The Redemption of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen Page B

Some people eat lunch in here, but I choose to eat in my
    room because there’s always too much going on, like fights and
    yelling and crying.

    My mother stabs her fingernail against Doug’s chest. “Don’t
    you dare insinuate anything.”

    “I wasn’t,” Doug says simply, wincing as he grips the spot on
    his chest where my mother stabbed her finger. “It just seems like
    you’re awfully eager to take Kayden out of here when it’s clear he’s
    not stable.”

    I scan the scars on my arms and the bandage on my wrists.
    I’ve been picking at the scab that’s underneath it a lot, which is
    why it’s not healing. But it’s a fucking habit and I can’t seem to
    break it.

    “He’s perfectly stable,” my mother insists. There’s a slight slur
    to her speech and I wonder if the doctor can hear it. “And it’s my
    call, since I’m the one who signed him in to be here.”

    I stand up, stunned. “You did that? I thought that was the
    hospital?”

    She glares at me with annoyance. “I put you here for your
    own good. You needed to be watched for a while, but now…
    you’ve been here for a little over a week and it’s time to move on
    and get your act together.”

    Or kept away from my father. “Then I want to leave,” I say,
    walking across the room. “And I want to go back to school, not
    back home.”

    “You can’t,” she replies curtly. “It’s Christmas break.”

    “Okay, then maybe I want to stay here.” I back up to the chair
    and sit down. I tip my head forward and rub the sides of my
    temples with my fingers. “Fuck.” I have no idea what to do. I don’t
    want to be in this God damn room anymore, but leaving means
    facing the world, myself, my father, Callie.

    “If Kayden wants to stay here,” Doug interrupts. “Then he
    can.”

    “I’m sure as hell not paying for it,” my mother snaps
    venomously. She reaches into her purse and takes out the car keys.
    “I’m signing you out first thing tomorrow morning and then you’re
    coming home—that is, unless you want to fork out your own
    money.”

    She clutches the keys in her hands and storms out the door,
    taking my hope with her. I wonder why she’s doing it. Why she’d
    put me in here for barely over a week and then suddenly want me
    out. There’s got to be something going on.

    Whatever it is, I don’t want to go home. If I do, there’s a
    good chance my father’s going to finish what he started.

    Doug sighs as he returns his pen to his pocket, and then he
    turns to me. “Well, that didn’t go so well.”

    “It never does with her.” I shove the sleeves of my
    long-sleeved shirt up and rest my arms on my knees. “There’s no
    use trying to fight her on anything. She always wins.”

    He grabs a chair from the corner and positions it in front of
    my chair. He doesn’t bother taking his jacket off, which means he’s
    probably not staying long. “Does she win fights with your father?”
    he asks as he lowers himself into the chair.

    Warning flags pop up all over in my head. I know the drill.
    Lie. Lie. Lie. “What do you mean? What fights?”

    He crosses his leg over his knee and the bottom of his pants
    ride up. He’s wearing these socks with smiley faces on them. “Your
    mother and father never fight?”

    I shake my head because it’s the truth. They really don’t
    because my mother is a yes-dear kind of person. “No, not really.”

    His brows pucker and I get the feeling I might have said
    something wrong. “Kayden, what’s your dad like?”

    My fingertips automatically jerk inward and my nails slice at
    my skin. “He’s… he’s a dad. A normal dad.”

    “Do you have a good relationship with him?” he questions.
    “Because I find it kind of strange that he hasn’t visited you once.”

    “Our relationship’s fine.” My throat feels thick with tar. “He
    just works a lot of hours.”

    His hand whisks across the paper as he writes something in
    his notebook and then proceeds into