A Newfound Home - Adopted by Josh Dun

Føurteen

J Ø S H U A
I walked by Tori's room towards mine when I heard her and Jenna talking.

"Would you wanna dance again?" I heard Jenna ask Tori. I remember some of the activities Tori told me she enjoyed doing.

I didn't realize she missed doing them.

"I don't know. I just don't want to add to the schedule and include another thing Josh has to drop me off and pick me up from." Tori replied.

I left the hallway so I wouldn't eavesdrop anymore and went to my room.

The next morning, after shoving a waffle in my mouth and making sure Tori ate something, we left for school.

She was quiet and stared out the window.

"Hey, I had a question?" She looked over at me, waiting for me to ask the said question. "Once you got used to everything, would you like to pick up an activity you used to do when you were younger? I remember you mentioning you liked acting, soccer, and dance."

She furrowed her brows, then instantly glared at me. "Were you listening to our conversation yesterday?!" She was mad.

"No! Well, sorta?" She groaned. "Josh! Didn't anyone ever teach you to not eavesdrop?!" I pursed my lips. How could I fix this?

"I wasn't trying to listen. I walked by and heard Jenna ask you if you wanted to dance again and you said you weren't sure. That's all I heard!"

I pulled into the parking lot and locked the door before she could get out. "Don't be mad at me. I promise I wasn't trying to snoop." She hit the unlock button and opened the door.

"I'm furious! I can't believe you would do something like that!" She slammed the door shut and I watched her hurry towards the doors and blend into the crowd of teens walking in.

I leaned back and rubbed my forehead before I pulled out of the parking space and headed back to the house.

When I returned home, Jenna and Tyler were having a conversation in the kitchen while Jenna was doing dishes.

"You look frustrated. Are you good?" Tyler wondered whilst I leaned on the counter, hiding my head in my arms. "No," I mumbled into the countertop.

I stood back up and rubbed my face. "I upset Tori. I asked her if there was anything she wanted to get back into that she used to do and then she got upset I overheard part of your conversation yesterday."

Jenna turned around and shot me a look. "Like how much?" Great, now she was getting on my case about this.

"I wasn't eavesdropping! I heard you ask her if she wanted to dance again and heard her response while I was walking down the hall." Tyler looked back and forth between us.

"I would say that wasn't eavesdropping." He added to our banter.

I pulled on my hair out of frustration. "I'm just trying to do this parenting thing right. Every time I try to get closer, something happens and it's like we're back to square one. I don't know what I'm doing wrong!"

Jenna set the plate she was drying and the towel on the counter and walked over. "Josh, you're not doing anything wrong. You have to remember that she was just a kid when all this stuff happened to her. She needs time to adjust and realize that she's safe and she'll be happy here."

Tyler agreed and gave me a side hug.

"And instead of asking her if she wants to get back into something, have her discover it on her own. Make some space downstairs for her to do the things she wants." Tyler added.

That was a great idea.

I had Tyler come with me to the basement and help me move things around so that she had some space to dance or do gymnastics or whatever she wanted to do.

"Don't studios have mirrors?" He was right, I needed to get some mirrors and whatever else a dance studio had.

By the time I was ready to go to Ikea, I had to go pick up Tori.

I took my pickup truck instead of my car so I could bring the mirrors back home.