Stay open || Liam O'Donovan

Chapter fithteen

██████████ 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

꧁•⊹٭chapter fithteen٭⊹•꧂

⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡... ⋙

Malia sat in the living room, along with the rest of the kids. She was sat next too Tee, the two both reading separate books.

She felt awkward around Liam, but pushed the feelings away. She couldn't believe she actually thought she liked him. That was ridiculous.

"Listen up!" Tracy called to the kids, walking into the room, looking fancier than usual. "Um, I've been offered a job in London." She told them, walking to the center of the room. "As a junior reporter for a news paper."

"Wow." Carmen smiled, looking proud. They all looked proud of her, however Tracy looked less than happy.

She took a deep breath, turning to look at everyone. "So I'm leaving." Everyone's smiles dropped immediately. "Look, I've dreamt of this job ever since i lived here. I'm sorry, I can't turn it down. It means too much."

Sapphire scoffed, a false smile on her face. "Oh, and we don't?" She asked, sitting the pool stick down on the table. "Well, that's put us in our place."

"No." Tracy shook her head, stuttering slightly. "I didn't mean it like that." She reassured, but no one seemed to believe her.

"Don't beat yourself up, Beaker." Sapphire said, walking closer to Tracy, her false smile gone now and replaced with a glare. "You're just one in a long line of care workers. Easy come, easy go." She scoffed, bumping into Tracy's shoulder on her way out.

Harry followed, not entirely sure what was going on. "Bye bye, Tracy." He said, his voice indifferent as he left to find sapphire.

"I'm not leaving yet." Tracy called after him, looking miserable. It made Malia role her eyes. She was just using them to get a bit of money until her fancy job in London was ready.

"I think this is great." Carmen said, smiling again. "You can write about us all, and make us all famous."

Malia scoffed. "As if she's going to give two shits about us as soon as she leaves." She rolled her eyes, closing the book that was open on her lap.

"That's not true!" Tracy told her before turning back to Carmen. "And I don't know about famous, but I would like to write about you."

She turned towards Tee. "I want you to tell me what it's like to be in care." She explained, Tee turned her head away from her.

"You already know what it's like to be in a care home." Lily reminded her, furrowing her eyebrows confused.

Malia nodded her head. "I mean, weren't you not just going on about your dreams as a little care kid?" She asked, standing up and crossing her arms.

"Well, yeah, but...." She paused. "The editor wants the article to be from your point of view." She explained, smiling slightly. "It's kinda a test."

"Hold on, hold on, you want to leave us, but you want our help?" Liam finally spoke up. Malia frowned. He was probably the closest with Tracy. "Sorry, Tracy, that sucks."