it.

***

When I walk into the office, I see Trudy sitting at reception. She looks up and smiles when she sees me. "Hey! I didn't think you were in this week? I heard about your friend, I'm sorry," She reaches across the desk and pats my hand gently.

"Thanks, Trudy. Is he in?"

She looks at the computer quickly. "Yes. He's got about half an hour until his lunch meeting. He should be in his office,"

I thank her and head up the stairs to my boss' office. I knock on the door and enter when he yells.

"Hey boss," I greet. "How was Phoenix?"

"Selena! I didn't think I'd see you this week. It was good, I won, of course. Robert told me about your friend. How is he?" George asks when he sees me. My boss is in his early forties but looks at least ten years younger. He's a health and fitness nut, and it shows.

"He's doing okay, it's looking good at the minute,"

"That's good," He points to a chair in front of his desk, and I sit.

"I need some legal advice, actually," I tell him, and his eyes dart up to meet mine.

"What have you done now?" He asks and I grin.

"Nothing! George, you have no faith in me," I explain Robin's situation to him and he falls silent, chewing on the end of his pen like he always does when he's concentrating. It's a disgusting habit, but I've given up trying to break him of it. "Do you think you can help me?" I ask nervously.

He rolls his eyes. "Now who has no faith? If what she says is true, and her parents didn't notice she was missing, it should be pretty easy to arrange for her to stay with you. She'll be starting school soon; she has a stable home with responsible adults who obviously care for her. But most importantly, she's old enough to say where she wants to be, which is with you,"

I take a deep breath and feel some of the tension leave my body. "Do you think you could put a case together and represent me if I need it?"

He leans his arms on the desk and looks me in the eye. "Selena, you've been a superstar since you started here. You're the only person who will put me in my place when I need it. I'd happily represent you, and at no cost, but I don't think it will come to a court case. I'll put together a case file and speak to Robert. If you can get some pictures of her room and the house, we can put those in too. We'll get this sorted," He smiles at me reassuringly and I stand, thanking him. "Oh, one more thing," he calls as I'm about to leave. "I know you have a lot on your plate at the minute, so I'm happy for you to work from home for the next couple of weeks. Just come in if and when you need to, and let us know if you need anything else,"

I walk back to him and place a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, boss,"

As I'm leaving the office, my phone rings and I frown when I see it's the school. Dear lord, she couldn't have gotten in trouble already, surely?

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Hart. It's Sandra, Mr Gregory's assistant at Leesville High," The lady on the phone says.

"Hi. Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Oh yes. Robin has finished the test and Mr Gregory has asked me to let you know you can pick her up when you're ready,"

"Wow, already?" I look at the time and see it's only just gone midday. "Okay, I'm on my way,"

Either the girl is a complete brainbox or she's totally flunked the test!

When I get there, I see Robin laughing with Adam and a girl who looks to be about the same age on the front steps. She stands up when she sees me. "Hey! You met Adam already, this is Stacey. They're both juniors too. This is my aunt, or guardian, or whatever. This is Lenni," she says, and I smile when they both wave and laugh. It looks like she'll have no problems settling in and making friends.

"How did it go?" I ask her.

"It was so easy. I thought he'd given me the wrong test at first. He said he's going to look it over and he'll call you later,"

I nod. "Well done. What do you want to do? I'm going up to visit Banjo. Do you want to come with, or go to Shelby's or what?"

"Can I come with you? If I need to I can always get one of the guys to take me home later," I grin, and she looks at me weirdly. "What?"

"You called it home!" I gush.

"Oh god. Come on, weirdo. See you later guys!" She waves at the others before bounding down the steps towards my bike and I laugh when she stands next to it looking impatient. 

***

I catch the nurse's attention as I enter Banjo's room and wave her over. "Is he in a good mood?" I whisper. She smiles and nods, so I motion for Robin to follow me in. "How's he doing?" I ask the nurse.

"I'm blind, Lenni. Not deaf or dumb," Banjo says and I grin.

"Well then. How are you doing, Banjo?"

"I hurt like a bitch and I'm fucking blind. But other than that, I'm great," he says, but when I look at his face, he's grinning.

"It's a shame you're blind, cos I'm looking damn hot today,"

"Len, you always look damn hot," he replies, shifting slightly to get comfortable.

