Sunday 5th of June 2013.
"I thought you may have ended up down there," Marie called out as I walked up the path and towards the deck. She was sitting up at the picnic table, mug in hand, even in her night attire she was still very beautiful for her age. Her delicate fingers wrapped around her dark blue mug which was hovering between the table and her mouth. I could smell the coffee that was lingering in the air as I got closer to her.
"I used to end up on the beach most nights after my Larry died." She added softly whilst looking over my head and out at the ocean, "I found watching the waves dance with the sand, calming. It always helped clear my head."
I caught my lip between my teeth as I walked up the stairs, unsure if I should tell her the truth. I could tell her that I needed fresh air, which wasn't a complete lie. "Change can be a good thing."
My mum's voice from my dream made up my mind for me.
"I woke up from a bad dream and I just couldn't get back to sleep," I admitted honestly, sitting down beside her. I grabbed another dark blue mug that was on a tray and poured myself some coffee too. "I just really needed fresh air and like you said, the waves helped me clear my head."
"What was it about, dear?" She asked concern filling her voice.
I looked up and over the fence, staring out at the waves that were just visible. Again, I was unsure how much to tell her. Yes, I wanted to be able to let her in, I really did. It's easy for most people to trust, but for me, trusting in people is something that has never come easy. I haven't exactly had the easiest life with people that I could trust. I've only had two people out of my seventeen years of existence that I could trust and they were both buried six feet under. And as much as I wanted to be able to trust Mrs Webber, I just couldn't. It's just something that I was going to have to work on, plus I didn't really want to bring up bad memories.
"Um... I can't remember, sorry." I replied while avoiding her gaze.
She nodded in understanding. "How are you finding it here?" she asked, changing the subject. She lifted her mug to her mouth and took a sip, then placed it back on the table. "I haven't had a proper chance to ask you yet." She added warmly with a gentle smile that reached her sparkling blue eyes.
I glanced down at the diary that was sitting on my lap, my fingers playing with the top corner. "Good, really good," I told her, honestly. "I'm feeling more settled here than I have at any other house I've been in." And it was true, even though I had only been here a few days, this has been the first time that I had felt settled since I was fourteen.
She smiled a full smile that reached her eyes, "That's wonderful to hear and if there is anything you need, anything at all, you just let me know."
"Oh... uh, thank you?" I was shocked at her generosity and unsure how to take it. As much as I was settling in and starting to enjoy being here, I didn't want to be a burden and for her to think I was taking advantage of being here. I didn't want to give her a reason to resent me or send me away. "And I just want to say that I really am grateful for all that you have given me."
"I've only given you what you deserve."
"But still, I'm really grateful, I mean you have given me a bed, and a bookshelf and curtains, and you.."
"Wait," She said, raising her hand to stop my rambling. "What do you mean? A bookshelf? Curtains?" She asked in confusion.
I wanted to mentally slap myself, only Kate, my social worker, and my therapist knew about my previous foster home situations. "I-I didn't have many things in most of the places I stayed at. But, like, at one place I stayed at didn't have any curtains in the room I was in." I explained.
"You didn't have curtains?" Marie asked, her expression could be best described as shocked.
"Yeah..." I replied sadly, staring at my almost empty mug. "It was the house before last. I was living with a couple who had one other child, she was about eleven. They both worked full-time so they could send Rachael, their daughter to a private school. You know the ones with those funny school uniforms and blazers, matching socks, and all that jazz?"
"Yes, I do." She said, nodding her head.
"Anyway, I attended a public school. They wanted their money to go to the best education that their daughter could receive. They had more dreams than money really. They owned a very small, two-bedroom and study, townhouse. My room was the study, it just had enough room to fit a bed and chest of drawers, but it didn't have any curtains."
