Safe House

One

            Makeup? Check. Clothes? Check. Phone? Check.

            A mental checklist of things easily forgotten and most essential to me ran through my mind as I ran around my room for the umpteenth time. Yesterday, the volleyball team had thrown a goodbye party for me, and the result was a tired Tildie, one that was prone to forget the simplest of information. The girls were more than rowdy, and being with them was always a party in itself. Add a bit of alcohol, the fact that no guys were there, and you've gotten yourself into a mix from Hell.

            That was probably something Tildie would say.

            I pause, berating myself mentally for sticking with that character. I thought I was over Tildie yesterday- for amidst the tears and hugs of goodbye, I silently prepared myself for a new character, a new life.

            For I was moving. Again.

            It wasn't my fault that Tildie liked to be rough, and it definitely wasn't my fault that the only young residents of the house were prissy little brat girls who couldn't run a lap if they tried. Three of them, to be exact. At almost the same age. Tildie liked to call them the Demon Triplets. I'm sure that the family was glad their contract was expiring.

            I already had it all planned out. Lies (pronounced "Leese", rhymes with "Reese") was going to be spectacular. Spectacularly pretty, that was. Personality wise, she was going to become the ideal. For who, Lies didn't know. After all, the next house she was going to had ten kids. And not just any ten kids, but ten brothers. Ten boys. Lies would have to pick one of them and fold into the mould like usual. Although if I knew anything about Lies, it would be that she would go for the one she chose and not look back. Lies was a go-getter, but not a slut.

            "Tildie, we're waiting!"

            That, of course, was "Mom". She was sweet and good and drove all her kids to piano lessons -including Tildie, which the jock in turn hated- and was generally the mom I never had. I've learnt that most foster families are decked out with familial love and care, and both "Mom" and "Dad" were in fact pretty crazy for each other. It was cute. Tildie found it kind of gross.

            I only had a small duffel to carry myself, and that held my laptop, phone, makeup, and a few other random items. A packet of gum, headphones, a tissue packet and the signed card that the volleyball team had given Tildie yesterday. I won't be needing that anymore, and I throw it away while taking my last romp down the stairs from my room. Or at least what used to be my room. Looking back, the house already seems all the more distant and alien to me. Plopping myself into the middle spot I was assigned in the minivan, I not that even the three brats take a break from torturing me (or Tildie, as they know her) from the backseat and bicker amongst themselves. The distance is contagious, it seems.

            "You know, we'll really miss you, sport," "Dad" says from the wheel, and I respond with a thumbs-up to acknowledge him Tildie-style. He was probably the one person in the family Tildie didn't mind dealing with, because he took her out for pizza and hockey on the weekends. Tildie felt sorry for the guy. He probably could've gone with more males in his life, and having Tildie as a "daughter" was probably something that helped his mentality intensely.

            When she wasn't beating up the Three Demons, that was. Tildie probably caused more stress than she made up for.

            After a seatbelt check, the engine revs to life, and we're off. It's a new city, a new school, and a new life for Lies to live. I quickly reiterate in my head who Lies is, just to make sure that the carefully constructed character is not missing anything and ready for me to slip into. Right now, I'm more of a neutral zone. They probably think Tildie is having a good day. And that she's decided to dress fancy for the move. After all, it is ten boys. But this new look is my new permanent look- Lies' look.