To Belong | Protector 5.25

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

       When weekends came around, I slept in as late as I could. Both Jerome and Nolan were perfectly fine with us sleeping in as long as we could since we had to wake up early for school.

       All my other foster parents wouldn't let me sleep in past ten. Sometimes nine.

       I was still so amazed at how different Jerome and Nolan were from all my other foster parents. You think that in all the houses I had been in, I would have been in at least one house without strict parents.

       Apparently not.

       I even experienced a house where they had a biological kid as well as foster kids and let's just say that the standards given to us foster kids were a lot different than the biological kid.

       The Prince-Roys weren't that kind of house.

       I was given the exact same rules and standards as everyone else.

       After waking up, I decided to head downstairs to get something to eat. While I was on the stairs, I heard a lot of people talking and that was when I remembered that Nolan's whole family was coming over for the day.

       I silently sighed, not really wanting to be around a bunch of people. Nolan did tell me that I could stay in my room if I wanted too but I was still very hungry. However, going downstairs would mean all eyes would be on me and I didn't want that at all.

       Part of me just wanted to wait until Nolan's family left but I didn't know how long they would be here for and I really needed to eat something.

       Maybe I could just grab some food and bring it to my room. I wondered if I was even allowed to eat in my room. I wasn't in any of my other foster homes but then again, I should have learned by now that this wasn't just any other foster home.

       I slowly walked down the remainder of the stairs, seeing Nolan's family in the living room and there really was a lot of them. A bit too much for me to be around right now.

       So I immediately made my way to the kitchen, hoping everyone wouldn't notice my presence.

       While I was in the kitchen looking for something to eat, Nolan walked over to me. "So am I allowed to eat in my room?" I asked.

       "Yeah, of course," Nolan said. "As long as you don't end up having a hoard of dishes, you could eat whatever you want up there. You're not in the mood to be around everyone, are you?"

       I nodded. "And I know you wanted me to meet your family but..."

       "Oh, don't worry about it," Nolan said. "They all live here in Miami so they come over very often. A bit too often at times, to be honest. You'll meet them some other time and if you don't want to now, I'm not going to force you to stay down here and socialize."

       I hesitated a bit before asking, "How come you're always so understanding?"

       "What do you mean?" Nolan asked. 

       "For starters, you let me get away with getting into a fight on my first day of school," I said. "And there's a lot I'm allowed to do here that I wasn't allowed to do at my other foster homes."

       "Arjun, you already told me that day that you weren't the one who started it," Nolan said. "You were only defending yourself so I don't see why you'll get in trouble for it. And as for you being able to do things you weren't allowed at your other foster homes... How bad were they?"

       "Well, I was always given ridiculous curfews," I said. "And sometimes, I wasn't allowed to have snacks. I always had to do my homework as soon as I got home from school. Wasn't allowed to go out on weekends. There was also one house where I was basically confined to my room the whole time."

       "Are you serious?" Nolan asked. "Why?"

       "Because as soon as I got there, Jimmy told them all the things I've done so they didn't want to take any chances," I said. "That was one of the houses I... admittedly ran away from."

       "I don't blame you," Nolan said which made me furrow my eyebrows. 

       How come it took so long for me to be placed in a house with someone who actually cared about me? Who didn't blame me for every little thing I did and was always willing to hear me out?

       If I had so much trouble in other foster homes, why was I just placed in Nolan and Jerome's care? 

       Probably because it wasn't going to last.

       Nothing lasted being a foster kid in some cases, and I was definitely one of those cases.

       That was one of the reason why I didn't want to meet Nolan's family yet, apart from me not liking to be around a bunch of people. I didn't want to get connected to everyone only to be ripped away from them.

       It had already happened once and I didn't think I could handle it happening again, especially now that I felt like this was the one place I belonged; the one place I was meant to be.

       Kingsley was calling for Nolan so he had to go back to the living room. I went back to finding something to eat but since I just wanted to head back to my room, I just mixed a bunch of fruit together in a bowl before heading upstairs.

       Even walking by everyone was enough for me to feel even worse about this whole situation. I had a feeling deep down that I wasn't going to last here. Eventually, something was going to go wrong and I was going to have to go to another foster home or a group home.

       It was an endless cycle I was so desperately trapped in and there was nothing I could do to break it. There was nothing that could break it.

       Except for me turning eighteen in three years and aging out of the foster system.

       But then I would be left all on my own.

       As if I wasn't already.

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love and support my bb arjun pls. he needs it so much <3

i still can't wait for autumn to just be here. i miss the cold weather :( 

and honestly can't wait for school. i'm so bored lol.