Of Love and Other Tragedies

1 | to know a stranger

It was a fairly normal day for me, as being a sophomore in high school, I had homework and had just finished it before she came into my home. After completing my oh-so-lovely stack of homework assignments, I took a shower, stepped into the blissful heat of the tub, and came out to a girl my age and a woman entering the residence.

While the girl, Inez, a dark-haired Latino, and her social worker talked up my mother, my older sister came up to me and commented, 'It's the foster girl', letting me know that I would no longer have a room to myself. Being the youngest of five, I'd always had to share a room, which I didn't mind, though only because I didn't know anything else. Once we'd moved into our much bigger house, I'd gotten the chance to experience what it was like to have your own privacy, your own space to, well, call your own.

And even though I'd known of my mother's sudden plans to shelter children my age, I'd gotten comfortable, I'd gotten used to the idea that I had my own four walls and a door. Still, despite my feelings and thoughts on sharing my personal space, I had strolled down the stairs of the two-story dwelling and introduced myself, smile and all.

"Hi, I'm Gabby." I began, attempting to set aside my teenage awkwardness.

"Inez," she retorted, looking about as uncomfortable as possible. After my mother had further introduced us, I aided her in moving all her stuff into my— our— room, her obvious love of shoes shown in her many pairs of Nike's and Adidas. That night, I slept above her, as my mom had gotten me a loft bed with enough space for Inez to have her bed below me.

Having a stranger sleep just below me, I slept relatively comfortably, having played a game of Uno with Inez that night and gotten to know her competitive side.

From there, I tried my best to become the most supportive daughter, keeping close to Inez and making sure she settled in well. She, like I, was new to the system, and had entered it recently due to family complications. With every funny bone in my body, jokes were passed around efficiently and effectively, the goal being to loosen tension in the house.

But on the surface, I would force myself, a quiet introvert, to think of ways to get to know a complete stranger in less than two weeks before we would have to resort to eternal awkwardness. Having always kept to myself, I would have to become outgoing in order to make Inez feel more welcome, as I wasn't the only one having to share a room with a stranger.