CLEAN || Taylor Swift Adoption

TWENTY-NINE

~EVERLEIGH~

August 19, 2019

'they'll tell you now you're the lucky one...'

"Ever?" Taylor's voice called as she knocked on the door to my bedroom. "How's it going in there?"

"Good," I replied, tying off one of the accent braids that I had been doing in my hair. "I'm almost ready."

"Alright," Taylor said. "Finish quickly, there's breakfast waiting for you downstairs."

"I will, thanks," I called back to her. I could hear the sound of her footsteps retreating away from my door and down the stairs to the first floor of the house. With a small sigh, I turned back to the vanity in the corner of my room to begin doing my makeup.

It was my first day at Alcott High School and Taylor seemed to be much more excited for me about it than I was myself. Maybe it was just because she was thrilled to finally get away from me for some time every day—at least, that seemed to be the reason that made the most sense in my mind. I knew from listening to her music that Taylor hadn't had the best high school experience that anyone could have, but maybe she was hoping for better things to happen to me than did to her.

To be completely honest, starting a new school had never been my favorite thing. I was a decent student, always earning high grades, but never the kind of student that would be in the runnings for valedictorian. My teachers liked me well enough, and I wasn't the sort of student to skip class in order to go vape in the bathrooms. For the most part, I was able to stay out of trouble and fly under the radar just enough to get by without drawing too much attention to myself.

The issues came into play when social situations were concerned. While I was never at risk for going to high school parties and getting arrested for being around alcohol while underage, I also wasn't invited to any parties in the first place. Making friends wasn't something that I had been used to doing, especially when they were people that I would see in-person, as opposed to my online friends.

That was the nice thing about having my friend group from the Secret Sessions that I went to. No matter how alone I felt at the lunch table every day without having friends to sit with, I knew that as soon as I got onto one of our weekly FaceTime calls, all feelings of loneliness would evaporate completely. As a foster kid, it was just easier to have friendships that I could maintain online without feeling pressured to do something about them in-person. Most of the time, in-person friendships were a short-lived endeavor, if they existed at all.

After the setting spray on my face had dried, I finished putting on the rest of my jewelry and got up from my vanity, looking over my outfit in the mirror. By far, the sundress and Converse that I had chosen to wear today was the nicest outfit I had ever worn to school, much less on the first day. Maybe this year, I could finally give people a better impression of me than I had been able to do in the past. As much as people didn't want to admit it, I knew that the clothes I wore were half of the reason why no one wanted to talk to me. But now, I was finally able to look somewhat normal at school. I could look like the other kids and not be worried about being teased for the clothes that I wore.

I decided that I didn't want to keep Taylor waiting any longer and headed downstairs. The smell of pancakes and fruit greeted me, and when I turned the corner, I saw that the dining room table was pretty much covered in food. Taylor was washing the dishes, presumably those from her making breakfast.