Uprooted (COMPLETED)

2| Doggone Good To Be Here

Ross's POV

My feet patted swiftly against the creaking wood, following the dirty footprints down the walnut stairs. What the?

As I approached the kitchen I could hear my parents talking as usual. One step in revealed a teenage girl. I could just imagine the sparks in my brain, desperately trying to connect the dots short circuiting me into a long look. With a silver spoon sticking out of her mouth and a piece of cereal falling from her lips she finally met my eyes. She held my gaze, her irises were stationary on mine. Staring had become our only form of communication. It was a contest and winning seemed to be the only thing that mattered. Although she seemed to look through me, like my face was transparent as if she was fascinated by something marveling behind me. Her heavy eyelids rested on mine, slowed to an effect that was both soft and harsh. Her lips didn't form a smile, but titled as if they meant to as she attempted to swallow. After a few seconds she turned her head back to her food as if I had never appeared.

If she opened her mouth any wider I though she would have eaten the bowl of cereal in one bite. She took a massive chomp, crunched it up as she chewed, then gulped it down without pausing to breathe. She took a final swing at the bowl and it was gone. She asked politely for seconds of huge portions, but I couldn't help but watch. It was creepy, I know, but the way she consumed the food like it was her last was strangely fascinating.

My mouth gawped open in surprise as someone noticed my presence. "Uh this is Sierra, she's going to be staying with us for a little while," My mom, Stormie grinned as she tried to hide her same surprise at how quickly the girl could eat.

I prepared myself some cereal as well, although it was difficult to focus on hunger when a stranger had just slurped it all away. Sierra's legs were neatly tucked under the table and hidden from sight. As she was handed her second serving I could have sworn she had believed it was poisoned. Each spoonful tinier than the last. She would nibble, pause, then shift her hands in her lap and repeat. I couldn't tell if she even allowed food to touch her lips. It was fire and ice and I couldn't quite understand it, understand her.

"I'm Ross, I'm guessing you're the new foster kid." She blinked up at me blankly as if to say 'duh' and continued pecking at her breakfast. Her silence was so irritating. I looked to my parents who were sipping their coffees, "How long are we keeping her?"

"A few weeks--", My dad began, but she interrupted by with a growling tone. Her first words.

"I'm not a dog," She bit, dislodging herself from the table. My eyes followed her steps to the front door with her backpack rocking on her shoulder. "You comin' or what?" This is going to be a long couple weeks--for the both of us.

"Where?" I questioned, slipping on my backpack.

"School. I'm being forced to go and I guess you are too. You drive?" I flung out my car keys with a subtle nod.

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Sierra's POV:

After guiding me to the principal's office in awkward silence, Ross had abandoned me for his own classes. I was given a map that only confused me more. I threw it away immediately.

A new school, new teachers, new peers, and yet the same old me that wanted to be anywhere but here. I stared at my shoes as I walked through the unfamiliar hall. Students moved around the hallways in gossiping throngs and waves of whispers. Nobody seemed to care that I was new or unusual. In fact, nobody seemed to notice me at all. I constantly had to examine my body just to make sure that I hadn't turned invisible. I didn't want to be remembered or gawked at. I liked it this way, it had been this way for so long it was all I knew. Alone. I did my best to dissolve my busy surroundings as I transported from one class to the next, not understanding a word spoken.

At lunch my stomach growled. I tried to suppress the urge by squirming in my seat at the table to silence the rumbling. I opened my backpack to reveal the breakfast I had stashed from this morning. I knew I'd be desperate for food when I fell into the next foster home. No. I'll have to save it for later.

I sat by myself and watched the kids around me. There was a a close knitted huddle of chattering busy bodies standing near me. From body to body, they were so tight it was almost impossible to see what was going on inside. They laughed and screamed loudly as if they were the only ones in the world.

I slung my backpack onto my back limply. I couldn't stand listening to them any longer. "You look lonely," a boy my age sat beside me.

"And I'd prefer to stay that way." I turned to look at him. It seemed unimaginably difficult for my eyes to see his under the mop of brown hair that dominated his narrow face.

"I find that hard to believe." He flopped his hair into its mess revealing his eyes that were a shade of unkempt grass. I fidgeted as they shot right through me.

"I don't even know you." I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't stay here long enough to make friends. Then again, a few weeks would be better spent with a stranger than a strange foster brother.

"I'm Jason." He smiled as if it was supposed to impress me that he had been given a name. "Wait what's yours?"

I had already begun walking away. "I don't have one."

The school was a maze of confusing hallways and even more confusing people. I had no time for either.

After the school bell had dismissed the frenzy of students I became lost at sea. I climbed on a low brick wall that had crumbled over time. My eyes roamed over the graffiti and my hands couldn't help but rub against the cracks and ridges that had been there for far too long. A few spare weeds dryly coughed in the air. My impatient hands tightened against the cold structure involuntary. "There you are!" I heard a voice over the stammering of feet. I twisted around to find the caller. He was just another face in pushing and pulling in the tide of people. "Over here!" He shouted again. My eye caught hands frantically brushing the sky with his fingertips. I pushed through the stampede. "Where have you been all day? I couldn't find you at lunch." Ross (that was his name, right?) guided me through the crowded parking lot.

He actually noticed I was gone? I shrugged shortly so my shoulders could sag. "Why do you care?" We walked closely together, the flaps of our clothes brushing each other.

"You're my responsibility now," His smile turned upward. Was that supposed to make me feel better?

"Again. Not a dog." I groaned as I climbed into the front seat.

"Hey, dogs go in the back," he snapped his fingers at me with a grin. I sneered back at him, brushing my hair over my face to hide it. "Wow. It's the first day and I've already seen you smile." I placed my hand on my cheek to help wipe away the snicker. "Don't do that," his large hand pulled my wrist to reveal my face again. His body was stern yet comforting. "You're safe here. You're allowed to express other emotions than anger and sarcasm you know? Even if it's just for a little while."

I just stared for a few seconds. Nobody has ever told me that before... I shook his grip and nodded with a mumble. Who knows if it's true, but it did make me feel a little better. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Author's Note: Sorry everyone, I've been lagging on updating because life has become a little hectic. Just know that I am trying my best to produce content for you all so please be patient. I plan on updating on every other day or every 2 days. Thanks for reading!