To Fly or Fight

Hiding from the King

Over the next two months I create a sort of routine for myself.  I wake up on school days, shower, dress, brush teeth, grab a light breakfast, and out the door I go.  I elected to stay out of the carpool rotation with the other girls.  I used early morning tutoring as the reason.

I know I only have a couple months left of the school year, but I'm so ready for it to be done.  I'm ready to get started on my life.  My life away from the drama around me.  Every day it seems like Rose, Phoebe, Lilly, and Bree have something new to tell me about the brothers or the clubhouse.

I just make small comments and go about my business.  It's hurts and it's hard to let go of the huge role I've played in the past with the club, but its the right choice right now.

"Val, I'm telling you, Mac is gonna flip his lid when he finds out Sammy is going to prom with Damon.  Mac has been eyeing her for years, and she knows it". Lilly is practically coming out of her chair as she tells me this in the cafeteria.

I smile. "Sammy wants him to beg because she heard he had a bunny in his room last Saturday".

"No...surely not.  He's not that stupid is he?" She looks at me like I have a mental issue.

"He did, but it was only to get his weekly laundry.  He girl tripped on the side of his bed supposedly.  He had to call Doc in to help her out.  Apparantly her nose bleeds really easy."

Lilly looked at me like I had grown two heads.  "How do you know that.  You haven't been to the clubhouse in two months.  King is barely stable enough to be around."

"I am still the princess.  I get told about stuff from the guys at home, and at the dinner when I help Aunt Louanna."

"They really do make sure the queen watches over her subjects, even when she's not in eyesight."

"Well, I'm not queen, but yeah our family comes to me for a lot of stuff."  Lilly gives me a sassy look before going to dump her tray. 

The rest of the day I keep my head down, and make a mental list of what I needed to accomplish before graduating in a couple months.

I've got to apply for the cosmetology school I want.  If or when I get in, I need to set up financing.  I've got to figure out a place to live, a job, and moving expenses/ move in expenses.  I have to do all this while prom, and finals are happening over the next two months....yay me!

I know I can't keep missing family events at the clubhouse.  I just don't really want to deal with it all.  Diesel stopped me this morning as I was leaving home.  He told me I needed to not only show up, but make dessert, help mama with sides, and be early to help decorate.

Tomorrow is the night we celebrate Mac getting patched in the club.  He doesn't think anything is out of the ordinary.  It's just a normal Saturday night at the clubhouse.  The brothers will have church right before the party where they will vote, and patch him in.  He's a legacy, so we all knew he'd get in, but he still had to do his time as a prospect.

As I'm walking into my house, I hear a voice holler for me.  I turn to see Alex headed toward me from the other side of the compound.  I walk his direction.  Alex came here a couple of years ago.  He's in his early twenty.  He grew up in foster care, and settled here when my uncle Emmett gave him a job on his farm.  When he met my daddy and the rest of the family, he fell in love with the life.  He did his prospecting, and was patched in within a year.

"Hey Alex, what's up?"  I look at his face waiting for him to talk.

"Um Valerie can you come over to the clubhouse.  Tiffany and Phoebe are about to fight, and someone already called both Richie and Diesel.  Tiffany told her she was with Diesel last night."  He looks at me like only I can rectify the situation.

"Sure Alex I'll see what I can do, lead the way."