The sun was up, she could faintly hear birds singing in the trees in the backyard through the ajar window. Stretching her arms above her head, she got out of bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

“Are you going to school today?”

She nodded.
“I think I can manage. If not, I will let you know. But I can’t miss school too much, I’m supposed to graduate this year.” She said.

Suzan shared a worried glance with her husband as Athalya finished her breakfast and went to get ready.

---

As she reached the school, she could see Jimmy and his friends talking, she didn’t want to face them and kept talking with Johnny as they walked past them and into the building. She could feel eyes on her but refrained herself from looking behind her.

Jimmy wasn’t in her class on first period, she was thankful yet she felt that pang of guilt. He didn’t know about her situation, she couldn’t really hold it against him.

During the break, she headed outside to take some fresh air. She saw Matt, leaning against the usual tree. Taking a deep breath, she made her way there, hands shoved in her jeans’ pockets.

“There you are.” He said, showing off his dimples.

“Hi Matt.” She replied, feeling awkward as she tried not to pay too much attention to the glare she received from Justin as he showed up with Zacky. Val showed up just seconds later, followed by Michelle.

“Hey Athalya!”

“Hey…” she whispered, trying to smile. “Jimmy isn’t here?” she asked, looking around.

“Nope, got expelled during first period.” Said Zacky, with a shrug.

“What for?”

“The hell we know.” Said Justin. “The guy gets expelled so many times we don’t keep count of the reasons.”

She looked at her shoes, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” asked Val, glaring at Justin, before focusing back on the new girl.

“Nothing…” she replied, still looking bothered. She hang out with them a few more minutes before heading back to class.

**
“I thought you wouldn’t make it.” Joked Val as Athalya sat down with her tray between her and Michelle, for lunch.

“Sorry, went to see the secretary.”

“What happened?” asked Michelle.

“What’s Jimmy’s last name?” she asked, looking at everyone. “Because when I asked the secretary about Jimmy, she didn’t know who I was talking about.”

Justin’s face broke into a mocking smile.
Athalya looked at him, surprised.
“Did I say something funny?”

“That’s not his name. His name is James, James Sullivan. Damn, that’s just so dumb… Jimmy…” he said, chuckling to himself.

“Why did you asked about Jimmy?” asked Val, trying to ignore Justin.

“Well, he gave me my homework the previous days so I thought I should do the same.”
Justin burst out laughing even more, holding his sides.

“Jimmy… homework… bwahahaha.”

Athalya frowned.
“But I didn’t know which classes he was attending. So yeah, I thought I should go to the secretary, ask her.”

“Oh my God, you’re just too much. First you act like you don’t want to be friends with us and know you act like the knight in shining armor to save Jimmy’s education? You’re too late for that.”

Val was about to butt in, telling Justin to shut up but Athalya beat her to it.
“Just mind your own business.”

“No, you mind your own business. You show up here every day, eat lunch with us, and barely talk. You don’t want to be friend with us, so just go away.” He said, pointing his fork at her. “What the fuck is wrong with you anyway?”

“Your face.” She said, taking her tray and leaving their table. There was so much more she wanted to say, but she refrained herself and tried to find an empty space to finish her lunch.
Spotting a familiar face, she walked in that direction.

“Hey Joh-”

“Hey Athalya!” he said, cutting her off, a big smile on his face.

“Can I s-”

“With pleasure!” he cut again. Her lips curled up in a small smile and she sat down, hoping to finish her lunch. She wasn’t really in the mood to chat, but figured she should try to make small conversation with him.

“You’re a senior?” she asked, before taking a sip of water.

He looked at her with round eyes.
“No, I’m a freshmen. I’m fourteen!”

“Fourteen?”

“Turning fifteen in November, but yeah.”

Athalya blinked. She never would have guessed he was that young.
“How about you?”

“Sixteen, turning seventeen soon. Senior year.”

“Sixteen and you’re a senior?”

“Yeah, I skipped a year.” She whispered, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment at the look he was giving her.

