Fast Forward

An unemotional wreak

Zuri's POV

Its been a week since Ms. Pratt passed away. Angie and Cameron have been staying with us ever since. The funeral is in two weeks and the social workers haven't arrived yet to take both of them to foster care. They're probably waiting for the funeral to be over.

Everyone knows about Angie's mom's death. They put it on the news because her mom was always doing volunteer work on her free time and donated a lot of money to charity. Ms. Pratt was very rich. The money was put into a savings account for Angie since she's the oldest.

Cameron has been strong through the whole thing but his sister.... she's a wreak. She hasn't gone to school since her mom died. But today I guess she changed her mind.

"Come on let's go!" she said as she walked down the stairs.

"Are you sure you want to go? I mean-"

"Yeah I'm sure. Where's Cameron?"

"Um..he's finishing up breakfast. Griff will be here soon," I say.

She nods and sits down. Mom walks into the room and seems surprised to see Angie.

"Oh hey there. You decided to go to school today?"

"Yep."

"If you don't feel good just call-"

"Thanks Mrs. Ross. But I'll try to get through the day. I can't hide forever."

"Okay. Well-"

"Angie?" Cam walks into the room with a protein bar in his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"I mean-"

The elevator door opens and out comes Griff. He kisses me on the cheek and gives Angie a weird look.

"What are you doing here?"

"Why is everyone so surprised about this?" Angie asks.

"Well, I guess everyone thought you would never come out of your room," I say.

She rolls her eyes. "It's fine guys. Tears have been shed, laughs have been....laughed. Can we go now?"

"No breakfast?" Mrs. Ross asks.

"I'm good."

"Um.. Can I talk to Zuri in private first?" Griff asks.

I give him a weird look as he drags me into the kitchen.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Don't you think she's acting a little weird? I mean, she just lost her mom. Don't you think she should be a little emotional?"

"Well...true. But she spent like a week in her room and didn't talk to anyone. So maybe she decided to forget it....?"

"I think not. She's not herself. Shouldn't she still be grieving or something?"

I put a hand on his cheek. "Griff. Sweetie. Just forget it. She's just trying to change."

"What....?"

"Look you're probably right. But let's just forget it and try to go with it."

"Fine."

I give him a quick kiss and we go back to the others.

"Is everything okay?" mom asks.

"Yep. Let's go guys," I say.

The four of us climb on the elevator. We get to the first floor and walk out. When Tony sees Angie, he looks as surprised as we all were when she said she was going to school.

"Angie?" he says. "You're going to school?"

"Yep."

"Will you be okay?" he asks.

"Yep."

"Oh. Well see you later."

When we get to school, I notice everyone staring at Angie. Some people even stop to give her their condolences. She doesn't show any signs of sadness what so ever. Then Tasha walks up to us.

"Oh Angelina. I'm so sorry for what happened. I lost my great grandma too when I was 6."

"She lost her mother Tasha. Not her great grandmother," I say.

"Oh. I mean I saw her picture on the news and I just thought she looked....old."

"That's because she had cancer you dumbass," I say.

"Woah Zuri. Salty much?" She flips her hair and walks away.

"What a bitch, right Angie?" I say.

She shrugs. "Whatever."

Griff, Angie and I stop by Griff's locker since its the closest. Every thing is going swell until I see Calvin. And he's with the racist bitch Zoe That jerk. He looks over at us and starts walking in our direction. Is he...coming over?

"Hey guys," he says.

"Hey," Griff says. He fist bumps him and I give him a disapproving look. He shrinks back.

"Um...I'm sorry about your mom," Calvin continues.

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't even look at him.

"He's talking to you!" Zoe yells.

"Well maybe she doesn't want to talk to him!" I yell back.

"I wasn't talking to you. Now was I?" She gets all up in my face. Her breath smells like bubblegum.

"Look Zoe. We don't want your trouble. Can you please leave?" Angie says.

"Aww. You said please. But I'm not leaving."

"Calvin tell your girlfriend to back off," I growl.

"She's not my girlfriend. Angie can I talk to you in private?"

"Ha!" I laugh. "After what you did? Not on my watch."

"Zuri let me handle this.".She steps towards him. "We'll talk. But not now. That'll give enough time to explain yourself and why you've been such an asshole lately. I dunno. Maybe you're on drugs. Maybe it's mental issues. So, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself. Because I'm tired of your mind games."

Then she storms out of here.