Foster Daughter {Adopted By Calum Hood}

Not Mine

"Hey, I need you to be on your best behavior. Marissa is coming over." Calum walks into the living room as I stuff potato chips into my mouth. My eyebrows furrow and for a second my mood drops.

My best behavior?

"Wait does that mean I'm not a good kid?" I ask, my insecurities peaking out.

"What? Oh, no you are I'm just saying be nice."

Am I not usually nice?

I look down at what I'm wearing and decide that I probably need to not look like a slob. I swiftly hop up and run upstairs, throwing on a Green Day shirt and a pair of black jean shorts.

I go back downstairs when I hear the door bell ring. I wait at the bottom of the steps as Calum opens the door. A really beautiful blonde girl squeals and jumps into his arms as he opens the door. I smile lightly, happy to see someone care about him as much as I do.

Don't get attached. He'll leave you.

They start to converse. I notice that she's very touchy and wonder if she knows that I'm here.

Introduce yourself.

What? No. I can't do that.

Do it for Cal.

I clear my throat lightly and both heads turn to me. Her eyes bore into mine viciously.

"H-Hi!" I peep nervously. "I'm Emily."

She completely ignores me and turns back to Calum.

"Why don't we go upstairs?" She says seductively.

Ew.

He glances at me briefly before hesitantly nodding and leading her to his room.

"Did I say something wrong?" I ask myself quietly.

I shrug it off and sit back down on the couch. I grab my bag of chips and start eating them again, watching my favorite show, Supernatural.

After a few episodes, I hear footsteps down the stairs. I look over to see Marissa entering the kitchen. She glances at me, so I smile, trying to be polite.

She ignores me again, so I frown and look back to the TV, putting a few more chips into my mouth.

"Ugh, you're such a pig." She says from the doorway, two bottles of water now in her hand. "You really need to stop eating so much. Maybe then, you'll be pretty like me." She smiles before turning around and swaying back up the stairs.

I stare at the empty staircase for a second once she's gone, shocked and lost in my thoughts.

Is she being mean or giving me advice?

I look down at my stomach, patting the fatty tissue of my stomach. I look at the chips next to me and decide to toss them away.

Maybe she's right. Maybe I should try harder.

I should exercise more.

I stand up and grab my vans from beside the front door, slipping them on. I run upstairs to grab my skateboard, but stop when I hear Calum and Marissa talking.

"Don't you think you're a little... young to be fostering a teenage girl? They're pretty hard to handle. She looks pretty rebellious." Marissa's soft voice echos through the empty hallway. My heart nearly stops.

She's trying to get rid of me.

"What? She's not rebellious at all. If I don't foster her, who will? That orphanage hadn't had anyone adopted or foster from there in nearly a year." He defends.

"Okay, baby. It's your death bed when the media finds out that she's yours."

"She's not technically mine-"

I nearly scoff as tears brim my eyes.

I knew this was going to happen. He's not going to keep me.

I grab my skateboard from my bedroom and stomp downstairs. I start walking towards the door, not bothering to tell him that I'm going out to skate.

"Emily? You okay?" He calls down the stairs. I roll my eyes again, a tear escaping down my cheek. I slam the door shut and almost immediately after I get to the street, place my foot on my board and push off, down the slight hill.

The wind blows through my hair as the tall palm trees rush by me. The tears steadily flow down my cheeks before flying off the side of my face and into the air.

He doesn't want me.

Maybe I'm too annoying. I'll have to be quieter.

I turn corner after corner, not paying attention to the route I'm taking.

Maybe I'm too ugly. Too fat. I'll have to try harder. Work out more. Eat less.

Maybe if I look as pretty as Marissa, he'll want to keep me.

He doesn't want to have to pay for a slob that eats too much.

After my tears dry and my thoughts clear, I look around. I have no idea where I am. There's a lot of people around me and I'm completely overwhelmed.

I finally decide to call Ashton, my breathing starting to become fast paced. Panic starts to set in, more tears springing to my eyes. My lungs feel like they're collapsing and the people around me stare at me like I'm insane.

"Where the hell are you? Calum's been worried sick about you!" Ashton scolds.

"I-I don't..." I attempt to steady my breath but it just comes out as a slight, panicked sob. "I don't know. I just wanted to get out and-and clear my thoughts, but I wasn't paying attention to how to get back and I just kept going and going and now-"

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down. Try to take deep breaths. I know it seems hard to do, but it's important. Look for a street sign. I'm coming to get you."

"There's too many people. I can't see a sign. Ash, it feels like everyone is staring at me." I take a deep breath, shaking.

"Don't focus on them. Just send me your location and then close your eyes and focus on taking deep breaths."