Blake's P.O.V
The ride home was boring. I had to take the bus since Josh was at football practice, so he wouldn't be able to give me a ride home for a while. But later in the school year we will both be in baseball together. Now that was my sport! I also liked soccer but I have always been a baseball player and fan. Even before I came to this foster home.
I walked inside the house and went into the kitchen to grab a snack. I grabbed a green apple and headed toward my room. I took a bite out of my apple and heard little foot steps coming toward my room.
"Hi Blake!" Cassie says behind the door. She comes into by room and sits in my desk chair.
"Hi Cassie. How was your first day of first grade?"
"Fine." She swings her legs back and fourth.
"Well, maybe tomorrow will be more interesting."
"It better!" She says with a giggle.
"I'm going to go downstairs now!" She says and hops off the chair and heads out if the room. She is truly a strange child, but she is a lot of fun.
I sit in the chair and take out my homework. It doesn't take too long thankfully because it was only the first day. I was going to work on Real World Solutions' homework but I didn't want to think about the past. I started to go deep in thought, thinking about my partner, Olivia. Her hazel green eyes captivated me.
How did she do that? I thought to myself.
When I was around others, I would wear a fake ego. I was still quiet and shy, but when I would talk to someone, I pretended to have this ego. I know, very confusing and contradicting, but it has always been a struggle to find my true self. An inner battle that no matter what, I always seemed to lose.
See! She is doing it again! Even the thought of her made her break down my mental wall.
Next thing I know, I hear those small footsteps running into my room. She comes in crying, running toward my arms.
"Cassie, what's wrong?!?" I ask her, protectively.
"He...he..."
"Who?"
"Frank! He is mad again and was yelling at me. He was saying things about my mommy and daddy." She is now fully crying her eyes out. Frank is the owner of the foster home. Him and his wife owned it together actually, but when she left him for someone else, he lost it. He started drinking every once in a while, to drown out his sorrow. I felt bad for him, with his wife leaving him and all, but he had no right to get drunk and yell at Cassie. Especially about her parents.
I heard that Cassie's dad wanted her mom to abort her, but Cassie's mom denied that she abort her child. She then left Cassie's dad. After Cassie was born, her mom realized that she wouldn't be able to fund for or take care of a child. I remember Cassie's mom walking in with tears in her eyes, but not once did she let one shed. She said goodbye to baby Cassie and left. I guess she thought it was just best. I believe that she couldn't have been more wrong.
"Cassie, stay here. I will take care of it."
I set her on the bed and walk out of the room. I go down the stairs and turn to go into the living room. I walk in and see Frank sitting on the couch. He seems....lost. Although, I don't want to provoke him if he is still mad. I step closer to the couch.
"Frank?"
He is still out of it. He doesn't even bother to look at me. I call him out once again.
"Frank."
He turns toward me. I can tell he has been crying.
"Yes?..."
I can see the emotion in his eyes. The pain, the anger, and even a hint of guilt. He just looks so vulnerable.
"I think we should get you upstairs. You are in no state to be taking care of children right now."
He doesn't reply. He just nods. I help him up then lead him to the stairs. We walk down the hallway and I open his room door. He plops down on his bed and stairs at the wall in front of him.
"Why?" His voice, barely a whisper. "Why would she leave me?"
I don't respond, I just stare at him. I don't think he wanted a response from me anyways.
"I loved her."
He lays down and I can see he is crying again. Tears roll down his cheeks.
"It will be okay. I will watch the children tonight, get some rest." I tell him.
And with that, I walk of of the room. I head toward my room and I walk in to see Josh talking to Cassie.
Uh, oh. Josh may be a jokester, but when he cared about someone, there was nothing to stop him in protecting them.
I see him, infuriated. I quickly rush to him and stop him from barging into Frank's room.
"JOSH! You need to calm down!"
"What do you mean calm down?!? He yelled at Cassie! A little girl! Not only that, he brought up her parents. He hurt her!"
"I know! But he is in no condition to be in a discussion like this right now. He is really depressed and he just needs some time."
"No freaking kidding he isn't in a great condition! HE'S DRUNK!"
"Look! I know you're mad but you won't solve anything like this. Frank is a really good guy, he is just in a hard time."
I can tell Josh is slowly calming down. He knows I am right.
