First Day of My Life

Chapter 21

When I finally lay down on my new bed, I was exhausted. The trip was way too long, and the jet lag kicked in immediately. There was only a two-hour difference, but it was already almost midnight back home, and the trip had been so tiring, that I went straight to bed after having a small talk with my new foster parents.

They weren't bad. Both were young and seemed kind. The fact that they took me in was enough for me to make me believe they weren't bad people. Only that the puppy that I had been so excited about was barking at me the whole time, and I hadn't met their son, Samuel, yet. He was spending a few days at his grandparents' house as they told me.

The house was nice, as was my room, but it really needed some of my things on the shelves and some more decorating until it looked like me. I was already missing everybody. I missed the way my sister would always come to my room and wish me goodnight. I missed the way FP hugged me every time I looked like I needed somebody. And I missed the way Jughead always tucked me into his side if I couldn't fall asleep, and played with my hair.

I put in my earphones to stop the noise of the small dog barking downstairs, probably at my jacket or shoes, and turned the volume up, crying myself to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up at 8 am. I knew the breakfast was served at 9 from what Annalee and Thomas had told me last night. So, I got up after texting back to Jughead, and took a shower quietly, hearing voices downstairs. Once I was dressed in my jeans and the hoodie that I stole from Jughead, I slowly went downstairs.

It was September in a few days, but only 58 degrees outside (or 14 Celsius as they said here). Today, I was going to go and meet everybody at the skiing grounds. All the different coaches, the mental preparation people or however you called them, the team, the juniors, the seniors. Everybody.

The dog, Poppy, started barking at me as I stepped into the kitchen. "Good morning," I said quietly, trying to be polite.

"Morning," the parents said back and told me to sit down. I did so and looked at the bacon and eggs on my plate. My eyes moved back onto Thomas' face as he arched an eyebrow at me, having hoped I started to eat immediately.

I gulped quietly before starting to cut pieces from my eggs and eating them slowly. They did the same. The silence was killing me. I felt so awkward. "Aren't you eating your bacon?" Annalee asked me.

"Oh," I said quietly and looked up at her. "Actually, I'm a vegetarian. I should've said that before. But thank you."

"Oh," she said now, looking at me weirdly. "So, you don't eat meat." I shook my head at the statement, agreeing with her.

"Why not?" Thomas asked.

This was the most annoying question ever. Why should I? Why do you? If you choose to eat it, why can't I choose not to do so? "I don't know. I never really liked it and I needed to lose weight when I was younger, so after I stopped eating it for a while, I just couldn't later on either."

He nodded. "So, what do you eat."

I sighed quietly, screaming on the inside. "Everything that doesn't include fish or meat. I'm not really a picky eater, I could only eat potatoes or macaroni if needed."

He nodded. "Do the ones who are making you the necessary diet know you're a vegan?"

"Vegetarian," I corrected quietly. "They do. It was the first thing they asked me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Annalee said. I sighed inertly. Dad, where are you?