The Resident // Harry Styles H.S.

2

My real parents. They left me. My adoptive parents. They left me, even though I was glad. I was still left all alone in this life. Greg. And Marcus. Marcus will be back someday, I hope, but he still left. And while he's gone, I have no one. Marcus is another resident here. He's my age, and his story is sort of the same as mine. Only he wasn't found in the woods. He was taken away from abusive parents when he was 14.

And somehow, he ended up here. This is where we went to school together. They put us both in the same grade, because we were so alike. Slow. We didn't know as much as other kids our age, so we had to be in lower grades than we should have been in. So no one wanted to be our friend. But we had eachother, until school was done. It was a special school, but still no one liked us.

At the home, we stuck together most of the time. When Marcus was having good days, that is. He had a lot of bad days. Days when he wouldn't come out of his room. Days when he'd lay in bed and cry from morning till night. Days when he'd act out and become uncontrollable and have to be locked in a special room with cushiony walls and floor. Those days made me sad for him. And for me.

But on the good days, they were good days. We'd sit together in eachother's rooms, and watch movies. TV. Listen to music. We didn't say much, because we didn't have much to say in life. But just being together was nice not to be lonely. Marcus didn't like to be touched, either. So we were perfect friends.

But a month ago, Marcus got transferred to somewhere else. I knew he was going, but they took him earlier than they had said they would, and I was out walking around when he left. So I didn't get to say goodbye to him. He didn't want to go. He was scared. But they told him it would help him feel better and have more good days. I can't wait until he comes back. IF he comes back.

Or he'll just be another person who left me.

Just like Harry will.

And George. A staff member. He was a caretaker here for 2 years. He was a black man. And he was my favorite staff person. He was funny. He always joked with me, even though I never laughed. I'd smile though. And for him, that was enough. He knew I was laughing inside. He was the one who gave me my radio. Because of him I discovered music. He said he got a nicer system, so I could have his old one. He taught me how to use it. He taught me to dance, also. Fast, slow, silly, serious...

He'd come visit me every day after his rounds. He was always happy. Always in a good mood.

It wasn't just me he'd visit and make happy, of course. He made every resident here happy. He visited everyone. He made everyone smile and laugh. Even the other staff.

But then one day they said his sister from another state was sick, so he had to go and take care of her. So he left. It was a sad time for everyone here in the group home. He said he'd come back and visit when he could. But it's been a year already. I hope he's doing ok. I hope we see him again.
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With too much sadness starting to overtake me, I turned and went into the home. Harry had turned the corner up the street a few minutes ago, on his way to his meeting, so I had been staring at that spot long enough. It was probably dinner time anyway.

I walked past Tammi at the reception area. And past Bonnie, who said "I hear you have a friend, Janel!" But I simply said yes, and kept walking. Straight to my room.

And I sat on the bed and thought about Harry. How he came over to me out of nowhere. All the things he said to me. How he smelled. How his deep, raspy voice sounded. How he had cute dimples when he smiled. He had a really nice smile, too. His lips....they were smooth and shapely and pink. I thought about how his brown curls hair shined in the sun. How the skin of his forearms was inked everywhere with tattoos. Even one on his hand. How I'd wanted to feel his body heat so badly, but didn't get the chance.