Him and Her

Six

Six

Eric

I stand from my desk and plop onto my bed. "Long day?" Claire, my foster mom, pops her head into my room.

"Yeah. I just-" I almost told her about Ana. But Ana said not to say anything. "Long boring day of classes." I answer. "Mr. Scha talked to me about my behavior again." I state with a light chuckle.

"Why am I not surprised?" She laughs. "Diner is ready." She smiles.

"Okay. I am on my way." I say standing from the bed.

We make our way down the stairs to eat dinner. "Hey kiddo." Tony says.

"Hey." I say.

We chat as we eat dinner. I like Tony and Claire. They are the nicest fosters I have really ever had. They are really funny and kind to me. I really like how patient they are with me. They also discipline me and call me out of stuff. Tony and Claire will sit me down and talk to me instead of giving me up. I really like them, but I am sure they are getting bored with me soon. Plus, I will soon be a legal adult. I would want to hang around with them though.

- 8:59 pm -

Tony, Claire and I all go upstairs after finishing a movie. I wish them a good night before going into my bedroom. I change into a tank top and flannel pants before getting under my blankets and laying down. Just as I lay my head down, the house dog, Belle jumps up onto the bed and moves herself under the covers.

Belle is a pomeranian and an extremely clingy one. She loves to just lay under the bed and snuggle up to you. She loves attention. Belle puts herself under my arm and I close my eyes to sleep. But then I open my eyes again thinking about Ana. I don't understand why she keeps coming into my head. Ana seems to go through alot between Josie and this Carter thing? How does she put up with it?

"Crap!" I mutter under my breath. I forgot to do my History homework. "I'll just do it in the morning." I lay my head back down. I try to fall asleep, but what happened in the parking lot keeps fighting its way back into my head.

- Alarm goes off, 6:50 am -

"I hate early mornings." I mumble turning off the alarm.

"I know right? Mornings suck." Tony mumbles looking into my room. "I made some breakfast." He whispers.

"Thank you!" I whisper shout.

"No problem!" Tony says a little too loud.

"Shut up! It's my day off!" Clarie shouts.

"Sorry honey!" Tony calls out.

"Sorry!" I say.

Tony and I laugh as we make our way down stairs to the kitchen. Clarie is not a morning person whatsoever. Her hatred toward the morning is terrifying.

I rise from my bed laughing silently. I go into the bathroom across the hallway and wash up before putting my clothes on for the day that consists of dark jeans, white t-shirt and a flannel. I grab my school stuff as I walk downstairs to the dining room. Belle trots down the stairs with me and follows close behind, staring up at me.

When I reach the dining room, Tony is eating some pancakes as he reads the paper, he is old fashioned that way. I grab a plate and fill it, taking my seat at the table. I take my time as I eat. Tony and I make small talk, hushing each other every once and a while in fear of waking, "the beast".

"I smell bacon!" We must have been too loud because a hungry Claire walks in the room and fills a plate. Before sitting down she plates a kiss on Tony's head. "Thanks babe." She smiles.

We all talk for a while before Tony interrupts, looking at the clock. "Kid it's nearly 7:15! Go!"

I snap my head to the clock. "Crap. Bye! See you when I get back!" I shout as I snatch my coat off the hook, shoving my feet into my boots and walk out the door as I swing my backpack over my shoulder.

As I run to my car I fish my keys from my pocket, dropping them into the snow. I grunt as I snatch them from the frozen rain and open my car door. My hand is frozen from the snow. I rub my hands together as the car starts up. I pull out of the driveway and speed down the road. The school is about three minutes away, school starts at four.

Thankfully, no cops are on the road so I zoom through the street and momentarily pull into the school parking lot. I jump out of my truck and run into the building. The secretary laughs, she knows my attendance record. I open my locker, I always leave it unlocked out of laziness. It helped me today!

I snatch my math stuff from my locker before slamming it shut and sprint down the hall into my classroom. As soon as I walk through the door, the bell rings. "Lucky again, Mr. Wagner." Mr. Scha tips his chin and looks at me above his glasses.

I take my seat and he begins his lesson.

- Class ends -

The bell signalling class is over rings and it's like music to my ears. The class all rises to our feet almost in unison. Jake walks next to me as we make our way to Chorus. I was forced to take Chorus for the credit it gives me, I hate this class. It's so boring. The entire highschool that takes it is there. Not too many. This school is small so only around fifty kids take chorus in high school. Jake takes it just for some support. Wait— Ana is in this class. So is Carter...

"Eric, what are we going to do about what we saw in the parking lot—" I cut Jake off.

"Nothing. We do nothing. Ana said not to get involved." I state.

"Since when do you listen to anything anyone says? Let alone a Jourior?" He cackles.

"Who knows what is going on with her? If she asks us for help then we will say something, but only then." I explain.

He nods his head in agreement. "Deal." He shakes my hand.

We walk down the final hall and eventually into the Chorus room. Mrs. Kay greets him with a welcoming smile waving at us like always. "Good morning boys!"

"Morning." Jake and I say at the same time. We walk to our seats and thankfully we are both the same height so we sit in the top row next to each other.

A few minutes later we— not me, but the class begins to sing. I look over to Ana, standing nervously in one of the middle rows, fiddling with her hands on the music. Then my eyes travel to Josie on the bottom row. I always thought she was just an innocent chick who wants attention all the time. I guess not. How did I not see a bully out of her?

Then my eyes land on Carter, he is right in front of me. I can hear his voice squeak with the notes. I never really noticed him until now. He has always been the weird kid. I doubt he has any friends.

- Class ends -

"Alrighty class! Great work today! We will finish the notes next class!" Her voice is happy and excited. The class bell rings and she dismisses us. "See you all next class!" She waves to us as we all exist.

Jake and I chat as we walk out before my eyes land on Ana. "Eric!" Jake pulls me from my stare.

"What?" I scoff at him.

"You were staring." He laughs. "Come on, let's get to Science."