trapped | lierra

eight

Amber

"Amber?"

I looked up from laying my head down on the table to see the same guy from the pictures in the office I stayed at. He had blonde curly hair, bright blue eyes, and was a lot taller than I expected. "I'm Luke, Sierra's husband," he held out his hand with a smile as I sat up. I shook his hand hesitantly as he kept the same grin, "It's so nice to meet you,"

"You too," I mumbled.

"Let's get you back there, alright?' he offered and I nodded. We went out to his car and I sat in the front as he drove off. "You made it pretty far,"

"I spaced out," I answered as I stared out the window.

"Lost in your thoughts?"

"Normally am,"

"That's fair," he said. We were silent for awhile until he broke that, "Anything in particular you were thinking about?"

"Everyone just thinks they know what's best for me, and they don't,"

"Do you know what's best for you?"

"No, not at all. And if I don't know, how would they know?" I questioned, finally looking at him.

"You're not wrong about that, honestly," he agreed with me.

"I don't know, I'm just upset," I mumbled, looking down at my nails. Again, we were silent as we approached the hospital after a fifteen minute car ride.

"Is there anything you need right now?" he asked, glancing over at me after he parked.

"I don't need a psychiatrist or a doctor or anything like that, I just need a friend," I told him.

"You're referring to Sierra, aren't you?"

"I know she's doing her job, but it's hard to believe her when she has protocols she has to follow. I don't think what's going to happen to me is for the best,"

"What do you mean?' his eyebrows furrowed from my statement.

"They're going to send me to foster care, and I know enough about that to know that no one is going to care about a fifteen year old, they all want little kids. And it's part of her job, to report these things and let authorities handle it, but I know that's not best for me, it's not good for anyone," I explained, which made his face soften.

"I didn't know that,"

"I did a report about it in school, that's the only reason I know," I explained as I unbuckled, then got out of his car. "Thanks for the ride,"

"I'll walk you in,"

"You don't have to,"

"I want to," he reassured me as he turned off his car, then unbuckled, and got out. "Let's head in,"