Script Kiddies

Chapter 1

Haley sat on her hands and tried to look anxious while Ms. Roland leafed through the papers on her desk.

The small office—barely large enough for the metal desk and worn, cracked leather chair where Ms. Roland sat, —could have doubled as a nuclear shelter. The chair in which Haley squirmed was wedged into the corner, though the arm was scratched and torn from years of the door scraping and ripping the tweed. On the wall behind Ms. Roland's head was a shelf filled with photos of kids of different ages and ethnicities smiling and hugging the older woman. Haley's jaw started to ache as she stared at the photos, so she turned left to examine the poster with an eagle flying through a snowy mountain pass and some stupid motivational quote.

Ms. Roland finally sighed and dropped the folder on the desk. She leaned back in her chair and pushed her glasses up to her forehead to rub the bridge of her nose. Her faded blonde hair fell into her eyes before she tucked it back behind her ear, the brown roots visible at the part.

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

Haley could have sat perfectly still, but she pretended to fidget.

Ms. Roland sighed, apparently satisfied that Haley had been suitably chastised.

"Do you still want to go to college?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Haley said.

"Then why do you keep doing this?"

"It wasn't my fault."

"I don't even care anymore," Ms. Roland said. "There's no way to sugarcoat this. You have eight months before you age out. After that, you're on your own. You're too smart to end up flipping burgers. Or worse."

Haley looked down at her lap.

"I'm not trying to be difficult," she said.

Ms. Roland sighed again.

"I know you're not," she said. "But that doesn't change the facts. You have to play nice long enough to graduate.

Haley nodded.

Ms. Roland reached under her desk and pulled out one of the metal drawers. She dropped two manila folders in front of Haley.

"You've got one more shot," she said. "I've got two families with open spots for a high-schooler."

She flipped the folder on the left open. Clipped to the first page was a picture of a couple in their fifties and six kids.

"They have an opening?" Haley said skeptically.

"Probably not, but that doesn't stop them from wanting to help," Ms. Roland said. "The Amburgs are good people. Just had a pair of fosters graduate from Fox Hills High and move out, so they actually have two openings."

Haley nodded, and opened the other folder. The parents in that photo looked even older, but they only had one dark-skinned girl, who looked around Haley's age, and a middle school aged Caucasian boy and girl.

"The Kells," Ms. Roland said. "The twins are biological. Dana is a sweetheart they've been fostering for the last two years. You'd like her. Smart as a whip, though she's more of the literary type. Got a vocabulary like you wouldn't believe."

"Will either of them be able to help with school?"

Ms. Roland shook her head.

"Obviously, the Amburgs are pretty strapped. John has a good job, but there are just too many mouths to feed. The Kells, well, he's a pastor with two of his own kids to put through school. His church has sponsored scholarships for their kids in the past. But"—she leaned in and pointed a finger in Haley's face— "he's a pastor. Your margin for error is slim to none."

"I've never been anything but an angel," Haley said.

"I'm serious," Ms. Roland said. "If you don't want to spend the next ten years of your life flipping burgers or worse, you have to be beyond perfect with the Kells."

Haley looked at the picture again and bit her lip.

"What kind of scholarships?"

Ms. Roland shrugged. "Couple thousand for tuition. Better than nothing."

"I can do it."

Ms. Roland regarded her for a few heartbeats longer. Then she leaned back and put the Amburgs' file back in her desk.

"I'll get the paperwork going," she said.

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Thanks for picking up Script Kiddies! I'll be posting a chapter (or Chapters depending on the length) every Friday, but if you don't want to wait, you can get the full novella, plus an extra short story by signing up for my newsletter at www.cbrandonclark.com/starter!