“How was your day, Bri?” Camila asked as she took a bite of her chicken.
Excitedly, Brianna wrote on the notepad next to her and then held it up. Utterly fantastic!
Samuel grinned at her. “What did you do?”
Camila watched her as she scribbled on the paper, but as she did, she was making little happy noises and a small giggle burst from Brianna’s lips. Looking up in surprise, Brianna put her hand over her mouth and then returned to her notepad.
Camila looked at Samuel and she could see the pride in his eyes as he watched his sister making such leaping progress. When Bri handed her the notepad, she read it out loud. “Bri says, she went to the library and spent the day browsing the stacks, she sat with a group of quiet students and read. After that she went to Marco’s with a few of the girls she met and had pizza.”
Brianna made at grabbing motion at the notepad and Camila handed it back.
“That is wonderful, Bri. I’m so glad you’re making friends.”
Brianna scribbled some more and then handed it to Camila again.
“She says, the girls were really nice and one of them was able to sign with her. They exchanged phone numbers. Her name is Maria and her sister is deaf, which is how she learned to sign.”
Camila smiled at her. “I am so happy for you, Bri.” She looked over at Samuel who seemed a bit teary. “Don’t you start crying or I will too,” she teased him.
Samuel chuckled as he stood up and went over to his sister, giving her a hug. “I am so proud of you.”
Brianna grinned and signed, I am proud of me too.
As Samuel returned to his seat, his phone rang. With a sigh, he looked at it and stood up. He clicked the answer button and said, “Hello?”
Brianna and Camila both watched him expectantly. A look of shock crossed his face, then his expression turned grim.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice was harsh and his jaw went rigid.
I exchanged a glance with Brianna as a feeling of panic coiled in my stomach.
“I understand,” he murmured harshly into the phone. “I’ll inform her, she’s with me right here. Please update me as often as possible when there’s a change in the situation…” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Yes, I trust you’re working hard to rectify this situation. Thank you.”
He cut the call, and both of them just continued to watch him silently.
Camila could guess from the conversation that something had gone really wrong, and she could feel uneasiness continue to coalesce in her chest, making her heart squeeze uncomfortably.
“Samuel, what’s wrong?” she asked after a long moment of him silently staring at his phone with a deep frown on his face.
Finally, Samuel let out a heavy sigh and looked up at them with a guarded expression, but they had already seen the weariness he was trying to hide. He glanced at the both of them, eyes lingering on Brianna for a moment, before turning to Camila. She was holding her breath, waiting for him to say what the problem was, but it still surprised her when he came out with it.
“That… was the police. They called about Adrien.”
“What about Adrien?” she asked, her voice quieter and trembling just slightly.
The look he sent her was apologetic and pained. “They said… he’s escaped. They don’t know how he managed to orchestrate it, but it was pretty daring. They don’t know if he had help or not, but he left two guards and his cellmate dead.”