Chapter Seven

                                    

                                          
We eventually found my beanie in the laundry room. 
                          
"See! I help, I help!" Bow called out cheerfully. 
                          
I leant down so that I could ruffle my hand through his mousy brown hair. 
                          
It wasn't too long after that my mother called for me to go and help her with the dinner. 
                          
I swiftly made my way over to her and she put me on potato cutting duty. 
                          
I was sure that Callie would have joined us to help out cooking too but she was apparently calling her boyfriend. I didn't even know Callie had a boyfriend. My sister had always been far more private than me. Either way, I continued to help my mother cook up until she said that the chickens were all cooked. 
                          
I realised that I had eaten chicken sandwiches earlier in the day and I was now about to have chicken and potatoes for dinner but either way it wasn't a bad time. It just meant that I could get my protein levels up. 
                          
Emmy would probably disapprove of this whole meal, though. She had often told me that I needed to be more creative with the cooking. I supposed she did have a good point. I tried to make a point to my mother before, by buying her a cookbook for Christmas. I wasn't convinced that she had caught on to the hint, though. 
                          
"How was school, lovely?" my mother asked me with a sweet smile upon her face. 
                          
"It was school. Math was hard. The girls were cute. There's a new girl, now," I said, as I thought back to the leather jacket girl- Courtney. 
                          
I would have to try to find out more about her. I had a feeling that she couldn't have been much older than me. She probably also took art, given that she had been in the art room. I couldn't see much reason why she would be there otherwise. Either way, I always loved to make new friends. I liked to be able to show my kindness and win people over where possible. 
                          
"It sounds good, honey," my mother told me, as we went to sit at the dinner table. 
                          
Not long after that, my sister emerged from the doorway, as she walked into the dining room and took her seat at the table. 
                          
Callie rubbed at her eyes once she was seated, which told me that she was tired. It didn't surprise me at all. My sister was often incredibly sleepy. I supposed that she was fairly busy when it came to her job at the bar. She had to serve many people and clean up on top of that. It wasn't easy, neither was school, though. 
                          
I had prepared for it to not be easy, though, and after I had come out, I had known that I had to prepare myself for that to be difficult too. 
                          
All of us ate quietly for a short while, until Bow accidentally dropped part of one of his potatoes onto the floor. 
                          
"Oops!" he said. 
                          
"It's okay, Bow. I'll clean it up in a little," I assured him. 
                          
"Yeah, we all drop potato sometimes, Bow," Callie told him in a supportive manner. 
                          
Bow just chuckled at that statement, as he ate another forkful of his potato. 
                          
After dinner,  I helped my mother clean up the kitchen and soon made my way back upstairs. 
                          
Once I was there, Callie followed me into my room. 
                          
"Are you going to do it, then?" she asked me. 
                          
"It depends what you're talking about," I replied with slight nonchalance. 
                          
"This whole asking a girl out thing," she reminded me, "I think you should do it, Phoebe. Also, though, you have to not let people take advantage of you, alright? You're in the world of dating girls now, so let's face it things are probably going to be easier than they are between Ben and I but still...I just thought that I would remind you." 
                          
I felt my eyebrows crease together slightly after she told me that. 
                          
"You're back with Ben?" I asked her. 
                          
"Everyone makes mistakes? Listen, Phoebs, I support you. Can you not tell mother about this, please?" she asked me. 
                          
I sighed. 
                          
"I love you, Cal, but you're an idiot sometimes," I said. 
                          
"I know, I know. Please say you won't tell her," Callie repeated. 
                          
"Alright," I said in agreement. 
                          
I knew that Ben was bad news, though. I mean, I was fairly sure that he had already cheated on Callie and I couldn't understand how she would allow herself to be taken advantage of  again in the same circumstances that she had told me to avoid. 
                          
"Listen, he needs me, Phoebe. He does. He doesn't think that he does but he does. I can..." she trailed off when she caught sight of my expression of disapproval. 
                          
"I don't know how you believe you could change him, Callie. I'm going to need some actual evidence of your plan here," I told her. 
                          
Callie simply sighed at that statement. 
                          
"Ugh. I don't know," she said, "Maybe we can fix things, Phoebe. Just know that I'm going to figure it all out, okay?" she asked me. 
                          
"Okay," I said, though I didn't know whether I should be condoning any of this. 
                          
 "Ben and I are finally peaceful with each other," she said. 
                          
"The only person that was threatening that peace was him," I reminded her. 
                          
Callie sighed again at those words. 
                          
"Phoebs," she said. 
                          
"It's whatever, Callie. I love you, I trust you. Be kind to yourself, though, please. If he hurts you..." I trailed off. 
                          
"Stop being so pessimistic. He won't, alright? I'm going to keep things good between the two of us," Callie said, as she gave me a charismatic smile.
                          
I wanted to leave the room but I knew that I couldn't. 
                          
I wasn't angry about this but I was hurt by it. 
                          
"Now, I need to read," Callie said, "You know I switch off after too much social interaction. Well, there's that and-" 
                          
"And you want to call him. I got it," I said, as I waved to her and made my way back down the hall towards my own room.