On Our Own

Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning and looked out the window, the sun was peering in. It was such a beautiful day. Mrs. Partinoff must have paid someone to fix her satellite that Casey had broken. I watched as the man got onto the roof and began the repairs.

When my alarm went off, I got out of bed and put on a pair of ripped jeans and a Nirvana shirt. I put my silver hair in a ponytail and went downstairs. It was now Friday and day two of our suspension. I walked into the kitchen and saw that most kids were already up, I went into the dining table and sat down next to Molly.

"Two more got adopted," she said quietly.

I looked over at her.

"Who?" I asked as I started to eat my cereal.

"The two toddlers," she said sadly.

I sighed Molly had been here for maybe three months, she didn't really get it yet.

"Molly I know you liked the toddlers but parents always want a young kid, babies never stick around," I said trying to explain to her. "We're kind of like a passageway for families that don't have a foster license."

"Well that sucks," she said, crossing her arms.

She then got up and left. I saw Casey run after her and then then it was just me, Jack, and Matt. It was absolutely silent for about five minutes and then I watched Nina come downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I went over and saw she was reading the recipe for a cake.

"Who is it for?" I asked.

She blushed. "No one," she said softly.

"Come on," I said smiling.

"It's no one," she insisted.

"A guy?" I asked suggestively.

"No," she said rolling her eyes.

"Then who?" I asked, now genuinely confused.

"Fine, if you must know, it's for Molly."

"Molly?" I asked shocked.

"Yeah."

"I thought you guys didn't really get along?"

"We do get along, mostly. We only fight about dumb things," she explained.

"Interesting, I didn't know," I said.

"It doesn't matter, she's upset and she loves strawberry cake with vanilla frosting," she explained.

I swear Nina was too pure for this world. I smiled and wished her luck and then went back to the table to eat.

"Monica and Jess already left," Jack said when I returned.

I nodded and looked between the two of them, for once, they weren't fighting. In fact, I think Matt was glaring at Jack. I was about to ask why when James came running to me with the home phone.

"It's a social worker," he whispered.

"Hello?" I said taking the phone from him.

"Hi Leah, it's John."

I smiled. John was the social worker for myself and a few other kids here.

"So what's up? I know this isn't about any families looking to adopt me so who's it about?"

"Oh Leah, don't be like that," he criticized.

"It's fine, forget it what do you need?" I asked.

"Did you want to meet a new foster brother?"

•••

It was now eleven, and the new boy was on his way with John. All the kids were excited, I didn't know what to expect. John said he was in the same grade as Nina, Molly, and Casey, making him around thirteen. His birth parents were shot dead, and his adoptive parents had waived their rights, he had nowhere to go. When a car pulled up, we all quickly moved from the window and pretended we weren't staring at them and waited for the doorbell to ring. I went and answered it.