Foster Me: Emerson's Secret (ON GOING)

Chapter 1

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I pushed my way through the crowd of people grouped together in the middle of the side walk.

"Can you explain to me what happened?" Levi asked, following me from behind. His steps nearly met mine.

"I wasn't what they were looking for, Levi."

"You were all they talked about."

"It was some act then." I stopped mist my walk and turned around to face him. He nearly walked right into me. I took a noticeable deep breath then gave Levi a wry look from the corner of my eye. "I'm trying to make a fresh start here. Can you stop looking for answers?"

"As soon as you tell me the truth."

"It has nothin' to do with you!"

"Then what does it have to do with? What happened?"

I breathed, "I made a mistake."

***

I've had no real luck. And no 'lucky' charm like a 4 leaf clover has helped. I've been in and out of 103 foster homes. I've had to relocate and try to pick up new languages to fit in with the potential foster parents, all to no avail.

Today is the day that my social worker is flying with me to Vancouver to bring me to meet my new foster parents; Jake and Carol. I've only met then twice before. They came to visit me in Denver and after spending one day together, they decided to start the process of fostering. Today happens to be the day everything becomes official and I move in with them.

They seemed like good people; course, I haven't spent much time with them. I knew the basics. Jake worked in business and had a secure job with a local marketing company. Carol also worked, she was the owner of a local cupcake shop. They've wanted to have kids for a long time, but put off trying to persue their professional careers. Once they felt steady in their professions, they decided to start trying ,only to learn that Carol could not have children of her own.

I never fully understood why they'd consider fostering me. I mean, it's no secret that most people looking to foster don't want teenagers. They want the younger kids....The babies....the toddlers...And I'm neither of those. I'm not a cute little baby that they can expect to be around for 18 more years, you know? I'm 16 and to be honest, as soon as I hit 18 I'm gone.

***

The car was put in park when we arrived at the house. The ride there was awkward as expected. I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the car door. I met Jake near the trunk of the car as he unloaded my suitcase from the back. I didn't come with much.

"I can take that," I said as I reached for my suitcase handle. I don't trust them with the only belongings I have.

"It's alright, I got it." Jake's hand latched onto the suitcase handle then made his way to the front door. Carol unlocked it.

I didn't join them immediately inside as I wanted to take in my new surroundings. It was a nice neighbor. Quiet, and obviously well taken care of. I swear, I've never seen a neighborhood where everyones grasses looked identical. And...so very green. Did I just happen to get fostered by rich people living in a private compound? Great...

I groaned, took one last look around me then slowly made my way up the stone path. Just as I was about to walk in the open front door, I felt eyes on me. I figured it was one of the neighbors. I turned around and scanned the surroundings. On the porch, at the house across the street, I saw a guy, probably a few years older then myself. He sat on one of the steps, nursing a beer, whilst looking at me. His intense eyes caused my face to warm. It felt like there was a fire underneath my skin. Feelin' extremely uncomfortable, I did the first thing that came to my mind.

"Fuck off pervert, " I shouted.

***

It took only one trip to get my stuff upstairs. Jake offered to carry my suitcase up as I followed him from behind. When I walked into my new bedroom, the floor beneath my feet creaked. The room was decorated with a mixture of pink and white furniture. It reminded me very much of being in barbies bedroom. A giant, pink, canopy bed placed directly in the centre of the room. A double door leading out to my own private balcony. One complete wall was turned into a custom made closet with tons of storage space. Everything about this room, overwhelmed me. A simple cot in the corner of an empty room would suffice.

I took a seat on the corner of my canopy bed and took everything in. Oh boy was I out of my element here.

"So what do you think?" Carol asked as her husband put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's nice. Thanks."

"We're glad you like it," Carol smiled brightly, taking a moment to look at her husband. Jake smiled back at her.

"Um.. I need to lie down for awhile" I say, "If that's alright."

"Of course, we'll let you get settled."

Without another word, Carol and Jake left, closing the door behind them. Though I had no plans to nap, it would be nice to be alone. It would give me some time to settle and unpack a few things; though I had no plans to unpack my belongings. The thing about being a foster kid is you never know how long you'll be in a particular home. So over the last 16 years, I have never emptied my suitcase.