perceived » [carl gallagher]

change || chapter 7

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"What are you doing in my room?! Who the fuck are you?!" I shouted, furrowing my eyebrows in both confusion and anger.

"Child services. Where are your parents?" The woman asked calmly.

"Not here obviously," I answered rudely. Why should I be polite to someone who just walked into my house without permission.

The woman looked at me, she looked like she was still waiting for an answer, like what I told her wasn't satisfactory.

I sighed, "My dad isn't here. I don't know where he is most of the time. And my mom?" I took a step forward. "She's dead. Is that good enough for you," my hands where now clenched beside my thighs.

Her expression did not change whatsoever, instead, she turned around and eyed my room. "Pack your things."

"W-What?" I murmured shakily. If that woman was really working for child services, she wasn't doing a good job. She seemed like an overly-confident kidnapper.

"Pack your things. You're coming with me," she said, now averting her eyes at mine.

I was really spooked out. "How do I know who you are. What if-"

She cut me off with her words. "You can trust me, Natalia." The woman pulled out her ID. Who knows, it might have been fake, she could have been anyone except from Miss...Shelly Jefferson. That could have been her fake name. But I decided to pack.

As the woman stepped outside, I started to pack the suitcase that was by my wardrobe. It wasn't mine, the woman probably put it there. She didn't really specify what she meant by 'Pack your things.' Pack for a day, a month, or am I moving forever? This whole situation was fishy.

After I finished stuffing my suitcase with most of my clothes and necessities, I dragged the suitcase outside of my room. Looking back, I realised that this could be my last time seeing this place. I didn't know if I should have stayed or ran from the woman, but my feet carried on walking behind Miss. Jefferson. We walked out and she started walking to her car. I quickly locked the front door before catching up to her.

We got in the car. I sat at the front. She took my suitcase and loaded it in the trunk. When she came back she told me to put my seatbelt on. That's the only thing she said. We didn't speak for the rest of the ride. I checked my phone continually, hoping for a text from Carl or Debbie. Nothing.

I saw a photo in the cup folder. It was Miss. Jefferson with a child, a little boy.  Probably her son. Miss. Jefferson looked like she was in her late twenties.

When the car stopped, I looked through the right window and saw a big house, every frame was outlined by wine red paint. It looked warm and welcoming but like they say, don't judge a book by its cover. Who knows? Maybe inside they torture children who also have drunk parents.

"Come on," Miss. Jefferson said, getting out of the car, closing the door and walking to the trunk.

I got out of the car and got my suitcase. Miss. Jefferson was walking elegantly towards the house, I was shuffling gauchely behind her. We got to the door and she walked in. I followed her into the house. It was noisy and I could hear teenagers shouting, music blasting and hairdryers blowing.

Out of the door on the left came a lady, she was short and chubby. She looked more friendly than Miss. Jefferson did for sure.

"You're early Shelly, we agreed on four," the woman laughed awkwardly. "Oh, you must be Natalie," she said grabbing my empty hand and shaking it.

"Actually it's Nat-"

"I got one of our girls to show you around, you will be sharing a room with her too," she said smiling.

"LAUREL!" The woman shouted. I cringed at the intense volume, my eardrums ringing.

Seconds later, a fairly tall, slim girl with perfectly straight hair came down the stairs and stood beside the woman.

"This is Natalie, she's-"

"Her names Natalia Roberts. I better go now," said Shelly, turning away and walking out the door.

"Ahh, right. It's Natalia," the woman giggled. "Well, this is Laurel. I'm Gina your supervisor. Mike is also a supervisor but he's out with one of the kids."

I nodded, looking at the floor.

"Laurel, why don't you take her to your room. Have fun girls!"

Laurel smiled sheepishly and started to walk upstairs. I followed her and we walked through an endless amount of corridors. At some doors, teens stood there starting at me, whispering and looking me up and down. It was quite intimidating so I held my head down so that I wouldn't make any awkward eye contact with anyone.

We got to the room and it wasn't big but it wasn't small either. The walls were grey and some were a nice teal colour. The room had two beds, one in the corner and the other in another.

"That's your bed," Laurel pointed in one of the corners. I walked over and the bed had a card laying on it.

"Is this for me?" I asked, sitting down.

She chuckled, "Yeah, open it." She sat down beside me.

I opened the card and there was a drawing of what looked like all the kids. On the their side, there was a message.

'Welcome Natalie! We hope you enjoy your stay! If you want you can draw yourself on the picture. From, all your new friends.'

"This is cute but I don't think I'll be staying here," I said closing the card and putting it on my bedside table.

Laurels smile faded like a burned out candle. "That's what they all think," she sighed and walked over to the door. "I'll let you pack. If you want to talk, I'll be downstairs in the game room. It's the second room to the right, it has two big doors. See you there," and she walked out, closing the door behind her.

I hesitated for a moment before opening my suitcase and piling clothes in my new wardrobe.

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(A/N: please vote if you enjoyed :) This chapter was a lot more about Natalia's past (not much of it) and her new home/surroundings. In the next chapter it'll be more about the new home and Carl.)