Temporary Home

Chapter 6

As I entered the kitchen, right behind Ren, Char started at the pot in front of her on the stove, Rob glared at me, and Dan played with his fingers and looked uncomfortable, staring at his lap.

What the hell is wrong with Rob? I could not help but wonder what I did to cause a sudden change, Char got over it, why is he still stuck on this? Maybe he’s becoming bipolar. It’s a possibility. 

“Well, dearies, don’t just stand there, sit, dinner will be ready in about a minute.” Char said kindly. I looked at Ren and he sat across from Dan, me, wanting to sit next to him, decided to deal with sitting across from Rob, who decided that making his glare even stronger made me feel better. At least my sarcasm still works, I thought bitterly.

“Okay,” Char said bringing plates one by one to the table, setting mine right on top of my white board. “Here’s dinner, Annabeth, would you like to introduce us to your friend? We didn’t have much time to introduce ourselves in the hospital.”

I heard Rob mutter something under his breath, and apparently everyone else heard him, because Ren chocked on the water that was on the table when we got there, Dan looked up, confused and shocked, and Char hit his shoulder. Great, he’s probably talking about me, and because I can’t hear very well, I didn’t hear it. Just freaking wonderful.

I quickly began signing, trying to even sign as little as I could to them, I did not even want to look at them.

This is Ren, neighbor, and you are probably lying, he’s your neighbor, you obviously know him. I won’t talk, so stop trying. And even though I didn’t hear what you said, I signed looking directly at Rob, because of my bad hearing, doesn’t mean it doesn’t offend me. You may be my foster parents, but I don’t owe any of you respect. You didn’t have to take me in. So deal with me, or transfer off to some other losers, it doesn’t make a difference where I am. I destroy everyone around me. So leave me alone when I want to be left alone.

Realizing that I signed more than I wanted, I stopped there, and began stuffing my face. Hey, just because I’m pissed, doesn’t mean I can’t be mad enough to not eat. That’s preposterous. 

We finally had finished dinner, and we were moving into the living room, and as sad as it is to say this, today was my first time being in any other room, besides my bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, since I moved here. Oh, well. I had my white board and marker tucked neatly to my side. 

I sat next to Ren, on one of the love seats, facing the couch where Rob, Char, and Dan were sitting.

“Okay, so Annabeth, can you begin to tell us everything that happened at school? Or maybe your past, whichever first, dear is fine.” Char said, as Rob continued to glare at me. 

So I began to write, Okay, so at school, I met a kid I connected with during second hour, Blake, the only other goth kid there. We sat next to each other at lunch, and as I got back to the table we were sitting at, a slut, Santana, who I may or may not have pissed off earlier by sitting in her seat and refusing to move, but that’s beside the point. I was probably writing in about size three font, to try and fit everything on the small board. But she stood on a table and said how I planned my family’s death and I was happy about it, and I was beaten and I’m unloved. That I had a crush on Ren, that I cut myself, that I will never find love. That Blake was just pretending to be my friend, and a bunch of other horrible stuff, and I ran out of school, and the rest, you know.

I passed the board to the couch, full of my foster family, because Ren was there, he did not need to read it.

“Dear, I know it’s hard, but it will get better.” Char said as Dan finished reading and passed the board to Ren, to pass to me. Wow, I thought, he really is that scared of me.