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Author's NoteI decided to post this chapter a day early. My plan is to post a new chapter every Monday. Except this upcoming Monday is my Birthday and my day off from everything important lol. This story is moving slower than I want narrative wise but I'm currently writing Ch.6 so and from that point on, the progression should be a lot faster. These first few chapters are necessary evils. Once again I'd like to thank Nyssa for her awesome editing skills. Also if you find a goof, please point it out in a PM and not in a comment.

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2.

I decided to take a walk to clear my head.

There were a lot of things I needed to think about. Too many things. Most of my life I had wondered about my parents. Who were they? What did they do for a living? Why did they give me up? In less than twenty minutes, I had all my questions answered. Most people in my situation would have been happy. Me, I just had more questions. Everything the Spencers had told me was too neat and tied up. I’m not saying they were liars, but I couldn’t help but feel there was more they weren’t telling me. Like my parents, for instance. I had long suspected there was something wrong about them.

I mean, I’m not an idiot.

Normal, well-adjusted people don’t leave their babies for others to care for. When I was younger, I used to like to pretend I was a prince in disguise. I was being hidden from an evil king to protect me from some dangerous secret. I tried to turn it into a game so the other kids would play with me but none of them had that much of an imagination. None except Tori of course. She was the only one who really wanted to have that perfect fairy tale life. Sure, she loved the Mitchells, but I think a small part of her wished her real parents would come back for her. We were similar in that respect. Except she had known what happened to her parents. They tried to sell her for drug money. It was a sad and horrible truth.

The fact that they tried selling her to an undercover police officer was just icing on the cake.

Tori lucked out though.

She got placed with the Mitchells fairly early.

I groaned.

Thinking about it pissed me off a bit.

I never hated her for it though.

I did hate them.

Well, for a time anyway.

It was right after all that stuff with Tommy. His parents really did a number on them with their lawyers. The Mitchells barely survived it. I didn’t know that at the time though. All I knew was that a month after the final court hearing, I was being shipped back to the home. It crushed me. Then the Mitchells moved away right after. I tried to forget them. Tori wouldn’t let me go though. She contacted me a couple of months later. We did the whole exchange email thing in secret, but I never actually thought she’d write me. I’m not going to lie, getting that first email from her upset me a lot. I cried myself to sleep for days before responding. When I did, I was a bit of an ass to her. I expected that was the end of it, but she kept sending emails and I kept writing her back.

My “sister” that never was.

Speaking of which….

My phone binged with a text.

I didn’t have to look to know it was from her. She was, after all, the only one I texted.

R U OK?

I sighed. I had no idea.

NOT SURE YET.

I texted her about everything as soon as I left Mr. Fraser’s office. I know the adults were hoping that I’d make a decision quick, but I wasn’t ready. It was a lot to put on my shoulders. I had a family, a real one. I now knew who my mother was and she had a sister. I also knew that my father was apparently an asshole who didn’t even know I was alive. When I told Tori about it I’m not sure who was more surprised. I mean, we used to talk about stuff like that. I think a small part of her was hoping that her parents might reach out to her someday. She always used to tell me how lucky I was, not knowing. It was easier for me to pretend that they were important.

Well, the truth sucks.

U HAVE LAPTOP?

I rolled my eyes.

Of course, I did.

There were only a few things that I actually owned in the world. My laptop was one of them. I never left home without it actually. It was, after all, a gift from her parents. They gave it to me on the only Christmas the four of us spent together. The Christmas after that, Mrs. Price gave me a carrier bag for it. The laptop was getting pretty old now, but it still worked. Mrs. Price offered to buy me a new one last year, but I refused. I don’t think I was ever going to give this one up. I used to tell anyone who listened that my “parents” gave it to me. Mrs. Price used to humor me about It but she would frown too.

GIVE ME 1 SEC. LET ME GO TO OUR PARK.

I was on my way there anyway.

It was the place I always went to think.

