High Tide

Chapter 2 [The Neighbors]

Chapter 2

The Neighbors

Marissa started unpacking the moment Charlie and Lydia left her room... her room. She looked up at her name etched in elegant cursive on the wall and grinned. She'd never had her own bedroom before, so this was all kinds of exciting!

Of course, now she had to figure out where she wanted to put her clothes. She had a dresser and a closet, so she'd have to pick and choose where each item would go. Methodically she went through the six or seven outfits in her suitcase, spreading everything out onto her bed. She hung two girly dresses on hangers in the closet and put a pair of sneakers and her sandals on a shelf at the bottom.

The rest of her clothes she could fold and put away in her dresser.

She waltzed into Avery's room without notice and plopped down on the bed. Her sister was sitting at her desk, waiting for her lap top to load up.

"Can you help me fold my clothes?" Marissa wondered, bouncing on the bed. "I don't want Lydia and Charlie to get upset if I don't do it right," she added a little timidly, glancing behind her at the open door.

"Yeah, sure, I'll help you," Avery nodded. "Just give me a second okay?" she added.

Marissa went back to her room and Avery focused her attention back to the screen of her lap top. She was a little surprised that Charlie and Lydia were just going to give it to her... actually, it was more like they were lending it to her, if you want to be technical about it. She doubted they'd let her take it when the time came for them to leave for another home.

The first thing she downloaded was Skype. When she logged on, she was happy to find that Hannah, her best friend from back in Lakeland, was online.

"How is it?" Hannah asked without skipping a beat.

"It's okay, they're being really nice," Avery wrote back after a moment's hesitation.

"I miss you," Hannah replied a few moments later.

"I miss you too." Avery typed.

It would be hard not having Hannah around to talk to and hang out with. They'd been friends for long, having met when they were placed in the same foster home nine years earlier: one of the first Avery and her sister were ever placed in. They didn't stay in the same place for very long, but they kept in touch after that and became best friends.

Hannah was adopted by the Lang family four years ago, but even though she had a family now, she still knew some of the things that went on through Avery's head. She could relate in ways nobody else could.

Sniffing, Avery rubbed at her wet cheek, cursing herself for getting so emotional. Just then, Marissa poked her head back through the door frame.

"You coming?" she asked.

Wiping her tears away and plastering on a smile, Avery took a second longer to compose herself before spinning in her desk chair to face her sister. "Yeah I'm coming," she said and made her way to the door, following her sister into her room.

If Avery had to sum up dinner with the Tanners in one word, it'd definitely be awkward. She had to give them points for trying though; not a lot of foster parents actually gave enough of a damn to want to get to know the kids under their roof.