small
A/N - Thanks for clicking on! Whether you’re here from my other novel or just happened to by pass this and give it a read, I would like to issue a simple warning: this book has very mature themes. Aside from the romantically mature parts, there are also parts that may offend some readers with its’ own definition of maturity. I do not put warnings before the chapters when there is a mature scene. I do not want to spoil the chapter and/or ruin the surprise/shock. So, this is the only warning you will receive. This book does get momentarily dark. If something happens that is most undoubtably unpleasant, well, I warned you. If you’d like more light-hearted read, go check out my other novel, "Homebound“.
And, as a final note, bad things do happen to good people, regardless of who they are. There is not always someone who will come to save the day. But,
no rain, no flowers
That is all.
- I -
~Aurelia~
“We’ve decided to relocate you to a reasonably small town.” The social service agent tells me. I attempt to make eye contact, but I fail to look above her unmoving lips. Botox, works wonders on mobility.
“Where at?” I ask. I heard a shuffle behind me, and from a quick turn of my head, I can confirm that the corrections officer is officially bored. He was required to be present during this meeting, ever since I was deemed ‘unpredictable’ and ‘likely to become aggressive’ when provoked. Like I was some sort of rabid animal - which I most certainly wasn’t. I was just a sixteen year old who wanted out of the foster system; and figured that running away for the fourth time would be a permanent one.
“It’s a quaint town by the name of Hoyt Lakes. It’s in northern Minnesota. Beautiful town - you’re going to love it there.” The woman continued. “A nice couple decided to take you in. They have two other children currently. They really wanted a third child, but after two miscarriages, Cathy and Bernard have decided to adopt.”
“Why do they want me? I’m not a child - I’m almost an adult. Why waste their time on someone who will leave in a year?”
"Two years. You’re sixteen, Aurelia.”
“A year and a half. I turn seventeen in six months.” I countered. The redhead sighed deeply, probably wishing this conversation was already over.
“Anyway, they’ve agreed to let you live with them. You’ll go to school with their oldest child, I believe. He is fifteen or sixteen.” I nodded at her words, not finding anything important to say. “You’ll fly over tonight.”
“Tonight? Like, in a few hours, tonight?” My heart leaped into my lungs - that was way too soon! I don’t even have my two shirts and my one, extra, pair of pants packed. The irony was uncanny, nonetheless.
“Your minimal belongings and tendency to run away has provided us with no other choice.” The agent took a deep breath. “You’ll leave for the airport -”
“- I haven’t even said bye to my other foster family!” I argued, straightening up in the wooden chair. Behind me, the corrections officer proceed to stop zoning out and put his focus on me. I could just feel it.
“Aurelia, you ran away from them three hours after meeting them.”
“Sure, but those three hours meant the world to me.”
The redhead looked worn out, but then she was suddenly smirking. “I’ll allow you to say goodbye to them if you can tell me their names.”
“Stacy? - or, uh, Debbie?” I guessed. That sounded about right.
“Nope.” She clicked her tongue. “They are two gay men with their other adopted daughter, who, by the way, almost followed in your footsteps.” I opened my mouth, to possibly argue further, but she beat me to it. “Now that that is settled, your plane leaves in two hours.”
“What? How were you able to book a flight this quickly if you only just ‘recovered’ me last night?” My astonishment couldn’t be matched - where they that eager to get rid of me? Wouldn’t blame them.
“We have our ways,” The agent then proceeded to shove four tickets into my hands - two plane tickets and two for some train. “Hoyt Lakes is a very small town so you’ll fly into Minneapolis and then take the train the rest of the way.”
“I figured as much. Why the extra tickets though?”
“Did you really think that we would trust you to travel to Hoyt Lakes all by yourself? Your new foster family has sent their son to accompany you.”
How thoughtful. I nodded, keeping my sarcasm to myself.
Running away this time would be much, much harder. And just as I thought about it, the social service lady read aloud my exact thoughts.
“Good luck getting away this time, Aurelia. As much as you want to avoid it, you will live with this family.” Then she stood up, signaling me to leave. “Better hurry.”