It was, after all, my special place.

Grover Park was only a block from the Mitchell’s place. Well, their old place. Our “father” used to take Tori and me there all the time. We used to play for hours. I used to think it was the most amazing place in the world. These days it was sadly not much to look at. It was a small section of green in between two roads. There was a swing set, a run-down jungle gym, and some picnic tables. There used to be a large oak tree, but the city had to cut it down because it was a traffic hazard. Every time I looked at the stump where the tree used to stand, I felt miserable. Tori and I used to love trying to climb that tree.

Today the park felt more dismal than usual.

Maybe it was because of the rain.

It was overcast and gloomy. The grass was a sloppy, muddy mess as I made my way to the tables. Thankfully it had stopped raining by the time I started walking. The sun was struggling to push its way through the clouds now. I was able to find a fairly dry table to do my “conference”. Taking the laptop out of my bag, it took me a little longer than usual to boot it up. As I said, it was pretty old. The WiFi was a little spotty too. The closest hotspot was at the coffee shop across the street. It was just wide enough to make it to the park but barely. As soon as I got it booted up though, I used Skype to call my “sister”.

It didn’t take long for her to answer.

We tried to video chat with one another at least two times a week. Lately, though it was getting harder and harder. It was nearing the end of summer and her cheer practice was starting again. She made the squad last year, one of the only eighth graders to do so. It was only JV but she gushed happily about it nonetheless. I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered how excited she was. She even video chatted with me wearing her uniform. I managed to stop her before she burst into one of her insipid cheers though.

“Hey bro,” she said happily as her face popped up on screen.

“Hey, sis.”

Most people would raise an eyebrow at this exchange. Tori was of a mixed race heritage. Her mother was mulatto, her father black. Her skin was creamy brown and her head full of bushy curls. The only thing that might make people think we might be related was the ring in her nose and the butterfly tat she hid on her ankle. Then there was me of course. The pale freak with the dark hair, blue eyes, and black eyeliner.

“You look thrilled,” she said with a giggle.

“Well, it’s not every day that complete strangers show up out of nowhere and say they’re my family,”

She sighed. “So what’ cha gonna do about them?”

I shrugged. “I want to go with them but at the same time it feels weird.”

“I get that. When I met my Mom’s family, it was a little awkward.”

I forgot about that.

Last year, Tori finally got up enough courage to find her mother’s family. Her mother apparently had five siblings and she had several cousins because of it. They lived in Florida and paid to fly Tori there. She spent a week with them. She said she had a good time but it was really weird too. After all, these were people who knew about her parents, knew what happened to her and yet never once bothered to contact her. Not only that, they didn’t try taking her in themselves. There were a lot of excuses thrown her way too. It had all left a pretty sour taste in her mouth. She tried to be civil with them since, through Facebook and the like, but she didn’t really have that much in common with them.

“So what would you do?”

She crinkled her nose. She always did that when she was thinking.

“I think you should give them a shot. I know it’s weird, but I can’t imagine what would have happened if it was me. If my Aunt Carla decided she wanted to track me down sooner and took me in. I’m pretty sure I would have been over the moon.”

“Yeah, but you have Mom and Dad now.”

I couldn’t help it.

No matter how many years it had been, I still felt like they were my parents.

She gave me that look.

“I’m sor...”

I cut her off before she could finish. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. We’ve been over this. I got over it a long time ago.”

I just never told her how long ago that time was.

Or that I was partially lying.

I’m not sure I was ever going to get over it.

“You’re full of it, you know that.”

Well, she could always read me like a book.

I decided I needed to change the subject so I asked her about her week. It’s usually how this worked. We talked about my dull week then she regaled me about all the awesome things she’d been doing. Most of it was about cheerleading. I didn’t really mind. Ok, I did, but I was just happy that she was happy about it. Give her a chance and she could talk your ear off about it. Though lately, it wasn’t the only thing dominating her mind. Or our conversations.

