The Broken Orphan [Being Rewritten]

Thirty Five- Lying

Luke

Just as I'm finishing a physical, Mrs. Cheryl knocks on the door. I allow her time come in and she has a worried look on her face.

"Mr. Clark, there has been an incident with Evangeline." She says
My brows furrow in confusion. "What do you mean and incident?" I ask
"I'm sorry sir, I don't know. The lady just said she needed you to come to the front office immediately. She sounded pretty serious." Cheryl says  

I drop my clipboard on the counter and grab my bag.
"Thank you Mrs. Cheryl. Please cancel my last physical for today. I doubt I will be back in time to do it." I explain to her. She nods and moved out of my way. I go through the door and walk briskly to Grayson's room. The door is open so I pop my head in.

"Hey, I have to go. Something has happened with Evangeline." I tell him. He looks confused but I don't give him time to respond. I take off down the hallway and he calls out to me.

"Let me know if she's okay." He yells
"Okay." I call back and rush through the door. I half walk half jog to the front office and burst through the door.
I go to the lady at the front desk and stumble on my words.
"I'm looking for my daughter, Evangeline, I just got a call saying something happened to her." I say breathlessly
"Down the hall to the right." She says and points down a hallway. I hurry down the hallway to the only door on the right. I knock briefly and barge through the door.

Sophie is kneeling beside a wet and paint covered Evangeline. She's trying to get red paint out of her hair with a towel, but it's doing virtually nothing. Her dress is sopping wet and completely covered with different colored paints. She looks sad and scared slightly. Sophie gives me a worried and depressed look. I drop my bag in the chair next to her and kneel in front of her. I cup her small face gently in my hands I bring her head up to look at me.

"Are you alright?" I ask
"Yes." She says softly
"What happened to you?" I ask
"I-I was carrying a water bucket and paints, but I tripped." She says. The tip of her nose turns a light shade of pink and I instantly know something is wrong.
I feel a light tug on my arm and turn to see Sophie trying to get me away from Evangeline. I allow her to lead me to the corner by a desk with a computer and phone on it for her to start talking.

"What happened?" I ask before she can say anything
"I was going back to my classroom before class started, and I was walking with her art teacher, Mrs. Williams. Well, we passed her door and we saw Evangeline sitting on the floor trying to clean up a mess of water and paint. I got her teacher to watch my class so I could bring her here to get cleaned up. She says she tripped and spilled it, but I don't think that's what happened." She explains and occasionally glances to Evangeline.

I look to her to see her half heartedly trying to get the paint out of her hair. She gives up on her hair and drops the towel back around her shoulders. She looks down to her dress and sighs.

She worked so hard on her dress so she could wear it today. It breaks my heart to see her so...so depressed. I've never seen her like this. The dress is ruined from the paint. It will be a miracle if I can get the stains out.

"What do you think happened?" I ask
She sighs and looks back to me "I have reason to believe that some of the kids in her class did this to her." Sophie reluctantly tells me. Anger starts to boil in my blood but I try to keep calm. I run my fingers through my hair and bite my tongue to keep from lashing out.
"Why do you think that?" I force out
"The look on the kids faces just looked to guilty and no one was helping her. Not that I really expected them too." She says mumbling the last part.
"Why would no one help her?" I ask frantically
Sophie's face turns to a mix of shock and confusion which only makes me more confused.
"You don't know, do you?" She ask
"Clearly not." I say sarcastically
She huffs and looks me square in the eye. "Evangeline doesn't have friends." She says bluntly
"W-What?" I choke out
"She doesn't have friends. No one. Not one that I know of. As far as I know, we are the only ones who interact with her other than her teachers. I've asked them and they all say the same thing. She doesn't talk to anyone and some of the kids make fun of her." She says to me which makes me feel so many emotions that I feel like I'm about to explode.