The Fosters (On Hiatus)

Chapter 7 (Zayn)

A little after 3:00, Louis and Ashton walked in the doors. "How was your day?" Liam asks Ashton. Ashton shrugs and walks over to me. I see Liam give Louis a confused look and Louis ignores it. "Ok, then how was your day Lou?"

"It was good." They pecked lips. "Ashton was a very good assistant."

Liam smiled. "Was he?"

"Mhm. Hey can we talk in the kitchen?"

"Uh. Sure."

They walked into the kitchen and I turned to Ashton. "What was that about?"

He shrugged. "Louis may have found out that we each only have two pairs of clothes," he whispered so Michael and Niall didn't hear.

"What? How?"

"He asked me and I tried to come up with something but I couldn't."

"What's he gonna do?"

Ashton shrugged. "I don't know. I do know he wants us to go to school though."

"What did you say?"

"What was I supposed to say? 'Oh I'm 15 but I never learned to read or write until I was 13. Zayn, Michael, and Niall still don't know how'? I don't think so Zayn. That's not how it works."

"It wouldn't be a bad thing to say."

He looked at me. "Oh yeah because that went so well in the past." Before I could argue, he continued, "I have to go."

He walked up the stairs. I saw Liam standing there. "Uhh-"

"You can't read?" I just stood there. "It's ok, I'm not here to judge."

"I need to get Ashton," I told him and ran up the stairs. "Ashton!" I whisper-yelled. "Ashton?" I asked, a little louder.

I go to the room he's staying in and see him sitting there on the floor. He had his knees on his chest.

I go over to him and sit next to him.

"Hey Zayn, can I talk to Ashton for a bit?" Liam asks, standing in the doorway. "Louis wants to talk to you, Michael, and Niall."

"Fine," I say and get up.

Soon, I'm downstairs sitting in the living room listening to Louis trying to make plans for us. Michael tugs on my arm slightly and I look at him.

"I need to go pee," he whispered to me.

"Uhm." I look at the man talking in front of us. "Go pee, it'll be ok," I whisper back.

Michael nods and goes to head up the stairs.

"Woah. Careful there bud."

"Zayn? What do you think?" Louis asks and I look at him.

"Uhm. Ok?"

"Ok?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you say it as a question?" I shrug. "Were you even listening?"

"For the most part?"

"Zayn you didn't listen?" Niall quietly asks.

"I did, just not all the way," I quietly say back to him.

"Ok. Well, we'll talk some more later. Dinner needs to be done and we have something planned for tomorrow," Louis told us.

"I'm cooking," Liam says and hugs Louis from behind. "You'll love it."

"He's a good cook," Louis adds.

"Ok."

"Where'd Michael go?" Louis asks and I feel a lot more nervous.

"Bathroom," Liam answers. "Get comfy clothes on, I'll take them after dinner."

"You sure?"

"You deal with teenagers all day. I'm pretty sure I can take care of three teenagers and a 10 year old for a bit."

"Fine," Louis says and heads up the stairs.

"Wait where are we going?" I ask.

"I'm gonna take you four to the store for some new clothes."

"What?" Niall squeaks.

I look at Liam just as scared as Niall looked. "What's wrong with that?"

"Why do you want to do that?" I ask as Niall scoots closer to me.

"Because you all need clothes and we thought of buying you some. What's wrong?" By now, Niall is hiding behind me and I am sitting on the edge. "You don't have to hide bud," Liam says and crouches down in front of me. I flinch. He sighs. "I'll let you guys process this." He walked into the kitchen.

"Zayn what's gonna happen?"

"I-I don't know. It'll be ok though I promise."

I head to the kitchen to see Liam cutting something up. "Hey bud."

"Need help?" I ask.

"Uh yeah sure. Can you cut the lettuce for me?"

I nod and walk over there. Rinsing off the lettuce, he hands me a knife with the head of lettuce. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"What are you going to do after we get new clothes?"

He looks at me, confused. "Well, hopefully you will wear them."

"Only that?" I ask him, clearly confused.

"Yeah, since you'll be with us for a while."

"Oh."

"Why? What's wrong?" I didn't answer. "Zayn?"

"Hm?"

"What do you mean 'only that'?"

I shrug. "I figured there's a twist."

"Well yeah. The twist is school." He made a face. I was silent. "Zayn, you know there is nothing to be embarrassed about not being able to read."

I look at him. "Oh no. Of course not," I sarcastically say. "It's normal for a 16 year old to not know that.... Here's the lettuce."

"Thank you." He takes it. "There really isn't nothing to be embarrassed about around us. Many kids around the world don't know how to read or write at your age," he points out.

"Really?"

He nods. "Yeah. It's completely normal and sometimes you just need to find the right people to help you. In fact, I know you found the right people to help you."

I shrug again.

"Well, let's make a deal?"

I think for a minute. "Ok."

"Every night, I help you learn some more words. In return, you make sure to try your best in your classes."

"Classes? As in school?"

Liam chuckled. "As in school. We are going to get you ready for next year since this year is almost done."

"Oh ok."

"Deal?"

I nod. "I guess."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"How'd you learn to cook that good?" Liam later asked in complete shock.

I shrug. "Always cooked in previous homes."

"You're good."

"Thanks."

"You're very welcome. Now let's get your shoes on so we can head to the store for clothes and now some books and stuff."

"Ok."

We head out once everyone has shoes, even Ashton agreed to go. We got 5 pairs of pants and shirts (after many objections), pencils, notebooks, coloring stuff, and books- learning and just for reading.

"Zayn, I wanna show you something when we get home," Liam says.

"Why you?" Michael asks and I shrug.

"Ok," I respond quietly.

Maybe this family isn't that bad after all.