Splinters: Part One

Part One | 15

I took his hand and shook it. "Brayden."

"Newest addition," Josh nodded.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"How long have you been living with the Piersons?"

I thought about it long and hard. "A month now?"

Josh gaped. "And we haven't met you until now?"

"Melissa and Greg probably thought it'd be too overwhelming for me. It took a lot of convincing for Melissa to let me go to school earlier than she wanted."

"Really?"

I laughed lightly. "Yeah. She's kind of protective," I admitted quietly, my finger touching the rim of the cup.

"They love you," Josh said. "All of them. The girls, the parents, my grandparents- er, I guess our grandparents."

I let out a shaky breath. "How do you know?"

Josh shook his head. "They just do. You're part of this family now. Don't ever think you're not."

"Hamburgers are ready!" Robin exclaimed.

"Yes!" all the kids shouted, heading towards us.

It was a hassle as everyone struggled to make their own plates. Melissa offered to make mine, but I declined. She did enough for me. I went and got my own food. I had a hamburger with just ketchup on it. My siblings stared at me as if I were insane. I'd always been a pretty plain person.

"So, Brayden, how old are you?" Gerald asked me.

I swallowed before answering. "I'll be sixteen in January."

"Really? You're a year older than Ursanne?"

I nodded.

"You look a lot younger than that," Georgia smiled from two seats left of her older brother. "You might even look a little younger than Ursanne, if not her age."

I pressed my lips together and shrugged. "I never really thought about it."

"So what's your favourite thing about Rhode Island?" Bethany asked after a small moment of silence.

I looked around and put my hands in my lap. "I don't know, uh, maybe the scenery? It's a lot prettier than where I used to be in New York," I admitted.

"Where were you before that?" Kevin questioned.

Melissa's head jerked towards him. I quickly answered him before she could stop.

"St. Anne's Orphanage."

Kevin's eyebrows rose. I had spoken of this conversation twice now in one day. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I didn't get it. Didn't they know this? Did Melissa and Greg really limit that much information from them about me? It grew silent for the longest time until Kevin decided to avert the conversation towards Josh.

"So, Josh, how're the studies goin'?"

I didn't listen to much after that. Dinner ended and the sky grew dark. We were all told to make our beds on the floor of the living room and then to get into our pajamas. I was there first to be in bed. Today had been exhausting. Having to meet my entire family and having to face fears and remember my past was not something I wanted to do on Thanksgiving. It was all too overwhelming. Even though I met them, faced my fears, and remembered without any huge problems, I was still way tired from it.

So I lay down and I closed my eyes and I fell asleep way faster than I expected.

...

When I woke up - well, I should say when I was woken up, I had a raging headache. So many voices were talking all at the same time. It almost reminded me of St. Anne's when everybody was up for breakfast which I guess is exactly what's going on right now. I was really hot when I took off the covers and almost wanted to take off my shirt, but thought better of it.