The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 34

“Girls, we’re home!” Molly bellowed as we arrived at the foster home. I scouted around the house as I walked through up to front door, wheeling my suitcase behind. The house was very pleasant and well kept. It was already getting dark outside, but the path to the front door was well lit, as there was at least a couple dozen floor lamps illuminating the path with a subtle glow. I also noticed that there was a well-kept wildflower garden along the path to the front door. A gentle breeze rustled the wind chimes on the front stoop. The house was very inviting. As I walked into the foyer and kicked my shoes off, I noticed a large array of house plants, potted plants marking each corner of the foyer, and several hanging plants along the doorways. The room smelled alive with the fragrance of all the plant life. “Wow, this place is beautiful, did you do all of this yourself?” I said to Molly. “No, not all of it. I have a lot of help around here with the girls. They’re a good bunch,” she replied. She hollered up the main staircase. “Girls! Come downstairs, I’ve got somebody I’d like to introduce to you!” I looked around further. The house was almost as big as our house back home in Chicago. I poked my head into the next room. There was an office with a desk, a computer, and a copy machine. Next to the desk was a large bulletin board filled with pictures of girls that appeared to be very joyful. In one picture, there were various girls roasting marshmallows over a campfire. In another, there were girls sitting at the edge of a pool, wet hair glistening in the sun. Another picture showed a group of girls having fun at an Orlando Magic basketball game. There must’ve been over a hundred pictures on that bulletin board and on the office wall. Not a single picture where any of the girls appeared to not be smiling. They all looked very jubilant. I was dreading being put in a foster home. When I thought of foster homes, the orphanage in the musical Annie came to mind. I pictured a gloomy environment, with girls dressed in rags, working themselves tired sweeping and mopping the floors, only to get screamed at by that mean Mrs. Hannigan for missing a spot. Miss Engstrom certainly didn’t seem like Mrs. Hannigan, that’s for sure. This house looked like a more cheerful, nurturing environment. I was trying to stay grounded and not get my hopes up, but I was pleasantly surprised. I still was reeling from losing Meredith, but I was going to try and stick it out for a while, holding hope that someday we would be reunited. I heard the pounding of racing footsteps coming down the stairs. I saw a little red-haired girl with glasses come running down the stairs. “Hello! Are you the new girl?” she said, excitedly. “Yeah, I guess I am! My name’s Olivia, what’s yours?” I replied. “My name is Amaya!” she said, jumping with enthusiasm. Two other girls made their way down the stairs, albeit at a much slower pace. One of the girls looked a lot older. She had dark hair with purple-dyed tips, and numerous piercings. Four in one ear, and a nose ring. The other girl looked to be more my age. She was very sweet looking girl with wavy blonde hair in a ponytail. She smiled at me, showing her braces. “Hi, so happy to meet you! My name’s Allie,” she said. “It’s so awesome to have someone here my own age. There have been so many girls here that are a lot younger than me!” she continued. The older girl raised her head at me and casually said, “I’m Lauren. Good to meet you.” I smiled back at them and introduced myself. “Hi girls, I’m Olivia, I’m…. looking forward to spending time with you all!” Molly, running frantically back and forth, said “Girls, I’ve got to take care of some paperwork, why don’t you acquaint yourselves and get to know each other?” she said, as she walked into the office. “So…” I said, “Do you girls like it here?” Lauren smirked. “Yeah, this place is great. Miss Engstrom is wonderful she—” she looked for Molly and continued to speak, her demeanor changing to a cold expression. “This place is awful, Miss Engstrom is so mean. She screams at us, beats us, starves us, and makes us clean out the toilets with our own toothbrushes. If I were you, I’d go running out that door right now,” she continued. “Really?” I replied cautiously. Lauren started to laugh. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. Miss Engstrom’s cool. I like it here. It’s a million times better than my childhood!” she said. “Whew, that’s a relief. You really had me there,” I said. The girls looked at each other and laughed. “Don’t worry, you seem pretty nice. You’ll like it here, I promise!” Allie said. Lauren grabbed my suitcase and brought it up the stairs. “Come on Allie, let’s show her to her room.” She said. Lauren pointed at the end of the hall. “That’s Miss Engstrom’s room. That next room is me and Amaya’s room, and this room is where you and Allie will be staying.” Lauren said as she parked my suitcase next to my bed. I looked around at the girls. “I’m so glad to meet you all,” I said, smiling. Allie smiled back at me, “We’re glad to have you here!” I was feeling pretty happy about the current situation. These girls seemed like a pretty cool bunch. I could definitely see us getting along and making some memories together. I still wasn’t really accustomed to being a teenage girl, so I’m pretty sure spending time with some girls around my age would help me fit in. Much to my surprise, I was finding myself excited