A Place in This World - A Taylor Swift Adoption Story

Will I Make It Out Alive? (Prologue)

TW: Mentions of abuse and running away.

~~

Rose crept out of her room, backpack mounted on her back. Only recently 13, she had just now realized her living situation was not the dream. Her parents had treated her like shit this whole time. And she just now found out.

She went over to the security panel, where she disabled the alarm, then reactivated it so she could leave without setting it off. She walked out the door, locking it and leaving her key under the doormat in case she ever had to come back. And she sure as hell didn't plan to.

When she finally got off of the front yard, she looked back at the decaying house, bidding it a final farewell and making her way to the group home she looked up on her phone. It was about a 30 minute walk, and the summertime nighttime breeze made it really nice. She looked around, taking note of a lot of the small details of the city. New York was terrifying in the nighttime. But she knew it must be done in order to protect herself from anymore harm her parents tried throwing at her. She remembered she had a backpack on her back, and rummaged through it to see what she could find. Her phone! She had one... but Rose quickly remembered she had left it behind to avoid being tracked by her parents. Smart choice, but regretting it for the moment.

After a moment, she reached an intersection that looked nothing like the one on Google Maps. She continued straight before realizing that she was lost. She took a deep breath, calming her nerves before looking around to se what she could find.She did so for 5 minutes before spotting someone that could help her. A cop.

"Excuse me, sir?" Rose asked, hearing her voice for the first time in a long time.

"Hey, kiddo. How can I help ya?" the man said, his thick New York accent slipping through.

"I'm trying to find the group home for teens," she was able to get out, and immediately, the cop's face turned to one of sympathy.

"Oh darlin'. Here, hop in. Group home's about 3 miles in the other direction." Rose nodded, and realized she had walked the wrong way this. "Here, you can sit in the front." Rose smiled as she trustingly went in the front, but scooched more towards the door to avoid being so close to the cop. After all, you never know.

The drive was quick, about 5 minutes, and the cop got her there. The receptionist greeted her with a compassionate smile. "Hey. You up for the paperwork now, or tomorrow?" she asked Rose. She felt tired and dizzy, so she replied "tomorrow, please" before being led to a room.

It didn't take too long for her to settle herself down in her room. She got her own, which was surprising. She always assumed she would have to share with someone. Either way, it gave her time to ponder what the hell had just happened. She had actually doen it. she had left her parents house. She grabbed her backpack and opened it, read the first few lines but shortly fell asleep, closing her eyes and being pulled to the back of her mind.

~~ Two and a half years later..."

One misconception Rose had about the whole fostering thing is that she thought she would get fostered right away. Sadly, being 16 didn't help her case. No one wanted an older kid who would age out in a few years. Then they would lose their check. Tragic, right? At least she made herself useful. She had finished school for the year, meaning she didn't have to go anywhere, so she helped clean the rooms while the kids were at school. Today, the custodian had called out sick, which meant Rose got to clean the front desk area as well. She did all the rooms first before heading dowstairs and cleaning it. She looked up at one point to see a 30ish year old woman peer through a window and walk in. "Hi, I'm Taylor. I know this is a little random, but who do I talk to if I wanna foster-to-adopt a teen?"