Waking Up.

Chapter 17: Eve.

Mom woke us all up two hours early today so we could greet Eve. Roxie and Cory were allowed to sleep in, but they wanted to get up with everyone else. Wendy swung on the back porch swing, and Naomi helped dad cook the eggs and bacon. Mom and I tidied up while Roxie and Cory watched Dora the explorer. Cory complained that Dora should be nicer to swiper because he was probably stealing things because he didn't have a lot of possessions. Mom handed me some new bed sheets and told me to make Eve's bed. They were an ugly tie-dyed color, with purple and yellow rings everywhere. Naomi told me to set it up on the top bunk because she wanted the bottom one. I set the bed up on the bottom and went downstairs to vacuum the living room. Once I started it, Cory and Roxie jumped and screamed. I grinned and chased them around the living room. It was fun until they accidentally knocked down a vase and it shattered into a billion pieces. Mom came in, yelled at us, and ordered me to clean it up. I did as she asked and threw it out the door. Dad called to us and we all sat down to enjoy our food. I still hadn't changed since last night, and dad noticed that my clothes were missing.
"Trish, those aren't your clothes!" He exclaimed while pointing to Aspen's sweatshirt. Mom looked down at her eggs, and Roxie and Cory stared at me. Roxie shook her head.
"Nope. They're that guys clothes." Dad gave her a weird look, then turned to me. I love Roxie, but I wanted to punt her through the window.
"What? Where are your clothes?"
"At Aspen's house." Mom answered. His face went from concern to slightly enraged.
"What're they doing there?" I looked around the room.
"We had a squirt gun fight with him and his brother and his brothers friend. My clothes got ruined and I borrowed his." I explained.
"And?"
"That's it! I swear!" I reassured him. He sat back a little, and replied,
"Ok. I trust you, ok?"
"Ok." Cory asked them about church, changing the subject. We ate and cleaned up the food, then we all waited in the living room for Eve. A community bus pulled up to our driveway at around 6:30, and a tall girl with long blonde hair stepped off. She was really skinny, and her eyes were a dark shade of blue. The hair was braided, and her lily white skin was gleaming in the morning sun. She picked up her two suitcases and walked towards the house. Her posture was straight, and her walk reminded me of a principle. She was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt with a black printed horse on the front. She had on black sweat pants and a pair of pink and blue tennis shoes. Dad went over to her to help with the suit cases. As she approached the house, we all crowded in the doorway. She stopped on the steps and stared up at all of us, and smiled. Mom smiled back.
"Hello, I'm Bethany. Welcome to our home, Eve."
"Hi, nice to meet you Bethany." They shook hands. Her voice was strong and made you want to step back for her. She turned to all of us.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Eve." I stuck out my hand.
"I'm Trisha, but you can call me Trish."
"Nice to meet you Trish." We shook hands. Her grip was hard, but her hands were soft. I pointed to Naomi.
"This is Naomi, this is Roxie, and this is Cory." She shook all their hands and we went inside.
"Who's that?" She questioned while pointing outside. Wendy turned, waved, and went back to her music.
"That's Wendy, she doesn't say much." Naomi showed her the bedroom while I got Cory and Roxie ready for school. Roxie took a bath, then she ran down the hallway to where mom was waiting for her. Then I gave Cory a bath and we got out his outfit. He decided to wear a green T-shirt with a grey shark on it with some jeans and black shoes. As he left to get his back pack, Eve leaned up against the door.
"So, I'm in your grade?"
"Yeah."
"Does the school have a basketball team?" She asked. I thought about that.
"Yeah, I think they're starting up next week."
"Are they any good?"
"Beats me. I'm not really into basketball."
"Well, what are you into?" She asked. I thought for a moment.
"I like speech team and softball."
"Softball is for wusses!" She laughed. I shrugged.
"Then consider me a wuss." We both laughed. I helped her unpack and she asked my opinion on what she should wear.
"What do you think, the green sweatshirt with some jeans, or the blue T-shirt with some sweatpants?"
"Do you have a gym class?"
"Yes."
"Then I'd go with the sweatpants." She shook her head and got dressed. We all walked to the bus stop and waited.
"What time do we get to the school?"Naomi thought for a second.
"Ehh, you get to the Highschool at around 7:50ish." The bus jolted to a stop and we all boarded. Wendy sat at the back of the bus, and Naomi and I sat in our usual spots. Eve took the seat right beside ours.
"Are you guys her kids?" She asked. Naomi and I shook our heads.
"No. Cory and Roxie are, but the rest of us are fosters."
"How many different houses have you been to?" She asked. Naomi held up one finger.
"This is my first one." Eve shook her head and nodded to me.
"And you?" I thought for a moment. I was six years old when I'd started in foster care. I'd been in this house for three years. The last one I lived in lasted for two years. I'd been to two other houses, but I didn't count, so that'd be four that I can recall.
"I've been to four." I replied. She nodded.
"This is my second one, are they nice?" She questioned, meaning Bethany and Eric. Naomi nodded.
"They're awesome. Eric is an ER doctor, so he's not at the house much, and Bethany is a stay at home mom." Eve nodded and turned back to Wendy.
