She sat quietly in her new bedroom, pillows being the only thing between her and the cold plaster of the off-white wall. Her long bright orange hair fell in her face as she looked down at her phone. She nodded her head along to the beat of the song that was blasting through her headphones.
She started school tomorrow, another new school, more new faces. This would be the fourth school she's been to this year, being kicked out of the last three for fighting. This was her last chance, and this was her last foster home. She'd been bounced around from home to home since she was three years old. No-one wanted to keep her for long. "Disruptive and disrespectful" most said. She couldn't believe they would say things like that about her, she never talked back, she hardly talked at all. She kept mostly to herself. She figured they just couldn't handle a broken child.
She tried to ignore the knocking on her bedroom door, but it gradually got louder until her foster father walked in. Her eyes flicked up to the man, acknowledging his presence, but she looked right back down.
"How's the room?" He asked, his voice deep and raspy. Probably from smoking so much. She took her headphones out, placing her phone on the bed. "You're not going to answer me?"
"It's fine." She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Thanks." She looked up at the tall, dark-haired male.
"Well, Delilah. If you need anything. Our room is right down the hallway." He turned to leave the room. "You might want to get to bed soon. The bus will be here around 4:30 to pick you up."
"In the morning?!" She looked at him, her face twisting in shock and irritation.
"Yeah, you go to school in town. You can sleep more on the bus. Don't worry, you'll be the first person on." He grinned."Goodnight kid, and, try not to fight anyone. We want this to work out for you." He closed the door tightly. Delilah groaned and flopped back on the bed.
"Delilah!~" her foster mother chimed, opening the bedroom door slightly. "Time to get up dear." She smiled brightly. "Don't want to be late for the bus. It will pick you up at the end of the driveway." She flipped the light on before closing the door.
Delilah covered her face quickly, hiding her eyes from the blinding light. Peaking out from under the covers she glanced at the clock on the wall. '3:45 are you fucking kidding?' She sighed tossing the covers away from her body. She sat up, placing her feet firmly on the floor. 'This is going to be the worst day ever.' Deciding to get up before she was actually late for catching the bus, getting dressed quickly. Glad she picked out her outfit the night before. Once she was dressed she left the room quietly, making her way down the stairs to the kitchen where her new mother and father were sitting. Both of them had a plate of food in front of them, and an extra was set out for Delilah. She blinked, looking between the two of them.
"Good morning sweetheart." Her mother smiled, gesturing for her to sit in the empty seat. "I hope you slept well."
Delilah just nodded, sitting down slowly.
"You don't have to call me 'mom' by the way. You can call me Karen."
"Okay." Delilah smiled slightly at the woman, picking a piece of toast from the pile in the middle of the table.
"You can call him Dave, if you like." She continued. "Sorry we can't take you to school on your first day. There's just so much to do on the farm. I hope you don't mind."
"It's fine." Delilah bit into her toast, then she looked at Karen, "no-one has ever even made me breakfast."
"Really?" She gasped. "Well, you'll get breakfast here every morning! And you can sleep in on weekends." She giggled. Delilah smiled again. 'She's too cute.'
"But you'll have to learn to help around the farm. But that's a conversation for after school. Karen won't be here when you get home. And if you need anything you'll most likely find me in the barn." Dave added. She nodded. "You might want to get going."
"Your backpack is by the door dear! And don't forget a jacket, it's fairly cold this morning."
Delilah picked another piece of toast from the pile and stood up, bowing slightly. "Thank you."
"O-oh. Don't mention it honey!" Karen shooed her away so she wasn't late. Delilah grabbed her bag and a jacket like Karen told her and left the house. Delilah stood at the end of the driveway, the sky was still dark and the moon was covered by clouds. She popped her headphones in her ears, turning the music up loud enough to drown out any noise that other people would be making.
Karen was right, the bus pulled up right in front of her, the driver was a male in his late 60's at the least. He smiled at her. "Take any seat you want." He said to her, closing the door after she got on. The driver waited for her to find a seat before taking off down the long dark road.
