Memories And Battle Scars (Chayley)

Chapter 3

"Wake up sleepy head it's 10 am," I heard Hayley say.

I groaned and hugged my pillow whilst burying my face in it.

"Rider," she said as she slowly scratched the back of my head. I love that feeling more than anything in the world.

I lifted my head up at looked at her through my squinted eyes. "Good morning," I groaned.

"Not a morning person are you?" She chuckled.

I shook my head and dove my face back into my pillow.

"C'mon, Chad is making bacon sandwiches."

"Two more minutes. Scratch my head again," I mumbled.

She giggled and scratched the back of my head some more.

I closed my eyes and embraced the feeling of her fingers through my hair. A tingling feeling rushed through my body that I've never felt before. Could it be the love I'm starting to have for them?

I sat up and hugged her before getting out of bed and walking down to see Chad. I ran up to him and hugged him from behind.

"Hey Rider. How did you sleep?"

"Good. I'm still pretty tired though."

"I bet. You had a long day yesterday huh?"

I nodded. "It was fun though. The best day of my life."

I felt Hayley place a soft kiss on my head.

"I don't wanna leave here," I said. "Can I please stay a little longer?"

"Sorry bud, this is only a trial run. We're only allowed you for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But if you like it here then you're more than welcome to come back. We've thoroughly enjoyed having you."

"When can I have weekly visits or permanent stays?"

"I think you can have weekly visits whenever you're comfortable and I think we have to wait until we've been fostering you for a month for permanent stays," Hayley said.

"Well then I can stay longer now! I'm really comfortable and I like it here."

"We have to arrange it with your social worker okay?"

"I don't wanna go back," I said sadly.

She kneeled down to my level and placed her hands on my cheeks.

"Why don't you wanna go back, Rider? Are you scared? Do people hurt you?"

"No," I sighed.

"What about what happened on Friday? That was something, right? You got locked in your room. And those bruises on your arm?"

"Oh that's just Billy. He messes with me sometimes."

"Does he mess with you or does he hurt you?"

"It doesn't matter," I said as I walked away from her.

Chad handed me my sandwich. "It does matter bud. We wanna protect you," he said.

I sat at the table and began to eat. Hayley sat opposite me and gave me a concerned look.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't be afraid to tell us. We're here for you, you can trust us."

I ignored her and finished off eating.

"Perhaps a nice bath will make you feel better?" She suggested.

Not the bath. Anything but the bath. I haven't heard those words since I was tiny. That one word made lots of horrible memories come flooding back. Memories that I wish I didn't remember.