What is Home

Chapter Two

The next few days were an absolute blur. It was probably what my parents felt like every single day of their lives since addiction took over. School didn't exist for me, and probably my siblings as well. The moment we got to child protective services we were all split up from each other. I hadn't seen them since getting them to school that morning before all this happened. I didn't even know if they were actually picked up by CPS or not. For all I knew they were stuck bearing the hell that my parents would put them through. The hell that I had been hiding them from for over ten years.

I was sent to a group home while I waited for a family to pop up to take care of me. At least that is how I understood it. It was complicated and a situation I never thought I would have to be put into. My brain wasn't prepared enough to handle all the information that was being thrown my way. I was worried about too much stuff to listen to what a million different adults were saying to me.

This was the first time in ten years that I truly felt lonely. I knew every day at school when I felt alone that I would come home to four siblings that needed me every second of every day. Now I had nothing to come home to. I couldn't even escape to school. I was stuck in this group home 24/7 with people I didn't know and honestly didn't want to know.

I sat in my room which I shared with one other girl who I honestly couldn't tell you what her name was. There was a light knock on the door. It slowly opened before I could even reply for them to enter. A boy in a leather jacket stepped in. His skin looked just as mine did. Just like he had been hit by a car. His cheekbone had a slice across it that was surrounded by a bruise. The eye above was a pale shade of yellow mixed with a bright red. I knew from the look of it that he has been punched right where the cut was placed.

"Charlee nice to meet you, I'm Pierce, Pierce Kingston." I watched his tall slim body make its way slowly toward me. He walked with hesitation making sure not to push too far. He would be the first person to say a word to me beyond the workers. His brown curly hair fell down on his forehead slightly. It made his bright blue eyes pop past the pale yellow and red that surrounded it.

I pulled my legs to my chest as my back rested against the wall that was behind me. It caused me to lean forward away from the wall slightly. I felt like making myself smaller gave me more comfort, especially to a stranger. Something I hadn't felt for one second since entering this home, was comfort.

"A silent one I've got here. Don't worry I won't bite. Even though it might look like it." He pointed to the eye that had already caught my attention. A smile spread across his face revealing one of the most perfect smiles I had ever laid eyes on. I didn't understand how someone like him could be in a place like this. Then again you never really know what someone's life is like behind closed doors.

"Mother's boyfriend?" My question broke his soft exterior. His demeanor now matched the way he looked. "Sucks doesn't it? When you become your parents last love?" I dropped my knees down folding my legs into the crisscross applesauce position. Pain flooded through Pierce's eyes. No child would ever not feel pain when their parents stop loving them. His emotions were completely reasonable.

"How could you tell?" His eyes stared deeply into mine. They were piercing so deep that it felt like he was reading my mind.

My hand reached up to touch the cut that ran along his cheek bone. "I've been beaten both by my mother and father. This is the work of a man's hand." His eyes followed my hand for a few seconds as I pulled it back from his face. "KPK and KLT, I'm assuming are your parent's initials." My index finger ran along the that tattoos that ran along the outside of each of his hands. "Last name K, Kingston, father. Last name T, different than yours, so mother. Therefore, your mother and father never married. Normally when parents split the mother keeps the child. Just simple logic."

"How could someone who came from such a fucked up situation be so logical?"

"Every kid in school picked on me for one thing or another. My clothes, for lack of a better term made me look like a scumbag. They looked as if they hadn't been washed one day in their entire time in my closet. Showering rarely existed for me, as disgusting as that sounds. There just wasn't enough time in the day to provide for four siblings and have enough time for self-care. It's actually quite embarrassing to talk about. So instead of making friends and focusing on building relationships with people, my nose was stuck in books or observing the people around me. How does someone so popular looking, get into such a fucked up situation?"

"Dad left my mom because she gave up on life. I wanted nothing more than to help my mom out of the depression she was put into. So I picked to stay with my mother when my parents split. She only ended up at bars every night bringing home random guys every few weeks. They all hated me and I ended up like this." He gestured to his face. "Eventually, mom ended up in jail, my dad had left the state and no one could get a hold of him so here I am."

"High five for fucked up parents." I raised my hand for a high five which he followed in suit by giving me a high five.

We spent about an hour just sitting and talking about our lives and who we were as people. The conversation was cut short when my roommate walked in. Pierce and I fell completely silent and he left the room saying nothing in his departure.

As the next few days followed I'd see Pierce around but we never spoke. Him and I barely even acknowledged each other's presence. Then again the only time I left my room was to eat or to do school things. This group home was the most alone I had ever been in my life.

"The other day Pierce was in our room, why?" My roommate spoke to me for the very first time since we shared a room together. I shrugged my shoulders. "Well he's not allowed back in here. Boys and girls aren't allowed to be in rooms behind closed doors together and I'm not getting in trouble because of you."

"Got it." I ended the conversation there and rolled over so my back wasfacing my roommate. She acted like she ran the place. I honestly couldn't standher. Being such an observer when I was forced into group activities I got tosee exactly how everyone was. She was definitely the one person that no onewanted to mess with. I just got so lucky when it came to roommates I guess.