Olympic Games

Chapter 1 - Crash Collision

Annika Brighton was staring out of her new prison cell, a new foster home.

She heaved a great sigh as she watched a butterfly swerved up and over the flowers and trees that surrounded the back yard. Why does he get to do whatever he wants to, and I'm stuck in here?

Earlier this month she was picked up again for ditching school once again.

"Fours times, Annika, it's the law to go to school and you decide you don't want to go, so as your legal guardians we have no choice but to do this." Milly had said to her.

But I never wanted to be here! I had yelled back, but nothing phased her.

Milly was a retired nurse and spent her time taking care of her garden and husband, in that order.

John was a retired restaurant owner, who just sold it to some young couple fresh out of college and expecting a family.

I, on the other hand, was a seventeen year old girl living in the foster care system since I was five. I had been thrown into some families that no child should be a part of. Some families that just wanted the state money, some who wanted a servant, I've been to them all, except for the one I wanted the most. A real family that wanted me.

Milly and John Steinberg didn't actually want a foster kid. I'm pretty sure they had other plans on how to spend their retirement. One day, they were at the police department to file a complaint against a hoodlum who had scratched and egged their car while they were shopping.

I happened to be there too. Of course, I happened to be handcuffed to a table at the time.

Okay.  Let me back up and explain to you how I came to be here.

I was in a foster family where the husband was becoming a little to friendly and I broke his nose and may or may not have stopped him from reproducing. The wife refused to believe her husband would do such a thing, she called the cops. Apparently, being a kid in the system has its draw backs too, the cops didn't believe me either.

So there I was handcuffed and the Steinbergs are there, my parol officer shows up. Blah, blah, blah. By the end of the week I had moved in with Milly and John.

Back to the story at hand, I'm grounded. Yippee.

A knock sounded at my door. I rolled my eyes and continued to watch the butterfly weave through the flowers. A second knock sounded, and again I rolled my eyes. Maybe if I kept silent whoever was at the door would go away. Nope. A third knock. I heaved a great sigh and walked across the room to open the door.

Milly stood on the other end looked sterner than she ever has before.

"Lets get something clear, right now. Me and John have never had a child before so this is all new to us. And try as we might to understand what you're going through, we just don't." Milly said. "We both want you to be happy here with us. But in order for that to happen, you have to help us out here too, Annika."

I just leaned against the door and crossed my arms giving my best 'I don't care look'.

Milly gave a sad sigh. "Okay I tried talking, so yeah. Tomorrow you have school. So please be there or...or I'll tell John and he'll take your phone away for two days."

I almost laughed. Obviously, Milly thought taking my phone privileges affected me, but it didn't I had no friends. Sure I hung with a group of kids at school, but to actually call them friends was like calling a cat a dog.

"Tomorrow, I'll drop you off at the school before I leave for the Home Depot. John is going to build me a green house!"

A green house? Who gets excited about a green house? Milly does, that's who.

"So...um...dinner is almost ready so come down soon." Milly told me at last, as she looked uncomfortably around my room, before going back downstairs.

I hated this, acting like I don't care. Making Milly's and John's life as hard as possible. Skipping school. I actually liked school, I'm a dork that way. What I really want was to just be me. Especially, when I see Milly and John trying to make me apart of their family.

I closed my door slowly and went back to my bedroom. I fell onto my bed and smuthered my groan by place my face on my comforter.

About fifteen minutes later Milly yelled from downstairs that dinner was ready.

I slowly got up and went to my bathroom to wash up. As I washed my hand I looked in the mirror and astonished by what I saw.

My black hair became darker somehow no longer the midnight blue it once was, but it is also pulled back into a ponytail, which I never put my hair in. My eyes seemed to have turned a darker brown almost like milk chocolate. And my face. I once had acne scars across my face but no they were completely gone. What is happening?

I reach up to touch my face, but I feel my bangs dropping across my eyes like they always have. I can feel the roughness of the acne scars on my cheeks. My hair is still loose falling over my shoulders. I blink faster and scowl at my reflection almost like that would help it go back to normal. And it does. There I am, my normal your average teenage girl.

Maybe it was a sign. Or maybe it was that leftover Krispy Kreme Doughnut for a couple days ago that I ate this morning. Yeah probably the doughnut.

Dinner was uneventful. John talked about where and how he was gonna build the green house. While Milly was making a mental list of everything she was planing to put in the green house.

I went to bed after I finished the dishes, also part of my punishment, which I don't complain about. After years of experience of the consequences of complaining I learned to just go with it.

The next morning, I slept through my alarm and had to run around jumping into my shoes while I was brushing my teeth. I didn't even bother brushing my hair, I just grabbed a rubber band and my backpack and headed for the door.

Now speaking for experience. Like two seconds ago. Never run downstairs and try to put your hair up in a ponytail at the same time with a heavy backpack slinging off of one arm. I nearly died by rolling my ankle and almost pitching forward, luckily there was a wall to catch me.

Even with Milly driving as fast as she dared over the speed limit in the school zone, thirty five miles per hour, I still got there after the bell rang. Once she pulled up into the drop off zone I got out and took off running across the road towards the school. I was full out and as I was jumping up on to the sidewalk, two inch difference from the pavement. I tripped. Well apparently, there was someone else walking along the sidewalk and when I tripped I went sailing into them and with my momentum I took us both down. I should so look up girls being football players, because that was a really good tackle.

I picked my head up from the grass that it decided all on it's own to eat.

I was too busy taking the nasty flavored grass from my mouth to realize that I was laying across someone.

"What the hell!" that someone groaned from under me.

My eyes got wider as I realized everything, besides the grass. I drew myself up and started climbing off but as I put my knee on something soft a huge groan/yell came out of the person I was on top of and I was practically tossed off. The boy was now in the fetal position holding on to his...man-parts and roll back in forth in pain.

Then I realized just who this boy I just crushed was none other than Zeke McLoy, teen heartthrob, star football player, straight A student, class body president, you name it this kid did it.

And he just happened to be the first guy I had a crush on in a very long time, and now at least he'll notice me.

Yeah, from now on I'll be the girls that tackled and crushed his balls.