Tough as Nails, Breakable as Glass

Chapter 18: Meet 'n' Greet

The car ride back to the house was dead silent.

Misha eventually showed up to the scene, and saw that his on call babysitter was covered in bandages and bruises, while I sat there with nothing but a small glare on my face.  He spoke to her parents and got it figured out, explaining to them that I was being fostered by them, which was just another way of saying how I wasn't his real daughter so it wasn't his fault.  It's happened before, so I didn't care.

They eventually let me leave after I apologized to Kelsey with a somewhat sincere tone of voice.  She didn't respond, all she did was stare at the ground with a look on her face that I couldn't quite recognize.  After that, I finally left the school and got into the car with Misha without saying a word. 

Now we were about five minutes out from the house, and we both still hadn't said a word.  For some reason, I was nervous.  I didn't know why.  I didn't like sitting in silence with him.  With most people who have fostered me, I've been fine, because they'd yell and scream at me until the realized they didn't want me at their house anymore. 

But Misha wasn't saying anything, and for some reason that was way worse than being yelled at.  

We pulled into the driveway, but Misha didn't leave the car, and neither did I, I wanted to know why he wasn't screaming.  He sighed softly and pulled his phone out, texting someone I think.  I watched him closely and furrowed my eyebrows.  I had to ask.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?"  Misha paused and looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"What?"  He asked me.  I genuinely wanted to know, but he seemed confused by the question, which made me even more confused.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?  I punched Kelsey in the face, multiple times, and you haven't yelled or given me a look or called me something and I- I just want to know why."  He just stared at me until I finally finished.  But his face went from confused to sad in an instant. 

"Is it normal for people to yell at you when you get in trouble?"  His question hit me like a truck.  How could I be so stupid?  He didn't yell at his kids, not all parents did.  And all the people I've been fostered by aren't good parents, so every time I've gotten in trouble, they'd yell, insult me, and sometimes even hit me.  I knew Misha wasn't gonna hit me (At least I was pretty sure) but I thought he was at least gonna yell at me. 

But now he was asking me how many times I'd been yelled at for getting in trouble.  He knew my answer, but he wanted me to say it.

"Yeah."  I muttered under my breath, hunching my shoulders and looking down at my lap with a small glare.  I didn't want to talk about this anymore.  I heard him sigh softly, putting his phone away as he turned to look at me. 

"Why did you hit Kelsey?"  I wanted to reply with sass, but I kept my mouth shut as I hoped for him not to ask more questions after this one, but I knew that he would.

"She was picking on me, I got angry and lost my temper."  Misha's expression didn't change as he stared at me. 

"So you punched her?"  I really didn't want to keep talking about this.  I looked at him and shot him a small glare.

"Yeah, I punched her."  I snapped.  His expression had yet to change. 

"Was it that bad?"  I shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the door handle, wondering how rude it would be if I just left now.  I was trying everything to piss him off, but he wasn't reacting at all the way I expected him to, and it was getting frustrating!

"She pulled on my hair... and made me trip... twice."  I mumbled quietly.  I wasn't looking at him anymore, so I didn't know what his expression was, but I had a guess.  "She was just pissing me off and I wanted her to shut up, but talking to her wasn't doing anything."  Misha nodded.