“Wow. You must be really smart.”

“Oh no, I was like 7 or 8 when I skipped the class. Since I’m born in September, it made me the youngest in all of my classes.” She said. She even surprised herself by speaking so easily with Johnny. Was it what Justin called ‘making friends’?

“I know the feeling, also I’m short. That doesn’t help my case.” He said with a shrug. Athalya thought about an answer when Johnny continued. “You’re younger than all of them you know, Jimmy and the guys.”

“You know Jimmy?”

“Yeah, I hang out with them sometimes. I’m friends with Zack’s little brother.”

“Oh… but how do you kn-”

“I saw you the other day, Jimmy is hard to miss.”

She nodded, more to herself than to Johnny and opened her yoghurt.

“They’re not really my friends. More like classmates? Well some of them are. I don’t know how to explain.” She said, rambling and frowning to herself.

“Don’t worry about Justin.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s been glaring at us for the last couple of minutes and I saw you getting up from their table; so I’m guessing something happened with him. Don’t mind him.”

“Thank you Johnny.”

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds and the bell rang. They cleaned up the table and went their separate ways.

---

Athalya shifted her backpack on her shoulder and knocked on the wooden door. She had to check the name on the mailbox, to make sure she wasn’t mistaken.

The door opened a moment later and she was face to face with Brian.

“Hello Brian, I… hum. Is Jimmy here? Or do you know where he lives? Because he wasn’t at school today and I got his homework, but I don’t know his address and since he told me you are his best friend, I thought that maybe you could help me?” she asked, looking at him, nervous.

Brian looked at the girl for a couple of seconds.
“Homework?”

“Yeah, I thought he might want to catch up.”

Brian blinked, not believing his ears.
“One moment.” He walked back inside. There was some shuffling and he walked out a minute later with his shoes on and car keys in hand.

“Get in” he said, unlocking his car. She got in, a confused look on her face.

“You can drive?”

“Well yes, obviously. I got my driver license.” He said, rolling his eyes and starting the engine.

“No, I… sorry, I mean… You’re 18?” she asked, buckling her seatbelt.

His face went from upset to confuse.
“I got it when I was sixteen. I’m seventeen.” He said, looking at her from the corner of his eyes before putting the car in reverse.

“Sixteen? Woah. We can’t drive until we’re 18, I meant, in France…”

Silence fell on them as he started driving. Brian turned on the radio. He quickly glanced at the passenger by his side.

“Jimmy got expelled?” he asked, barely looking at her.

“How do you know?” she asked, sounding surprised. “He said you weren’t in the same school.” She was looking at him with such a surprised expression that he couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s a regular thing for him. Jimmy doesn’t like rules, doesn’t know how to follow them. He gets either suspended or expelled quite regularly.” Explained Brian, stopping at a red light.

“Oh…” she whispered, sticking her hands under her tights. She quickly took a look at the car. It seemed different.

“Your stick is short, no?” she asked.

“What?” asked Brian, looking at her with wide eyes.

“That…” she said, pointing to the place between them. “It’s short. Is it automatic?”

Brian rubbed his face, sighing in relief yet mad at himself for having a perverted mind.
“That’s called a gear lever, but yes. It’s an automatic.”

“How do you spell it?” she asked.

“Spell what?” he asked, annoyed.

“What you just said, that stick.” She said, pointing at the gear lever.

“Gear lever. G-E-A-R L-E-V-E-R.” he spelled. He sounded clearly annoyed.

“Oh…” she whispered, picturing the word in her mind. “Got it, thanks.” She mumbled, sinking down her seat.

“How come you don’t know that?” he asked, quickly glancing at her.

“I grew up in France.” She whispered, looking away from him.

Brian kept silence, frowning to himself. What was so special about her to make Jimmy want to be friends with her? He glanced at her again and shook his head to himself. No, if Jimmy had a good feeling about her, it must mean something. Maybe he should give her a chance.