- II -
The flight was a long one. I chose the window seat, meaning Tyson, my new ‘brother’ was squished next to me. I also chose not to talk to him, figuring that as long as I didn’t get close to him, my leaving won’t really affect him all that much.
“So you’ll be going to my high school then, I suppose?” Tyson asked me abruptly. I turned to him, sending him a questionable look.
“Isn’t there only one high school in your entire town?” I don’t even bother to keep the annoyance out of my voice, or finish my statement. He’ll connect the dots.
“So you’re like sixteen?”
I nodded, turning back towards the window. Huge green splotches filled the ground below. We were finally in Minnesota.
A hand slithered onto my thigh. I slapped at Tyson’s hand, glaring at him.
“What the fuck?” I hissed at him, scooting closer to the window. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Calm down, I barely touched you.”
But I ignored him, feeling only disgust wither in my chest.
- III -
The redhead from the foster system was right. Hoyt Lakes was beautiful.
It had an array of streams and small rivers which twisted about the town. It was practically glowing green, with surpluses of trees and bushes that covered the entirety of the place.
“Here we are,” The taxi driver stated as we pulled up to a one-story house. It was quaint, old, but still decently nice.
Tyson handed the driver some money and we both exited the car. We ended up taking a taxi from the train, and after hours of traveling, I was ready to go to bed.
“So this is my house,” Tyson, stating the obvious, lead me inside.
It was what you expected from how the outside looked. Older designs, carpet everywhere, kinda a cramped feeling. I wasn’t even sure that there were four bedrooms, assuming that the parents shared one and each kid would get their own. I remember the redhead lady saying that they had another child, in addition to Tyson.
I followed the groper into a kitchen, where an older woman was stewing something on a stove. She barely turned to acknowledge me.
At a table, five-ish feet away, another man sat with a younger girl on his right. He stood up upon my arrival, walking to meet me halfway.
“I’m Bernard, and this is my wife, Cathy.” He began, so I looked up to meet his grueling stare. Almost immediately, my head whipped to my side.
My cheek burned. He had slapped me.
“Don’t make eye contact.”
I only continued to look at the floor, not bothering to clutch my aching cheek. I didn’t want him to hurt me further, I’ve had my fair share of abusive foster parents, but they seemed to be nice compared to this guy. Bernard. What a bitch name.
“This is Clarice,” He introduced the young girl at the table. She looked about twelve, but I didn’t look at her face directly. Was I allowed to make eye contact with her? Or is it a-Bernard-only-kind of rule? He should really be more specific. “You’ve already met Tyson - ” Ah, yes, the groper. Must get his personality from his father. “And that’s the family.” He then turned towards his wife, Cathy, who was now facing away from her stew. She looked at him, not in the eyes, as if asking for something. Bernard nodded and only then did she speak.
What the actual fuck was this family on?
“We’re so happy you’ve joined us! We’ve always wanted another girl ever since Clarice was born.” She said.
I was afraid to speak. It seemed like this family only did as Bernard allowed. Which, of course, made leaving them all the easier.
“Clarice, why don’t you show Aurelia to the bedroom.” Cathy suggested. Not your bedroom or her bedroom, just ‘bedroom’. That sentence definitely promised well. “We had the social service agents out here the other day and they just loved the room!” She continued, gushing about their past visit. I guess they already checked out the house, making sure that I had a room and a place to sleep. Families who wanted older children were rare, and since this family was one of those, the agency was probably late on putting their file into the system. Meaning that their house check was also late, but just early enough that I made the cutoff.
The agency only found me two days ago after I ran away for the fourth time. My fourth time was the longest I was ever on my own, a whopping three months. I managed to get three cities away from that foster family, and even got close to renting an apartment. Then the landlord discovered I was underage and a runaway.
I followed Clarice out of the kitchen, still keeping my head down. Once leaving the area, only then did I proceed to analyze my surroundings. This house was way smaller than I originally thought.
And upon our walk, I discovered that this house didn’t have four bedrooms.
It had two.