Delilah sat in the way back, a seat where only one person could fit. She leaned her head on the glass, staring out of the slightly tinted window. Taking in as much scenery as she could. It was beautiful, and she wanted it to work out here. Soon people started pouring onto the bus, and it was almost full, the people who sat near her looked at her in confusion, but ignored her for the most part. A kid a couple seats up from her kept staring back at her, making her feel uncomfortable. She tried to concentrate on the beat of the song, turning it up so the music was pouring out of the headphones.
A two hour drive to school on the bus, an awkward two hours for Delilah. The bus stopped in front of a high school in the middle of the city, it was crowded with people. And as if no-one could wait to get off the bus they all stood up at once, pushing each othe out of the way. 'What's so exciting about this school?' She sighed waiting for most of the others to get off the bus before she stood up. She pulled her headphones from her ears, wrapping them around her phone, and placing both in the pocket of her jacket. The driver smiled at her as she approached the front of the bus.
"Have a good day."
"Thanks, you too." She bowed slightly and stepped off the bus. The crowd made her slightly anxious, she shoved her hands in her jacket, pushing past people just wanting to get to her first class of the day. Some of the students gave her weird and dirty looks but they didn't say anything to her. That was slightly reassuring to her, not wanting to get into a fight this early in the morning. While walking into the school, she noticed the kid who was staring at her on the bus standing in a group of guys acting obnoxious. He noticed her too because he was staring at her once again. Delilah looked down at the ground as she walked into the school. Looking up as she passed him.
Delilah walked through a pair of glass doors that read OFFICE in white words. Waiting patiently for one of the women sitting at the front desk to notice her presence. When none of them looked up she cleared her throat softly, the woman with sandy blonde hair glanced up at her with a piercing glare.
"If you're already in trouble, sit in the chairs." She snipped, looking back down. Delilah's eye twitched and she forced a smile. 'Bitch.'
"Actually, I'm new here. I don't have a sche-"
"I'm not the person to talk to about that." The blonde woman cut her off. "Who you want to talk to is Clairese." She said without looking up.
"Who is Clairese?"
"My lord, kid. Can't you read? She's the woman over there," she pointed to a woman sitting at a different desk. She had short brown hair and glasses, she looked to be in her early 40's. Delilah apologized softly and walked away from the blonde, afraid she was going to get further irritated just by looking at the woman.
"Excuse me?" Delilah spoke in a whisper, not wanting to piss another person off on her first day.
"Just a second, dear." Her voice was soft and sweet, she finished typing and looked up at Delilah. "Oh dear, you look completely lost. Can I help you with something?"
"I-I'm new here..."
"Ah! You must be Delilah! Karen is a good friend of mine, she told me you started school today. I have a schedule printed out for you already." She said as she searched through a stack of papers. "Ah-ha, here it is!" She smiled brightly handing Delilah the paper. "It has your locker number and all of your classes on the front. If you would sit over there, and wait for the hallways to clear I'll show you around. Okay?"
Delilah nodded, and walked over to sit on the chair closest to Clairese. She looked down at the piece of paper, looking over the words. Her teachers were all male, and her locker was on the first floor. As the bell rang, someone pushed the glass door open, Delilah looked up, it was the kid from the bus. He seemed to ignore her as he walked up to the blonde woman.
"Amber, you emailed my father yesterday? What am I in trouble for this time?" He said in a bored tone. Like he's used to getting into trouble.
"I'm not the one to talk to this morning about your punishment." The blonde bitch answered, in a much sweeter tone than she had used when she spoke to Delilah. "Clairese, Lee is here."
'Lee.' Delilah repeated his name in her head. 'Now I know his name.' She watched him walk over to Clairese and look down at the older woman.
"What am I in trouble for now?" He asked, now concerned.
"You're not in trouble, I just need your help." She smiled standing up. "We have a new student, and I want you to show her around this week, and answer any questions that she may have." She nodded to Delilah with a large grin.
Delilah's eyes widened. 'Oh great, now the creep can stalk me to my classes.' She sighed.