I jump when I hear a throat being cleared and see Robin looking thoroughly amused. "Right. You can't see her, but I brought Robin to meet you,"

He turns his head towards us out of habit and reaches his good hand out, which Robin shakes gently. "Good to meet you. I've heard a lot about you,"

Robin shakes her head, even though he can't see. "It's all lies, I swear," she grins.

"Wow, she is like you, Len," he says, shifting again.

"Are you in pain?" I ask him.

"It's not too bad, I'm just stiff from lying down,"

The nurse tuts and walks over to him. "I've told you, Dr O'Brian is going to check you over soon and see about getting you up, but you're not going anywhere until he does,"

He sighs and closes his eyes. "This one's a real bitch," he says, and I gasp, but the nurse just laughs.

"Banjo!" I admonish.

"I'm just playing, and she knows it. She sent Pest away earlier 'cos he was upsetting the other nurses,"

I groan.

"What did he do?" Robin laughs.

"Well," Banjo starts. "He was describing all the nurses. In great detail, including guessing their ages and measurements,"

Robin and I share a look before laughing again and sitting next to his bed. We spend the next couple of hours talking to Banjo and filling him in on what he's missed until Dr O'Brian comes in.

"Good afternoon," he greets cheerily. "I hear you're causing trouble, Benjamin." He sends me a wink as he picks up Banjo's chart.

"Honestly doc, my ass is numb, I just want to move a bit,"

Robin snorts as I shake my head and try to fight the laughter. The doctor looks at me. "So is this his usual behaviour?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yes," I say, hiding my face behind my hands.

"Well, I think you're doing well enough to move you to a different ward. Any dizziness or nausea?" He continues when Banjo says no. "Numbness or tingling in your legs or feet?" Another no. "Hearing or speech problems?"

"Doc, honestly. My ribs kill, my arm feels heavy as hell, and I can't see. Apart from that, I'm perfect!" Banjo argues.

The doctor laughs and shakes his head. "Okay, there's a room for you upstairs on one of the wards. I was going to get someone to wheel you there in the bed, but if you think you're up to it, we can take you in a wheelchair,"

"Sounds good, doc," Banjo grins again, and Robin laughs. The nurse pulls a wheelchair over and removes Banjo's blankets. "She just wants to see me naked, Len," he tells me.

"Of course she does, Banjo," I humour him.

He jumps when she touches his leg and she laughs before apologising. "Where's Robin?" He asks.

"I'm here," she says, reaching out to touch his right hand.

"When I stand up, make sure she doesn't stare at my ass, okay?" Robin laughs and agrees. "You can look, but no one else,"

"Banjo! Behave!" I say, totally embarrassed now.

He swings his legs over the side of the bed and pauses, putting a hand on his head.

"Benjamin?" The doctor asks.

"Just sat up too quick, doc. I'm alright," He sounds breathless already though, so I move next to him and wrap his arm around my shoulder. "Thanks, Len," he says quietly. He stands up, leaning some of his weight on me, and pauses when he's upright.

"Okay Benjamin, I've got the chair and your I.V stand here. When you're ready just take a couple of steps forward, and I'll slip the chair in behind you," the nurse tells him, watching him closely.

Robin stands in front of him and puts a hand on his chest. "I'm in front of you, Banjo. Just take a step towards me," This girl is incredible, and I'm so close to bursting into tears, but then Banjo steps forward slightly and his chuckle distracts me. "And again," she says, and he does. "Can you do a couple more?" she asks, looking to Dr O'Brian, who nods. I bite my lip hard to stop the tears.

"She's a slave driver, Len," he complains, but he takes another step, followed quickly by another one. "Okay, that's enough," he sighs.

"You did great," I tell him, helping the nurse move the chair behind him. "The chair's there now, you can sit,"

He sits slowly and puts a hand to his head. I look at the doctor, concerned, and he crouches in front of Banjo, looking up into his face.

"How do you feel?" He asks.

"Pissed off, doc. That was hard work and I only did a few steps,"

Robin looks at me and I try to smile.

"You've suffered some serious injuries. Most people wouldn't want to get up at all for quite a while, and we'd need to pressure them. You're on heavy-duty pain medication, which will make you tired anyway, and your body is still recovering. Every day will get a little bit easier," he tries to reassure him, but Banjo just sighs.

"If it helps, the nurse was totally checking your ass out," Robin says, and I would tell her off but Banjo laughs and his grin is back.

"I like this kid," he says, and Robin sends me a grin so wide I can't even reply; I'm lost for words.