The Red Thread of Fate

Chapter Six: Changes

Mia munched on a bag of chips while she read a gardening book. Ryan sat on her lap and reached out to the bowl of ice cream, but to his dismay, he couldn’t reach it. “Mia!” He cried out and pulled at her long hair to get her attention.

                Mia turned away from the book and looked down at the child seated on her lap. “Yes?” She asked with an arched brow.

                “Ice cweam!” Ryan said and pointed at the bowl. Mia laughed and set the book aside and grabbed the bowl. She smiled and started to feed him.

                “I really appreciate you helping out with the kids Mia. Julian’s just been busy with all the papers he needs to check and the grades that need to be finished. And Ryan’s been bawling non-stop because he missed you even though you come here every once a week.” Judith told her as she carried Ryan’s younger sister named Mirabelle and tried to stop her crying.

                “It’s no problem Mrs. Cross. I’m glad I’m able to help in some way since I’ve caused nothing but trouble for Mr. Cross at school.” She grinned mischievously. “This is the least I could do.”

                Judith laughed heartily, “It’s not only Julian you’ve caused trouble for, but Samuel as well. Why in the world were you almost suspended?” She asked because every time she asked Julian, he wouldn’t tell her.

                Mia shrugged. “I have no idea. I haven’t been pulling off pranks anymore and I never cut classes. So I really don’t know.” She thought for a while, “Oh wait, there was this one time I broke a guy’s arm and gave him a couple more bruises.” She remembered.

                Judith’s eyes widened in horror. “Why?” She asked after the initial shock that a girl like Mia could do such a thing.

                Mia scowled darkly at the memory. “He was a pervert! He touched my chest and so I beat him up for it, the next thing I knew, I was facing his blubber-faced mom!” She whined, covering Ryan’s ears all the while so he couldn’t hear her colorful vocabulary.

                Judith shook her head in disapproval. “What did Samuel have to say about it?”

                Mia’s grin returned. “He didn’t. The guy’s dad came and started reprimanding me as well, but Samuel punched him real good. And that’s when the fun started.”

                “Problem, you mean.” Judith chuckled as Mia nodded.

                 “Right. And then they threatened to file a case of physical injury while Samuel threatened to file a case of sexual harassment. And then the other teachers came and Mr. Cross came and we went to the conference room to talk it out.” Mia told her, “And then there were a lot of yelling. I’ve never seen Samuel so mad before, and I guess neither everyone else. I snuck away after a few minutes since it became annoying. Mr. Cross saw me but didn’t try to stop me so I thought it was all right. BUT!” She paused then furrowed her brows, “One of the teachers found me and practically dragged me back in there! The talking dragged on and I was let off since most of the teachers saw my side of the argument. Especially the female teachers. But I wonder why almost all the teachers were involved in it though.”

                “That’s because Samuel’s your guardian, so obviously he’d take your side right from the start. Especially in cases like these.” Judith explained. “Well I can’t say what you did was wrong, but I can’t say it was right either.” She shrugged. “Well at least it’s solved now and you weren’t punished.”