His name was Trey.

He was on the football team. A running back. They met last month and it was love at first sight. At least that’s the way she tells it. I’m not sure I liked him. She tried to reassure me he was a decent guy, but she was my little sister and no guy was ever going to be good enough. I still wanted to meet him though. She kept on trying to get him into Skype so we could have a “talk”, but he kept brushing it off. That’s what made me not like him as much as she did. It bothered me that he didn’t want to take the effort to get to know her family. Sure, Tori and I weren’t blood-related but we were siblings. If the jerk couldn’t accept that then he wasn’t right for her. If I ever got a chance to meet him, I’d tell him that too.

She shifted her focus to school.

Well, her upcoming school year. She was super excited to finally be a high schooler. I tried to be as excited for her as she was, but I wasn’t as enthusiastic. I knew what my sophomore year was going to bring. The very same disappointment as my freshman one. It was the same as every year. I never really could connect with anyone, except Tori. Even then it was a little hard because she was a year behind me. For a small period of time, I was friends with Tommy. Well, before the pool incident. There were a few others I might have called mutual acquaintances, but nothing close to friendship. I was used to it by now.

“You know what I think you need,” said Tori after she was done talking about herself. “I think you need a change of scenery. You’ve lived in Grover your whole life. I think it’s time you get out of that tiny little town and see what else is out there.”

I wanted to argue with, her but she made a good point.

Maybe it was time to get out of this place.

Maybe it was time to find a true family.

“You have everything?”

I looked around my room. I didn’t have much, to begin with. I never put any decorations on the barren gray walls, the furniture belonged to the state and any personal possessions could easily fit in my backpack. Save for the clothes on my back, because I was wearing those. I did have a suitcase with the rest of said clothes. I didn’t have a lot though. A few t-shirts, some jeans, even a pair of shorts believe it or not. The rest of my things were keepsakes from childhood. Nothing really important save the note my mother left. It was so worn after sixteen years that you could barely read what was there. It was my most precious possession. Well, that and the blanket I was found wrapped in.

“Is your laptop fully charged?”

Mrs. Price seemed more anxious than I was.

I tapped my carrier bag. “Yes, and before you ask, so is my phone.”

She smiled weakly.

“I can’t believe...”

She wasn’t able to get the rest out before she started to cry.

The next thing I knew, we were hugging. It was a strange thing. Besides the Mitchells and Tori, Mrs. Price was the closest thing to family that I had. Well, had been, anyway. Now I had the Spencers. But that didn’t stop me from caring about the real people. I found myself burying my face into her chest, savoring the warmth. This woman was like a mother to me. She took care of me, made sure I did my homework for school, ate right, and went to bed on time. She went out of her way to make me feel special and wanted. Everything that a mother should do for a child. I wish my own was around to see it. She could take a lot of pointers.

When we finally pulled apart, I was teary-eyed too.

I wiped my tears quickly before she noticed.

She touched my hair and laughed. “It looks different without the streaks.”

I sighed.

After I decided to go live with the Spencers yesterday, I figured it was about time to make some changes. First to go were the streaks in my hair. It was washable dye after all. I lost the eye makeup too. I never was fond of it, to begin with. It was a pain in the ass to put on and it took me forever to perfect it. Lots of online makeup tutorials and A LOT of trial and error. After I did away with the multi-color hair, getting rid of the makeup was easy. Unfortunately, not easy was dying my hair back to its natural blonde color. When I started dying it black a few years ago, I made sure I used a pretty long-lasting dye. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen myself as a blonde.

I did make a promise to myself though.

No more hair dye.

Once the black faded, I was done.

It was all a part of a bigger promise after all.

To Tori.