A familiar tune came on and Brian could see Athalya relaxing. He rose an eyebrow and turned up the volume. She looked at him for a moment, a smile on her face. It wasn’t a grin, but a real smile, one that showed off her small dimples and made her eyes bright. She had green eyes?
He blinked and focused back on the road ahead. He cleared his throat.

“Do you like that song?” he asked, trying to keep a stern face.

“Green Day’s my favorite band.” She said, a hint of pride in her voice.

“Really?” he asked, slowing down the car.

“Yeah.” From the corner of his eyes, he could see her nodding.

He parked the car in front of the laundromat and got out, Athalya mimicking his action.

“Jimmy lives here?” she asked, looking at the few shops.

“No, he works here. He often stays here when he got in trouble at school… Either he stays there or at my parents’ house.” Explained Brian, leading the way into the laundromat. The bell over the door rang and Jimmy appeared. He looked at Brian for a second, then saw Athalya and his eyebrows shot up in confusion.

“She brought you your homework.” Said Brian, with a small smile that Athalya could not see.

“Oh.”

“Gotta go dude, I just gave her a ride. See ya.”

“Thank you Brian” said Athalya, her eyes following him as he made his way towards the door.

“Don’t mention it” he mumbled, heading back to his car.

Before Jimmy could even open his mouth, Athalya had opened her backpack on one of the laundry machine.

“I got your homework from all the classes you had today, well I hope I didn’t miss any.” She said, taking out some paper sheet and one ripped page from a notebook.
“I wrote down a summary of what you have to do.” She explained, looking at the ripped page in embarrassment. “I hope you can read it, my handwriting isn’t that good.”

“Why did you went through the trouble of giving me my homework?” he asked, taking off his glasses and tried to clean them with his T-shirt.

“Isn’t that what you did for me?” she asked, avoiding to look at him. “That and also I’m sorry for yesterday but I would rather not mention it ever again.”

“Fine with me.” He said, jumping next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and pressing her to his side in a small hug. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“I’m gonna send you back to your place.” He said “Go ahead, I need to grab my car keys.”

She nodded, handing the papers to Jimmy and walked out. Looking at her surrounding, she noticed something that made her heartache and she scanned the shop nearby. Not waiting for Jimmy, she disappeared into the shop next door and grabbed some biscuits, a chicken sandwich and a big bottle of water. She struggled with her wallet, trying to find some cash when Jimmy showed up and helped her with the bank notes.

Thanking the cashier, they walked out.

“You should have told me you were hungry, I could have made a stop to get some bread… I know you French people like bread.”

“That’s not for me.” She mumbled, taking the bottle from Jimmy’s hand and looking on both sides before quickly crossing the street.

Jimmy pushed his glasses further up his nose and starred in disbelief as Athalya stopped next to a homeless man. She took out everything she had just bought. She was crouching down next to him, exchanging a couple of words before she stood up and hurriedly crossed the street, meeting up again with Jimmy.

“Let’s go?” she asked, looking up at him with her big green eyes.
“Yeah. What you just did…” started Jimmy.

“I…”

“It’s cool, really thoughtful.” He said, nodding to himself.

“He is a veteran…” she said, as if it was enough to explain her action. Jimmy nodded to himself, thinking that there was more to that girl than he thought.

With their seatbelts fastened, they drove off. The space for the passenger seat was a bit short for her long legs.

“Put your bag on the backseat” said Jimmy, slowing down and stopping behind other cars at a red light.

She grabbed her bag and turned around, but stopped when she saw a bundle of covers, what looked like a pillow, empty cans of beer and what looked like a small bag with a tooth brush and some socks sticking out of it.

“Do you sleep in your car when you get expelled?” she asked, out of the blue.

“Yeah…” he said, rubbing his neck. “Can’t really go back home in time like this. Avoid my parents’ wrath.”

They stayed silent until they parked the car in the driveway, the radio softly playing in the background.

“Here’s your stop.” Said Jimmy.

“Come on!” she said, already out of the car. “I think she made ice-tea again.”

