“Well no one’s going to believe him and if they do they’re stupid and don’t know Karla.” Conner said as his anger mounted. He wanted to beat James to a pulp.
“Conner, only if a hand full of people believe him then my life here is over. I love it here and don’t want that to happen. There is one way I can stop that from happening.” Karla told everyone.
“Karla, are you thinking about sharing your story with the school?” Rylee asked her.
“I don’t know what to do. If I tell everyone everything it may make it worse than his lies will.” Indecisiveness laced her voice.
“Karla, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. I think you should talk to Mr. Johnson and see if he’ll make a statement to the school telling everyone what happened. That may stop the rumors before they start.” Hunter suggested.
“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Hunter.”
“You’re welcome, Karla. I know James hurt you, but I hope you can forgive him someday. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just had a really hard life. His dad took off when he was two and his mom has had to struggle to support him and his older brother. I know that doesn’t excuse his actions, but maybe it’ll help you to understand him a little better.” Hunter said hopefully.
“Hunter, James isn’t the only one who had a really hard life. I’m not going into it with you, but he had it easy compared to what I lived through and I have never hurt anyone like that. He intentionally used his words to destroy me and when that didn’t work he used his hands.” Karla told Hunter. “I really feel sorry for him. He chose to take his hardships and use them to hurt other people. He needs help Hunter and I’m glad he’s getting it, but I will never be able to understand him.”
“Understandable. I’m sorry he hurt you Karla.” Hunter said and he got up and walked away.
“I need to go talk to Mr. Johnson. I’ll see you all in class.” Karla stood up, but Conner grabbed her hand.
“We’ll all go talk to Mr. Johnson.” He said and stood with her. They all dumped their trash and walked to the office together.
Mr. Johnson was at his desk when they walked through his open door. “Miss Hall, Miss Newberry, Mr. Newberry, Miss McNabb; what can I do for you today?”
“Mr. Johnson, Hunter Bryant came to us at lunch and told us that James is starting to say things about Karla that are untrue.” Callie started.
“I was wondering if you could maybe make an announcement about what happened between James and I so the rumors he’s trying to get started stop before they can really start.” Karla said to him, hope filled her voice.
“I can do that as long as you’re okay with it.”
“I’m okay with it. I want everyone to know what happened and that James is getting the help he needs.”
“Alright. I’ll make an announcement after the lunch period is over. No one will pay any attention to it if they aren’t in class already.”
“Thank you, Mr. Johnson.” Karla said, gratitude filled her voice.
“You’re welcome, Miss Hall. I hope it helps you.”
They walked out of Mr. Johnson’s office just as the bell rang. They headed to class and had just sat down when Mr. Johnson came on the intercom.
Attention students. It has been brought to my attention that there are some questions regarding the incident that happened here Tuesday morning. Some things have been said that aren’t factual and if I hear of anyone spreading rumors about either party involved the person spreading those rumors will be disciplined. We have a zero bullying code at this school and spreading rumors is a form of bullying and will not be accepted. A student was attacked by another student through no fault of her own and she will not be made to feel uncomfortable here. If anyone has any questions feel free to come by my office and I’ll answer them as I see fit. Thank you and have a good rest of the day.
Karla looked around at her friends with a look of relief on her face. Maybe everything would be alright now. Maybe her life would level back out into the normal she’d gotten used too.
Chapter Sixty-Two
The rest of the day passed in peace for Karla and her friends. There were still a few questions, but nothing Karla couldn’t handle. After the final bell rang and they were waiting for the bus so they could go home Karla was approached by a boy she’d never talked too. “Are you Karla?” He asked.
“Yeah. Who are you?”
“I’m Albert Greene, James’ brother.”
Conner immediately stepped up and placed himself between Albert and Karla. Callie and Rylee also stepped up to protect her. “What do you want Albert?”
“I just want to talk to Karla for a minute.”
“Not without us you aren’t.” Callie told him with a sneer.
“Fine. Whatever. You can all hear this. My brother has never hurt anyone in his life and I don’t know who you think you are, but the truth will all come out soon and everyone will know you’re lying.”
“You do realize that the entire incident was caught by the security cameras right?” Rylee asked him.
“It was?” Albert asked.
“Umm.. yeah, it was. I guess James didn’t tell you that little detail.” Karla told him with a little laugh. “Seems he’s just telling people what he wants them to know. I’m not a liar Albert.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you again.” Albert walked off without saying another word.
“Well that was weird.” Conner said as the bus pulled to a stop in front of them.
“Should I be worried about him?”
“If he says anything else to you go to Mr. Johnson. He’ll take care of it.” Rylee told her as they boarded the bus and took their seats.
“I don’t think he’ll be a problem Karla. You kind of shut him up when you told him about the security footage.” Callie said with a small smile.
“Yeah I guess. This has been a really stressful day. I say we go to my house, have Leslie order pizza for us and study for finals.”
“That sounds perfect.” Conner told her with a smile.