After our conversation in the park yesterday, she made me swear that I would jump one hundred percent into this new life of mine. It was actually her idea to drop the emo thing. When I told her it was all an act, to begin with, she only laughed. Then she informed me that the clothes, hair, and makeup might have been an act but everything else was all me. I feigned being hurt for a bit. After getting home though, I thought a lot about what she said. I eventually came to the conclusion that she might be right. Not that I’d ever tell her that of course.

“I needed a change,” I said finally as I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Does this mean that that beautiful boy is finally coming back?”

I sighed.

Beautiful Boy.

It was something that I hadn’t heard in a while. Well, not since I cut my hair and starting listening to depressing music. The makeup and the scowl were not just a disguise to scare off potential foster duds, they also hid me from the rest of the world. I’m not going to lie. I knew why Tommy was teasing me that day at the pool. He thought what a lot of other kids our age thought. After it happened, Mr. Mitchell and I had a long conversation. One that eventually ended with a barber and some tears. Not just mine either. Tori bawled her eyes out when she saw that my golden tresses were gone. I’d like to say it stopped the confusion, but sadly, it didn’t. In fact, it just made me stand out more.

I’m not sure I was ready to go back to it.

Baby steps though.

I was about to say something to that effect when her phone rang. She excused herself and stepped out into the hall for a moment.

I took a moment to look around my room.

I wasn’t going to miss it.

I’d spent the better part of three years here. Alone. Sure, I had a bunk bed but no one ever occupied the top bunk. It was quiet and lonely, but I preferred it that way too. If I had wanted, I could have requested a roommate. Though officially, the older kids were allowed their own rooms, there was nothing in the rules that said they needed them. I just preferred the solitude. Plus, after the Tommy incident, being around other boys my age frightened me. The Emo Disguise kept most away, but every once in a while I’d run into a bold one. Because of my pretty face, I would find myself unable to bluff my way out of an encounter with such people.

I blamed my lack of confidence.

No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to push them away.

Not anymore.

Not after Tommy.

Not after what fighting back had cost me.

I clenched my fists.

I heard Mrs. Price’s heels as she came back into the room.

“That was your uncle, I mean, Mr. Spencer...”

I sighed. It was going to take time.

An awkward silence filled the room.

“They’re downstairs waiting for you...”

Well, here we go then.

The Spencers were waiting downstairs by their rental.

They both looked pretty anxious.

Probably about as anxious as I felt.

I walked out of the building with Mrs. Price. She stopped me on the sidewalk right outside the door. We agreed to say our goodbyes here. She gave me a long hug. After which she slipped me her personal cell number on a piece of paper. She whispered that I should call her if I ever needed anything. She did it in secret because it was honestly against the rules. We’d known each other for so long that maybe the rules didn’t apply here.

“You take good care of yourself, Bo.”

Bo.

I started to tear up with her.

She hugged me again.

We finally pulled away. I gave her a reassuring nod and turned around, hefting my bags as I did so. No looking back, I reminded myself. I walked away from the building and toward the sedan. A few steps from the curb, Mr. Spencer came to retrieve my bags. He walked them around the back to put them in the trunk. While he was doing so, his wife stepped forward. She looked about as nervous as I felt. We stood about a foot apart, neither sure what to do. Finally, she broke the standoff with a very awkward hug. I returned it with just as much awkwardness.

Yeah, this was going to be weird for a while.

When we pulled away, she gently touched my hair.

“It was a washable dye,” I said as an explanation.

She smiled weakly and nodded. “It looks better without it, it’s a shame about the black though.”

I laughed nervously. “It will fade in a couple of months.”

She smiled and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Mr. Spencer came around and opened the door for me. I felt like royalty.

Climbing inside, I refrained from turning around. I didn’t look back until we were pulling away. The dull, gray building slowly disappeared the further we went, hopefully, to never darken my sight again. I sighed when it was finally no longer visible. This was it. This was my life from now on. No more foster care, no more group home. No more Mr. Fraser. I smiled happily about that last bit. He, I would not miss. I would miss Mrs. Price though. I would miss the idea of the Mitchells too. Thinking about them made me tear up slightly.

