The Christmas Foster Boy

Chapter 3 : New clothes

Chapter 3

Later...   

Nick POV

When I woke up, Jeff was still asleep. I decided to go have breakfast without him because I don't know how late he usually sleeps or if he's a morning person or not. And my parents are both at work and if Jeff isn't a morning person, I don't want to deal with him being grumpy.

I'm worried that he might be mean or destructive. I've heard of foster kids becoming troubled and stuff. I think he's just too shy to be like that right now.

But who knows? I barely know him.

"Nick!?"

That's Jeff. He sounds worried.

"What?" I called.

"Where are you!?"

"Downstairs."

I heard Jeff come walking down the stairs quickly.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just... get nervous."

"Oh... Do you need anything?"

"No."

"Do you want some breakfast?"

"Um... Ok."

I led him to the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah."

I got him some cereal and sat down at the table with him while he ate.

"So... What do you want to do today?" I asked Jeff.

"I don't know."

"Well... We have the house to ourselves until my parents get home from work."

"I don't know what we're allowed to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Like last night, we watched a movie. But I was never allowed to watch TV at my house. My foster parents wanted us doing schoolwork, studying, doing chores, and that's about it."

"Well maybe we should get ready for the day and then decide."

I put Jeff's dishes in the sink, and then we went upstairs together. 

"What should I wear?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know. What do you have?"

"I don't really have much. I have a pair of jeans, sweatpants, the pjs I'm wearing right now, 2 T-shirts, and a sweatshirt. That's it."

"Maybe we should go to the mall. It's only about a 10 minute walk from here."

"I don't have money."

"It's ok. I have some."

"Nick, you don't have to pay for me."

"Jeff, you have barely anything to wear."

"I know..."

"How about I let you borrow something of mine, and then we can go to the mall and get you some new things."

"Ok."

I opened my dresser drawers and then turned around to look at Jeff.

"What?" He asked, looking nervous.

"I'm just trying to see what size you are. You're probably a tiny bit smaller than me. You're pretty skinny."

I turned back to my dresser and dug through my drawers. I got him my smallest pair of jeans. Then I got out a dark gray long sleeved shirt, and a dark blue hoodie.

"How about you try these?" I asked, handing the clothes to him.

"Thanks," he said, smiling a little.

He left to go change in the bathroom. I changed in my bedroom and put on jeans and a gray sweatshirt. Jeff came back, and it looked like the clothes fit well.

"How do they fit? They look pretty good," I said.

"Yeah. The jeans are a little bit loose, but they're ok."

"Great. Want to go to the mall now?"

"Yeah."

He put on his shoes, which looked a little beat up. And then we left.

We should've put on coats before we left because it was really cold out. It's December, after all.

I could see Jeff shivering beside me as we walked down the sidewalk. I felt so bad.

When we finally got to the mall, I led Jeff to American Eagle. 

"Ok, so you need some new clothes. What kind of things do you like?" I asked.

"I don't know..."

"Do you prefer to wear jeans or sweatpants?"

"Sweatpants. I like to be cozy because I'm usually really cold."

I took his hand and brought him over to the sweatpants. 

"Pick out what you like."

Jeff found a pair of dark blue sweatpants. 

"Ok, do you want some shirts?"

He nodded. I let him wander around. He eventually picked 2 long sleeved shirts. One was black and one was blue. I think he likes the color blue.

"Ok, do you want some new shoes?"

He nodded.

We went over to the shoes. He decided to get some converse.

"Ok, and pjs?" I asked.

He picked out a pair of pj pants.

"Ok, do you need anything else?"

"Um... Socks and underwear?"

"Oh, right! Duh."

I let him get some new socks and underwear. We checked out, and I paid for everything.

"Thanks for my new clothes. You really didn't have to do that," Jeff said.

"I wanted to."

He smiled. 

"Ok, do you want to get something to eat before we go home?"

He nodded.

"Ok. Let's head to the food court."

We walked to the food court together and we decided to just get a few pieces of pizza.

"Thanks for everything today," Jeff said.

"Yeah, of course."

I felt kind of awkward because I didn't know what to talk about with him. We just sort of ate in silence, and then walked home.

I cleared out a drawer in my dresser so Jeff could put his clothes in there. He changed out of his jeans and put on his new sweatpants, but he kept my shirt and hoodie on. 

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm really tired. I didn't get much sleep last night. Would it be ok if I took a nap?" 

"Of course. I'll wake you up for dinner."

"Ok."

Jeff got in bed and got under the covers. 

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything," I said, leaving the room.

I went downstairs and decided to watch some tv until my parents got home.