A few minutes later they got off the bus and walked into Karla’s house. Leslie walked into the family room as they came through the front door. “Mr. Johnson called me and told me what happened today. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day. Can you order us some pizza for dinner so we can study for finals? I just want to concentrate on finishing this semester and then going to Puerto Rico for a week. Maybe after break everything will have calmed down.”
“Sure honey. I’ll order the pizza in about an hour. Have you three asked your mom’s about eating over here?”
“I just sent mine a text.” Rylee told her.
“I did too.” Callie added.
“Okay. The kitchen table is free for use. I’ll get you some snacks to hold you over until the pizza gets here.”
“Sounds great Leslie. Thank you.” Karla told her and sat down at the table.
For the next hour they studied and laughed together. Conner cracked jokes and tried to take Karla’s mind off of everything that had happened. Rylee and Callie talked about their upcoming shopping trip and how much fun it’d be helping her pick out clothes for her trip. When the pizza arrived they stopped working to eat.
The evening passed quickly and at seven Leslie drove everyone home. When she got back Karla had already taken a shower and was sitting in the family room with Andrew watching Transformers on Netflix. They had a bowl of popcorn between them and were glued to the screen. “Care if I join you two?”
“Sure.” Karla answered and scooted closer to Andrew. Leslie sat on the other side of her and grabbed a handful of popcorn. When the movie ended Karla went up to bed. Andrew and Leslie went into the kitchen and sat in their usual places at the bar. “Leslie, I have something I wanted to ask you.”
“What’s up babe? You sound really serious.”
“This is serious. I’ve been thinking about something and wanted to ask your opinion.
”
“Okay. Go ahead. You know you can ask me anything.”
“How would you like to become Karla’s parents?”
“Are you talking about adopting Karla?”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We both love her like a daughter and I know she loves us. We’re already a family, but I’d love for her to be our daughter. I’d love to make her a Peterson.”
“Oh Andrew I would love that too. Do you think she would though?”
“Well there’s only one way to find out.”
“Before we ask her maybe we should talk to Bob and see what all we have to do. I don’t want to get her hopes up and then not be able to follow through with it.”
“I agree. I’ll call Bob in the morning and see what we’ll have to do to make her legally ours.”
“Andrew you are the best man in the world. I love you.”
“I love you too baby.”
“She had a bad day today. She had a lot of people questioning her and had to deal with a few rumors that James has tried to start.”
“Did it get taken care of? If not I’ll go up to the school tomorrow.”
“She handled it brilliantly. She went to Mr. Johnson and had him make an announcement about the incident. He called me afterwards and told me all about it. I’m so proud of her.”
“Me too. I can’t believe how strong she is, especially after everything she’s been through.”
“She really is strong. I was proud of her today when he told me what she did. She really defended herself today.”
“She’s a great kid and I can’t wait to become her legal father.”
“And I can’t wait to become her mother.”
Chapter Sixty-Three
The next two weeks passed rather quickly. Everything at school calmed down after Mr. Johnson’s announcement. Karla and her friends went shopping on Friday afternoon and got Chase’s birthday gift. Karla got four new outfits for her trip and a beautiful gold and diamond cross necklace for Kiara. She had talked to Kiara and found out that she’d been saving to get Manuel a PlayStation 3 and some games so Karla was going to go in with her on that. Leslie had given her some money to get them both something nice, and though she’d hesitated to take it, Leslie insisted.
Now that finals were over and school was out for the semester Karla and her friends spent their time Christmas shopping and spending time together before Karla left for a week. On the Saturday before Christmas Karla, Conner, Callie, Rylee, Chase and Dominic all met at the mall to buy Christmas gifts for their parents. They were at the same jewelry store that Karla had gotten Kiara’s necklace from and Karla was looking at a necklace and earring set for Leslie. The necklace was a silver heart with mom written in a fancy script and diamond accents, and the earrings had several silver hearts dangling on thin chains from a diamond. Andrew had given her more than enough money to get the set and the scarf she’d picked out for Leslie, but she hesitated. She thought of Leslie as her mom, but she wasn’t sure if she’d be crossing a line by getting this set for her.
“Why don’t you take a picture of it with your phone and send it to Andrew? He’ll be able to tell you if she’ll like it.” Rylee suggested.
“No. I think I’m just going to get it for her. It’s how I feel. I just hope I don’t make her feel like I’m pushing for something she isn’t ready to give.”
“She loves you and she’ll love that set.” Callie assured her. “Con, do you think mom would like this?” She asked her brother and pointed at a little crystal bracelet with silver hearts dangling from it.
“She’ll love it sis. Karla, I know Leslie will love that set too.”
“Okay.” She smiled at them all and motioned for a sales clerk. When he came over she pointed at the set. “I want that please.”
“Sure.” He said with a smile. “I’ll get it out and boxed up for you. Is there anything else you need?”
“Do you sell cufflinks?” Karla asked. She’d talked to Leslie and she’d told her that Andrew needed new cufflinks for when he went to the hospital fund raisers and had to wear a tux.
