Recess was usually spent sitting on the grass in the sunshine. Although until recently, Joshua had joined them for the first half of it. His absence was hardly missed however, as Carly had literally begged Savannah to make sure Chad joined them. He did so reluctantly, until he'd seen how much Carly wanted his attention. Savannah knew that Carly's flirting was harmless, for the most part. She was a sucker for a good-looking guy and particularly fond of the 'bad boy' appearance. Savannah was disturbed however, at how much Chad flirting back unsettled her. By the end of the recess, he was calling Carly 'Sugar' and they'd swapped numbers. He even escorted Carly to her next class, despite it being nowhere near where he was supposed to be headed.
She was still ruminating over the two of them when she walked into Joshua. Literally. She turned the corner and collided with him, knocking his books out of his hand and to the floor.
“Sorry about that.” She bent down and picked up the books with him, remembering to paste her smile on her face. “Was miles away.”
“No problem. I was going to call you. See if you were OK.” He took the books from her and gave her a concerned look. She beamed at him.
“Why wouldn't I be?” She raised an eyebrow. “It's not like I was publicly humiliated in the middle of a school dance... oh no... wait... I was, wasn't I?”
He had the decency to look embarrassed at least. “My timing could have been better, I admit.”
“That's a bit of an understatement, don't you think?” She straightened her bag on her shoulder and looked past him. “But either way, you did me a favour. I wouldn't want any distractions for the mid-year exams now, would I?” She smiled fully at him, and side-stepped him. Joshua however, was apparently not finished talking, and held her arm, preventing her from leaving. “Let go. I have a class to get to.”
“Savannah, listen, I'm trying to apologise. I didn't mean...”
“Hey Princess! Sorry I'm late!” Chad wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a sweet kiss to her cheek, before extending his hand with a warm smile to Joshua. “Chad.”
Joshua released Savannah and took Chad's hand, shaking it firmly, a curious expression on his face. “Josh Montieth.”
“Pleasure.” Came Chad's friendly reply. “Babe, don't you want to walk with me to class?” He drew his attention again to Savannah, who looked at him, dumbstruck. “We're in the same block, right?”
“What? Yeah. Sure.”
“Excellent. More time with my Princess.” He nodded a farewell at Josh and slung his arm over Savannah's shoulders, leading her away.
“Oh my gosh, what the hell did you just do?” She hissed when they'd rounded the corner.
“I saved your ass from having to talk to that douche bag.” He replied with a grin as she slunk out from under his arm. “And I bet you anything he's wondering who the hell I am and how you moved on so fast.”
“And that benefits me how?”
“Cause he ain't gonna stop thinking about it the rest of the day.” He chuckled. “Bet your ass he's gonna be calling you tonight with a bunch of questions, trying to figure it out.” When she looked plainly at him, he explained it further. “You can torture him now by keeping him guessing. You can pretend like we're dating, or whatever. Either way he's going to have his nose out of joint that you're not moping over him.”
Savannah smiled at that, but then remembered the way he'd acted with Carly just minutes earlier. “Pretty hard to act like we're a couple when you're calling Carly 'Sugar' and swapping numbers.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “Jealous, Princess?”
“As if.” She sniffed her resentment. “Just wouldn't even consider dating a guy who behaves in such a manner. Most girls wouldn't, in case you're wondering.”
“Most Mayfield girls, you mean.” He laughed. “But you know the difference between and good girl and a bad girl?” He smirked. “Nothing. The good girl just hasn't been caught yet.” He gave her a nudge with his shoulder and left her in the hallway, contemplating his peculiar behaviour.
Savannah was already at the bus stop when Chad arrived, and the ride home was filled with questions from him on how things ran at the school. The circles and cliques, where to hang out to bunk a class, who to ask for tutoring and who were the ones suspected of being less than clean in their habits.
“I think most of the guys on the football team are on some kind of steroids.” She replied. “I know Chris, the quarterback, has a drinking thing that he keeps pretty well under control. Particularly if his girlfriend is around.” She put her head to the side, thinking. “I think Mitch is on something. His eyes are always red and half the time he has a stupid expression plastered over his face. But he's a star player so I think the faculty purposefully look the other way, provided he keeps up a semi-decent grade average.”