"I know," he replies.
"But it has been almost a year and a half since she left. How much more time does he need?"
"I don't know." I answer truthfully.
Moments of silence pass. I realize that Cassie is still in the room. I go close to her.
"Cassie, would you like to help me make dinner?" I ask her.
She stares at the ground as if there were something of interest on it.
"We could some mac and cheese?..." Macaroni and cheese was Cassie's favorite.
She quickly hops off the bed. She nearly drags me out of the room. I have to stop her quickly to say something to Josh.
"We will talk to Frank tomorrow. For now, let's just take care of the kids."
All three of us head downstairs to start dinner. It ended up really tasting really good. After Josh and I finished cleaning up after dinner and making sure everyone was in bed, we went to bed our selves. We were the oldest kids in the house so it was okay.
I walked into my room and quickly got into bed. I was so tired from the day that I quickly drifted asleep.
~|~|~|~|~|~
I wake up the next morning, sort of tired.
It is only the second day of school, Blake. I thought to myself.
Josh and I wake up all the other children and make sure they are taken care of. Then, we head to school.
We go to Westpeak High School. It is just an average high school. Nothing really to it.
"Have you been listening to me?" Josh's question brings me back to reality.
"Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
"I said to just wait for me by the bleachers when you are done with whatever you are staying after for. Practice will run a little later than usual since we got a game coming up."
"Yeah, yeah. That's fine."
Josh parks the car and we head toward the building. I go to my locker to my things so I am ready for the day.
The entire day could not have gone slower. It seemed as if time was teasing me, making the minutes appear as centuries. Okay, so I might be exaggerating a bit, but I just really wanted to get to Real World Solutions class.
And why is that! My sub-conscience said in a snarky tone. Why was it? Was it the fact that I wanted to find a solution to a problem that has haunted my life? Or was it something else?
More like someone else!....
Could that be true?
Was it?...
No. It couldn't be.
Could it?
Gosh, I didn't even get a chance to figure that mess out. The bell rung, announcing that it was finally the last hour of the day.
When I walked into the classroom, I saw her; Olivia. She quickly saw me and waved. I tried to wave back but froze mid-wave and quickly rushed to my seat in the corner.
Smooth one Blake.
Today in class, we didn't actually get a chance to work with our partners on the project. We talked about the final presentation for the project and what it would look like. We pretty much have to pretend that the class is a foundation that is willing to found our solution. We also need to find someone or something in the news that will back up our research, since the topic (Child Abuse, Labor, and Orphans) is not usually a problem funded for.
The bell rings and I gather my things. I am startled by a voice greeting me and I drop my books.
"Hi Blake!" It is Olivia. I crouch down to pick up my things when she notices that I dropped my books and papers.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to make sure that we are staying after school."
"Umm, it's fine. Yeah, we should probably stay after school to at least finish the research part."
"Okay. Here, let me help you with that." She crouches down to help me pick up my stuff.
"Here you go..." She hands me my book.
We lock gazes. Her eyes send a chill through my entire body, but at the same time, it is on fire. I start to blush a bit.
No! This is not happening.
I clear my throat and quickly look away.
"Thanks."
Awkward silence fills the room. Olivia finally decides to break it.
"Listen, I will be right back. I am just going to get the rest of my things from my locker that I need. I will be back in a sec."
With that, she turns to leave. She exits the room and heads toward her locker. I already have all I need so I don't need to go to my locker. A few moments later, Olivia returns with her stuff and a bag of gummy bears.
"I figured I owed you a bag of gummy bears for taking the last granola bar."
"How did you know I liked gummy bears? I could have hated them or something." I ask her with my signature smirk. She merely laughs and throws the bag to me.
"Everyone loves gummy bears.....And, I saw you buy them yesterday."
"Well, thanks."
I open the bag and grab a gummy bear. She does the same only, we both grab the same one so our hands touch. We both reject our hands and I start to blush. She notices and then I notice something....she is blushing too! We both sneak looks at each other but stay silent.
Man! If this is how it is going to be the entire time, it is going to be really awkward. But...to be honest....I don't think I really mind.
"Shall we get started?" I ask her.
She simply nods and grabs her things to start researching.
I only think to myself......
Is this real?
Or just another false hope?