Tough as Nails, Breakable as Glass

Chapter 8: Lost and Found

It had been about a half hour since the plane took off, so I was pretty relaxed, for the most part.  It was hard to look out the window sometimes though.  So I mostly stared at the seat in front of me and subtly gripped the sides of the chair.  My body wasn't letting me move, so I couldn't read any of my books.  But I tried to make the most out of this foster family, and try to talk to them.  Maybe it would work?  Misha was always the one who started the conversations.  I slowly turned my head towards him and saw him on his phone.  I tried to speak, but I could not, for the life of me, find something to talk about.  I opened my mouth, and closed it, then opened it, then closed it again, and eventually he noticed.  I saw him and kept my mouth open, begging myself to say something.  So I did.

"Hi..."  I mumbled.  He smiled and laughed a little.

"Hi."  He responded.  I looked away and covered my face with my hands. 

"I'm so sorry, I have no idea how to talk to people."  He laughed again and looked back at his phone.  But the moment he did, he looked back at me and noticed that I wasn't doing anything. 

"Aren't you bored?"  He asked.  I glanced out the window and quickly looked away and back at him, wondering if I should tell the truth.

"Yea."  I mumbled.  He looked down at my bag and back at me.

"Don't you have a phone?"  I looked at him and shook my head, like he was crazy for thinking I had one.  He furrowed his eyebrows and looked genuinely shocked by my answer.

"Really?"  I nodded.  He shook his head and looked back at his phone.  "We are going to have to change that."  My eyes widened slightly and I looked at him with confusion.   I've never had a phone, what kind of phone would he get me?  He'd probably jip me and get me a flip phone or something.  I do know that the newest phone is an Iphone X, and that doesn't sound too bad.  It might be a little expensive though.  Misha's head suddenly turned when Vicki tapped his shoulder.  She whispered into his ear, making sure that I couldn't hear either of them, and then glanced at me before looking back at Misha.  He nodded and looked back to me.  I looked up at him and furrowed my eyebrows slightly. 

"Is.. Everything good?"  He nodded and took a deep breath. 

"Yeah, everything's good, it's just...  We haven't been entirely honest with you."  I groaned internally.  I knew this family was too good to be true.  Misha gave me a half hearted smile.  "We have two other kids.  You're gonna have siblings."

The first thing I though, was not "Why didn't you tell me before."  Or something.  It was actually, "Oh shit I'm gonna be a horrible sibling."  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing happened.  They stared at me, looking a little nervous like I was going to be mad.  But I wasn't mad.  Was I supposed to be?  I was nervous mostly.  The youngest kid I've ever known is nine and her name is the biggest snitch in the world.  So assuming that the rest of the kids out there aren't like her, I was completely clueless onto how I was supposed to live with a kid.  How do small children even work?  Oh god, I probably sound so stupid.  Vicki grimaced slightly. 

"Is that alright?  We're sorry we didn't tell you before."  I looked at both of them back and forth and slowly started to shake my head.

"No, no no, that's uh, that's totally ok!"  I faked a smile.  "Yeah, uh.  Sounds great."  I pushed out a small laugh before she smiled at me, relieved.  They turned back to their phones as I continued to watch them for a second.  I looked back to the back of the seat in front of me and sighed.  I really don't want to be a bad sibling.  Even though they're technically not my siblings.  Just two kids I'm living with, but I guess I should still be nice.  I glanced back at them and sighed.  "How old are they?"  I asked, trying to sound interested and not nervous or worried.  Misha answered without looking away from his phone.