Forward

Chapter 1

"You're going with your mom."

I stood up, picked up my plate and set in the sink. "I'm going to bed," I said with no emotion tainting my voice. I started up the stairs.

"Taryn, I really think we need to talk about this. This isn't something you can just brush off," he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Tom! Be nice. Honey he is right we need to go over the details. She asked for you to come as soon as possible. We were thinking maybe the day after tomorrow. That would give you enough time to pack and say goodbye to your fri-," I narrowed my eyes at her, "Or just to pack your things."

The whole "friend" thing. That was one of the worst battles we had ever had. It happened shortly after I had arrived three years ago.

{FLASHBACK}

"Go out with them. Please," she was honestly on her hands and knees. 

"No."

"Why not? They are very sweet kids. I know their parents. Please just for tonight go out for tonight."

" I am not interested in your cliche suburban life. I am here for the next four years and then you will never see me again. So go back downstairs, drink some coffee, call a friend and gossip about everyone else instead of face your own problems. I mean for god sakes, you're a hair stylist. That takes little to no skill. And you know I may not want to hang out with those kids, but I know what they say. You are a homewrecker. Tom was married before you. Wasn't he? Where is she now? She sure isn't sleeping in his bed. You are. And to be honest, I had wondered how a girl like you ended up with a guy like him," I said all of this without looking at her until I said those last words. 

She got up and walked downstairs. I could hear her heels clicking on the tiled floor. 

She didn't talk to me for a month after.

{END OF FLASHBACK}

" Alright listen, I am going nowhere. I am staying with you finishing high school and then getting the hell out of this town. But all of that will be on my own terms. I will be eighteen in a few months and that means I will be an adult. I can make my own decisions. I don't think you want me to have to start at a new school when it is my senior year."

"Taryn we have no say in this. She has all the paperwork," he said sighing.

" Well in that case, I might as well just leave tomorrow. I am going to pack my things. I wouldn't try any sort of contact with me tonight. I hope you know that you are ruining my life. If you even cared about me you would try harder to get me to stay," I said the last part knowing it would hit close to home with both of them.

"Now Taryn, you know very well we care about you. There just isn't anything we can do about this. Tom already looked into the legal issues. She went in and legally adopted you. We have no say in this anymore." 

I didn't know if I believed her. Legally adopted me. How does that make any sense. I will be of age in the next few months and she has never even tried to contact me. I nodded my head in defeat and went to my room. 

I wasted no time in beginning to pack. I had little to nothing. When you move as many times as I do, you learn to not get to attached to anything. This includes people. I learned he and she are easier to call my foster parents when I usually don't stay long enough to be on first name basis. This is one of the only homes I have stayed in longer then I few months. My strong personality comes off as bitchy to people. 

My books and clothing were all packed up and that was about all I had. I picked up my tattered blue blanket. I didn't need Whitney seeing this and knowing I had kept the one thing she left me when she dropped me off at the orphanage. I had to show her no emotion. I threw the blanket in my trash can.

And with that I threw my childhood away with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whitney's POV

I closed the door to the room she would be staying in. I made it blue, remembering the blanket I had given her. I wondered if she still sleeps with it like she always used to. God I was so nervous. She would probably hate me. I mean you hear the stories like this. Mom gives up child, they run into each other and then start building a great relationship. Somehow, I don't think she will be like that. Forgiving. From what I heard, she is quite a handful. I drop my head in my hands as I stand over the railing that looks over the living room. I feel two arms wrap around me.

"She will love you babe," my husband says.

"I'm not so sure. I practically abandoned her for my own selfish reasons. She probably resents me. You know she has been to over 12 foster homes in her life. While here I was living in luxury. She turns 18 soon. She will leave us as soon as she can. I only have a few months to make her like me."

"Honey if she is anything like you, this won't be easy at first. But-"

I take his arms off me and turn to face him. "Wow thanks that is so reassuring," I say with the most sarcastic tone of voice I can muster in my current state of worry.

"You never let me finish. It won't be easy at first, but she will fall in love with you just like I did," Ryan said leaning in for a kiss. 

I sighed, giving in, and kiss his lips. That's when the door bangs open. In walks Matilda, Ryan's daughter from his first marriage. 

"OMG! Get a room. Honestly, that is like the last thing I want to see when I walk into MY house," she says emphasizing the my, while pointedly looking at me.

Matilda then stalks out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'm going to take a nice relaxing shower, and then meditate. If you disturb me, I kill you."

I roll my eyes. Like meditating could make her a better person. "I'm going to make dinner. Pasta sound okay?" Ryan nods his head. "Be home tomorrow at 4. That's when we need to go pick her up."

"Babe, I think you should start calling her, her name."

I hadn't said it in years. Her and she were easier to force out when talking about her. I tried so hard to forget about her, but there she was each and everyday, stuck in the back of my head. I guess this is why I'm doing this. A sort of last minute chance before she legally can not be binded to me. 

"That's when we need to pick umm.. Taryn up," I said in a whisper. 

Ryan gives me a reassuring smile. I walk down the stairs into the kitchen. I look at the picture hanging on the fridge. It was of her. She was only a few weels old, wrapped in that blue blanket. You could already tell she would have dark black hair. Her eyes were a piercing blue that seemed as if it could look into your soul. I took the picture down and held it in my hand. Looking at it once more, I threw it away. I couldn't let her know just how much I missed her. She would think of me as weak. 

And with that, I threw away my last shred of sanity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(back to Taryn's POV)

"Bye. You guys were the best foster parents I ever had." That was the thought I had in my head, but I could never say that. 

"Umm.. see ya." Wow that was just great. I couldn'c come up with any better. Gosh Taryn!

"Bye hon," she says as she hugs me goodbye. He just gives me a nod. 

I grab my bags and walk to wait in the security line. I felt bad. I mean these people put up with me when I am not the easiest person to get along with. I turned around to thank them, but they were already gone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! It's Simplicity! I wrote this chapter. Comment. Vote. AND FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM AT lavendersimplicity! Thanks for reading! 

XO,

S