Chapter 1
Something bubbled inside her as her fingers shakily lifted the pen and drew a nervous scrawl where she was supposed to sign. Perhaps it was a nervous anticipation for the life waiting for her but she couldn’t deny the fact that it could also be a senseless dread of the coming isolation.
Aviana glanced up at her fourth and last set of foster parents, wondering if the distress on their features was feigned or genuine. Of course she knew they did care for her but she was just after all another foster child they generously took in.
A small sigh escaped her lips; it didn't matter anyway. She was finally free. She set the pen down and looked back up expectantly at Janet, her social worker.
"Thank you, Miss Moretz. As of now, you are out of the care system, which means that it is up to you to make the right choices for yourself. However, you do understand that three strikes and-"
"Yes, I know. I'll be back," Aviana smiled kindly at the concerned social worker. It was nice to see that even strangers cared.
Amelie and Hugh were still silent, and she looked up to see her foster mother pressing her lips together firmly as if fighting back tears. Of the six months, Aviana stayed with them, they had never once treated her wrongly and she was grateful for their kindness.
Emotion burst through the banks of the barrier she vowed not to break, and she could feel a heavy lump forming in her throat. Standing up, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around the woman who taught her what a true mother should be. Amelie dug her face into the crook of her shoulder and Aviana could feel the wetness seeping through her shirt. A warm hand pressed down on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly, and she turned to give Hugh a warm smile.
Taking a deep breath and detaching herself from them, she took a step back. Her foster parents had understood Aviana's dislike of physical affection since the day she was escorted to their doorstep. They smiled through their glassy eyes.
Amelie wiped her tear stained cheeks and cleared her throat. "You know you're welcome here anytime, darling. It feels like just yesterday you arrived, a sweet gift for Christmas," she sniffed, "you lit up our home and made this small family feel impossibly closer. You even thawed our Levi. Thank you." Her voice cracked.
Aviana could only nod for the fear of breaking into her own heavy sobs. She understood fully well the gratitude her foster parents felt since she felt the same only under a different context. Nonetheless, her throat constricted at the mention of Levi Montgomery, her foster brother in some respect. Yet the term ‘brother’ did no justice on the unbreakable bond between her and this boy she might’ve never known. At one stage, she feared it wasn’t platonic on his side but the awkward third wheeling at the cinema with his girlfriend was enough to set her at ease. She loved him and he lover her back yet her restless thoughts could not explain his absence on this day.
Hugh revealed a pale blue box in his hands, tied with a lacy white ribbon. "Some early birthday presents," he said.
Her trembling hands reached for the parcels. "You didn't have to," she began, a frown settling on her lips as she carefully unwrapped her gift. Her birthday was a month away.
"It's a token of our love; something to remember us by," Amelie added.
Aviana exhaled deeply when her eyes landed on the subject of her uneasiness. The delicate, silver locket gleamed in the light of the living room. And from it hung a crystal, shaped in a heart, that had three letters engraved on its hard surface.
A.J.M. Aviana Jordan Moretz
"I love it," she breathed, "it's beautiful."
"We thought you'd like it," Hugh chuckled, pride shining in his blue eyes. "But there's another one...from Levi."
Perhaps she saw the falter in her foster daughter's movement or was simply embarrassed by her son's failure to be there but Amelie began to apologise until Aviana cut her off.
"-It's fine Amelie. He probably had something more important to do." Cringing instantly at the bitter anger in her tone, she graciously accepted the small messily wrapped parcel from Amelie and even attempted a smile to please her audience.
She began to tear open the brown paper. If he couldn't care to pack it properly, then I won't care to open it properly, she thought snarkily.
But every sarcastic thought she'd kept prepared for the cheap prank she'd expected instantly evaporated. Instead she stared openmouthed at the sleek black key she knew oh too well.
"But it's his car!" Aviana objected. "I can't-"
"Just accept it, dear. Even I couldn't talk him out of it. Besides, he's already bought the other one he's been saving up for and unfortunately there's no space for two cars on our driveway," Hugh warmly interjected.
In the corner of her eye, Aviana saw Janet grinning widely. She remembered how her social worker once told her the happy endings were her favourite part of the job.
"You didn't need to give me anything at all. I wouldn't have ever forgotten you, my favourite ever pretend mum and dad." It was true. Aviana's other foster parents were caring enough except they thought her distance and self preservation were unsettling, which was why she'd been moved from house to house several times. But Amelie and Hugh weren't like that; those were not the kind of people they ever were. They valued her privacy and independence.
"And our favourite child," Amelie laughed, fresh tears glistening in her brown eyes. "Just don't tell Levi I said that."
"I hate to interrupt these moments, you know I do, but time is ticking and the landlord of your new apartment won't be waiting forever," Janet gently said, picking up the black suitcase.
"Keep in touch, darling and do visit if you can," Amelie forced out between sobs. Again, she could only nod as the tears stung her eyes.
After a final hug and teary farewells, Aviana inhaled the fresh air outside and sighed. The emotion inside had been suffocating her.
A cab was waiting in the driveway and she hastily stuffed her suitcase in the back before climbing into the back seats where Janet waited for her. In seconds, the house she grew impossibly close with over the last sixth months had blurred out of her vision and finally she let a sole tear roll down her cheek.
***
An hour later, the driver pulled up at a modern set of apartments in the city. Janet turned to smile excitedly at her but Aviana found she couldn't even feign any sort of elation back.
All those years she's dreamt of this moment after having found out that she won't be kicked into a shabby council flat. According to her social worker, her grandfather left a healthy sum of money (an amount even she couldn't believe possible) in his will for her and wherever in the world her greedy parents were, they wouldn't be able to take it from her - without her permission of course.
But Aviana was too distracted to realise that there was no anticipation left but only dread for the nights alone to come. In her thoughtful daze, she hadn't even realised that Janet had left the car and was struggling to lift the first rucksack out. Guilty, she rushed out after her and helped her with the luggage whilst the cab driver lugged out her bigger suitcase. Janet reached into her purse for the cab fare but before she could Aviana reached into her own pockets and pulled out a twenty dollar note. She told the driver to keep whatever was left - she didn't have the patience to wait for him to dig around in his pockets for change he most likely didn't have.
Swinging on her rucksack, she quickly dismissed Janet's protesting. "It's not fair for you to pay for a cab that's you didn't need to come on."
"Still, I wanted to pay," Janet complained.
Aviana grinned cheekily. "No one ever wants to pay Janet. They only do it because it's polite."
"Oi you!" Janet chided despite the humour laced in her voice.
In seconds, they were already at the front entrance and Aviana turned to Janet with a guilty frown.
"I need to do this alone."
The goodbyes were quick this time. Although a few tears were shed from her social worker, she managed to keep control of the situation, graciously accepting another gift and promising to call and visit. After waving a final time to Janet's back, she stepped into the block, ready to start her new life.