A Penny For Your Truth

Chapter 2 - How's The Weather? (Dallas POV)

      JD was wrong. I change my mind on this whole adventure thing. Talk about the most awkward ten minutes of my whole entire existence, in the car with two strangers who I'm going to live with. Not to mention, there are still twenty minutes left until we get to my "new house". How am I going to survive this? I don't understand how my life could change so much in 48 hours. Ruby and I were eating cereal yesterday morning, keeping an eye on the younger kids while JD and Emersyn were helping the older kids. And now I've said goodbye to them, I'm not going to be in the same house as them, I am trying to figure out how to start a conversation with people I don't even know. Well, I need to try. That's the only way I'll get answers. Also, maybe it will make this car ride a little more bearable. Here goes nothing.

"So how's it going?" I find myself saying. Really? That's the best you could come up with? Small talk. That is just great, now the silence is going to be twice as awkward due to my dumb question.

"Good. Good. How about yourself?" Mrs. Harper replies politely.

"I'm doing fine." I say. Think, Dallas, think. "So, how are you enjoying the weather?" I actually roll my eyes at my own comment. The biggest smalltalk topic, the weather. Well, I can't take it back and this can't get much worse, so let's just roll with it.

"It's really nice today" Mrs. Harper says. Again, so polite and almost indifferent that I'm confused. She's answering like she's at a business meeting, but when I first saw her, her eyes lit up and she smiled. She seemed genuinely happy to see me. But if that were the case, wouldn't she try a bit harder to make this easier for me and at least explain what's happening?

"Well, this must be pretty weird for you huh?" Mr. Harper finally speaks.

"Just a tad bit." I'm glad he's honest about it. It makes me feel at ease to be just as honest back.

Mr. Harper goes on. "Well, I'm sure you have questions, so let me get this started. You're probably wondering why we adopted a teenager. That's a good question. We've wondered the same thing, and didn't plan on this happening. But due to circumstances it worked out this way and no I can't explain the 'whys' and 'hows' at the moment. That will have to wait until a later time. My name is Daniel Harper, I am an engineer. I'm 35 years old-"

Mrs. Harper cuts in "You are not."

"Fine." He continues. "I am 45 as of last week, but I've been told I don't look a day over 35" He makes a pointed glance over at Mrs. Harper.

Mrs. Harper snickers, "By who?"

He thinks for a minute. "That lady at the grocery store said I don't look old enough to have a teenager."

"Name one other time that's happened." She counters.

"At a school game last month the person behind us said I looked young enough to be his brother." He says smugly.

Who are they talking about? I wonder to myself. Before I have any time to think about that further, Mr. Harper continues.

"So, what were we talking about before my lack of aging?" He says with a laugh. "Oh, right. Our reason for adopting a teenager. Emily, why don't you tell her?"

Mrs. Harper sighs, " I know this is a lot for you, and a big change so fast, but we need you to keep in mind that we had a reason for doing this. Daniel is right, we can't get in to that right now, but what you need to know is that we love our family. And you're now a part of that family, so don't worry about being taken care of." A slight calming wave can over me. Ok Dallas, maybe this isn't going to be all that bad after all.

The next 20 minutes of the drive weren't all that bad. Within about 5 minutes I learn that Mr. Harper—I mean Daniel— is definitely a jokester, he has an older brother who is a teacher at Harvard university, he's an engineer who designs houses, he even did the plans for their house, and a bunch of other stuff. In the next 5 minutes I learned that Mrs. Harper— Emily— I've really got to work on that, is an only child, works in her own estate business, and used to teach kindergarten. We then spent the rest of the drive talking about me. Which was harder than I thought. I mean I love to talk but it's always harder to talk about yourself. I somehow survived all the way until we turn into the driveway. Okay, maybe the girl's expectations were a little high, I mean I wasn't expecting a Mr. Warbucks mansion but wow is this a big house. The front of the house looks like it mostly made of glass. The windows are floor to ceiling. The door looks like it seven feet tall. From here I can see a basketball net in the backyard and a really pretty garden. It's not a mansion, but it's definitely the biggest house on this street and probably the biggest and most unique house I've ever seen.

And an hour later I've been introduced to the family dogs, shown where the kitchen is, and have been left in my room to pack.

I'm in the same exact position, hovering over my backpack, as I was twenty-four hours ago. Wow. This is my life. I think back over everything that has happened in those hours as I put each of the items of clothing—plus my stuffed bear— into my closet, and I take a seat on the bed. The room was way diver than my old room. Mr. and Mrs. Harper left a few minutes ago to run by the grocery store. They said they wanted to get things for a 'welcome home dinner'. I was completely shook. I never pick out what I wanted to eat. We usually vote and the little kids always win. I wonder how they would respond if I told them that for six years of my life I only got two meals each day. I chose spaghetti and garlic bread, because why not? It simple, easy and tasty. I didn't want them to cook an elaborate meal for me.

So I'm all alone. In this giant house. Where I'm going to live for my foreseeable future. This is going to be interesting. I've laid on the bed and stared out the window for three minutes and I'm bored. I get up and walk out of my room. I go downstairs and stand by the front door. I might as well take them up on their advice to 'make myself at home'. I'm going to explore and why not start at the beginning? I've already seen the living area and kitchen, which are huge and open but surprisingly simple. There's a pool in the backyard (note to self, I will be using that frequently) I've walked by a game room, home theater, fitness room, downstairs coat closet, and pantry. I've also seen stairs to the basement, but I will save that for another time. I head upstairs. I pass my door which is the first door to the left of the stairs. There are two more doors on that side and one door that I've just discovered leads to the bathroom on the right. There is a linen closet, a laundry room, an actual library, and another flight of stairs.

I go back and open the door right next to mine. It's a guys room that's for sure. It isn't that messy, but there are sports trophies, a few jerseys hanging over a chair, and a very faint smell of cologne. I walk into the room, pausing by the display of awards and pictures of a bunch of kids. I have so many questions. If they had another child why did they adopt or even take in another kid? I walked over to the nightstand and see a letter J hanging over it. There's a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Harper and a little boy on the nightstand. The person Mr. Harper was talking about in the car! That's their son. I wonder why I haven't heard more about him. I have no clue how old this kid is, the most recent picture I see looks like a picture day from second grade. From what Mr. Harper said I'm guessing it's a few years old, but I have no idea. I don't know how long ago that was taken. I'll have to ask them when they get back. Or should I wait until they talk to me about it? The door was shut and there aren't any clothes lying around. Maybe something happened? I don't want to bring up any possibly sad memories if I don't have to. If they want to tell me about this then they will. I hope.

The next room is locked, and I have too many questions to keep exploring up here. I head back to my room. I flop on the giant bed and imagine what the girls are doing right now. I'll have to see if I can borrow a phone here. I come back downstairs as Mr. and Mrs. Harper come through the front door. Perfect timing.

"We're back! We got stuff for dinner." Emily says.

"Hey Dallas, you don't have to be crammed up in the house, if you want you can walk to the park around the corner and explore. You could take the dogs with you if you want." Daniel tells me.

That's not a bad idea. I think I might do that. Some fresh air would actually be kinda nice. I grab the leashes, and step through the door.