Finding Family |Adopted by Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood|

9

The next few days were trying times for the new foster family. Melissa and Chris did not have a whole lot of experience with children, only seeing them at conventions and with their nieces and nephews, so they definitely felt out of their depth. Star was unlike any child they had ever seen. 

The first night, Star had vomited after eating the soup. She had ate it too quickly and her stomach was not used to receiving that volume of food. She had rushed to the bathroom just shy of the toilet.

  Instead of crying or getting Melissa and Chris like an average eight year old,  she simply cleaned it up and pretended it never happened. Many things Star did made her seem a lot older than she was. 

For the first  three days, she followed Melissa, observing the chores and where the equipment was stored. At first, Melissa just thought that Star was being clingy but on the fourth day, Chris went downstairs in the morning and he saw  a shining house. 

The dishes from the night before were  sparkling clean and in their respective spots. The counter and floor shined and the laundry was done not to mention that the house smelled so fresh and clean.  Alarmed, Chris woke Melissa and the two of them stared in awe at the immaculately clean house. 

The two bewildered foster parents went to Star's room only to find her curled up in a tight ball, clutching her comfort blanket in her hands  with her back against the wall and the covers over her head, sound asleep. 

"There is no way she spent all night cleaning, is there?" Chris asked in a whisper, glancing at his foster daughter

"I mean... I'm not sure" Melissa said, thinking back to the clean group home. 

When Star woke up about an hour later, the couple sat her down and asked her if she had spent all night cleaning. Believing that her foster parents were angry, Star bursted into tears. She curled into a tiny ball, rocking back and forth, begging not to be punished and apologizing for a "bad job"

Melissa and Chris quickly tried to comfort Star, reassuring her that they weren't mad but Star wouldn't listen. She leaped up and ran into her room before hiding under the bed, still sobbing and trembling. She did not come out for the rest of the day as Star truly feared for her life. 

She remembered that one time when she did not clean well enough and the head matron as well as Andreas beat her until she was unconscious. When she came around, she was choked several times by Andreas to the point she nearly passed out before being forced to play the "game"

After that incident, the foster parents became extremely concerned. The extent of trauma ran even deeper than anticipated so they decided to bring Star to a pediatrician and find a child psychologist for her. 

Another couple of days went by until the appointment with the pediatrician. It was an early appointment as Chris needed to go down to the recording studio for work in the afternoon but he wanted to be there for the appointment. 

Star seemed to have cleaned all night again. Melissa and Chris tried their best to make sure everything was clean so Star would sleep instead but somehow, Star was able to make it even cleaner. 

Melissa went into Star's room the next morning to wake up the sleeping child. At first, she just stood there, not wanting to wake Star who looked so peaceful in her sleeping state. 

"Star" Melissa called softly

Star stirred slightly but didn't wake up. 

"Honey, it's time to wake up" 

Star's eyes popped open and she snapped her body into a sitting position before practically leaping off the bed and standing at the bed and with a terrified expression.