Molly creeps down the staircase discreetly, trying to leave the house unnoticed. It is morning and she would rather walk to school today than have to endure another loud and boisterous car ride with the kids.
Pam and Daniel have two other foster children living with them. Henley who is four and Lily who is twelve. Molly doesn't know the ins and outs of why the children are in care but for all her years in the system she has come to know that sharing past experiences is a very unpredictable scenario. It is better not to ask, or to know. She knows enough about Henley's past though, mainly due to overhearing Pam and Daniel discussing it. And the moment she heard it, she wished she hadn't.
"Good morning." Molly turns abruptly from the front door to see Pam staring at her from the end of the hallway to the kitchen. "Where are you going?"
"School," Molly replies.
"School doesn't start for another hour. Come eat some breakfast with us. I made-"
"No, thank you," Molly says. "I'm not hungry."
"Okay, do you still have the money I gave you for lunch?"
Molly nods, her hand twisting against the unlocked doorknob. "Yes. I'll see you later."
"Have a good day."
Molly opens the door and leaves the house, locking it behind her. She places her strap-bag around her shoulder and takes to the street of her new neighbourhood. This neighbourhood looks a lot like her original one. Palm trees, clean and tidied pavements, boys riding their bicycles as they make their early paper rounds, private driveways with expensive cars. It is her second time in California and she hasn't missed it. She preferred Georgia. Her foster family there lived on a secluded ranch with dozens of horses and there was a lot to distract her.
As new as she is to neighbourhoods she is also cursed with being the new girl at multiple schools. Every school faculty knew of her past to an extent and that made it harder for Molly to blend in. Her family's murder was plastered on so many news channels that it was difficult for Molly to meet anyone at school that hadn't familiarized with it. However, over the last few months things began to change, Molly just didn't care anymore.
Head down, eyes low and mind on her studies; Molly makes it through day after day without much distractions. Her classmates think of her as weird and Molly has never corrected them.
She reaches the grounds of the high school and she seats herself on a bench as far from the parking lot as she can. Even though there's another thirty minutes until classes start, dozens of students begin to arrive in their friendship groups.
Many pass Molly, giving glances and smirks. She had friends once. Lots of friends. She was the popular one, the one that all the other girls wanted to be friends with. She was confident once. She would stroll through the hallways of junior high with her head to the sky and her back straight. She still remembers how it felt, like she was invincible; like nothing in the world could touch her. Like, nothing could turn her life upside down.
She watches as smaller groups meet bigger groups. She watches as a handsome guy's arm folds around a pretty girl's shoulder. She watches the life she could have had play out in front of her eyes. She watches for so long that she doesn't hear the bell at first. And then she moves across the grounds towards the entrance, taking her troubles with her.