Reputations

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

I was in the kitchen grabbing a water when Nick walked in, a smile playing on his lips. "She is pretty," I said, taking a sip of my water.

My brother nodded in agreement, "Yes, she is."

"I like her, when are you seeing her again?"

Nick cocked a brow. "You barely met her, how do you know you like her?"

"Cause she makes you smile," I said plainly "And she didn't roll her eyes when I opened the door." Nick chuckled.

"We are going out again on Friday night." He said grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" I asked, watching the smile fade from his face.

"I fully intended to have a talk with you tonight about our meeting with the dean, but I have been chasing lows all day and I am exhausted...I'm going to bed," he said kissing me on the top of the head. "Love you."

"Love you too."

I laid in my room for over an hour before my door opened and Joe peeked his head in.

"Can I come in?" He questioned mustering a small smile in my direction.

"Sure," I said giving him a nod. He walked in, shutting the door behind him before taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"Glad to see you are still living here," he said sadly. My heart sank.

"Joe...I," I started before he held up his hand to silence me.

"Just...let me talk first," he said, I nodded in agreement zipping my lips and waiting for the speech that surely was about to ensue. "When Mom and Dad died we decided what would be best for you is to stay here and live with Nick and I. It was a very big decision, one that changed all of our lives, but it was the right decision at the time...and it still is. I realize that this may not be what you want, but when it comes to raising you, what you want has to take a backburner to what is best for you." I nodded before bringing my eyes up to meet Joe's.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Joe furrowed his brows, "I wasn't mad at you Cee," he said with a sigh. "You are the most important person on the planet to me. I don't want you to ever feel like I don't care, nothing could be farther from the truth."

"You left," I countered, "Kevin said you were too upset to punish me."

Joe sighed, "When we made the decision that you would live with Nick and I, it was never a question as to how we would raise you, we wanted to raise you the way you would have been if Mom and Dad were still here. We all got spanked growing up, and we all got the belt when we got older, to be honest it's not something I ever gave much thought to...until the first time you got in trouble after Mom and Dad died. I remember when you turned thirteen it was like you became demon possessed, one day you were being a total brat and I told you to watch your attitude and you looked me right in the eyes and threw me an f-bomb." My eyes got wide with shock. "Yea, that was pretty much my reaction. I sent you to your room and called both Nick and Kevin to see if they could come handle your punishment and they both hung up on me...I must have stood outside your door like twenty minutes just trying to get up the nerve to punish you... it broke my heart. Afterward I comforted you until you were good and walked out and just lost it."

I giggled, "You cried?" I would have never guessed...Joe never showed any hesitation when it came to giving me punishment.

"Like a baby," he admitted. "I walked downstairs and called Kevin and as soon as he answered I was like 'How could you make me do that, it was horrible! I am never doing it again.' Kevin basically told me to get over it, that it wouldn't be the last time you got into trouble and I was going to have to learn to handle it. I'm still trying to learn." He said. "If I didn't care CeCe, I wouldn't bother with punishing you, 'cause as cliché as it sounds, it really does hurt me more than it hurts you."

"I know you care," I said lowering my head as I fidgeted with my blanket. "I was upset and I felt like you weren't listening to me and I knew it would hurt you...that is why I said it, I'm sorry." Joe nodded his head in understanding.

"I know you feel like you got into trouble for nothing." Joe said.

"I didn't do anything," I said still fully frustrated with the fact I had gotten punished for no reason.

"The conduct code is in place to protect Chilton's reputation. It is because of that prestigious reputation that a diploma from Chilton practically serves as an acceptance letter to the college of your choice." Joe said, tucking his finger under my chin, and bringing my eyes up to meet his. "You serve as a representation of Chilton, both on and off campus, and the code is there to ensure that the representation is a positive one."

"Nothing happened." I repeated.

"I believe you," Joe said genuinely. "However, when it comes to a reputation, it's not always about what really happened...it's about what it LOOKS like...and it looks bad."

Gah...I frickin hate when he says things that make sense. It's really annoying.

"I understand," I said simply. Joe nodded his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I'm hungry, I barely ate at all at Kev's" Joe said, changing the subject, "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," I corrected.

Joe smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me up from the bed. "Let's go make pancakes."

Chapter End Notes:

Short chappie, kind of a bridge chappie, important none the less.


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net