M&Ms

D

Lunch.

I quickly found William and introduced myself to his table.

There were three guys and two girls. One more empty seat.

Carlos. Spanish. Junior. Future engineer.

Violet. Polish. Sophomore. Future physiologist.

Dontae. African. Freshman. Unsure.

Gina. Indian. Senior. Future heart surgeon.

Markus. Canadian. Sophomore. Future lawyer.

William. Irish/Polish. Sophomore. Future husband. I mean, future army.

We were all eating pepperoni pizza while they started asking questions that I wasn't ready to answer.

"So, why'd ya move?"

"Any cool teachers?"

"What do your mom and dad do?"

I jus sighed. "Can we not talk about my home life? It's at home, not here." I snapped.

I ran out.

I went to see Mrs. Dio. She had a class.

Mr. Andrews? He was eating his lunch in his room. I knock on the door. I hear his sweet, British voice. "Come in!"

I twist the door handle and push.

"Mr. Andrews?" I instantly cry.

He sets down his sandwich and comes to hug me. "Shhh, it's okay, love. It's okay."

He lets go.

"I thought I could do this... Mr. Andrews, can you keep a secret?"

"Of course."

"I used to be in a mental hospital for months. Three months. Two weeks. Five days, to be exact. I swallowed every pill with my name on it. Which was a lot, due to my health problems. The only reason I got out is because my mother wouldn't pay for my medical bills anymore. She put me in the foster care system. I stayed there for four months until a family adopted me... I remember being so happy to finally get out of there. Then, as soon as I got to their home, I knew my place. As a slave. Do whatever they want. They have minimum wage jobs. They aren't who they say they are. It makes me sick, what they have me do. I-I lost my virginity to my foster father. He raped me. In front of his wife and two boys. They just watched me cry out for help and didn't say a word. But you cannot tell a soul about this. Okay?"

"But this is for your safety. I could get you into a better environment. You know? My wife and I have been looking for a daughter." He smiled. I cried tears of joy into his shoulder. "Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"