"Wait... Why didn't they use the money that they were given weekly, for all your needs?" Mrs Webber asked, she still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"They told me that they needed the money for Rachael. Rachael was their biggest concern. They told me that her education was really important to them and that they needed my money for that." I paused to look over at Mrs Webber, her face frozen in shock. "I asked them both, repeatedly, for a little money to buy curtains or clothes that would fit. They asked me to stop being so selfish and just told me to find an old towel and use that as a curtain. As for the clothes, they just told me to stop growing." I replied with a sarcastic laugh, but then covered it up with an unconvincing cough.
"Ally, that is horrible." She said as she placed her cup down and reached over to place her warm hand over mine. Her voice, was genuine as she continued, "I need you to know that this is now your house too. If you need anything, anything at all, you just ask, okay? I'm nothing like those horrible people. I hope Kate pulled you out of there fast?"
I looked at her, tears filling my eyes. "Thank you, Mrs Webber. It's starting to feel a little bit more like a home to me now." I sniffed, and it was true, Mrs Webber had offered me so much here. I would be eternally grateful to her. "And yes, I rang Kate as soon as I found her number. They hid her number from me so I couldn't leave." I added with a small shrug.
"Aw, dear, that is so terribly wrong. I'm so glad that she got you out."
I gently squeezed her hand, the one that was still placed in mine, "Me too." I agreed softly.
---
"What are your plans for today, dear?" Mrs Webber asked, whilst placing her blue mug in the dishwasher. We had moved inside and into the kitchen, a small wind had started to pick up outside and we both simultaneously decided to come back inside.
"I'm not too sure yet. I do need to talk to Cora about walking with her, to work tomorrow morning." I replied as I handed my mug to Mrs Webber's outreached hand.
"As it so happens to be, I'm actually heading over to give Martha a hand with sorting out some of her stock today. You're more than welcome to come and join me. Cora will be there, she's working today."
I nodded, "Sounds good to me, would it be okay if you could give me twenty minutes, I have to have a shower and get changed?" I asked, motioning down at my sleepwear.
A small smile formed on her lips, "Of course, we will go as soon as you are ready."
"Thank you," I replied whilst turning to run up to my room.
---
"Ally!" Cora called out in surprise, as Mrs Webber and I walked through the shop entrance, the bell ringing behind us. "What are you doing here?"
"I'll be out back if you need anything." Mrs Webber said at the same time. I gave her a small nod and watched her form retreat to the back office. We ended up taking longer to get here, we decided to walk down the beach and grab lunch before we went to the craft store.
"Sorry," I said to Cora, realising she had been waiting for me to reply. I turned around to greet her, "Hi," I said with a smile "Mrs Webber came to give Martha a hand sorting out stock, so I decided to tag along."
"Aw cool, well I finish in half an hour, what have you got planned for the rest of the day?" She asked,
"Nothing," I replied, "Actually, I was just going to ask what time you started work tomorrow and see if you wanted to walk with me, you know, show me the way? I start tomorrow at Wilson's at nine and I don't want to get lost." I added, which sounded more like a ramble.
"Sounds good to me. I start at nine as well, so we can meet at about eight-thirty. How about we do something once I'm finished today? I'm only here till twelve-thirty as it's Sunday and not very busy. Martha is managing the shop when I leave."
"Sounds good to me. I'll just let Mrs Webber know." I replied and threw my thumb back, motioning to the stock room.
"Awesome, I'm just going to go help those customers while you do that." She added with a grin.
I nodded and walked away, Mrs Webber and Martha were both sitting when I walked into the room. Martha sitting behind the computer at the desk and Mrs Webber was sitting on the ground with papers spread out in front of her. They both looked up at the sound of the knock on the door.
"Ally, dear, is everything okay?" Mrs Webber asked,
I nodded, "I was just wondering if I could hang out with Cora once she finishes her shift, she should finish in half an hour." I replied and shifted my gaze between the two ladies, "If not, that's okay." I added quickly.
"Of course, you can, dear." She responded with a white-toothed grin. "Go, have fun."
Authors note:
Do let me know what you think of the chapter.
I couldn't write the next character into this chapter, it just wouldn't work. So hopefully you will all FINALLY meet him in the next chapter.
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