Other Half

Own Room

"What's wrong with you?" Emma said to Callie. It was the next day at school,
"Nothing I just got yelled at by my parents yesterday and everything sucks. Plus I'm nervous about the dance concert" Callie said adjusting her backpack.
"Ohh noo what happened? Was it your dad again?" Emma said hugging her.
"It was both, I ran away but they found me. Whatever I just want to focus on the dance now" she said as they walked to the dance room.
"You better. This is one of the last days for practice then we go on stage next week! I can't believe how fast it went by" she said smiling excited.
"I know!" Callie said excited but nervous.
"Dude, do you know what? My mom let me have Hayley over yesterday" Waytt said at luch time to Brandon. Stef and Mike decided to let him go to school since he was feeling better. They figured it was just something he ate and not a virus.
"Oh that's cool" he said awkwardly
"Really cool" Matt added.
"Yeah we might kiss soon too"
"You're lucky" Matt said giving him a high five.
"Well, my mom said I can have a girlfriend" Brandon said confidently. He felt proud this lie might make them jealous of him for a change.
"She did?!" Wyatt said in disbelief.

"Yup, and I'm kinda together with Talya. We're not official but she totally wants me" he said taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Wow congrats dude! I can't believe Stef would let you, your parents are strict" Matt said and Wyatt nodded. This made Brandon mad at his mom and dad. Why were they so strict? He wished they were the opposite like Wyatt's parents.
"Well, she's okay with it now. I gotta go" Brandon said quickly putting his lunch away and walking to the bathroom.
Callie finished changing into her dance clothes which was shorts, tights, and a tank top,
This is what all the kids wore to practice.
"Okay from the top, we only have one week and two more practices to perfect this everyone!" Ms. Lauren said. This was Callie's dance teacher.
The music turned on and they all started their routine,
"Nope, stop. Callie you need to turn your foot out after the four, you have it turned in! We need to look in unison at concert" Ms Lauren said causing Callie to look down defeated. She hated when the teacher called her out in front of the class. From the corner of her eye she could see Talya laugh slightly but cover her mouth to hide it.
"Okay, sorry" she said nervously.
"It's okay let's do it again" the teacher said and Callie swallowed a lump in her throat.
It got to the part and Callie turned her foot out but stumbled slightly. They continued with the rest of the routine.
"Good, that was great! Callie make sure we're keeping our balance and you too Sarah. Water break!" Ms Lauren said.
"Are you okay?" Emma said walking up to Callie.
"Yeah just kinda embarrassing" she said taking a sip of water.
"It's okay, the routine is hard and you'll get it" Emma smiled.
"Thanks" she said feeling like she was the worst one in class. She couldn't help but compare herself to the other girls who seemed to get the choreography perfect from the start.
"Are you sure everything is okay? Are your parents fighting again?" Emma said frowning.
"They're always fighting!" Callie snapped back. She didn't have the patience to have this talk with her again and she was irritated from the day already.
"Geez I was just asking. Do you think they're going to get divorced?" Emma said and Callie stopped for a second.
"No! Why would they? Everyone fights, they just need to figure it out" she said taking another drink of her water. She didn't want to think about her parents splitting up. This thought made her even more sad and she didn't ever want them to split up. She wanted both her mom and dad to be with her all the time.
"Well, when my parents started fighting all the time that's when they divorced" Emma said touching her shouler.

"Well, my parents aren't yours. I don't want to talk about this" Callie said crossing her arms.
"I've been through this situation before so you can talk to me about it, we're bffs" she said smiling. Callie nodded,
"I know I just really don't want them to divorce. I just don't know what will happen. I hate my life" she said rolling her eyes.
"Me too" Emma laughed and they both went back to dance practice.

~

Stef sat at work typing on her computer,
"So, we get to leave early today" Mike said smiling at her.
"Yup" she said still focused.
"So, we'll have the house to ourselves for a few hours" he said winking.
"You can't be serious" she said laughing.
"What?" Mike said offended. He put his hand on his hip.
"You know how I've been feeling about us, it's just really not the same and I can't pretend like I want to go home and have sex" she said quietly.
"So what are you saying? We should split up?" He said stepping back.
"No, just that I need time to think about what I want and need and then we can discuss but for now, for the kids sake, let's just forget I said anything" she said turning around.
She heard him sigh and open the door then leave.
She went on her phone for a distraction and saw her call logs, she stopped when she saw Lena's call in the history. She so badly wanted to click it but decided not to. She turned off her phone and wondered why Lena hadn't called her again, Brandon must be doing okay now in class and she obviously wouldn't just call Stef for nothing. She felt guilty for a part of her that wished one of the kids would get in trouble just so she could get another call.
She shook her head at the thought, maybe she should stop by the coffee shop and she will get lucky and see her again. 'That's crazy' she thought to herself. She decided to let fate be in control of this one

~

Mike and Stef stopped at the store after work to do a little surprise shopping. They got off early and since they both agreed to make the guest bedroom Callie's they decided they would surprise her with the room completed when she got back from school.
"What about this?" Mike said showing her a pink pillow set.
"Mike, you know her favorite color is purple right? I was thinking we should do a light purple theme, I think that would be cute" she said looking for a better set.
"Oh really? I always thought she liked pink" Mike said confused.
They put a few purple bed sets and pillows into the cart as well as a new desk and dresser set with a mirror.
"This all looks expensive" Mike said scratching his head,
"But it will be worth it" Stef said. They bought the items and headed home. It took them a few hours to assemble and decorate the room when they got a phone call.
"Shit" Stef said, they realized the twins got off 10 minutes ago and they had forgot to go pick them up. She answered the phone,
"sweets I will be there in like 15 minutes I'm so sorry" Stef said rushing to clean up the room, there was only a few more finishing touches.
"Okay, hurry" Callie said then hung up.
"Can you just vacuum and that's all we need. It looks great!" Stef said admiring their hard work.
It didn't have much decorations but everything else to make it a room was ready, they decided to let her decorate it the way she wanted.
Stef got in the car and picked them both up. Once they got home Stef stopped them before they went upstairs,
"Okay, your dad and I have been working very hard on this and we have a surprise for you Callie" Stef said watching as she smiled wide.
"What is it?" She said excitedly.
"Come upstairs to find out" Mike said from the top of the stairs.
They both ran up happily and stopped in front of Mike.
"What did you get her?" Brandon said. He seemed slightly jealous.
"So, because we love you so much Cal. We wanted to do something special for you" Stef said watching her smile.
"And I love you so much, I hope you know that. I always will, you're my princess" Mike said bending down and wrapping her in a hug.
"Love you too" she said. She suddenly felt emotional, she felt so much love from both parents and she was grateful.
"Okay open the door" Stef said and Callie walked in and immediately gasped,
"My own room!?" She said jumping up and down.
"Yes! I hope you like the color choice and the dresser" Stef said showing her the stuff they got.
"I love it so much!" She said still in shock. She layed on the bed and giggled,
"I can't believe we have our own rooms now Brandon!" She said looking over and watched as he walked to his room and shut the door.