Holding On

Chapter Seventeen

I woke up super early today. Last night was pretty tough, I kept turning. Sleep just didn't come to me. I felt like something bad was going to come. I quickly shrugged the negative feeling away, no today was going to be a good day. Smiling, I took a quick shower. Deciding to wear simple clothing, I put on a pair of shorts, and a long-sleeved black shirt. Just imagining Joey's face made me smile. I put on my black converse, and shoved my phone in my back pocket. Whatever people said about me, I was ready for today.

I walked out of my room, and downstairs to greet my foster parents. Dad wasn't there, but mom was. "Where's dad," I asked while looking around. She smiled softly at me, "he had to go to work early." Oh, what a bummer. At least mom is here. I nodded in understanding. "Want a pancake??" My eyes widened, and I quickly said with no hesitation, "yes, of course!" My mom was the best at making pancakes. My love for her pancakes is unbearable.

She placed two pancakes on a plate, then she placed a little cube of butter on top. I was already craving for it. My mom poured the syrup over the top making the butter melt a little. My stomach started growling. As soon as she put the plate in front of me, I dug in. With a matter of seconds, it was gone. I licked my lips to wipe off the excess syrup. Mm, so delicious. A sleepy Sam sat across from me. "You eat like a pig," he said in his tired voice. My reply was pretty sarcastic, "well, hello to you too." Our mom placed a plate in front of him, then he began to eat. "Are you going to drive me today??" He didn't answer for awhile, it looked like he was processing the question. "Do I even have a choice?? Of course I have to drive you," well, thank you Sam. I didn't feel like taking the bus today. Yay, Sam came to my rescue. Hip-hip-hooray, hip-hip-hooray.

Dragging myself out of my seat, and into the half-washroom near our house entryway. I brushed my teeth for two minutes, then rinsed my mouth. Dang it, there goes the sweet taste of mommy's pancakes. I ran upstairs, and grabbed my bag before heading back downstairs. I was zipping up my bag, but I bumped into something hard making me fall on my ass. I looked up, and there was my brother. He ignored me, and just went upstairs. Pfft, rude much. Letting out a humph before trying to get up off the ground.

While waiting for my brother to come back downstairs, I decided to send Joey a good morning text. So, with that thought in my head, I pulled out my phone, and clicked on the message between Joey and myself. I quickly typed in "good morning." Shoving it back into my pocket at the same time Sam came down the stairs. We said bye to our mom, and headed out to his car. When we were all settled into his car with the seat belts on, and everything, he broke the silence, "who were you texting?? What were you hiding from me??" I rolled my eyes, "I wasn't hiding anything. It isn't my fault you came downstairs when I was putting my phone back in my pocket."

"You only answered one of my questions," he was so stubborn. "Joey," there was no reason I should hide this from him. Nothing is wrong with me texting Joey, he is my boyfriend. His face literally flipped, he had a glare on his face. But it wasn't directed at anyone. Sam was glaring at the road in front of him. He started speeding up. I looked at how fast we were going. 80 km/h, shit. The speed limit for this road was 50 km/h. Sam is going to get us arrested, or worse, killed.

"Stop it, Sam." He turned his glare at me, and pressed on the brakes. I slammed forward, but the seatbelt stopped me, and smacked me back into the chair. I groaned in pain. Sam started driving again, and after a few minutes, he parked in the school parking lot. He got out, and slammed the car door shut. I got out, and closed my door. Sam locked his car, and walked away from me without a second glance. Well, he's mad.

I turned around, and saw Jake and Joey stepping out of a car. A smile spread across my face, and I ran towards them. Joey turned in my direction to walk to the school, but I hugged him. He smiled, and hugged back, "hey, Rose." Jake looked at us, and made kiss faces. I giggled, and put my hand over his face. Something moist touched my hand, I quickly pulled it away, and scolded Jake. "Did you just lick my hand??" He smirked, and leaned against his car. I punched his arm. I was going to kick him in the shin, but Joey wrapped his arms around my waist, and dragged me away. "Noo, let me go! I have to hit him," I said this as I struggled against him.

Jake was pulling out his bag from the car, his back was to us. Joey released me, and I pounced on Jake's back. I wrapped my little legs around his waist, and shouted, "woohoo, piggyback ride!!" Jake was shocked at first, but now he was smiling again. He gave Joey his bag, and put his hands under my legs to lift me up. Then he started running around, and I was screaming. Not the 'I need help' kind of screaming, it was the 'I'm going crazy' kind of screaming. Jake was laughing the whole time. Joey was walking to the school entrance. After a while of running around, Jake walked to the school entrance. I hopped off his back with a huge grin on my face. I said happily, "let the day begin."

They looked at me as if I was crazy, but then they smiled as well. Like the happy person I am, I walked into the school with Jake and Joey trailing behind. Wow, nobody hit me or called me anything so far. I guess this was going to be a good day.