Abused Foster

Eighteen

   I groan as I sit up, sunlight pouring in through my window.
My mouth opens in a big yawn, and I stretch my legs and back before I flip my blankets off my torso and step out of bed.

I can immediately hear voices coming from downstairs as I walk towards my bedroom door.
Part of me is wondering why they're all gathered and sound so excited down there, but then a somewhat familiar voice rings out.
That's Sydney.

   I walk out of my room, shutting it behind me before heading to the bathroom to do my usual morning routine.

   "I hear movement!" Shaun calls out as I approach the top of the stairs.
I giggle softly, looking down and pushing my hair out of my face as I head down the stairs.

My eyes quickly sweep the living room and Shaun is sitting on the couch, Jennifer on the opposite end, and Jace sitting in an arm chair with Sydney sitting on the arm of it, her eyes fixed on me in a subtle glare.

I look away, as to not unintentionally cause any conflict, and look down at my feet.
"We were all talking about going to the fair today," Shaun says, looking over at me, noticing the slight tension in the air.
   "It's only here a few days a year, and I'd-"

   "I've always wanted to go to a fair," I interrupt, my excitement taking control for a second.
"Oh - sorry," I say and put my hands together and between my closed knees.

Shaun chuckles.
"No need to be sorry," he reassures. "We've all been sharing the same excitement for the past few months."

I smile, loosening up a bit from my anxious state before.
"Just let me go get ready," I say excitedly and turn to go up the stairs and back into my room.

I mainly just wanted to get away from her nasty stare. Although, I do need to get changed if we're going to the fair.

I shut my bedroom door as I enter it, and walk over to the closet which is where I hung most of my bodysuits from the mall day we all had.
I scratch my head lightly, thinking it would have made me forget about the tension in that room between Sydney in myself.
Personally, I don't have a problem with her but she obviously has some territorial issues.

I sigh, shaking it off, and throw together a quick but cute outfit - a white halter top, blue jeans with a bunch of holes, and my white Nike's.
After getting changed - which took longer than expected since my feet kept going through the holes in the legs of my jeans, I tie up my hair into a loose ponytail and let a couple strands in the front hang out.
Good enough.

   A small sigh escapes my lips, but then I think back to what Shaun said about no catching feelings for anyone.
Sorry, Shaun.
But I guess I have to get over it now, since Sydney and Jace have a thing going on now.

   As I walk out of my room, I shut the door behind me and trot down the stairs.

   "I told you you'd look good in that!" Jennifer squeals, her being the first person to notice.

    Sydney glares at me as all the attention gets turned towards me. At least for the moment.

   "Let's go, the guys and Sydney are gonna take Shaun's car, and we're gonna ride together." She says, smiling brightly at me.

   I haven't even been here that long and I feel like I've known Jennifer for forever.

   "Alright, we all ready to go?" I ask as I turn towards the front door, still looking at them in the living room.

    "Duh, we've been waiting on you," Sydney says, doing her best to make it sound like she's joking but I can hear the slight mocking tone in her voice.

   Jennifer shoots a glare at her before getting up and walking over to me.
   "Let's go, we don't want to let the losers beat us," Jennifer jokes, but stares down Sydney as she does so.

   "Girls, both of you cut it out." Shaun barks, causing me to flinch slightly and look at him, my eyes slightly widened.
I've never heard him speak like that before. It's a bit intimidating.

Shaun notices my discomfort and his eyes soften up slightly.
"We don't need to be arguing. Especially around Addison, we all know about her past." He says, making sure the situation doesn't escalate.

   I cringed internally as he said we all know about her past.
   That's not exactly something I would've liked Sydney to know, especially since I already know for a fact that she doesn't like me, and would probably use anything against me for who knows what.

   I brush it off as I follow Jennifer out the door. She didn't say anything before walking out, and as I'm shutting the door I hear Shaun begin talking to Sydney and Jace, but I can't quite hear what he's saying.
   He doesn't sound very happy though from what I can hear, so I guess he's defending me?

   "I'm sorry she did that," Jennifer huffs as we both get in the car.
"I've never liked her anyways. She's super snarky, and has always had this close bond with Jace. I don't even know what to call it." She explains, rolling her eyes as she puts her sunglasses on.
   "Here, you're gonna need these," she says, handing me an identical pair.

    I look down, and noticing the name of the sunglasses, I shake my head quickly.
   "I can't just take your RayBans and-"

   "Yes you can," she says and puts them in my lap.

   I'm almost too afraid to touch them. 
   "They're so nice; I don't even want to touch them." I say as I pick them up as delicately as possible.

   "As she picks them up," Jennifer laughs, starting her car and pulling out of the driveway as the others come out of the house.

   Hopefully Sydney doesn't try to make my first visit to the fair a living hell.

꧁Authors Note꧂

Hey all! So sorry about the super late update. Been having a lot going on in my personal life which I won't get into, but don't worry! I'm working on this story little by little every night.
It comes slowly due to my busy schedule and family dynamics, hopefully you all understand.
As always, happy reading!