“Cool!” said Jimmy, hurrying out of the car, locking it.

“I’m home, Jimmy’s here.” Called out Athalya, taking off her shoes.

“Welcome back Jimmy!” said Suzan, smiling warmly at him.

Athalya hurried to the kitchen, not before hugging Suzan and grabbed two glasses from the cupboard. She placed them on the counter and then grabbed the ice-tea from the fridge.
“I don’t know how you do it, but it’s the best one I ever drank.” Said Jimmy, before thanking Athalya.

“Will you stay for dinner this time?” asked Suzan, looking at Athalya’s new friend. Well, she assumed he was becoming more than a classmate, seeing that he spend quite some time with Athalya out of the school grounds.

“I…”

“Yes he will.” Said Athalya, looking at her grandmother.
Both Jimmy and Suzan looked at her surprised. Athalya looked away pretending nothing happened, finishing her glass of ice-tea and then going to wash her glass, then putting it on the plate rack.

“You still have a couple of hours before dinner. It’ll be a bit later than usual, I’m making some French dish that needs time to cook.” Explained Suzan, her heart bursting with joy. Athalya was accepting Jimmy as her friend.

Athalya’s eyes light up and she rushed to the cooker, trying to open it.
“No, no missy.” Warned Suzan. “You’ll see when we have dinner.”

She pouted, taking a step back.

“We could go to the park.” Said Jimmy, knowing damn well that everyone was probably already there or on their way.

“Ok, give me a minute.” And Athalya disappeared up the stairs.
She rushed back down a few minutes later, giving the time to Jimmy to finish his glass and try to wash it.

“No Jimmy dear, leave it here. I’ll do it.” Said Suzan.
He tried to protest but Suzan wouldn’t hear it, taking it from his hand with a warm smile.

Both teenagers headed for the front door, Athalya holding a book in her hand.

“Do you always meet up at the park?” she asked Jimmy as they were walking down the street, passing Brian’s house on the way.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

She nodded to herself, keeping her book close.

“You don’t do your homework?” she asked, trying to keep up with him.

“Why?” he asked, looking at her with a confused expression.

“Because you always meet up after school, and there’s something that Justin said…” she trailed off.
Jimmy was going to ask further question but they ran into Justin, Matt and Zacky at the entrance. Two of them were smoking.

Jimmy stopped, high-fiving them while Athalya stood slightly behind.

Justin took out a pack of cigarette and handed one to Jimmy. She starred at him in disbelief and hurried inside the park, not waiting for them.

She sat down under the same tree as last time, seeing Michelle and Val talking with some other people in the distance. Opening the book, she started reading where she had left off.

“Athalya?”

She looked up, in a daze.
“Oh, hi Brian.” She tried not to look too surprised.

“Mind if I sit down?” he asked, holding a case with him.

“It’s a public park, so go ahead.” She said, crossing her leg Indian style. Brian smiled at her small joke and sat down, opening up the case and taking out his guitar.

“You play guitar?” she asked, looking away from the book. Brian smiled to himself. “Oh yes, I forgot. You played yesterday, but I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.” She whispered, embarrassed at her own stupidity.

“Want me to play something for you?” he asked, placing the guitar on his lap.

“Yes please!” she said, putting the bookmark between the pages and closing it, turning her attention to Brian.

He started strumming lightly, not so used with acoustic anymore. He looked at his fingers as he strummed the first couple of notes and then looked up. He watched as her face slowly changed. Her eyes widened, tears prickled in her eyes, making them stand out even more. Her lips curled up and her dimples showed off. Green Day.

“You know how to play Green Day…” she said, her voice full of admiration. She stopped looking at his fingers and focused her attention on him. “I love this song.”

He felt his face flushing in embarrassment under her gaze. He coughed awkwardly, trying to gain back his composure.

“I could show you, it’s not that difficult.”

“Could you?” In a blink of an eye, she was sitting closer to him. Looking at him with nothing but admiration. He was speaking her language, he was speaking music.