"What about her?"
"Wendy?" I started,"what about her?"
"How many has she been to?" I shrugged.
"I don't know, she doesn't say much." Eve looked back at her, then at us.
"Why is she living at the house?" Naomi and I looked at each other. She answered.
"Her dad is awaiting trial for rapist charges. She's a little sour about it." Eve nodded, then looked at us.
"And you?" She gestured to Naomi. Naomi looked down, and told me to explain.
"Her parents were caught smuggling drugs across the border to canada." She nodded again and looked at me.
"What about you? Why do you live in a foster home?" I sat back, looked down, and replied,
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh, ok. Well, anyways, are there any cute single guys at the school?" She changed the subject. I smiled.
"Everywhere you go!" We all laughed. When Aspen's stop pulled up, he got on and smiled at me. Then he saw Eve, and stopped. I introduced them,
"Aspen, this is Eve. Eve, this is Aspen." They shook hands and Aspen went to sit in the back. Eve smirked at me.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"Yes." Naomi stated. I punched her arm and she yelped.
"Ouch!"
"No he's not!"
"Yes he is!" We fought for a while, Eve was laughing.
"Ok, ok! Whatever! Just stop fighting, I'm gonna die of laughter!" She giggled. We both stopped, and Aspen was snickering to himself in the back of the bus.
"At least admit you like him!" Naomi stated. I rolled my eyes.
"Ok, fine. I like him. Happy?"
"Yup."
"Ok then. Eve, if you want me to hang out with you for a while after we get there I will."
"That sounds good. Do you know where this locker is?" She asked while handing me her schedule she received through the mail. I looked it over. We had math and language arts together, but that was it. Her locker was on the other end of the school from mine. Naomi left the bus and Aspen got up to sit with me.
"My parents were suspicious when I got home in your clothes." I said. He wiggled his eyebrows.
"Suspicious of what?" I rolled my eyes and pushed him. Eve looked at him.
"Are you in any sports?"
"I just moved here."
"That wasn't my question. Are you?" She asked. He shrugged.
"I like baseball. But I'm more into knowledge bowl." He answered. She frowned and asked,
"What's knowledge bowl?"
"It's kind of like jeopardy. They take you to different places in the state and ask you random educational questions. It's a lot of fun, but it's not in season right now."
"Oh. Got any brothers or sisters?" She questioned.
"Yeah."
"How old?"
"13 and19. You?" He asked. She nodded.
"Yeah, he's 25." They went back and forth for a while. I stared out the window at the various corn fields. Aspen poked my cheek. I swatted it away and laughed.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. Hey, Eve. Mom wanted me to ask you if you'd like to go camping this weekend with me and my friends."
"Are there any boys coming?" She asked. I nodded and pointed to Aspen, who bowed his head and smiled.
"Does she know he's going?"
"Nope."
"Ok, I'm in. When are we leaving and where are we going?" I turned to Aspen. I didn't really know the answers to that.
"I'll be there to pick you two up at 6:00 Friday night. We'll be staying all weekend."
"Where are we going?" I asked. He grinned at me and lifted his eyebrows.
"It's a surprise!"
"Again?" I asked jokingly. He snickered.
"I thought you liked surprises!" He tickled me a little. I pushed him away and laughed. The bus pulled up to the school and I grabbed Eve's hand.
"I gotta show her the locker! I'll meet you by our lockers right before class, ok?" He nodded and I led Eve through the crowd of people. A few kids greeted her with smiles, but most of them just walked by. We walked past the gym and turned down a long hallway. Her locker sat at the end of the hall, and I showed her around to her classes. As I finished up, we bumped into a boy from our grade, Hunter. He was always a little shy, but he smiled politely at Eve. He bent down to help her pick up the books.
"Sorry, I didn't see you." She blushed and replied,
"It's ok, I'm just a little clumsy. I'm Eve." She stated. I just stared at them with a stupid smile, feeling awkward.
"I'm Hunter, nice to meet you Eve." They shook hands, and Eve's cheeks got darker.
"What classes do you have?" She held out her schedule and he scrolled down.
"Wow, we have almost every class together!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!" The first bell rang, and I dragged Eve with me.
"I gotta go, see you later!" She called before running with me to my locker, where Aspen was waiting with his books in hand.
"He was dreamy!" Eve cooed. Aspen raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Who?"
"Hunter," I explained while Eve stared off into space.
"Should I invite him along?" Aspen asked Eve. She bolted up and jumped.
"YES!" She yelled, making a few teachers scowl. She nodded and I ushered them into the classroom. She sat down in the seat Mr. Addling gave her and I took my seat next to Aspen. He turned to me and said,
"My mom and dad are having Rae and her boyfriend join us this weekend."
"Holy crap! How many people are coming?!?" He counted out loud.
"Well let's see, there's you, me, Ashton, Samantha, Luke, Marleen, Eve, Hunter, Rae and her boyfriend, so that'd be.." He calculated because I'd lost track. Hey, like I said, I suck at math.
"Ten."
"This is gonna be quite the first camping trip for me." He smiled and hugged me.
"All the more memories." He stated. I giggled and we began class.