Chapter 3: Well . . . That's Not Good
It's been a few months since the talk I had with Mist. We've made it all the way to spring break without any problems from the idiot who hurt Mist last spring. The Gages like spending a lot of family quality time. They dragged me to Disney World for a weekend trip. It was loud and very crowded, considering the time of year. But all of it has made me feel closer to them. Like I'm a part of the family and not just passing through.
I've found myself quite attached to Mist. I've noticed I call her "sis" a lot. But that might also be because some kid at school thought we were dating. The thought of that makes my stomach turn. I think of her as my sister and only my sister and she thinks of me only as a brother. Trust me, we clarified that with each other.
I carry a stack of dirty plates from dinner to the kitchen sink.
"Ryder!" Mist screams enthusiastically, running into the kitchen.
I turn around after putting the plates in the sink. "Yes?" I laugh.
"Would you mind watching a horror movie with me? Mom won't let me watch it by myself and Dad's at work and Mom doesn't want to watch it with me."
"What movie?" I ask.
"It's something about werewolves. I can't remember the name."
"Seriously?" She's got to be kidding me. Of course she'd want to watch a horror movie about werewolves. That's gonna help a lot in the future... not.
"Please, Ryder! I really want to watch it, all my friends say it's awesome," she pleads and gives me a pouty face.
"Don't look at me like that, you know I can't resist a pouty face. You know I'm weak."
"I know, I'm counting on it." She continues to pout.
"Okay, okay. I'll watch it with you, just stop pouting."
"Yay!" She runs up and hugs me and drags me off to the living room.
***
The movie credits start rolling. Mist's head is buried in my chest. I can feel her shaking. "Don't tell me that cheesy ass movie actually scared you?" I laugh.
"Does my shaking in terror mean nothing?" She glares at me.
"Come on, it looked so fake. I don't even know how they called those sorry-looking things werewolves."
"Who are you to judge? They looked like werewolves to me."
"Yeah, no. Werewolves don't look or act like that at all."
"Werewolves aren't even real, so how would you know how they look and act?"
Oh boy, only if she knew. "What can I say, I've had a lot of free time. I read."
Mist shakes her head at me. "Can I bunk in your room tonight? I'm fine with sleeping on your sofa, it's comfy."
"Yeah, sure. But I'm taking the sofa and you're taking the bed."
"Thank you, but I'm intruding so I'm sleeping on the sofa," she insists.
"Yeah, well, my room, my rules. So, I take the sofa and you get the bed. That's final and it's not up for debate," I state.
"We'll see about that," Mist says.
I lie in bed awake, Mist peacefully sleeping on the other side of my bed. I was on the sofa in my room, but she started to have a bad dream, so I came to calm her down. Now there is a small smile on her face.
The dream from the other night still haunts me. I don't get what it's supposed to mean. I know it could mean nothing, but I feel like it does mean something. I try to push those thoughts to the back of my mind.
I slowly extract myself from the bed and sneak down to the kitchen. As I rummage through the fridge, I find myself thinking about the future. Things like moving out, going to college, finding my soulmate and getting married. I haven't ever thought about things like that before. I think about Mist and similar things for her. I imagine me teasing her on her wedding day and busting her fiancé's chops, and also putting the fear of God in him.
Over the last few months I'm not sure why but I've grown quite attached to my new sister. I'd do anything for her. Before I came here, I wasn't really afraid of death. I guess didn't really have a real reason to be. But now I do. Mist and her parents have given me a reason. I don't want to run, I want to make this one work, and that's never happened before.
The next morning, I open my eyes, and yawn, stretching my arms. I sit up and check my phone. "Holy shit, it's noon." I jump out of bed and jog down the steps and into the kitchen. My stomach grumbles loudly in discontent because of the lack of food that exists there. I grab myself a muffin off the counter. I notice my foster mom is sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book.
She looks up from her reading. "Good morning. I was wondering when you would get up," she says.
"Where's Mist?" I ask.
"What, no good morning to you too? No hello? How are you? Just, where's Mist," she complains.
"Sorry, Mom. Good morning. Well, good afternoon." I sit down across from her.
"Mom?" she says.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing, it's just you called me Mom," she says.
"You said I could."
"I know that. I'm not complaining. I just thought it'd take longer than this for you to call me that. That's all. Mist is at a friend's house, and you should take a shower. I can smell you from here." She scrunches her nose.
I sniff my shirt. "Yeah, good idea." I grimace.
She laughs. "When you're done, there's stuff for sandwiches in the fridge if you're still hungry after that muffin," my mom adds.
"Okay, thanks." I head back upstairs to my room and jump into the shower.
I walk out of my closet and check the time on my phone, which reads 1:30 p.m. My stomach growls on cue. "Yep, food time."
I go back to the kitchen and find a note on the island:
Dear Ryder,
I've gone out to get supplies for dinner. Don't forget there's stuff for sandwiches in the fridge. Mist should be home soon. Love, Mom.
YOU ARE READING
Foster Wolf
Werewolf(Complete) Ryder is a teenaged boy in foster care. his parents died when he was two and was put into the foster system. He has bounced from one home to another. Either he was sent back or ran away, but this time when his social worker, Mary, found h...
