The London Paradigm (book 4 of Adopted by the Josephs)

8. Samantha

I woke up the next morning feeling rested, but a bit sweaty and woozy. I checked my blood sugar and saw it was a bit low. I took a few of the glucose tablets that I had in my bag and lay back down.

About fifteen minutes later, I checked again and my levels were going back up to the normal range. I decided to get up and take a quick shower and get dressed in clean clothes. My bag was still packed from the previous day, other than the insulin I'd put away, and otherwise, if we were going anywhere, I was pretty much ready to go.

When I got out of the shower and was dressed, teeth brushed and so on, I went downstairs.  Carol was up and having a cup of coffee. She told me Mark was already out at work.  He was taking some time off while I was visiting, but today he had to go to work.  Carol thought that maybe we could go to a local swimming pool. It was supposed to be a pretty warm day, and she said we could walk there, and that they had a snack bar where we could have lunch. I thought that sounded nice and said so.

Benji came downstairs and saw me and said good morning.

"Mummy, are we going swimming today?"

"Yes, Benji. What do you guys want for breakfast?" Carol asked.

"I'm fine with cereal," I said.

"Can I have eggs?" Benji asked.

"Samantha, would you like eggs and toast?" Carol asked.

"Oooh! Mummy! Can we have toads in the hole?" Benji asked.

"What?" I asked.

Carol laughed.

"Toad in the hole. It's a piece of bread with a hole cut out, fried and then an egg dropped into the hole and fried as well.  Want to try it?"

"Um, sure," I said. "Can I help?"

"If you could get out plates and cutlery, that would be great. Benji, can you get out the ketchup and the jam?"

Benji went to the fridge and took out the ketchup and jam, and I got out four plates, assuming Emma would be down soon, and forks and knives. Carol handed me three cups and then asked if I wanted tea or coffee instead. I said I'd like tea.

We all sat down to eat and then Emma came downstairs.

"Ugh. Toad in the hole?" she said.

"What is with you?" Carol said. "You've been in a mood since Samantha got here."

"Nothing," Emma said, glaring at me. I stared back at her.

"Your cousin is here for a visit. You can see your friends any time. We're going to the pool today, anyway, and I'm sure your friends will be there. Give Beth a call and see if she'd like to join us."

Emma rolled her eyes and ate her breakfast. As soon as she was done, she cleared her plate and took off upstairs. I went upstairs as well to put on my bathing suit and pack dry clothes in my bag. I could hear Emma on the phone.

"Yeah. No. My stupid cousin is also going to be there,"

I rolled my eyes. Suddenly Emma hated me? What was that about?

"Please come. At least I won't have to listen to her go on and on about how amazing her dad is and how rich they are, and how they travel all over the world all the time," she continued.

What? I never said anything like that. And I haven't travelled all over the world. I've been to Iceland and England. And that's it.

I was hurt that Emma was telling lies about me, and I decided, I was going to confront her. I stood out in the hallway after I packed my things and waited for her to come out of her room.

"I heard you on the phone," I said.

"You were listening in on my phone call!?" she cried.

"No. You talk loud enough I could hear you through the door.  Why are you telling lies?"

"What lie?" she spat back at me.

"The lies you were telling your friend on the phone. How I brag about being rich and that my dad is amazing and how we travel 'all over the world'," I mimicked her.

"You can't prove I said that. What are you going to do? Go tell my mum?"

"No," I said. "I'd rather deal with this with you. I don't understand why all of a sudden you're so, spiteful. I thought we got along great in the spring when we came to visit."

"Your dad is Tyler Joseph. My favourite band is your dad's band. And you get to see him all the time!" she cried. "And you're here now, and everyone is fawning over you, mum and dad and Benji think you're just the best."

"Emma, do you have any idea what my life was like before Tyler and Jenna adopted me?"

"Oh, poor you. Were you some poor little orphan girl who stumbled upon them outside a concert and they just scooped you up and took you in and made you their daughter?"

I stared at Emma.

"No," I said. "Not even close. My birth father killed my birth mother when he was trying to kill me. Afterwards, he made me ration my insulin so that I was always sick. He beat me. And after I ran away, and wound up at Tyler and Jenna's, he kidnapped me after they adopted me, and nearly killed me then, too."

"Sure," Emma said. "You made that up so Mummy and Dad would feel sorry for you. You're pathetic."

Emma stormed off and down the stairs.  I just stared after her until Carol called my name and snapped me out of it.

"Samantha, are you ready to go to the pool?" she called up the stairs.

I didn't really feel like going to the pool anymore. I didn't want to be around Emma and whatever she would come up with. But I really liked Benji and he'd been talking all through breakfast about going to the pool and showing me how well he can swim and that he can swim in the deep end and everything. I'm not a great swimmer, but I can swim.

We walked to the neighborhood pool, and Benji held my hand and talked all about it. He told me the chips at the snack bar are his favourite because they're really crispy. And that I should have a sausage roll, too. Or a chip sandwich. I had no idea what he was talking about, but his enthusiasm was definitely catching.  Carol was smiling the whole time. Emma kept frowning and glaring at me at every chance.