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Chapter 7

The ride home was quiet, I had tried to make conversation about how grey the clouds had been for the past week. But all my blabbing fell on deaf ears, he barely even turned to look at me.

Till we got home, and he glanced in my direction, parting his lips stained with my lipstick to speak.

"You can get off, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning." He told me, returning his focus back to his phone, which he couldn't seem to take his eyes off.

"I'm sorry about today, but you know I don't like being rushed into things." I explained, hoping he understood me and accepted that part of me.

He let out a heavy sigh, still staring at his phone, "I get it, you don't love me enough for that." He lazily answered, too upset to even bring himself to look at me.

I leaned in to kiss him goodbye, but he dodged it swiftly, an irritated look drawn across his face.

"Go inside before your dad asks me to join you for dinner." Ace truly didn't like being invited by my dad for dinner. He usually avoided it by dropping me a block before my house or flat out lying he had somewhere to be.

"Alright." I told him, biting both sides of my cheeks, fighting off the tears that were about to stream down my face.

I alighted the car, tugging hard on both sides of my bag, taking each step one at a time till I reached the front porch. I looked over my shoulder at him, to see him still staring into his phone, grinning from ear to ear.

Heartbroken, I pushed open the front door and walked inside, hoping things would get better tomorrow.

Dinner time

Mom had been talking a lot about how she was praised by her stiff necked boss at the printing press she worked at. Her job wasn't going so well, due to how fast technology spread, leaving things such as hard cover magazines and newspapers in the dust.

Dad, who owned a transportation business wasn't having it as rough as mom. Plus, he was worked at his friend's mechanic shop on the weekends, for the extra pay. Not to mention, to have fun with his friends, and watch the big game.

"I thought I saw Ace drop you off, you should have invited him for dinner." Mom insisted, using her dinner knife to dice a sausage.

"You know he's the star player of the school team, some scouts already have their eyes on him. I wouldn't want to bother him." I told them, using the same lame excuse I always used.

"He's your boyfriend peppermint, it isn't bothersome if he shares a meal with your family." Dad sternly stated, clutching tightly unto his dinner fork.

Sophia wasn't one to talk too much, she only talked when she knew it would get me mad. Most of the time, she was either on her phone, or at her dance lessons.

"Mom, I wanted to ask you, is there anything like...Redlake foundation? Someone at school was talking about it and I wasn't sure it existed."

If there was anything anyone needed to know about this town, it was best to ask my mom. She was a living encyclopedia of Redlake.

"Why? I didn't think you youngsters cared enough about that little charity. But, yes, our town has a foundation, one that isn't doing so well these days." She informed me, frowning at the latter part of her sentence.

"Really? How so?" I asked, with genuine curiousity, if this foundation was the reason Carlisle wouldn't sign the petition, then I'd want to know more about it.

"Let's see...the foundation was created long ago, I was still young back then, it was about some five years after your school was founded, and yes, by the same founder." She explained, helping herself to some juice.

"And then what?"

"Well, it was a huge hit, many lost kids were rescued and found a home in Redlake. But over the years, the foundation started losing donations and many sponsors pulled out. By the time you turned eight, the only sponsor left, was Redlake Academy."

I gasped, when she disclosed to me that my cheap school gave donations to a charity I was unfamiliar with.

"But I think the foundation is going to become extinct, after all, you kids have that spring dance every year." Mom casually remarked, helping herself to more salad.

Dad had finished his meal, but sat down waiting for Mom and I to finish speaking.

Sophia slipped away from the dining table to wash up then retire to her room. She really was a quiet kid, something that somehow scared me.

"Wait, what does the spring dance have to do with anything?" I furrowed my confused brows, suddenly losing my appetite to eat.

"The school stopped giving their yearly donations when they introduced the spring dance into their curriculum. The money was put into your yearly highschool dance, and the remains were sent to the foundation. I think it's board is planning on finding homes for the rest of the kids, then shutting it up for good." Mom said, too casually. I couldn't tell if she was mad about what was going on, or if she was already used to it.

"What about the mayor? Doesn't he know about the foundation? He could use some of the funds to help them. Right?" The second the question flew out of my mouth, I knew how naieve it made me sound.

"You shouldn't bother yourself with that, it isn't your fault or anything. The foundation is nearly almost extinct and did some good work in it's early days. Go to bed peppermint." Dad kindly told me, trying to rub off some of the guilt from me.

But no matter whichever way he put it, while we were partying and having fun, some children didn't get to eat dinner at our expense.

I kinda felt so stupid at the moment, and wanted to rip that stupid petition into shreds.

"Though I heard the school is planning on renewing their donations, I wonder how they're going to balance the spring dance this year. It is the hottest event at this town." And with that said, mom packed up the plates and headed for the kitchen to wash up.

Dad followed closely behind after ruffing my hair up a bit, and kissing me goodnight.

I sprang out of my feet, and dashed up the stairs to my room, with the need to tell someone about what I just discovered. Anyone.

My fingers glided across my screen, till they landed on Olive's number, I dialled it quickly, and placed my phone to my ear.

It rang thrice, before she picked it up, my ears picked up on the sound of her brushing her teeth and running water in the background.

"Hey." She lazily answered, brushing her teeth.

"Did you know that our town has a foundation that helps lost kids find new homes? And not just that, one of it's sponsors happens to be our school? I just found out it's been around for a long time, right underneath our noses!" I excitedly announced into the phone, speaking too fast.

"Peyton you're rapping and not talking and what about the foundation? Your major concern should be getting signatures for the petition." Olive reminded me, turning off the water in the background.

"That's just it! We can't have the spring dance this year! If we do, then the foundation might shut down." I explained into the phone, sitting against the headboard.

"What do you mean we can't have the spring dance? It's our final year at highschool! That comes first, remember? You were going to attend with Ace this year." Olive sounded into the phone, sounding Stern with me.

"But as student council president, you should understand why the school isn't funding the dance. I think we should let it go Olive." I insisted, so invested in this charity.

"It's just some charity Pey, more are gonna spring up eventually, don't think you're some sort of hero and compromise the dance for everyone else. If it's shutting down, then our one measly donation this year won't keep it open forever. So..." She sighed into the call, headed towards the end of her speech.

"Focus on the petition, just like we planned, after all this was your idea from the start." Olive finally said into the phone, about to end the call.

"Let's talk more about this in school tomorrow." I tried to reason with her, sure she would budge once we looked it up together.

"Weren't you paying attention? Forget about it, you wouldn't want someone using this as a way to steal your boyfriend from you, right? After all, Ace is the hottest guy at school and plenty of girls are dying to get under him. Don't try to help so much and end up hurt. Goodnight." And with that, she ended the call, giving me a very straightforward and direct warning.

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