𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 (JESS MARIANO)

12

"i'm going to miss patty's." teagan called to her foster mother who was folding clothes in the living room.

she had spent the last few weeks separating herself from any circumstance that jess may appear in, which wasn't too hard since the boy snuck in and out of the diner without acknowledging the waitress.

the tension and anger between them had reached a peak and there seemed to be no end in sight.

the last of the warm air had ran out and assessments in school were looming, so teagan kept her routine simple:- school, work, hang with lane when her mother was in a good enough mood to allow it and avoid rory and jess. occasionally, the girl would go to miss patty's to let off some steam or just to gossip with the woman, like she planned to tonight.

"uh uh. school comes first, teagan. i've told you this." anna, her foster mother, told her.

"i did my school work for today, though." the teen pouted.

"there's always room for more learning. back upstairs." the woman motioned back up to the bedroom that had been kept for teagan.

it was always immaculate, result of a foster mother with borderline ocd. she had to have a made bed, vacuumed floors, dusted daily, bookshelf organised and she wasn't allowed posters or photos on the wall

not that she had many since she had been moved around so much.

the lack of personality in the room did slightly sting teagan, it made her feel as thought she was temporary in her house. easy to erase when they eventually got sick of her.

"what am i meant to learn, anna?" teagan asked, sick of the constant nagging.

"a new language, or you could read a book. just something educational." she explained, still too busy to give her foster daughter her full attention.

"dancing is educational, it's pe." teagan reasoned.

anna sighed. "no, teagan. i won't have this conversation with you again."

"fine." the brunette stalked back upstairs to her bland room and slumped onto her bed.

after a few minutes of staring blankly at the ceiling, teagan decided she was going to sneak out. something she had done before, but didn't exactly enjoy it.

she opened up the window in her room and climbed on the ledge before stepping onto the tree branch that looked onto her front garden.

her foot slipped and she came tumbling down to the ground, landed flat onto her back. teagan was slightly winded and in pain.

that's why she didn't enjoy sneaking out.

"every time." the girl whispered as she rubbed different parts of her body that were definitely going to bruise.

she stood and slowly made her way down the street to the centre of town, groaning out an "ow" or "ah" every step.

~

teagan walked straight into the studio to an expecting dance teacher who was working on new routines.

miss patty liked teagan, she knew how to have fun and had quite a talent.

every so often, she would teach the teen a routine suited to her strengths but teagan never really liked others seeing her dance.

"hey teagan, come sit!" she called over to the slightly limping girl.

teagan sighed as she sat opposite the smoking woman at a table next to the yoga mats.

the brunette had held an almost permanent frown on her face since her argument with jess. the news of this had spread like wildfire in the town and they noticed how the atmosphere had shifted since the two harmless troublemakers had began ignoring each other.