“Chris and Mitch.” He repeated the names, as if putting them in a database for recall later. “I noticed a couple of the preppy girls were a bit dosed up too.”
“Huh? I haven't noticed anything.” Savannah tried to recall any recent odd behaviour.
“That cheerleader group? The ones that all practically bounce down the hallways? I'm telling you now they're all on something. I'm guessing appetite suppressants and uppers.”
“Uppers?”
“Drugs that give you a little 'pick me up' after a bad night. I'll bet you anything those skinny bitches are eating nothing but crumbs, which makes them not sleep well. Then they take an Upper in the morning to get them through the day. Probably even one around lunch time too, to get them through rehearsals and practice, or whatever.” He yawned. “Could use one myself.”
“Hell no are you using drugs in my house!” Savannah hissed.
“It's not using drugs, Princess.” He chuckled. “You can go to any pharmacy and buy the stuff over the counter. It's mostly just vitamin B12. It's an energy booster.”
“Oh. Sorry.” She blushed faintly. “I'm not clued up on that kind of stuff. I didn't mean to assume you were a drug addict or anything.”
Chad's smiled faded slightly. “I'm not an addict. But I do take a lot of pills.” He raised his hands in defence when Savannah's face dropped. “Nothing illegal, I swear.” She waited for him to continue, impatiently. “I get bad headaches. Really bad. I get these things called 'cluster migraines' and they're a bitch. Makes me pass out and stuff. I used to get pills from the state hospitals for it, but they stopped because people got addicted to them. So now I have to take a handful of pills to do the same job that I only needed one for.”
“Is that why you robbed the pharmacy?” She whispered.
“I never said I robbed it.” He answered, suddenly avoiding her gaze.
“Yeah and you didn't deny it either. But I'm not as dumb as I look.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I'm not all 'street smart' and 'hard-knocks' like you, but I know how to read people.” Chad continued to look straight ahead, silently. “Don't be an ass. It's not like I'd tell anyone.” He glanced aside at her, and raised an eyebrow. “If your headaches are that bad, and I was in your situation, I'd have done it.”
He let out a sigh. “It's one of the reasons. Stupid cops took all the stuff I had left.” He grumbled.
“Had left?”
“I'd delivered most of it to where it had to go. The stuff I had left was for me.”
“I'm not following you.” Savannah turned in her seat to face him. “Are you saying you stole the drugs for someone else?” Chad nodded once. “And you got bust?”
“How could I have been bust when I'm sitting here with you, instead of a police cell?” He shook his head, exasperated. “I'd already dropped the stuff of and was on my way home when the cops took me in for questioning. Because all I had was OTC drugs, unlabelled, they couldn't book me on anything.”
Savannah sat back in her seat and thought about what he'd told her. Was it the truth? He said he wasn't an addict, but he'd pocketed her mom's sinus relief pills. He said he'd taken the drugs, but it was for someone else. That he'd only taken what he needed for himself. But then why steal the extra drugs? Who were they for?
“I see your brain whirring.” He spoke up, breaking her train of thought. “Don't ask questions that can get you in trouble. The less you know, the better off you'll be.”
Savannah smiled. “Just trying to understand.” She nudged him and stood. “Next stop's ours.”
They stepped off together and Chad walked silently, despite her attempts to lure him into conversation. She eventually got the hint that he was in no mood to talk any further, and let him be. When they arrived home, he went straight to his room and although he was polite (well, as polite as Chad ever was), he remained distant for the rest of the day.
Chad decided on an early night due to another raging headache, leaving Kat and Savannah to their usual Monday night ritual of awful reality TV and chocolate. It was tradition for them to shout at the TV and the sheer stupidity of the reality stars.
“So how was school?” Kat asked tentatively.
“Actually, not so bad.” Savannah said, with an appreciative smile. “Josh tried to talk to me – apologise and stuff – but I wasn't prepared tom hear any of it. And then Chad blew him off for me.”
Kat smiled. “How did he do that?”
“Called me away while Josh was trying to talk to me. Said he wanted me to walk with him to the next class.” She smiled at the memory, and at her shock reaction to his small kiss on her cheek. She unconsciously rubbed her cheek. “He texted me earlier, asking if we can talk sometime.” Just like Chad had said he would.
