The Story of Vada Munroe

Chapter Seventeen

Vada walked downstairs the next morning and walked into the kitchen, catching her parents attention.

"Good morning, Vada." Her mother said, a soft smile on her face and Vada sat on a bar stool and yawned after mumbling morning to her.

Michael didn't leave until really late because they had to talk things out on how they were going to do this.
She told him she would break the news to Marcus today and that they will have to tell Julia eventually.

"Were you up all night playing that game again?" Casey asked, sitting across from her and he placed his cup of coffee in front of him.

"No, Laurence is grounded." She mumbled, resting her head in the palm of her hand.

"Then why are you so tired?" He asked before taking a sip of his coffee, not taking his eyes off his daughter.

Vada huffed and sat up straight, getting annoyed with her father, she said, "I couldn't sleep." He knew she was lying but nodded.
Jennifer walked over and placed a plate in front of him then she reached over to place a plate in front of Vada and she looked up at her and her eyes landed on a mark on her daughter's neck but chose to not bring attention to it and placed the plate down and turned back to the stove.

Vada looked down at the plate and gulped lightly. "Oh, uhm, I'm not hungry." She said and looked up at her parents. Casey looked up from his plate and Jennifer looked over from the stove. Both were confused. Vada glanced at the both of them before saying, "I'm still full from last night."

Jennifer turned completely towards her. "But you barely touched your food at dinner."

"I said I wasn't hungry!" Vada snapped, pushing the plate away and she stood up and paced off into the dining room. Casey and Jennifer glanced at each other then at her.

Vada was making her way to the cafeteria when she saw Alice sitting on a bench outside of the principal's office. She looked in front of her then back at Alice and she walked over and sat down beside her.

"And just like that, she's back to getting in trouble." She said with a grin, hoping she would say something instead of looking at her and walking away like she has been.

Alice glanced at her momentarily and let out a breath of amusement. "And she's back to not minding her own business." She mumbled.

Vada scoffed. "I think you're getting confused with yourself."

Alice smiled softly and looked over at her then back down and she said, "I'm sorry, I stopped talking to you for so long. I was just-"

She nodded. "I know, you don't have to hide it anymore." She reassured her, setting her hand on top of hers.

Alice sighed and looked down. "You know." She looked back up at Vada.

She nodded lightly. "I've known for a while now, I just didn't know how to deal with it and frankly, I still don't." Alice looked back down at her lap and tears filled her eyes. Vada smiled softly, slightly squeezing her hand as she said, "Doesn't mean we can't still be friends. I really care about you, Alice, you are one of my best friends and I support you. I'm here for you."

She looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you, Vada."

Vada nodded and pulled her into a short hug and said, "I got to go, text me, okay?" She nodded. Vada pulled back from their hug and stood up and walked into the cafeteria. She walked over to the table she knew Marcus sat at everyday with his friends and she sat down beside him, which caught his attention. "Can we talk?" She asked.