No one had ever looked at him that way. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I got other guitars at home, you could stop by when you have free time. I could teach you.” He said, rubbing his neck nervously.

“You would do that for me?” she asked, surprised.

“Well, yeah.” He said, rubbing his neck nervously.

“Wow.” She breathed out. “Thank you Brian, I’d love that.”
He smiled at her and she smiled back at him, her face glowing.

“You want me to play something else?”

“Anything…” she said, looking at him then at his fingers. His face flushed and he started playing some Metallica.

“Gates, what are you up to with my Frenchie?” asked Jimmy, letting himself fall next to Athalya.

“He knows how to play Green Day songs.” She said, bursting with pride. “He said he would teach me.” She added, looking at Jimmy with the biggest smile on her face.
Jimmy looked up at Brian, they looked at each other for a few seconds.

“So what know, we all hail the French girl?” asked Justin, looking at Athalya with disdain.
Justin walked off with Zack towards Val and Michelle while Athalya’s face shut down. She leaned against the tree again and grabbed her book.

“We’re going to play baseball, you wanna join us?” asked Matt, showing up next to Jimmy.

“No, I’ll stay here thank you.” She whispered, her smile wiped off.

Brian looked at Jimmy and he nodded in direction of the rest of the group.
“I’ll put my guitar here, can you keep an eye on it?” asked Brian, zipping up the case.

“Yes, sure.” She said, briefly looking at him. Her face looked expressionless. He quickly looked away frowning and followed Jimmy and Matt.

“What’s the hell is going on between them?” asked Jimmy.

Matt sighed.
“Athalya showed up at the morning break and asked us where you were. She seemed surprised to know you were expelled. Then at lunch, she sat with us and asked what your family name was because she went to the secretary to ask for your schedule so she could bring you your homework. Justin mocked her, she genuinely thought your name was Jimmy. And just the idea of someone bringing you your homework made him laugh. You know how he can be sometimes. Justin said something about her not being friendly with us and asked her what was wrong with her. She told him ‘your face’ and took off.” Explained Matt, fighting off a smile as he recalled the last scene. “Needless to say, that didn’t go well for Justin. He probably holds a grudge against her now and is going to be an ass.”

“It was nice of her to go through all that trouble for your homework Jimmy.” Said Brian, nodding to himself. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was useless when she showed up at my doorstep.”

Jimmy made a move to swat Brian’s head but he took off running. Soon, the three of them race each other to the game of baseball, leaving Athalya to herself.

**
“That was delicious, thank you Ma’am.” Said Jimmy, pushing his plate away from himself. “I ate more than I should.”

“I’m glad you liked it Jimmy.” Said Suzan, a warm smile on her face.

Athalya was already on her feet, taking away the empty plates and putting them in the dishwasher.

“I should probably get going” started Jimmy, standing up and helping Athalya with the forks and knives.

“No, not yet.” She said, before she turned to her grandmother and started talking in a foreign language. Jimmy’s eyes widened.

David chuckled.
“She never spoke French in front of you?”

“No, never. I… I had no idea she was that fluent.” He said, sitting back down as Athalya kept talking, briefly looking at the two men and focusing back on her grandmother.

“Actually, French is her mother tongue. English is only her second language.” Said David, before taking a sip of water.

“What?” asked Jimmy, turning his attention to the older man.

“She has the double nationality.” David explained, as Athalya and her grandmother disappeared downstairs.

“Double nationality? What?” asked Jimmy, sounding really confused.

“She was born in America but her mother was French, and did everything she could to teach her English since she was a kid. So, even though Athalya grew up most of her life in France, she’s fluent in English as well. Still unfamiliar with some words, but I think she’s doing great.” Said David, a hint of pride in his voice as he looked towards the stairs.

“Her mother was French? But Suzan? I… Sorry Sir, I’m confused.” Mumbled Jimmy, frowning to himself.

David starred at him.
“She didn’t told you?”

“Told me what?”

