Fostered {h.s}

Chapter 2.

When I woke up the next morning, there was a list on the wooden night stand next to my bed. I grabbed it, holding it close to my face so I could read the small handwriting. I rolled my eyes after reading the first line. The Holbrooks must be crazy if they thought I was going to do all these chores.

I showered in the bathroom connected onto the bedroom. It was admittedly nice to have one to myself, or even have a bedroom to myself. In most of my other foster homes I'd had to share with another girl or two and I never had my own bathroom. I would miss these nice arrangements when I got kicked out.

It was a little after ten when I came downstairs and entered the kitchen dressed in my favorite ripped jeans and band tank top. The whole family was sat at the table, plates filled with eggs, toast, hash browns, and bacon.

"The dead has risen." Kayla said.

"Kayla!" Christy scolded. She then pointed to the empty chair between Kayla and Harry. "Sami, you can sit down and have some breakfast. We already have a plate out for you."

I managed a smile towards her and sat down. I wasn't shy about filling my plate up with what I wanted. I'd been in far too many different households for that and I'd learned over the years to not care. If the other people around the table wanted to judge me, so be it. Worrying about that wasn't worth starving.

Effortless chatter flowed around me. They seemed like the perfect family. Christy, John, and Maddie all tried to engage me in their conversations but I didn't have anything to say. It wasn't like they really cared anyways, no one ever did. Everyone finished in the next ten or so minutes.

"You can help Harry and Kayla clean up the kitchen, Sami. After that, start on the rest of your chore list." John said as he stood up from the table. "Christy and I are going to leave early for work today. We need to stop by my parents' house and help them with a few things."

I rolled my eyes again. I was not going to do that whole list of chores. I would be eighteen in less than a year and chore lists seemed like something younger kids had. What were they going to do? Kick me out if I didn't do them?

I walked to the sink, carrying my empty plate with me. Harry was already standing there with the hot water on, the steam rising above his head. Kayla sat at the table still, with her empty plate in front of her and messing around on her phone. I slid my plate into the water in the sink and Harry looked over at me. I took a few steps back, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Move." Kayla muttered, making me jump as she walked up behind me.

"What the hell is your problem?" I snapped.

Harry shut off the water and turned towards us with wide eyes.

"You're my problem, okay. You come into my house, where I live, dressed like a slob and act all bad ass to get attention." Kayla said back. She stood with one knee popped out and a hand on her hip.

"Damn, Kayla, just quit being salty." Harry said, annoyance clear in his voice and on his face.

Kayla's attitude made me want to punch her and I didn't want to give up having my own bedroom and bathroom just yet. I needed to experience the pleasure of it a few more times. If I didn't walk away now, I would end up punching her so I headed toward the back door, exiting it.

I didn't know where I was going and didn't know where there was to go. I just headed straight out, aiming towards the barns and the circle of pine trees in the distance. The hot, summer sun beat down on me, warming my skin. A small, curving sidewalk sat just a few feet away from me. I got on it and followed it for a few minutes before hearing heavy footsteps behind me. I twisted around to see who was there. If it was Kayla, I was going to scream.

"Where are you going, Samantha?" Harry asked.

I started walking again, but Harry caught up to me easily. The scent of his strong cologne hit me as the wind gusted.

"Where are you going?" He repeated.

"I don't know and stop following me."

Harry didn't say anything back but he also didn't stop following me. He slowed his pace so he could walk a few feet behind me instead of beside me. I could see the end of the sidewalk ahead of me and a wooden picnic table sat there. My legs were minutely tired of walking so I sat down when I approached it. Harry sat down next to me.

"Why'd you come all the way out here?" Harry asked.

God. Why did he care? Why was it so important for him to know?

"Kayla made me mad." I answered.

"So you run away when you get mad, then? You just run away from your problems?"

"I didn't want to punch her." I leaned back against the top of the picnic table, the wood digging into my back. "And I really felt like it. I guess I didn't want to get kicked out on my second day here."

"You're going to have to get used to Kayla. She'll come around eventually, just give her some time." Harry said.

Right now, Harry wasn't so bad except for his annoying questions and the fact that he sounded like a counselor. Maybe if he just sat next to me without speaking, I would like him better. But now that I had him here, I did have a few questions of my own.

"Are Kayla and Maddie the Holbrooks' real kids?" I asked.

"They are their real kids but not their biological kids. They adopted Kayla at age two and Maddie just after she was born." Harry explained.

I nodded.

"We should really get back so you can get a start on the list of chores you have, Samantha."

"It's Sami, for the last time."

Harry threw his head back in laughter.

A few hours later I had cleaned the front room completely and vacuumed the stairs plus the second floor hallways. Kayla and I had kept our distance, although I still didn't like her. I still supposedly had the main level bathroom and laundry room to clean but I wasn't going to do it. I'd had enough cleaning for one day.

I'd grabbed a bagel for a late lunch around three and Maddie had asked me to play a board game with her after that. I'd agreed because at the time, she was the only one that actually liked me. I was pretty sure Harry just liked to aggravate me or try to be my counselor.

Around eight everyone had gone off by themselves after we'd had an awkward, tension filled dinner of Mac-N-Cheese and tater tots. Maddie had went to sleep, complaining of a headache. Kayla sat on sofa in the front room, sucked into some tv show and Harry had gone upstairs, probably to his room I guessed. Christy and Jon weren't supposed to be home until around ten and I sat in the kitchen alone and utterly bored.

I smiled and licked my lips as I just remembered something. I made my way up the stairs quietly and into my bedroom. Digging into the secret compartment in the bottom of my duffle bag, I pulled out the half pint of Captain Morgan that I'd stolen from a girl at the last place I'd stayed. I sat on the bed and turned the tv on, taking long swigs of the whiskey periodically as I watched some stupid reality show on MTV.

The twisting of my doorknob jolted me from my inner thoughts. I screwed the cap back onto the bottle of alcohol.

"Go the hell away, Harry!" I snapped. I was having too much fun in my own little world to deal with all his questions right now.

"Watch your mouth and give me that bottle." Christy's voice cut through the room. "Right now."

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