༄ ANOTHER week later the doorbell rang.

Sam got some words gifted in that one week. When she showed up with the F for Spanish, a D for history, and another F for geography, she'd been called some... unpleasant things.

She hadn't been enough, had been an horrible daughter, the worst daughter someone could ask for, a mistake, someone who didn't try... yeah.

And apparently, she had started crying because she finally realized what a piece of shit she was, not because the words hurt. That's what her mother said, at least.

She did really study for the tests. She did, but when she sat there, in the classroom, staring at the test and watching the words fade, or the letters get mixed up, she suddenly couldn't remember anything.

The exhaustion caused part of that. The whole day, she wandered through the school slowly and with her head lowered, the tiredness making her eyes feel thick and head heavy. But then, when she lay in her bed at night, she was either wide awake or just couldn't fall asleep.

Only because she was worried about Minho and kept overthinking, mostly about her mother.

Oh, and she missed her father.

And Jeff hadn't showed up in the weekends. Her mother claimed he was busy at school, which was probably not the truth.

Sam's attention got drawn off her work when again, the doorbell rang. Finally, her mother opened.

Not thirty seconds later, it closed again.

"Who was that?" Sam asked when her mother bursted into her room, jaw tight and fists nearly clenched. "And what are you doing?"

She watched her mom walk over to the window. No light shined through, because it was already eight AM. Stars didn't comfort Sam, and the moon had disappeared behind clouds. Just... darkness, except for a lantern.

Her mother opened the window, mumbling something, and looked down. "Don't you dare, Kid! You're not Romeo and my daughter is not Juliet. Get away from her window!"

Sam got up so fast she nearly hit her head.

A loud sigh. "My apologies, ma'am!"

She rushed to the window, too. "Minho?" Looked down and saw a dark figure with recognizable hair jump back down on the ground. "Minho!"

Her body filled with joy. He came checking up on her. He was in state to climb through her window after her mother slammed the door closed in front of him.

And the joy was gone when her mother smashed the window closed, and made sure the curtain covered any sight of the outside world.

Sam's smile faded. Fast, she felt herself fall into the dark pit again. "Mom–"

"Don't get any ideas," she said, and walked to the door. "Tomorrow you have maths. Go work, Samira."

❤︎︎

"Hey, Samira." To her surprise, Jorge pulled a chair with him and sat down in front of the girl. It was Friday, just an hour after the maths test she already knew she failed. "I've noticed some changes in your behavior and when I looked at your grade list, it wasn't the very best. Took a big turn. Are you all right?"

Sam looked up from her book. At his kind eyes. The slight wrinkles in his darker skin, and the smile on his lips. "I think I'm fine."

"You think?" He leaned back into his chair. "Hermana, no offense, but the bags around your eyes are darker than my past and your uniform looks anything but decent."

Awfully slow, as if all energy got sucked out of her, Sam looked down at her uniform. Her blouse stuck out of the squared skirt, which sat crooked on her legs. Her tie twisted backward and her hair was like an exploded bird's nest.

"My mind wasn't with me when I got dressed," she said, and it was the truth. "And I've just had a hard time falling asleep. No worries."

Jorge's eyebrows flew up. "What does it say I had two boys on my roof right after you left class, asking if you had been in school that day?"

Her eyes widened. "What– who?"

"I'm not sure about their names and when I said they weren't allowed to be in this building in the first place, my daughter rushed in and also asked where you were, because you appeared to not have been in your dorm for days."

"Since when do you have a daughter?"

"Adopted," he said. Sam waited for more. Once he realized that, "Brenda."

"Ah, she never told me."

"Not the point, Hermana. The point is, do you need help? I'm not the only worried person."

Hm. Jorge cared more than her own mother, who was the damn cause of all these... numb feelings. The last time Sam had really felt something was when Minho showed up at her house two days ago. If only her mother hadn't predicted he would climb up.

If she could just talk to him. Genuinely, he was the first person in her life who she would be glad to tell her problems to. Her father would barely understand and tell her mother too, but Minho... before he came into her life, she only had a few friends, and those didn't really care about each other either.

But Minho, he was... well, first of all, not just a friend.

He seemed ready to listen and help her while she helped him, and she only based that on the three deeper conversations they had.

"Samira." The snap in front of her eyes released her from her thoughts.

She blinked. Murmured, "Yeah, yeah... of course."

Jorge sighed. "I asked you something."

"What was it again?"

"I'm worried and I want to help you. Perhaps you could speak to a student coach."

"Student coaches are fucking snitches who call people attention seekers and don't even help in the slightest," she spat out, anger consuming when she thought back about Minho's experience. "The only person I want to talk to, is one I am not allowed to talk to."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"My mom forbade me. And my phone is gone, so I can't speak to him or my father, who left me here with just my mom. And my brother hasn't been there on the weekends and my mom also forbade me to go anywhere but home after school."

"...So she kind of isolated you?"

"Yes," Sam confirmed, "she did."

"Your mom's the principal, right?"

"Right."

"I could have a word–"

"It wouldn't help. She'll call me an attention seeker, too."

Jorge ran a hand down his face, vaguely frustrated. "I'll see what I can do for you, alright?"

She nodded. "Thank you, Jorge."

When she left the classroom, a little amount of hope brightened how she felt. The talk had honestly done her good, she felt it already. Finally some more socializing.

"Sam!" The second she stepped outside, her name got called. Fast footsteps came closer. "Oh my god– it's so good to see you!"

Her face lit up even more. "Hey, Gally. Been a while."

"Yeah, wow." Both concern and happiness was written over his face. He touched Sam's arm. "Are you alright? Like, you haven't watched our practices and everyone is super worried. And no offense, but you don't look as decent as you did before."

"Yeah, I am aware of that." She managed to let out a chuckle. "But I'm alright. My mom's just been... a little harsh lately. I won't be able to watch the next few practices either, I think."

"Oh." His face darkened slightly. "That's a pity. We have a lot of games in the following weeks. Minho was already frustrated he couldn't find a way to invite you, because even he didn't know where you were."

She looked down, ashamed. "I'll see if I can be there. But I've really got to go now. My mom's waiting. Would you tell Minho I'm okay? And that I lost my phone?"

"I will," Gally promised.