Lost - Taylor and Travis Adoption Story

Two

Suspicious

Taylor's POV:

Over a few weeks of rehearsals I started to notice something wasn't right with Riley. She would come in and distance from everyone and she seemed to flinch away so easily. She also always wore the same clothes every single day and she barely brings enough food with her for the long practice days. I also noticed that she comes in looking exhausted sometimes and on those days she can't seem to stop shaking and is very tense around anyone. I've started to notice when these days are and I make sure to send her to Travis' sofa so that she can nap before practicing anything.

One she looked absolutely exhausted all morning but I didn't quite catch her in time to get her to rest. I kept an extremely close eye on her while she was practicing and thankfully we made it to lunch. I saw her sitting down against the wall on the phone to someone and as soon as she put the phone down she put her head down on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. I looked at Travis who also looked concerned and he handed me a sandwich from our food bag. We pack extras every time in case anyone needs any.

I took it and headed over to Riley who was now sniffling. A few of the other dancers were now sitting by her and talking to her, trying to get her to open up and cheer her up but it wasn't working. I knelt down in front of her and gently took her hands in mine. "Look up honey. Can you come with me?" I asked her.

She looked up and nodded, standing up and leaving everything on the floor. I took her over to mine and Travis' sofa where I told her to sit in the middle. As soon as she sat down we gave her the sandwich and I pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you tired?" I asked her.

All of her hair had become knotted at the back of her head and she had the seams hairstyle every single day. I brushed some baby hairs out of her face and she nodded slightly. She was so pale and looked weak. I instructed her to keep eating the sandwich then when she finished I asked what's wrong.

"I haven't slept well and I just had a bad day. I'll be okay though." She told me. I could tell she was lying, something more is going on but she can't bring herself to tell me. Instead of pushing any further I nodded in understanding.

"Can I braid your hair?" I asked. It was a very random thing for me to say but I was bored and wanted to try braiding her hair for her. She slowly turned to me in confusion but nodded and sat down on the floor in front of me. Taking my time I brushed through small sections of tangled hair, allowing it to be smoothed out into beautiful long locks of shiny hair.

I started to braid it and I noticed how she completely zoned out. By the time I got to the end of the second brain I felt her head fall back against the sofa between my legs. At first I panicked and thought she fainted but when I yelled for Travis to help she opened her eyes and yawned. Poor girl had fallen asleep and I disturbed her. "Oh sorry, go back to sleep, it's okay. I thought you had passed out." I whispered while tying off the braid.

She nodded and closed her eyes again so I gently moved myself away and cuddled up to Travis. They began to work on some of the dancers' transitions so we both watched. The way everything was coming together so easily was insane. I continued to glance over at Riley every now and then. With how young she is for some reason I just feel a need to protect her and in a way take care of her.

Travis helped me move her off the floor and onto the couch so I covered her up with a blanket then we both headed off to speak with a few other dancers. While Kam was putting on an entertaining performance for almost all of us in a quick break I noticed that something wasn't quite right with Riley.

We have small breaks for 5 minutes quite often, mostly because we have such a crazy crew that we all end up distracting each other. Usually everyone gets back to work quickly but I knew that I had to just check on her.

I made my way to the other side of the warehouse where Riley was looking around with tears in her eyes and looking extremely tense. I sat beside her and tried to speak to her but she wasn't saying much other than that she didn't feel too great. "Do you want to go home if you're not feeling well?" I asked her.

She shrugged and just looked down at her hands in her lap. She was picking at the skin around her nails so I quickly reached over and stopped her. She smiled at me slightly and all I could see was pain written all over her face. Something just isn't right at home and I can tell, I just don't have enough evidence to prove it. "Let's see how you go. If you need to sit out just give me the look and I will know what you mean and just lay down here. I'll tell Travis to keep an eye on you." I told her.

We continued rehearsals as usual and everything went alright. We had already gotten through two eras of the show fully choreographed and well rehearsed so in the next week's worth of rehearsals we would be moving onto the red era. I just wanted to get to the bottom of what is happening with Riley at home and I had a few things that I wanted to fix for her without her even realizing I know something isn't right.

A/N

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