Taylor stepped out of the vehicle as Mr and Mrs Jones dropped her back off at the orphanage, immediately soaking her converse as she stepped out into the rain. She walked around the back of the black SUV and opened the trunk to reveal her navy suitcase that held all of her belongings. Clothes, snacks, memories, you name it - it was in that suitcase. That navy suitcase held everything Taylor had ever owned. She knew exactly why she was being dropped back off at the orphanage; she had pushed the Jones's too far, just like she ended up doing with every foster family she went with. If only they would understand that she was only trying to help herself cope, but why would they? They all just believed that they were giving a child a better life (which they were), but weren't ready for the baggage that Taylor had.
Water splashed off of the top of the SUV as Taylor slammed the trunk shut. Taylor's hair and clothes were now dripping with rain water. Taylor looked at the front of the SUV, hoping to see the comforting expressions that Mr and Mrs Jones almost always held. Almost. Instead all she saw was the look of regret and hopelessness. They knew that they had bit off more than they could chew and Taylor knew that she wasn't the perfect daughter that they were looking for.
See, with the Jones', they had been trying for years to have a daughter, let alone a daughter that followed all of their rules without question. They had 3 boys at home, all of them were extremely well behaved, to the point of where it was painful to watch. Taylor could see that Mr and Mrs Jones made all of the choices for their children and their children never spoke up about anything in the fear that they would be reprimanded for it. When Taylor was nothing like the perfect sons that they had raised, the Jones' realised that they could not handle that sort of behaviour appropriately.
Shivering as the brisk morning air hit her, Taylor watched the SUV drive away. She knew that she would have been sent back sooner or later. That's always what happens. Even with the most hopeful families, they always seem to send her back. Taylor turned to look at the building that she had grown to hate returning to. The orphanage was a four storey brick building with about two to three windows on each side of the building. Taylor walked up the few concrete steps that led to the grand (yet old) doorway that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in about a year or so. She lifted her hand up to the doorbell and pressed the grey, rubber button.
Not a moment later, a woman that Taylor knew as Mrs Allen opened the door, her smooth yet slightly wrinkled hand holding the door open. She was dressed in a light pink, satin blouse that she had tucked into a knee-length, sky blue pencil skirt. She had paired this with a pair of nude stockings and some nude high heels. She pulled this look together with a beige, knitted cardigan and some light pink nails. "For god's sake Taylor what have I told you about your behaviour? I send you to a household with the most well behaved children I've seen and you still manage to mess it up?"
"I just... it's hard to explain. I..." Taylor didn't dare look Mrs Allen in the eye, so she stared down at her now soaked shoes.
"What's so difficult about it? I always send you to a nice house and you always mess it up. You're going to be in here until you're too old to live here! You could at least show me a bit of respect for deciding to let you back in rather than leaving you outside! So ungrateful!" Taylor's feet squelched as she stepped into the doorway and closed the door behind her. She wasn't necessarily afraid of Mrs Allen, she just knew that if she said something that Mrs Allen didn't like, she would be stuck inside for another month and not be able to see her friends, Maddie and Rebekah.
Before Taylor could even sit down to take her shoes off, she felt a sharp pain across the side of her face. She was surprised that hitting her across the face was all that Mrs Allen did. Every other time Taylor had been sent back to the orphanage Mrs Allen had done much worse than just hit her once. "Make sure you take your shoes off before going up those stairs. I don't want you trailing anything on the floors. I'm sure you can do that successfully, right?" Mrs Allen shot Taylor a nefarious grin before turning to go back into her office.