“You going to give him a chance?”
“Not sure.” She devoured another square of chocolate. “There was no bad gossip like I'd dreaded, but I think that was mainly because Chad was there. New kid gossip always wins out on normal gossip.”
“So was Chad all right today? No problems?”
“No problems.” She thought back to the bus drive home however, and how he'd so suddenly closed himself off to her. It had played on her mind all afternoon. “But I can see the appeal in wanting to help him.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Well he's a complete bad boy. Does wrong things, makes stupid choices.” She though about it hard before speaking again. “But there's just something there. He's not stupid. He knows stuff. He's smart. But he thinks he's never going to amount to anything.”
“Go on.” Kat pushed her.
“He's got so much potential. He wanted to be a doctor, but he says that people 'like him' don't get to go to college or Med School.” She frowned. “He doesn't think he's good enough.”
“Good enough for Med School?”
“Good enough for anything.” Savannah wrung her hands. “But he could be if he tried. If he just believed in himself more. Pushed himself more. But he won't.” She sighed. “I don't understand it.”
Kat took a sip of her wine and placed the glass down, leaning in to Savannah. “Think of where he's from. Nowhere. Nothing. He's been failed by a flawed system that was supposed to give him a chance, and instead has dropped the ball repeatedly.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Every foster home they were placed in did nothing to booster their confidence, or channel their anger and frustration. Therapists on the State's payroll weren't listening to them – they were just putting in the hours and not actively trying to help them.” She took another long and slow sip of wine. “Chad and his brother raised themselves. When you grow up like they did, you begin to see the world with sunglasses on. Duller. No shine to it. You begin to understand why they don't allow themselves to hope and dream of better things.”
“Chad has a brother?”
“Andrew. He's a few years older.” Kat breathed deeply. “He's been in and out of police custody. Petty theft, drug use, drunken conduct. I was never able to get through to him. I couldn't help him.”
“That's why you took in Chad, isn't it?” Savannah asked.
Kat nodded. “One of these days, Andrew is going to be killed. Either by drugs, or the gangs, or in a shoot out. He's going to be a statistic and there's nothing I can do about that. And Chad will be left with nothing. Not a single relative to care for him. I remember being in that situation. Being so completely lost that I gave up.”
Savannah's heart ached for the childhood that they suffered. “But you came right, Mom. You got back up and you made something of yourself. What was so different about your case?”
“Easy. Your grandparents.” Kat smiled. “I was fifteen, and living in some dingy foster home with people who didn't even know my name. I stole clothes off your Gran's washing line, and so help me did she beat me black and blue when she caught me.” Kat laughed and sipped on her wine. “Dragged me back here by my ear, cleaned me up, called the police and told them she wanted me to do community service in her garden to pay off my debt to society.” She chuckled again. “She had me under police guard, raking up leaves from that massive Oak outside for a week.” She grinned and ate a square of chocolate. “Then your Gramps sat me down and gave me a talking to that shook me down to my toes. Told me that just because the world says I'm nothing, doesn't mean I had to listen to it. Made me come back every day to work around the garden, but this time he paid me. Pittance, I might add.”
“But it worked.” Savannah's face lit up. “You came right.”
“It worked because I wanted it to work. I wanted to become more, because Gran and Gramps made me believe that I could be more.” She sniffed and blinked away tears. “Them taking me in was the best thing that ever happened to me. Well...” She patted Savannah's leg with a smile. “Second best thing.”
Savannah smiled softly. “So the difference was that you had people that learnt to care for you.”
Kat nodded. “Gran and Gramps saw the good in me, and made me see it too. They gave me a chance to prove myself and be a better person. Andrew and Chad look out for each other, protect and love each other as brothers do. But Andrew, as the older brother, hasn't been able to provide any stability for them, because he wasn't given stability either. They haven't wanted to aspire to anything greater than their own circumstance. That's why Chad is here. I want him to see that he can do better. Be better. Be more than his current circumstances tell him he can be.”
“How can I help him do that Mom, when he can't see his own worth?”
“You can't help him baby-girl. Only he can do that. All we can do is give him support while he struggles to come to that realisation by himself.