“Oh honey, don’t cry. Everything will be all right,” said Mrs. Spencer, passing me a tissue from the front seat.

She apparently misinterpreted my tears, but it was the thought that counted.

I smiled and thanked her, dabbing my cheeks.

After that, we drove on in silence for about ten minutes or so.

I watched as we slowly meandered our way through the streets of downtown Grover. When we passed my park, I started to tear up even more. I was in full on waterworks mode when we drove by the Mitchells’ old place. Home. I was leaving home. I was leaving all of it behind. I almost screamed at them to stop, to take me back. I wanted to tell them it was a mistake and I wanted to stay here. I wanted to go home. I didn’t though. I remembered what Tori told me. She wanted me to get away from this place, to put this life and its painful memories behind me.

A new life.

Wherever that was.

Wait, I really didn’t know.

Hadn’t Mrs. Price said something about Virginia?

“I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but where exactly are we going?”

They laughed.

“There are no stupid questions in this car, Mister,” said Mr. Spencer joyfully.

“Richmond,” said his wife, looking at me from the rearview. “We have a nice house in the suburbs.”

I nodded. “Sounds nice.” Then as an afterthought, “Does it have a pool?”

She gave me a strange look. “No, but we can get one if you’d like?”

A feeling of dread passed over me.

“No,” I said a little louder than I should. “I mean, no pool...”

The color drained from her face. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot. Of course, no pool.”

So they had read some about me.

That was good.

It was even better that they weren’t trying to run in the other direction. My fear of water had driven quite a few couples away. At first, they were convinced they could handle it. They were also convinced they were going to be the ones to cure me of it. That’s why there were so many shrinks in my life. Everyone had this hero complex. When none of their methods to save me worked, I was always sent back. Always with some lame, half-assed excuse. What it boiled down to was pretty simple. Parents didn’t want a damaged kid they couldn’t fix. That’s why I started to embrace the stereotype and prove how damaged I was. Like I said, the act worked wonders. I was done with it though. Done with the bogus charade. I’d been done with it for a while now. Pretending to be something I wasn’t was very tiresome. I wanted to be normal again, even if it meant going back to my golden hair and my pretty face.

Anything was better than the alternative.

I looked out the window as we drove through the rest of town, silent again. Bit by bit, Grover started to fade away. Until we were on a barren stretch of road going through farmland, heading south. Away from the airport.

“The airport is in the other direction?”

They laughed. “We know. We thought we’d take the scenic route."

“Wait, we’re driving to Virginia?”

They laughed again. “Of course.”

That was crazy.

I blinked. I quickly did the math in my head.

“That’s an eight-hour drive?”

“Nonstop, yes,” said Mr. Spencer. “We’re going to make a stop for the night though. Then tomorrow, we thought we’d head to Virginia Beach for a day or two. I hear someone has a birthday in a few days.”

Three actually.

It wasn’t a big deal.

Birthdays were just another day for me. I never really celebrated them. Mrs. Price would give me a card with some money every year but no one else ever bothered. Well, no one but the Mitchells of course. When I lived with them I had my first and only real birthday party. It was one of the best days of my life. After that though, I never even bothered. In fact, I still had all the money that Mrs. Price had given me the last couple of years. Adding it to my stash, I had about five hundred bucks. It wasn’t a lot, but it was more than most kids my age who didn’t have a job.

I was a bit surprised they mentioned my Birthday though.

“I usually don’t celebrate it,” I said as if it was the least important thing in the world.

Mrs. Spencer turned around in her seat. “Well, you will this year. After all, you only turn sixteen once, right?”

She and her husband shared a laugh.

I returned it with a shrug.

What was so great about sixteen?

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Anything critical you have to say, PLEASE do so in a PM. Pointing out people's flaws or mistakes in a comment is hurtful and NOT appreciated.Thanks in advance...EOF