The Guardian Children (book 1) [SAMPLE]

Chapter 9

Since I was admitted into the system, I had spent my birthday in a different home every year. My eleventh was at the orphanage the day before I left it. My sixteenth was with the Foresters, and although it wasn’t a big celebration, it was still the best birthday dinner I’d had so far. Tom had tried to teach me to drive after that so that I could get my license, but I was severely against them buying me a car, so I didn’t see the point of it.

Unlike me, Leo did get his license last year, but his parents wouldn’t let him have a car until he graduated. Carter, on the other hand, did have one that he bought himself, although it was old and very used up, but it was more than fine to take us to Leo’s.

The first thing I did before we left was to call Katherine from Leo’s cell phone, since I didn’t have one of those either, to tell her not to pick me up from school.

On the ride there, I could tell Leo was nervous because he was unusually quiet. It had me wondering what this big secret was that could be weighing down on him so much.

It was only when we got to the apartment that he finally spoke, and it was to tell his parents not to smother him so much after they opened the door for us. I almost rolled my eyes. No matter how many times Carter and I tried to talk some sense into him, Leo was still treating his parents the same way, although he was a bit more self conscious about it.

“So how was school?” Mrs. Taylor asked us with a bright smile on her face once we had taken our bags off.

“It was fine, mom,” Leo replied shortly. “We’re going to hang out in my room and do some homework first. There’s a lot we have to do.”

“Oh,” she said, worried, before addressing Carter and I. “Well, if you need time, darling, you know you’re welcome to stay over. If you’d like, I can drive you to school in the morning with Leo, if that’s okay with your folks, of course.”

This actually sounded like an interesting idea. I had never slept over at anyone’s place before, boy or girl, and the thought excited me. Beaming, I looked at Carter to see if he would be okay with it.

He shrugged. “It’s fine by me,” he agreed easily. “I just have to let my super know that I’m not going back to the dorm tonight.”

My eagerness increased tenfold until I remembered that I needed Katherine’s consent. Instead of borrowing Leo’s phone again, he told me that I could use the landline and call her directly at the apartment.

 “It’s a school night,” was Katherine’s objection.

 I groaned, having forgotten about that. “I know, I know, but Carter is staying,” I reminded her.

 “Carter is a legal adult,” she pointed out calmly. “You, on the other hand, are still a minor and under my care, so you have to do as I say. You cannot have a sleepover on a school night.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the fact that she was bossing me around that bothered me. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But it was actually the fact that she was being completely reasonable that drove me to a near hissy fit. This was the first time I ever wanted something for myself while being aware that it was an immature and selfish request, and she had to pick that moment to go all parental on me.

“Katherine, please,” I begged her, keeping my voice low so that no one could hear my whining.

“Cody, I really don’t mind you sleeping over at your friend’s house. We can do it on Friday if you want, or Saturday,” she reasoned.

“But it has to be today,” I pleaded again.

“Why is that?”

“Because...” I sighed, and decided to tell her why we originally wanted to meet up at Leo’s house. “Well, Leo’s got some important stuff he wants to talk to us about.”