The Forgotten Few

Chapter Six: Maybe, Just Maybe

New York

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Micah grabbed my arm and pulled me over outside the hallway with real concern in her face.

"Are you sure we can trust them, Maylen. All they have done is threaten me.-"

"From what I saw back there, you were looking at Claire like she was a friend you've known since you were born, which, by the way, is me, not her." I told her. "Let's go back up to our room,-" I put my hand on her shoulder and turned into the main entrance hallway.

Claire and Charlotte were in the hallway. Honestly, I didn't think they would stay there.

"Are you guys ready to head-?" I started. There was a loud bang upstairs, right above our heads. Our room.

"I never get to finish my sentences!" I told Micah as she, Charlotte, and I started to run up the stairs. Claire was still at the bottom.

"You know what!" She huffed to herself. Putting her bow and arrow on her back, she put one foot in front of the other and made her way slowly up the stairs.

Once she caught up, we continued up to the first floor.

"Hope that wasn't anything bad!" I said as my walk turned into a jog up the stairs. Granted, it was hard.

We got to the top, and Micah reached for the door handle.

"Wait! Before we go in, does anyone else live with you?" Asked Charlotte.

"Um, yes. There is one more person. His name is Neal." Then, I opened the door into the apartment.

We walked into the mud room. I have to say, our apartment was nicer than most.

Neal walked out from behind a corner to greet us. He had dark brown hair, with blue green eyes. "Hey, guys! Who's this?" Neal asked, looking from me, to Micah, to Claire, and then his eyes landed on Charlotte.

I smiled, "The one with the foam bow is Claire, and she's Charlotte." I told him.

"OK, um. Are they going to try to stay with us?"

"Yes, why?" I asked, something was up.

"Well, good luck. Ma'am is going through one of her tantrums right now!"

"I thought Ma'am was a grown woman?" Charlotte said sarcastically to Neal, trying to get his attention.

"She is. But today, she's paying her taxes!" He chuckled.

"We can hang around until she stops. You are almost guaranteed to be kicked out of here if you interupt her!" Micah told the girls.

"Do you think we are going to get a home here?" Asked Claire.

"Right now, I honestly don't know," I told her, but she had a worried look on her face. "But I have a feeling she can take a couple more girls."

"Hmmm..." Charlotte sighed.

"What?" Micah and I said in unison.

"Oh, nothing." She replied quickly.

I walked over to the office that was on the opposite side of the living room. Ma'am was talking on the phone, with a friend. When she hung up, she seemed delighted, so I called the gang over. Yeah, I have a name for my little group of friends.

"Hmm," I cleared my throat. Ma'am looked up from her papers, "my friends here are in sort of a situation like us. They have no family. Do you think we have room to house them, just for a little while?"

She stood there in thought. "I'm going to have to think about it."

"Okay?" Micah replied, and we walked out into the living room to watch some TV.

"Do you guys want to watch a movie?" Asked Micah.

"Sure!" Said Claire

Neal sat down next to Charlotte on the couch.

"Neal, what was that banging noise?" I asked.

"Oh, Ma'am was so frustrated with the guy on the phone, she flipped the coffee table. No biggie," he responded.

I nodded as Micah flipped through the channels.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Charlotte mumbled.

"It's, um, down the hall to the right." Micah told her.

Five minutes had past and she hadn't come back.

"Guys, Charlotte's been gone for a little while to be going to the bathroom." Claire said worriedly.

"That's because she didn't go to the bathroom! I'll be right back," I told them smoothly.

I walked by the kitchen where Ethernet window was to the fire escape. And guess who was on it? Charlotte. I walked out there and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"I have never had someone care for me. If we do have a home here, I don't know how to feel-"

"Especially if you like your roommate, Neal." I laughed.

"Uh," Charlotte hesitated, "yeah. I don't belong here. Anywhere!"

"Listen, when I was about ten years old, I had this realization. Something every foster, orphaned kid asks themselves. Why did my parents abandon me? And then I thought of something else. They gave me my best chance, but I wasn't going to sit around and pity myself. Because this is life. Real life. Nobody is going to do things for you here. You only have one ticket to cash in, this is your one chance." I started to tear up. "Someone once told I'd find them soon. That's what I've been trying to do since I could understand what that even meant!"

Charlotte was tearing up, "I'll stay."

"That's what I thought."