“We sure do. What kind are you looking for?”
“Umm.. I’m not sure exactly. Can I just look at several different sets and see if anything catches my eye?”
“Of course you can.” He walked to another counter and pulled out several sets for Karla to look at. She immediately spotted a set of black ones with a silver P engraved in them that were perfect. In the case next to them she spotted a silver money clip with dad written on it in black and knew she wanted both.
“I like the black ones with the silver P and I also want to see the silver money clip with dad written on it please.”
“Sure.” The clerk said with a smile.
After she looked at the money clip she knew she had to get it for Andrew. “I’ll take both and the necklace and earring set please.”
“I’ll get these all boxed up and meet you at the cash register.” The clerk told her with a huge smile.
As she walked to the register she spotted a small silver chain in the glass case beside the register. It was thin and had a small charm on it that was an interlocking BFF. “Sir, do you have two of these?”
“Let me check.” He looked under the counter and pulled a second one from under the counter. “I do. Would you like these as well?”
“Yes please, but can you quickly box them. I don’t want my friends to see them.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back.” He walked to the back counter and put everything into jewelry boxes before turning back around and ringing Karla up. Once she paid for everything he handed her the bag and she was thankful that you couldn’t see through it.
“Thank you sir.” She told him and turned back to her friends. Conner and Callie were with a different sales clerk and Rylee was with another one. Dominic and Chase were standing just outside the doors so she walked out to join them. “Guys, look what I got for Callie and Rylee.” She pulled one of the boxes out and showed them.
“They’ll love them Karla. What are you getting Conner?” Chase asked with a grin. They all knew how she felt about Conner, but no one ever said anything.
“I have no idea. Any suggestions?” She asked them and Dominic nodded.
“He was looking at those framed vintage Star Wars pictures back at the music store. He even said he’d have to go back after Christmas to get them because today was about buying gifts for everyone else.”
“That’s perfect. Thanks Dominic.” Before she could say anything else Rylee walked out of the jewelry store holding a small bag.
“Well that’s mom, Nathan, Jess, Jenn, and Harper done. I just have Jason and Ryan then you all left. So far so good.”
“Rylee, want to go back to the music store with me? I know the perfect thing for Conner.” Karla asked her with a grin.
“Sure. Dominic, you coming with us or waiting here with Chase?”
“I’ll wait with Chase and let them know where you went. Think ten minutes will be enough time to get it?”
“Yeah. That’ll be plenty of time. Meet you all at the food court for lunch in about ten minutes. If they aren’t done by then, just text me and we’ll come back here.” Rylee told him and kissed his cheek before she walked off with Karla.
“Dominic told me that Conner was looking at those vintage Star Wars pictures when we were in here earlier. There were six of them so I figure I can get him three and you can get him three. How’s that sound?”
“That sounds perfect. He’s a Star Wars nerd and will love them.” Rylee said as they walked through the doors of the music store. After they purchased the pictures they met up with their friends at the food court for lunch and discussed the rest of the day. As they were all talking Karla looked toward the bathrooms and the blood in her veins went cold.
Chapter Sixty-Four
“Karla, what’s wrong?” Conner asked when he noticed Karla had stopped talking.
“Look toward the bathroom,” was all she said bef
ore she looked down at the table.
When Conner looked he saw James and Albert standing there watching them. He locked eyes with James and started to stand up. Karla put her hand on his arm and shook her head. “He’s not worth it Conner.”
When James saw Karla’s hand on Conner’s arm he started walking toward them. “Oh no.” Karla whispered.
“Karla, we’re all here. He can’t hurt you.” Dominic told her as he shifted in his chair. James may have been his friend, but he’d defend Karla against him.
James stopped a couple of feet from their table. “Karla I thought you weren’t interested in a relationship right now?”
“I’m not James. Conner is, and always will be, my friend.” She told him. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to talk to you alone for a minute.” He replied.
“That’s never going to happen James. I’m not stupid enough to give you the opportunity to hurt me again.”
“Why don’t you take off James? None of us want you here.” Chase told him.
“You’re going to take her side over mine, Chase? We’ve know each other since we were five.”
“Yes I’m going to take her side. Not only did she have the bruises, but Mr. Johnson told us all about the security cameras picking up everything, James. You can’t lie your way out of this.”
“Oh those will never hold up in court. Without sound they only show part of it. I’m not worried.”
“Well James, you should be worried because the surveillance cameras at school have sound and everything you said to me was recorded.”
Shock registered on James’ face at Karla’s words. He took a step back before focusing on Chase and Dominic. “I can’t believe you guys are hanging around her after all of this.”
“James, you’re the one at fault in this. You’re the one who hurt her. You’re the one who did this, not Karla. She’s the victim and we support her. Now I think you should leave.” Dominic told him.
“I see how it is. I’ll get you all for this! This isn’t over!” James yelled at them then turned to walk away.
A New Beginning (The Second Chance Series Book 1) Page 19