Solance

Two

The police car pulled up to the curb outside Solance's house. As Solance handed over the key to miss Lauras home, she fixed Braden with a hard stare. "What are you going to do with it?" she demanded, her voice barely steady.

Braden shrugged, slipping the key into his coat pocket with a smirk. "Don't worry about it," he replied coolly. "You and your foster mom are leaving tomorrow anyway. I won't have to see your face again."

"Glad to hear it," Solance shot back, crossing her arms as she looked out the window, hiding the unease twisting in her stomach.

Her hand was outstretched with a mixture of both anger and anticipation, making it clear that he needed to hold up his end of the deal just as she had. He let out a loud, exasperated sigh before rummaging through his belongings to retrieve a pen and paper. As he scribbled down a note, she couldn't quite make out what he was writing.

With a flick of his wrist, he handed her the crumpled piece of paper. Solance eagerly unfolded it, her eyes scanning the words written in black ink. They were the login details to Miss Laura's Gmail account.

"That's it? Fuck am I supposed to do with this?" Solance exclaimed, her frustration evident in her voice.

"You'll need to go through her email files," he replied calmly, his eyes meeting hers. "That's where you'll find the information on where they're holding your friend."

With a deep breath, Solance tucked the piece of paper into her pocket and stepped out the car, Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stepped out of the car and faced the imposing figure of her foster mother, Laura who was waiting for her on the porch. The woman's face was twisted in anger, and Solance knew she was in for it.

"Solance, what the hell were you thinking?" She barked as she marched down the steps. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

Solance cringed under the woman's withering gaze. She knew she had messed up big time, and there was no way to talk her way out of it. She hung her head and shuffled her feet, trying to think of something to say.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled at last. "I didn't mean to get into trouble."

"That's not good enough," Laura snapped. "You could have been hurt, or worse. What were you and Jaxon even thinking!?"

Solance hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell a quick lie."We were just fooling around, and things got out of hand."

Lauras expression hardened again "Out of hand?! You tried to rob a jewelry store & threw a brick through the window. Don't lie to me, Solance. I can see right through you!"

Solance's stomach dropped. She knew she couldn't keep up the lie, but she didn't want to blow her little plan either. "Look I can't say why we did it," she said quietly.

Her foster mother's eyes narrowed. "So you're protecting someone else, is that it? Who is it, Solance? One of your other delinquent friends? Jaxon?"

"I can't say," Solance repeated, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "Please, I'm so sorry Laura I won't do it again."

Laura sighed heavily. "You know what?," she said, her voice softer now. "Right now, you just go inside and change. I feel a damn migraine coming on" she said massaging her temples.

Solance nodded, relieved to be off the hook for now. She trudged up the stairs to her room, feeling guilty and ashamed. She knew she had messed up, and she didn't know how to make it right. All she could do was think of how she could escape them leaving tomorrow.

Solance walked into the small room that served as her bedroom. The other foster kids, all younger than her, were sitting on the floor waiting for her. They had worried looks on their faces.