Adjustments

Chapter One- So How'd It Go With Your Mom?

Billy sat at the desk he shared with Freddie in their room. He was trying to read through a book he had to read for his English class. But being in a house with seven other people had made that difficult. Billy loved his new family and was the happiest he's ever been, but living with seven other people was abnormal for him and made him uncomfortable. And with still being the new addition to the family, he felt as if he was the center of attention a lot of the time. He was shaken out of his thoughts by a soft knock on the door, "Come in," Billy answered, not turning his head from his book.

"Hey, are done with that yet?" Billy heard from a voice he recognized instantly that always came with the clanging of a crutch hitting the floor."No, not even close," Billy answered, staying glued to the book.

"Well, you think you can take a break, dinner's ready, and Victor has tried calling you three times," Freddie joked. "Sorry, I've just been focused," Billy apologized, closing the book and looking up at his best friend. "It's cool just hurry on down before all the food is gone," Freddie said before exiting the room.

When Billy got downstairs, everyone was already sitting ready to eat, and Victor was first to greet him. "There you are everything, okay? I called you three times."

"Yeah sorry just reading," Billy said awkwardly before taking his seat.

Once Billy was seated, Victor began his prayer "All hands on deck!" Everyone put their hands in including Billy. "Thank you for this food. Thank you for this family, and thankfully we have a real turkey." Victor said jokingly, but still sincere. Everyone laughed or smirked at the joke except for Darla who drew daggers at Victor.

Soon everyone began filling their plates with turkey, corn, and pieces of bread. Billy had grown to appreciate the effort that Rosa and Victor put into meals making sure they were quality. Most foster homes Billy had been in made frozen food or got takeout for almost every meal. This was a nice change of pace.

"So how was everyone's day at school?" Rosa asked as everyone began eating. Darla spoke up first, "I made a new friend; his name is Lucas."

"That's a nice name when can we meet him?" Rosa asked. "I don't know he said he's really busy with football," Darla explained taking a bite of turkey.

"That's too bad-" Rosa began to say. "Yeah he's really nice plus I wanted to make him a poster with tons of glitter and pretty colors mainly pink and purple..." Darla said, cutting off Rosa and beginning to ramble.

Rosa moved on and turned her attention to Pedro, "How was your day Pedro did you get that math test back?" Pedro nodded as he chewed some turkey, "Got a B-," Pedro said nonchalantly. Pedro wasn't always the most exceptional student, so a B was a big deal.

"Oh Mi Amor, that's great," Rosa congratulated.

Victor joined in, "Eugene, how did the science project go? You were working on that fan-,"

"Turbine," Eugene pointed out.

"Turbine," Victor corrected. "But how did it go?"

"Good, but I only got 105 points I should have gotten at least 110," Eugene bragged.

"105 is still really good," Victor pointed out. "And remember what I always say,"

"Don't focus on the negative," Everybody droned out except for Billy and Rosa. Rosa smiled at the kid's reaction while Billy felt awkward since he hadn't been here long enough to know Victor said that expression often.

"Freddie, Mary?" Rosa said, asking the question silently. "Good," Mary answered before sipping her glass. "I finished that one scholarship essay I've been working on for the last week."