AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Joshua watches him go before turning to smirk at Ben. “Guess why we’re late.”
“No.” Ben points a finger at him. “Stop right now.”
My brows pinch together. “Did you guys have car problems?”
Flinn frantically shakes his head, his face blushing as red as his hair. “Don’t encourage him. It’s always dick related.”
“No!” Ben wails and throws his arms around Joshua. “Not my innocent baby!”
“Get off!” Joshua protests, wiggling while not really attempting to escape. “It’s your fault for convincing me to wear a suit. I look so hot that my fiancé couldn’t keep his hands off me.”
“Look at him bragging about being engaged after giving us shit for so long,” Flinn grumbles.
Ben covers Joshua’s ears. “Hush, or he’ll try to move in with us again.”
As I laugh at their antics, my anxiety over being here slips away. Despite the years, it feels like coming home, something that I’ve been missing for a long time.
A leggy, dark-haired woman joins us in a killer green dress. Samantha doesn’t look all that different from the sleek, put-together girl I’d met back in high school. Then and now, people never would have thought she had anything except the perfect life.
Joshua and Samantha were the first people outside of Carrie and Sean to welcome me to the foster home. The first people my age who made me realize I wasn’t completely alone.
A knock jolts me out of sleep, and I stare around at an unfamiliar bedroom in confusion.
Where am I? Did Rian and I go to an afterparty?
The knock comes again, followed by the sound of a door opening. “Hey, you better get in the shower now if you want a chance at it before you leave for school.”
With a groan, I prop myself up on my elbow to see a young guy peeking into my room. The sight of his tousled black hair brings back the memories from last night.
Of me frantically packing my bag with tears streaming down my face.
Of my father’s refusal to even look at me as I shuffled past him and out the front door.
The door opens wider, and the black-haired kid—Joshua, I remember—shuffles inside. He had been awake, hanging out in the kitchen, when I arrived at the foster home last night.
He still wears the pair of red-checkered fleece pajamas and an oversized blue hoodie from the night before as he stops near the closet. “Do you remember where you are?”
“Yeah.” My voice comes out gruff from crying, and my swollen face hurts. “What about the shower? Sorry, I’m still waking up.”
“Zac just got out, and Samantha has the time slot right before breakfast, so if you want to shower before school, now’s your chance.” Curiosity lights his eyes as he stares at me. “You can use any of the products in the shower. If you want to buy different ones, get a shower caddy, too, so you can take it in and out of the bathroom with you. If it’s in the shower, it’s free game.”
“Got it.” I look around for my bag and spot it on the floor near an empty desk. “Thank you.”
“Bathroom’s the door near the stairs on the left.” He backs out of my room. “I’m going to go sleep for a couple of hours.”
I follow him out of the bedroom. “Don’t you need to get ready, too?”
“I’m homeschooled, so while Carrie gets you all fed and shipped off, I get to sleep.” He stifles a yawn. “Enjoy breakfast. Carrie’s making French toast and bacon today.”
At the words, the scent of cinnamon and sugar drifts to me from downstairs, and my stomach clenches with nausea. I love French toast, but I don’t think I’ll be able to keep anything down right now.
With a nod of thanks, I head into the bathroom, where steam still clings to the mirror.
Unsure how long I have before this Samantha person will be pounding on the door, I speed through my shower.
Only drying off enough to not be dripping wet, I wrap a towel around my waist and hurry back out into the hall, where I crash into a tall, slender, dark-haired girl.
She drops the shower caddy she carries, and it crashes to the floor, spilling products everywhere.
