What Lies Ahead *Jacob Satorius*

Chapter 2: Meeting my "family"

     Maybe Mrs.Hall is right. Maybe I will find my place here. As we were taking I realized the one mistake I had just made. I had sat down in the car. I felt the rumble of the engine begin as Mrs. Hall turned the keys. My palms began to sweat and my legs were shaking. "Are you ok. You look sick?" Mrs. Hall asked worried. "Um ya. Ju...just a fear of cars". I replied trying to slow my heart beat. "Don't worry the ride is only about 15 minutes and we can stop along the way if you'd like" Mrs. Hall assured me. "Ok" I said nodding for her to move the car. As we began to move it wasn't as bad as I thought. I wasn't panicking as much and I began to calm down. Well, until we reached the main road. The sun here in Virginia was starting to set and the lights of the cars ahead were flashing bright. My eyes started to tear up as flashbacks of that night reoccurred in my mind. I closed my eyes and tried to stop my tears. "Maddie......Maddie. We're here". I opened my eyes to a beautiful house. It was the same size as the others around and looked inviting. I stepped out of the car taking deep breaths. Mrs. Hall and I grabbed my bags and headed inside. We opened the door and I was greeted by a welcome sign. The sign read welcome to Virginia. Wow no family has ever been this inviting. "Maddie meet Bryce. Bryce this is Maddie the girl we are fostering for the summer or longer if all goes well". "Hey" he replied. The boy I'm assuming was Bryce, had brown hair with brown eyes he looked about 1 or 2 years older than me. "Hi" I said still recovering from my traumatic car ride. "Let me take your bags and show you around"

     Bryce led me up the stairs and down a hallway. " this is your room,. My room is right here beside it and the bathroom is down the hall to the left" "ok thanks" as Bryce showed me the rest of the house I felt really welcomed  unlike in my others homes. It was a good feeling. Bryce eventually led me back to the room that he told me was for me. "I'll leave you to unpack" " ok. Thanks for showing me around" "no problem" he replied walking off into his room. As k was unpacking I heard a loud conversation being held in the room Bryce walked in to. "I don't care. Your going to take her and that's finale" "but me and," "no buts". I heard the door close and out of the crack of my door I saw Mrs. Hall heading downstairs. I finished unpacking and headed downstairs. "Oh Maddie your just in time for dinner. Do you mind calling Bryce down" "sure". I walked back upstairs and knocked on Bryce's door. "Bryce, Mrs. Hall said to come down for dinner". "Yeah sure I'll be down in a minute" he said not sounding as welcoming as before. I went back down and helped Mrs. Hall set the table. We sat down and began eating even if Bryce was nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Hall had cooked salad, mashed potatoes and salmon some of my favourite foods!  "I hope you like it, the women at the orphanage told me these were your favourite foods" she said. "They are, and everything is delicious, thank you so much" "your welcome, you'll love being a part of our family". The word family made me shiver. No one has considered me as part of their family for a long time. As we finished eating we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Bryce may I have a word" Mrs. Hall said. I could hear the anger in her voice. I finished drying the dishes and walked back up stairs. I said goodnight to Mrs. Hall and was about to fall asleep when I heard a knock on my door "Maddie, can I come in?" I could tell it was Bryce. "Um yeah" is all I replied. He slowly opened the door and walked inside. "Well you see tomorrow I am going to hang out with some of my friends and I was wondering if you wanted to join us?" "Yeah sure. Sounds fun" "ok goodnight" he said as he turned around and closed the door. At least I'll be able to meet new friends, along with meeting my "family".