“About her mother?”

“What about Suzan?”

“No, Jimmy. Suzan is her grandmother and I’m her grandfather.” Said David, a saddened expression on his face.

“I…I thought you were her parents, sorry.” Apologized Jimmy.

David shook his head.
“Athalya’s mother, Shania, died a few weeks ago after a long sickness. Athalya moved to the United States to live with us.”

“Her f-… what about her father?” asked Jimmy.

David shook his head, briefly looking at the stairs, still no one.
“Never met him, either of us. She grew up without one. Daniel, her step-father, was with her mother when Athalya was around 10 or so, until Shania passed away. He wasn’t her legal guardian. So Athalya moved in with us.”

Jimmy looked at David, his mouth slightly open. It made sense now, everything made sense.
Your parents are really cool. Of course, that hurt her. He took a sip of water.

“I thought you knew, I’m sorry for dumping so much information on you Jimmy. We’ve been seeing you a lot recently, we thought you guys were friends and that she had finally opened up to someone.” Explained David, looking preoccupied. “That’s why they went up to make up your bed.”

“My bed?”

“Yes, from what I gathered, Athalya just told her grandmother that your parents were out of town tonight and asked if she could set up the spare room for you tonight.” Explained David.

Jimmy stayed speechless, feeling emotional all of the sudden.
“I…”

“She’s not a bad kid you know. She may seem difficult to understand, but if you give it a try, you’ll find out she’s a really nice kid, with her heart on her sleeve, doing everything in her power to help the person she cares about.” Explained David, swallowing the lump in his throat. “She gets that after her mother. I’m really proud of Athalya, we both are. She’s just going through a rough path.”

Jimmy wanted to speak when Athalya showed up at the bottom of the stairs.
“Come on Jimmy, I’ll show you the bathroom. You can take a shower first then we could look at our homework?” she asked.

Jimmy nodded, unable to speak at the moment. He shared a glance with David and followed Athalya upstairs.

“That’s your room for tonight.” She said, as Suzan was just about done with the bed. “Thanks Ma-…” she trailed off.

“Thank you ma’am.” Whispered Jimmy.

“Stop calling me ma’am Jimmy. It’s Suzan for you, ok?” He nodded, feeling more than grateful.

“That’s your towel” said Athalya, taking a blue one on the bed. “Bathroom is here.” She said, walking out of the room, further down the hall. She opened a door and switched on the light.

“Here… Hot water, cold water. Soap, shampoo.” She explained. “New tooth brush under the sink and toothpaste in the glass. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.”

“I’ll just grab my bag from the car.” He said, quickly going down the stairs.

Athalya nodded, going into the kitchen and helping her grandmother clean up the table.

David made some small chat with Suzan, waiting for Jimmy to go up again.

“I’m going to prepare my homework, can we do it in the living room?” asked Athalya. Suzan nodded.

As soon as she was out of earshot, David turned to his wife.

“I told Jimmy about Athalya’s parents. He had no clue.” He paused as Suzan’s face fell. “Now at least someone knows and Jimmy seems to care about Athalya. I think it’s a good thing. Also, I was thinking of telling her, abou-“ he got cut off by the phone ringing.

“Relva’s household. David speaking.” He said, putting the phone against his ear. “Oh, good evening. I’ve been doing good thank you. How about you?”

It’s him – mouthed David, in answer to his wife’s quizzical look.

“No, not yet… I was talking to Suzan about this when you called. I think we should tell her soon. Oh yes, I understand. You got a busy schedule. End of this week?” he asked, looking at his wife. Suzan nodded. “Yes, that would work for us. No, thank you for your patience. Ok, see you soon. Good bye.”

Suzan released a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she saw David hanging up the phone.

“He’s really eager to meet her. I can understand, last time he saw her, she was a kid. He’s quite busy and asked if he could see her at the end of this week. We should probably…” he trailed off, seeing Athalya going down the stairs, her arms full with books and paper sheets.

“Athalya, do you have a moment?” asked David.

