Eye of the Storm -SAFE HOUSE BOOK 2-

8

 When the last bell sounded to signal the end of school, Austin looked for Natalia and his foster siblings. Seeing the former first, he grinned. She was leaning against one of the pillars by the front entrance; he could smell her strawberry shortcake perfume as he stepped up to say hello. "How was the rest of your day," he wondered, taking her hand in his.

As he lifted one hand to let her dance, he allowed her sweetness to drift through the air. Austin remembered his dream again, and his heart skipped a beat. It was her, wasn't it? She was the girl he had been dreaming of his whole life... now he just needed to make sure he didn't mess it up.

His crush was all smiles and stories as she answered him, explaining how she was getting her college applications ready, but she had already decided on what school she would go to if she was accepted. Austin's heart began to race. He wasn't even sure if he would be with the Carters long enough to apply. He had always dreamed of going to law school, so he could advocate for people the way people should have advocated for him while he was growing up with Mitchell. He would never forgive his birth father for becoming the monster he was after his birth mother's death.

If Natalia realized how anxious he was about this topic, she didn't bring it up. "What about you, love? How was the rest of your day," she asked, giving him free rein of the conversation. He shrugged, telling her that he was worried about Briana but not getting into any of the details. She didn't need to know about that right now- Laura and Jamie would help Briana take care of things if they got too bad. She could always get a tutor to help with the lessons or switch to the local charter school. They had special programs based on students' aspirations and geared their learning plan towards preparing for that as well as their time in college.

It wasn't long before Natalia had to head home, and Devon was texting Austin to tell him he was about to leave if he was ready. I can pick you up later if you want, just let me know, Devon's text message read. Austin replied immediately, saying that he had just seen Briana and they would head over to his car in a minute. Slipping a hand through Briana's, he grinned. "Hey," he greeted her, "are you doing okay? I know today was hard." She nodded but didn't say anything. He could tell she was lying- she wasn't making eye contact and began to squeeze his hand a bit too tight, but he didn't comment on that. About a minute later, they were climbing into Devon's truck and heading back to the Carters' house.

Devon had just gotten a new album, and he turned up the volume, letting it play all the way home. Briana and Austin didn't complain, too drained from the school day to care too much about what music they listened to. If their foster brother was happy, they would be alright with it. Just then, Austin received a new notification.

@lookatmeI'mBrianaD has been tagged in a video.

He didn't want to know who posted it, or why. Unlocking his phone, Austin held his breath, slipping on his headphones, but regretted it as soon as the clip began. It was Briana in science earlier, struggling to answer a question. The worst part was that it had come from Vivian Mayfield's account... and that was Devon's girlfriend. He wasn't going to tell him yet... that could wait until they all got home and had the time to discuss it as a family unit.

They were almost home when he noticed that Briana was crying, headphones on as she stared out the window. Reaching over, he took her hand, giving it a quick pulse. She didn't look over at him, but she returned the gesture. Her leg bounced incessantly all the way home. When they finally pulled up to the house, Briana leaped out of the car, running up the stairs to her room and slamming the door as soon as they crossed over the threshold and into the Carters' house. When Devon gave him a look, all Austin could do was shrug. He knew not to bad mouth his foster brother's girlfriend quite yet. Did he know the video was up? He must not. It was her private account. Maybe he had forgotten to turn on notifications for that one.