Logan

Chapter 8

Logan and the Nelsons hadn't made it to bed until quite late last night, so his alarm felt way too early. The temptation to hit snooze was great, but he knew that if he still wanted to graduate from Gretta Mayfield High School, he couldn't be late for his second day. Logan dragged himself from bed.

As he stood, a sharp pain shot across his temple. He winces. Logan walks to the bathroom and assesses himself in the mirror. The right side of his face had a cut down it, the area was an irritated red. He also had a slight black eye. All of which was courtesy of Officer Alexander.

It wouldn't be the first time he had gone to school with bruises, but they wouldn't do much for the new image he was trying to project. Bruises also meant that someone at the school would be making a phone call to Ms. Shapiro. Even though she would already know about this one, another phone call about him wouldn't look very good. Nothing he could do about it, though. Logan turned on the shower.

Twenty minutes later he descended the stairs clean, dressed, and as ready as he could be for his second day. Once again, Kate's voice greets him as he enters the kitchen.

"Mornin' sweetie! I didn't cook anything, I couldn't be bothered." She frowns, "Oh Logan, your face."

"Good morning to you, too." He didn't think it was that bad.

Kate brings her hand up to his bruise, she touches it gingerly.

"How does it feel?"

"Ah, just a bit of a headache, it's not too bad." That was a lie. It was more like a sharp pain every time he moved or breathed. However, Logan knew it could be worse.

She gives him a look that proves she doesn't believe him and turns to a cabinet, retrieving some ibuprofen.

"Here, take two of these. Put four more in your pocket, you can take them every four hours."

He might have argued with her, but his head really hurt. And she was a nurse, after all. So instead he said, "Yes ma'am."

Kate opens her mouth to say something, then closes it. She scrunches her nose and tries again, "Do you want me to-? Well I could, I don't know, put something on that."

"What, like raw meat? I thought that was just on TV."

"No, like concealer."

That was unexpected. He must have looked skeptical because she followed up with,

"It's not that bad. I just don't want you to be nervous at school. I know it's already hard being the new kid, and showing up looking like that will be quite the story. I promise it will look very natural. And if not, I can wipe it right off. Okay?"

He can't believe it, but he actually considers it. He does want to blend in at school. Keep his head down, graduate. He can't do that if he's showing up with unexplained shiners. And he definitely doesn't want to have to do any explaining.

Eh, what the hell.

"Alright," he sighs, "As long as we can wash it off if I don't like it."

Kate perks up, "Great!" She didn't think he would say yes, "Follow me to my lair."

They cut through the living room and across  Kate and Charlie's bedroom into their en suite. She digs in a drawer until she lets out an, "Aha!" and holds up a tube of liquid that was a concerning shade of green.

"Uh, Kate. I know I'm a little more Spanish than you, but neither one of use are green."

"Oh no, honey," She giggles, "The green is going to help block out some of the redness so that it's more neutralized and less, um, angry." She gestures with the tube, "Now sit on the tub, you're too tall."

Logan does as he's told.

She gets to work with brushes and sponges and eventually another tube resembling the green one, the one the shade of skin. There's the occasional, "Sorry," when Logan can't help but wince. The cut near his brow is much more sensitive than the rest.

"Okie doke, we should be good. Have a look."

Logan stands and walks to the mirror. The black eye has disappeared. There's still a scratch that runs from his temple to the top of his cheekbone, but it's much more subdued. In Kate's words it looks much less angry. There's not a trace of green.

"Wow."

She leans against the door frame, "I know. That cut isn't going to go away, but it looks much better than it did. And this is far less of a story for the gossip mill."

"No it looks great. Thank you, Kate." She grins at him in the mirror.

"And you were worried. You can't even tell you have it on, much less that it was green."

He chuckles, "You were right."

"That's the smartest thing you've said yet. The quicker you learn I'm always right, the better. And then you can teach Charlie."

She pushes off from the wall, "Let's roll, I wanna get McDonald's."

The ride to school goes quickly. They do, indeed, stop at McDonald's. Kate got enough food to feed an army and he ordered a hashbrown. When she got her change back, she handed it to him.

     "Here, take this for lunch."

     "Oh, I don't need this much," Logan tried to hand some of it back to her.

     "Then get a snack or something, or save it for tomorrow." She gives him a look that means she won't take no for an answer. Kate's good at those.

     So, instead of arguing he says, "Okay, yes ma'am. Thank you," and puts the money in the front pocket of his backpack.

     When they pull into the school parking lot, Kate lets out a heavy sigh.

    "Ugh, I'm tired. I know you are, too. If it were up to me you wouldn't ever be going to school today. But as I'm sure you know, when foster kids miss school, we'll all get in trouble."

      He looks down at his lap, "Yeah, and after last night more trouble is the last thing we need. I'll be okay. You have time to rest before you go to work?"

     I do, but don't worry about me, kiddo." They pull up to the front door, "Okay, Charlie is going to pick you up this afternoon and take you to get a new key made for yourself. If he stops for ice cream, you better bring a pint home."

      "What flavor?"

     "Surprise me. You better go, we didn't really have time for McDonald's. You look great, have a fantastic second day!"