She rushed to the living room to put down her homework and walked back in the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. She sat next to her grandmother as she had pulled out a chair and rested her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, listening to her grandfather.

“It’s been a little over a week since the funeral already and we thought we should talk.” Started David as his granddaughter started fidgeting on her seat. “I know you are experiencing a great loss sweetie, and that the last couple of months were really hard on you and now there you are, in a foreign country, with no real anchor except for your old grandparents that you saw once every three or four years.”

She looked at him, her big green eyes shining with tears.

“I’m not sure if your mother ever told you about us, I mean, about our background.” Started David.

Athalya sat up straight, shook her head and crossed her leg Indian-style.

“I met your grandmother here in California, around San Francisco. She was there for her studies and worked in a restaurant. We kept in touch through letters and one day I thought, ‘damn it’ and went to France. We got married there, started our own life and then a little blessing showed up. We named her Shania.” Athalya blinked back the tears. “We stayed in France for a couple of years before we decided to head back to America. We moved to a city nearby San Francisco, where I grew up. Your mother was taking dance lessons and was a ray of sunshine as she grew from a kid to a beautiful young woman. She got a couple of friends as she started secondary school. Not really good frequentations but the more we stopped her from seeing them, the more she disobeyed. They were nice kids, just not behaving correctly.” Explained David, sharing a knowing look with his wife. “She was really close with one of them, almost like a brother/sister relationship. They looked out for each other. When your mother was 16, she found out she was pregnant, with you. Yes, it wasn’t exactly planned but she never ever thought about not having you. We supported her in her decision and 9 months later, you were there!” he said, looking at his granddaughter with nothing but pride. “You looked so much like your mother! She went back to school and managed to graduate. Her friends were a bit older than her, dropping out of high school and going their own way. They kept in touch for a while. Then after a while, your mother thought that this wasn’t a good environment for a baby and decided to go away. You were what, five years old?” he looked over to his wife. She nodded. “She packed your stuff and left, after saying goodbyes to her friends. She travelled a bit before settling in France. They still kept in touch, I believe you wrote them Christmas cards.”
“Christmas cards?” asked Athalya, her head tilting to the side.

“Yes, uncle B, wasn’t it?”

He watched as she frowned, looking at the floor, deep in thought.

“You probably don’t remember” he went on “You were a kid. But back to the point. She never really forgot them and time went by so fast, suddenly you’re sixteen, turning seventeen in a couple of days…”

“Yes?” she trailed off, wondering where all this was going.

“You mother’s will was opened. That old friends of hers, his name was mentioned, so of course the notary reached out to him. He didn’t know about your mother’s sickness but he would like to see you… Would that be all right with you sweetie?” asked Suzan, her hand holding her husband’s.

“He was on Maman’s will? He wants to see me?” she asked, unsure.

“Yes… Last time he saw you was, what… eleven or twelve years ago? He called us a few days ago when you were with Jimmy and again a couple of minutes ago. He asked if he could come here, he got our contact via the notary. It’s ok if you don’t want to meet him.” Started David while Suzan glared at him. “But he was really close to your mother.” Said David, looking at his granddaughter.

“Did he knew my father?” she asked, out of the blue.

“Sweetie, I told you already, we don’t know who your father is.” Whispered Suzan, heartbroken to see her granddaughter wiping her eyes with the hem of her hoodie.

“When is he coming?” she asked, pulling one knee up and hugging it.

“In a couple of days.” Said David, looking at his wife.

“Oh ok then.” She said with a shrug.

“Is tha… Is that all? I mean, you’re not going to ask more questions?” asked her grandmother, Athalya just shrugged.

“Why would I bother to ask questions? I’m going to see him, right?” asked Athalya. Her grandparents nodded. “Well, I’ll see for myself then. If he was friend with mum for so long, he can’t be that bad.”

Notes

14 pages on Word, hope you appreciate the effort ;) Thanks again to Hollie and K.Shadows for their lovely comments. More to come soon.