Foster Kid

1.

"Aberdeen, you've been in your room all day. It's time for dinner!" My mom yelled at me from downstairs. I smiled, almost. This time they didn't forget me. We haven't had a foster child for a month, and it feels great. Tomorrow, though, everything will be screwed up, massively, again. I don't know whether this foster is a boy or a girl, but at least I know there's just one. I don't even have to share a bedroom, which is like heaven. Privacy. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

I closed my book and went downstairs, to see the table set up all nice. See, this is what they do before we get another foster kid. We gather around the table and pray this really long prayer, and they we eat some incredibly amazing food.

And then I see it. In my seat at the table, Mac & Cheese. But not just any Mac & Cheese. Panera Bread Mac & Cheese. This is basically the one thing I love about getting foster kids. They want the food to be nice for the kid, so they make amazing food of which I get to eat. It's pure beauty.

We all held hands around the table as we say a Hail Mary. "We ask God to bless our family and the new child that we'll be brought to us," my mom prays. And then I start to think. What if this kid tries to destroy my life? Maybe he/she's an ultimate murderer. Is my death nearing, due to this new foster child? I always think like this right before a foster kid comes. I expect the worse, cause I can't take being let down. I have no one to go to.

Once the prayer was over, I nearly jumped into my Mac & Cheese. As I was shoving my food into my mouth, I noticed my mom and dad excitedly smirking at me. "What?" I muffled, my mouth full of food. They laughed like supportive parent's on a security system commercial (what).

"Well, we have quite big news. I know it's a bit earlier than usual. You don't know about the new child  until you see them," my dad said, grinning. My mom completed the idea for him. "We have the information on the child!" my mom almost screamed. Relief, that's what I felt. I don't have to be so nervous when I meet the kid.

"First of all, it's a boy," she said. I almost choked. Great. A boy right next to my room. "Second of all, he's your age." And that's when I fell of my chair. Literally. I've NEVER had ANYONE my age. Especially a boy. Lord, a boy. I'm attracted to boys. Boys aren't attracted to me. I'm not attractive, but what about he? Sorry, that rhymed so I had to out the he in there.

"Honey... you okay?" my dad asked, rubbing my arm. "No," I answered short and quickly. Just gow with the flow, Deen. 

She told me his last stop was Nebraska, and that his parents left him because they were young. Wow, almost seems like my parents, excpet they never left me. Using left as a verb.

I decided to just go to bed. I made popcorn, grabbed the movie October Sky, and headed up to my room. I put on my UND Hockey shirt (even though we don't even live in North Dakota) and sweatpants. I tied my hair up in a ponytail and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I don't like showering.

I put the movie in the dvd player, when I noticed a picture on my desk. It's a picture of Donnie and I. Donnie was a foster kid of ours. She was my best friend. Was. We were only 13. Just 13. We were at Ruby Tuesdays, and all the sudden Donnie was panicking and coughing. Fluid was filling her lungs, and she never survived.

I got into bed, and seeing that since I've seen October Sky more that a million times, I let myself drift off on the thought of Donnie.

And then the doorbell rang. Really? Now?