Falling Away With You

Two

Authors Note; I apologize for any typos. I wanted to get this up for my friends asap and unfortunately didn't have the time to look through and edit any mistakes. Also, the first two chapters are rather slow but will get more eventful in the next few chapters, I promise. Enjoy <3

Scarlett Razzano's P.O.V.

There was a cloud of cigarette smoke above Mason, who sat drunk on the couch watching football on t.v.  He had two empty beer cans on each side of him, with Pete playing with his toy cars on the floor.

Pete was his actual son, I was just his foster kid. Of course his reason for keeping both of us was the same- he was getting money from the government to take care of us.

However even an idiot would realize that the money wasn’t going towards us at all.

I would have left 9 months ago if not for Pete. He was young, and he needed someone stable in his life at least for a while. I didn’t want him to deal with what I had to.

His mother died when he was a baby so of course his dad collects welfare off of him. Sometimes I felt bad for Mason, knowing that he’s a drunk because he misses his wife. But then I remember how horrible he’s been to Pete and I want to punch him in the throat.

It wasn’t my choice to leave. I mean, I had always wanted to get the hell out of New Jersey ever since I got here, but my official reason for leaving now was because I turned nineteen yesterday and Mason would stop receiving money for me.

Normally you get cut off at eighteen but I was a special case according to the judge. But now that I was of no use to Mason I couldn’t stay.

I could only hope that the next foster kid was able to take care of Pete the way I do now.

I made them both some breakfast before grabbing my duffel bag and catching the bus to the airport. I was able to use some of the money I kept hidden to buy myself a ticket to San Francisco.

My mom and dad died when I was very young, and left me money in their will. I got it on my eighteenth birthday but didn’t tell my previous foster parents about it, just like I didn’t tell Mason about it.

My first foster family wasn’t so bad, they were actually really nice people. But they both got laid off and couldn’t afford to keep me. Ever since then, everything went downhill. I had to deal with drug addicts, drug dealers, alcoholics, abusers, rapists, and just plain greedy assholes.

Sometimes it was even a combination.

Needless to say I grew up very fast, and decided what I wanted to do with my life early on.

I decided I wanted to live in San Francisco when I was eleven. I saw a documentary about hippies, and they kept mentioning San Francisco and how even today there were plenty of people in California that supported their way of life.

Because I was pushed throughout the system so much, my grades suffered and I wasn’t that “book smart” so to speak. I knew a lot, but if you asked me what year the French Revolution began I would have to look it up.

However my grades were decent enough to get some things covered at the university I was going to go to, and the rest I would just pay off with loans. I wanted to keep the money my parents left me for emergencies only.

The school would cover room and board for me, food, a city bus card, and partial tuition. The only thing I really had to pull a loan out for was books and materials I had to buy on my own. But I could cover that by getting a job.

The plane ride was excruciatingly tiring. I had several ten minute intervals where I would rest my head and try to sleep, but I was too uncomfortable and kept sitting back up, only to have my eyes droop and my head begin to hurt because I was too tired.