It was Monday, August 12th. Callie stood smiling at her little brother, who had his backpack on, ready for the first day of school. His sister had worked her butt off ever since they moved into the apartment.

"Okay, c'mon Jude, one more!" She held her phone up and snapped a picture of the 13-year-old boy, who had already gotten annoyed after the second picture.

"I'm going to be late to school, y'know."

"Wow. A kid wanting to go to school, that's news to me." The brunette said, slipping her phone into her pocket. Placing an arm around her brother's shoulder she walked him to the bus and kissed him goodbye. Rolling his eyes, Jude saw the faces of his classmates, who were staring at him through the bus's windows.

Already feeling uncomfortable, he ignored her demand for a hug and walked onto the bus. Shaking her head, the brunette waved goodbye to her brother until the vehicle was out of sight.

"Nice Mommy." A boy on the bus shouted as Jude searched for a seat, "Can I get a kiss from her too?"

"She's my sister!" He defended, walking around the boy and taking a seat in the back. All alone.

This had been the thing Jude had been most afraid of. He and Callie had been bouncing around so often that he hadn't had any experiences with making friends. It was a miracle he wasn't invisible though.

Callie brushed the mustard stains off her waitress uniform, a fake smile plastered on her face as she greeted the next table.

"Hello, welcome to-"

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and take our orders." A grumpy man ordered, "I'd like a triple cheeseburger with a side of your lasagna."

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't substitute a side dish with an entree."

"Be quiet. Just do what I tell you, or I'll get you fired." He growled, "Not get me that damn side lasagna!"

"I'm sorry, but that's just not possible."

"You hear me now girl, I will personally get you kicked outta this place if you don't give me what the hell I want!"

"Is there a problem here?" Sydney, Callie's manager asked.

"Yes, this damn bitch said I can't have what I ordered!"

"He wanted the lasagna as a side." The brunette explained.

"Yeah, sorry. We don't do that."

"You people are ridiculous! And they say the customer is always right. Well, clearly I was wrong."

"Clearly you were." The manager agreed, "Now I'm going to ask you to leave. Please."

Huffing, the man left the restaurant in an angry mood. Sighing, Sydney turned to her newest employee, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." She said, "I should head out anyway, Jude'll be dropped off anytime now." Untying her apron, Callie ran the rest of the way home. Seeing her brother standing alone in front of the apartment complex, Callie pounced on him.

"So, how'd it go?" She asked, smiling down at the surprised young boy, "Have a good first day?"

"Yeah, I mean...I guess." He shrugged, letting his sister lead him inside the house, "I have some homework."

"On the first day?"

"I know, it sucks. The worst is Math, though."

"Alright, I'll help you out." Callie smiled and watched her brother unpack his things, waiting patiently for his sister.

The brunette walked slowly over to her brother, setting a plate of sandwiches down in front of him. The 16-year-old scooted closer to her brother and began to explain the homework to him.

Then someone knocked on the door.

"You expecting somebody?" Jude asked, watching his sister get up to go answer it. And much to her surprise, it was the man from the restaurant.

"Yeah, it's me bitch." He shouted, earning a glare from Callie. Glancing at her brother, her eyes softened, and she pushed the man outside.

"How the hell did you find where I live?"

"Look, I just figured that since you were such an ass of a waitress I deserved a good apology in person. So, get to it woman."

"Excuse me?"

"Get to it woman. Give me that apology."

"What for?"

"Getting me thrown out of the restaurant. Refusing to give me my meal."

"Oh, you shut the hell up. I didn't do anything wrong, and you're just a giant-ass douche who thinks you could just order woman around. Because newsflash? This is the 21st century, and woman aren't going to just sit around and be quiet. So just shut the hell up, get away from me, and never come back here again. Because if you do, I will kick your ass to the next state."

"You are not allowed to say those things to me." The man raised his hand and slapped the girl across the face, "I am going to get you fired from that place, one way or another."

"Go to Hell." Callie spat.

Growling, he balled his hand into a fist and punched the brunette straight on her nose. Pissed off herself, Callie slapped him and walked back inside.

"Alright, let's get back to work." The sister said, sitting down across from Jude as if nothing had just happened.

But seeing the blood dripping out of her nostrils, the boy began to panic, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Not let's get back to your homework, alright?"

But Jude didn't fall for it. He ran over to his sister and stared at her in horror, "Callie, what happened?"

"I told you Jude, nothing."

"Your nose is bleeding." He pointed out, grabbing some tissue and wiping some of the blood away, "Maybe we should call Stef and Lena?"

"Why would we need to call them?"

"Because they might know what to do."

"I'm fine, Jude. Honestly. Now, let's get back to your Math homework." She said, holding the tissue up against her nose as she began to help a reluctant Jude with his homework.

The next morning, while Jude was at school, the brunette was strolling through the grocery store when she passed Stef and Lena. The two women did a double take and ran up to the girl, who was about to make a right turn into the breakfast isle.

"Callie!" Stef shouted, smiling at the girl. The brunette turned around and managed a small smile, "Hey."

"Oh my God." The police officer said, noticing the dry blood under the girl's nose, "What is this? What happened to you, baby?"

Covering up the wound, the brunette shook her head, "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"You most certainly are not fine, you need to see a doctor, sweets."

"I'm fine Stef." Callie assured, walking ahead and placing a couple boxes of Fruit Loops in her cart for Jude, plus one box of Pops for herself. Crossing those two things off her list, she tucked it into her back pocket and headed for the checkout line, closely followed by Stef and Lena.

"Thanks." The brunette said to the cashier. The girl placed all of the bags into the trunk of her car and returned her cart. Turning around, she was still surprised to see Stef and Lena.

"Sweets, we could always take you to the hospital to make sure it's not broken."

"I'm fine." The 16-year-old said for the 4th time, "I need to go pick up Jude."

"Oh yeah, how's he doing?" Lena asked curiously, "He doing good in school?"

"In everything but Math. I have to help him with that a lot, but I don't mind." She climbed into the car and waved goodbye to the two women, "Nice seeing you two."

"Goodbye, sweetheart. You're welcome at our house anytime, you know that?"

The brunette nodded and closed her car door, driving off to Jude's school.

Lena sighed, "I'm a bit worried about her, are you?"

"A bit. But she's been taking care of her brother for four weeks now and everything looks good to me."

"What about that blood on her face? She should probably go see a doctor about that."

"Yeah. But Cal's just too stubborn to do that."

"Hm, reminds me of someone else I know."

"Oh, be quiet Lena." Stef teased, "Though seriously, do you think that girl will ever come to our house again? Mariana seems to miss her."

"I think she will. We just have to give her some time."