Welcome to Ohio

One

Julie sobbed into her pillow as she woke up from a night terror for the seventh time in a row and sat up, hugging the pillow to her chest as she attempted to calm herself. As she started calming down, she looked at the picture of her and her parents from when they were still alive and smiled at how happy they seemed to be, but sighed heavily when she remembered what happened only a week after that picture was taken before falling into a fit of sobs that eventually put the girl to sleep.

When she woke up, she got up and got dressed before heading off to school, where she went through all her classes until the entire school was called into an assembly, so when she got to the assembly, she sat by herself as usual and listened to the speakers speak. After the assembly, the students were released to their last class of the day, so Julie went to her last class with her earbuds in to tune out the world and keep her mind off of her ever-present thoughts of loneliness and memories of her parents. Sure, Julie had friends, but they either had no classes together, only spoke to her during soccer, or only spoke to her when she started the conversation. Otherwise she was alone in her own world. She's seen other kids like that at her school, only one really, but she was a junior and never paid attention to anything, she was always writing in her binder or listening to music or both. Julie wondered what it was like to be so close to graduation, and so isolated at the same time. When she reached her seventh hour, her heart leaped when she saw the junior she had just been thinking about talking to one of her instructors. When she pulled her earbuds out, she could hear the girl talking about how her and her girlfriend were at soccer practice the previous night and they hit knees really hard, something Julie witnessed first hand as it happened; and all she wanted was a bag of ice, but let the head trainer check her knee as Julie was told to get a bag of ice for her team captain of the state champion soccer team. Granted: the team hadn't won state yet, but they were undefeated and were preparing to go to the state capitol for state competition. When Julie finished making the ice bag, she spread the ice out and walked over to the junior and handed her the bag of ice, smiling when the older girl thanked her. After the trainer made sure all the goalie captain needed, the girl stayed in the training room for the twenty minutes that was required for the ice and Julie sat next to her so she could Tape football players' wrists.

"That looks so fun." The older girl says and Julie laughs as the last football player leaves the training room.

"So fun. I love having entitled brats coming and shoving their hands into my stomach. I could understand if they had won at least one game in the last six years, but this football team is the laughing stock of the state." Julie says and the junior nods.

"That's why I dropped this class last year." She says and Julie chuckles.

"I hate this class." Julie says and the older girl nods.

"That's why you're the only one who's in here."

"Everyone else skips. I don't because-"

"You don't have a car to leave in. I know what you're saying. I'm lucky I have the car I do."

After school, Julie goes to practice, and after practice, she goes home and right up to her room and starts on her homework immediately after showering, but looks over when her door opens to reveal her foster mom and the two speakers from earlier.

-
Julie
-

"Jules, this is Roman and Brittney. They spoke at your school today and came to speak with you in person." Tammy says and I look at her because I know there's more. "But when they got here and realized you were in a foster home, they asked if they could adopt you. So they did." She says and I smile a little.

"Really?" I ask and she nods.

"You have a real home now honey." She says and I hug her tight.

-

The next day at school, I say all my goodbyes and get all the numbers I need and I even got the junior's number because she thought I was cool and wanted to be friends with me. When I left the field house, I went over to Tammy's car and got in and watched the sights as we drove home and when we did get home, I went up to my room to see Mom and Dad already packing my stuff for me.

"When we get to Ohio, remind me to get her a phone." Dad says to mom who nods. I close my door and they look at me and smile. "Hey Jules." Dad says and I smile before helping them with the last bit of packing.

-

When we got to Ohio, we got off the plane and piled into a big red Toyota Tundra that an old lady that mom and dad called 'maw maw' was driving. When we got to a house, we all got out and das looked at me and smiled wide.

"Welcome to your new home." He says and I smile before following everybody into the house and letting mom and dad take my bags as their two dogs ran up to me and inspected me curiously, when I had room, I kneeled in front of them and put my hands out, palms up to let them continue inspecting me and watched as they smelled my hands and smiled when they licked them and grunted when their giant German Shepard tackled me and started licking me. "Zeus! Come here baby!" I hear dad call and watch as the German Shepard runs away as the husky licks my cheek once before trotting off. When I get up, I walk into the kitchen and follow dad upstairs into a room that's already set up and sit on the bed when he says I can relax and take my time to settle in.