to live in this foster home. As we were making our introductions in me and Allie’s room, an exhausted Molly walked into the room. She lowered her shoulders dramatically. “Girls, after all the running around I’ve done today, I don’t really want to cook. I’m sure you won’t mind if I order in some pizza,” Molly said. “Yeah! Pizza!” Amaya shouted triumphantly. We all laughed. “Okay, cheese pizza for Amaya and Lauren, Hawaiian for Allie…. what kind of pizza would you like, Olivia?” Molly said. “Hawaiian sounds good to me,” I replied. “Ick!” Amaya said, making gagging noises. Allie laughed. “It’s good to see someone else here who likes pineapple on pizza,” she said to me. “Not everybody does! I’ve always love Canadian bacon and pineapple!” I said. “If we agree about things like we agree on pizza toppings, I’m sure we’ll make great roommates!” she replied. “I’m liking it here already! Team pineapple on pizza!” I said, giving Allie a high five. Allie giggled in reply. “Okay girls, why don’t we let Olivia get unpacked and situated while the rest of us head downstairs,” Molly said to us. “I’m going to hang up here with Olivia and help her get unpacked, if she doesn’t mind,” Allie said. “I don’t mind,” I replied. Molly looked back at us and said, “That’s just fine, just be down in the dining room in thirty minutes when the pizza arrives.” “Sounds cool, Molly-o!” Allie replied. Lauren gave Allie a weird look as they walked out of the room. “I….don’t know why I said that,” Allie said, embarrassed. “You must think I’m a total dork, right?” “No, I think you’re just fine, don’t worry about it,” I replied. We both sat in silence for a few seconds, before we both burst out laughing. “Molly-o,” she said, mocking herself, as we were both laughing wildly. Both of us were out of breath with laughter. We smiled at each other awkwardly as we regained our composure. “So…. what’s your story, Olivia? How did you end up here?” I sat and thought. I’ve rehearsed my story quite a few times already, but the truth is I didn’t have much of a story. “I…. don’t have much of a story, really. I have spent most of my life just bouncing between foster home and foster home. I don’t really have too many memories as a young child. I don’t even know where I am from, and I never knew my parents or family either.” I explained to her. “Hmm….no family. Sounds like a luxury to me,” Allie replied. “You don’t want a family?” I responded. Allie smiled awkwardly. “No, I’d love to have a family, just not the one that I came from. They kind of……just kicked me out. They told me to leave and never come back. So… I ended up here!” she said, starting to tear up, but still with a restrained smile on her face. “Why did they kick you out?” I asked. “They turned on me. They told me that they didn’t love me anymore. I just….I’m sorry, I don’t really want to talk about it right now,” she said, starting to tear up again, but no longer smiling. So, I’m kinda curious,” she continued. “Why have you been in foster homes for so long, and haven’t been adopted? You seem really wonderful, and you are still young, and……you’re really pretty, I mean, who wouldn’t want to adopt you?” I smiled, flattered. “I really don’t know why, honestly. I haven’t really been to the nicest places. The last place I was at I ended up running away from. I ran into a nice woman named Meredith over on the beach in Daytona just over a week ago and she took me in. She was really kind to me, she took care of me, and she was basically the mom I never had. Then, she was going to take me to her home in Chicago, and some agents got in between us and accused Meredith of kidnapping me and they took her away from me. I really hope she comes back.” I said, breaking down into tears. Allie leaned in and gave me a warm hug. “I’m so sorry. I hope she comes back. Whatever you and Meredith have, I’d love to have,” she said, comforting me. She sat up and looked into my eyes. “Olivia, you and I, we’re tortured souls. We’ve endured way more than other girls our age. I know we’ve got our troubles. Lauren’s parents were a mess. Her dad overdosed on heroin when she was little. Her mom was just as bad, she was hooked on every illicit drug you could think of. She ended up going to prison and Lauren was taken from her. She’s been here for about five years. She has no idea where her mother is, and I don’t think she cares. And poor Amaya, she and her whole family were in a really bad car crash a couple of years ago. She lost her mom, her dad, and her brother. She was the only survivor. She’s a really strong girl, but I feel so sad for her. So, I’m sure we can all relate to each other around here.” Allie said. I felt so bad for Lauren and Amaya. Thinking about Amaya, she seemed so sweet. It’s tough to imagine someone like her enduring so much heartbreak at that age. Chloe was about the same age, and I didn’t even want to think about something of the like happening to her. “At least we have Molly, and we have each other,” I said, trying to provide some comfort. Allie smiled at me. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “Olivia, I’ve really enjoyed this talk with you. Whenever someone new arrives, I worry, but meeting you has been one of the best things that has happened to me since I got here.” I smiled, wiping a tear from my eye. “Thank you,” I said, sniffling. “I’m really glad I met you,” I continued, as we both gave each other a big hug. Just then, the doorbell rang. “That’s dinner,” Allie responded, as we both made our way downstairs.