Roll of the Dice

Chapter 2

The next morning Izzy woke to the sounds of someone making breakfast. She hadn't come home until way after midnight when everyone, except for her guardians were asleep. So, she was still groggy. With a groan, she rolled over and looked at the clock next to her bed: 7:00 am. She huffed and pulled the blankets over her head. She hated waking up this early. That was the one disadvantage of living in foster care. She never knew when she was going to get a decent night's sleep. And these days, Izzy rarely got a decent night's sleep. She often struggled getting to sleep and her roommate snored loudly. So, it always took her a lot longer to fall asleep at night.

She heard footsteps enter the bedroom and, without warning, her blankets were stripped from her. She gave another loud groan.

"Come on Izzy, time to wake up," Sarah, one of the teens in the house, said.

"You could've given me five more minutes," Izzy complained as she got out of bed, placing her feet into her pink, bunny slippers.

"Peggy wants everyone up." Sarah shrugged and left the room.

With a heavy sigh Izzy followed Sarah into the hall. Even this early there were already kids in various states of dress. The youngest, who probably had been up for an hour already, were fully dressed and were heading to the kitchen for breakfast. On the opposite side of that spectrum, the older kids were still sporting their pajamas, some just getting out of their bedrooms, while others were standing in line for the washroom. Izzy passed all that and entered the kitchen, taking a seat at the far end.

As she sat, Izzy saw that the table was laid out with the usual cereals—Froot Loops and Rice Crispies—milk, juice, fruit salad and toast. On the stove, she could smell bacon and eggs frying. Her stomach growled as she reached for the box of Froot Loops and poured it into a bowl.

"Thanks for breakfast Peggy," Izzy said as she turned to go.

"Stop right there Izzy," Peggy said. She turned and crossed her arms. "You missed curfew last night."

Izzy froze at the door and turned guiltily towards Peggy. "Yeah...about that...umm..." She paused momentarily in order to think about the answer she was going to give. When nothing came, she sighed. The best thing was to just to tell her the truth.

"I don't have any excuses for that Peggy. My friends and I got really into our Dungeons and Dragons game yesterday. And I admit I should've kept a better eye on the time. And I'm so sorry for that," she said. "And...I don't expect you to approve this because of my actions, but I was hoping that you would give me permission to go to the library." She tapped her fingers nervously on the side of the bowl.

Peggy listened carefully as Izzy spoke. She leaned back onto the counter, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. She looked at Izzy from behind her round glasses. "Why do you need to go to the library?" She asked.

Izzy gave a nervous laugh. "Umm...I need to do research for my Dungeons and Dragons Campaign."

Peggy sighed. She never understood what the big hype was about this Dungeons and Dragons game. She always imagined it was played by weirdos and antisocial adults. But Izzy seemed to enjoy it. And, for the first time since coming into foster care, she was making friends. Peggy was in no position to deny Izzy a chance to be with her friends.

"Do you promise to get back here on time?" Peggy asked.

"Yes, I promise, from the bottom of my heart. And if I don't you can totally ground me," Izzy said.

There was a pause as Peggy gave her a stern look. Izzy smiled sweetly. "Fine, you can go. But you have to be back by lunch, alright?" Peggy said.