Adopted by Albert | ✔

6 | noah

I couldn't sleep.

I kept thinking about those comments and what Albert said. Did they actually hate me, or was that an act of jealousy? Did Albert experience this every day? Why did I even care? Albert told me to focus on my passion and do what I want. So why was this such a big deal for me?

This foster home is different. In other places, I rarely established a true form of bond with my "parents", rarely reached out to them for advice, rarely go past the normal boundaries of just "parent and child."

I guess that's what made what Albert said more personal. It was probably the best advice I'd ever gotten from someone.

Finally, I got up from bed and put on a hoodie I found in the closet. It was blue with the words "Flim Flam" on it. I guessed it was merch of Albert's, and he'd put it there for me before I'd arrived here, so I figured he wouldn't mind me wearing it.

It was kind of big on me, but that made it more comforting. I sat down in front of my computer, logging onto Roblox, wanting to take my mind off of things for a bit.

I played some Piggy, since it was the only game I actually knew how to play.

The second I joined: "WAIT ISNT THAT ALBERTS DAUGHTER???"

People notice me, got excited, took screenshots, etc. At first, I was super happy that people noticed and recognized me, but it started to get annoying when I noticed they were more interested in getting in contact with Albert through me than actually meeting me.

"Can you get albert to join pls its my bday."

"Tell flamingo to accept my friend request."

"GET FLAMGO TO JOIN"

"I'm sorry, but he's sleeping right now," I responded every time, but the people didn't seem to notice or care.

I snapped when someone asked me to show their art to them. Instead of responding, I just left. I closed the Roblox tab and turned off my computer, walking over to my bed and passing out right there and then.

I woke up at about 10 am, the sun was well up. I could hear Albert saying something in the next room. He was probably recording.

I get up get dressed, and hear a knock on my door. It's Kirsten.

"Someone's come to see you," she said, "They asked for you specifically."

I went downstairs slowly, a part of me still asleep, and I opened the door to see Noah, the guy at the skate park from yesterday.

"Hey, Blair," he said, "I was hoping we could hang out today."

I turned to Kirsten for permission, and she nodded, and I responded, "Sure, let me just get my stuff."

As soon as we got out on the street, Noah put his skateboard down and shouted, "Race you!" He caught me off guard, but that didn't mean he was about to get a headstart.

We zoomed down the street on our skateboards, I was kind of following Noah, since I had no idea where we were actually going.

I wasn't used to going so fast. My skateboard wasn't a longboard, so I had to push off more often. Noah had the same type I had, but he seemed unbothered by it. Finally, my board couldn't handle the speed, and it started to swerve.

For about three seconds, I was able to stay on. Then, it went so wild that I fell off, rolling multiple times down the hill as my skateboard stopped.

Noah picked up his board and started towards me, practically cackling. "You knew that would happen!" I accused, "You knew I'd fall off!" I couldn't hide my laugh.

He shrugged, still grinning. "Couldn't resist. Are you okay?" I nodded, and he pulled me up to my feet.

"Okay, let's go. No more racing. But I won." He broke out into another cheeky smile, but I just rolled my eyes.

We finally got to where we were going, a small ice cream shop not too far from the skate park. Since I didn't have any money, Noah paid for us, and we sat down to eat them.

"You owe me five bucks," was the first thing he told me.

"I do not! You're the one who wanted to hang out!"

"So you're telling me that if I hadn't come over, you wouldn't have given me a second thought?"

That made me hesitate, obviously embarrassed. "Well, I might have seen you around the skate park once in a awhile or so... But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have thought of you again!"

Noah rolled his eyes teasingly. "Sure, sure, that's what they always say. Just make sure to pay me back at some point."

I get to know Noah. He's fourteen, moved to Orlando eight years ago, and got into skateboarding seven years ago. He is self-taught, and has two brothers, both older than him. One's in college, the other lives in New York.

"He's a jerk," he told me, "He doesn't even come around for Christmas."

He plays Roblox, but not as much as he did when he was younger. "The last time I played, I was nine. I remember leaving because they took away tix. Now, I play battle royale games, Minecraft, and other stuff."

After we finish our ice creams, we get back on our skateboards to the park, where we spend most of our afternoon skating. I pick up a few tips from him, and he got some from me. Afterwards, when the sun was kind of starting to set, we went home.

He walked me back to my house, and we talked about things. Skateboarding, Albert, things to do in Orlando. I felt like I had met the one person in my life I could actually talk and relate to.

I couldn't talk to Albert or Kirsten like I did with Noah. He was my age, he related to me. Not even my amazing foster parents could beat that.

When we got to my house, I turned to him and said, "Thanks, man, today was fun. Only I'm not paying you back." I went inside before he could say anything, but I remember hearing him yell out, "Hey!"

When I got inside, Albert and Kirsten were on the couch, watching a movie. I went to them and plopped down, tired from the day.

"Who's that?" Albert asked, laughing, "Your boyfriend?"

I threw a pillow at him that was lying next to me. "Shut up. He's a friend."