in my wildest dreams - a taylor swift fanfiction

13 - home too late

SKYLAR

The time on my phone read 11:03 over the lock screen picture of Connor and me. I'd considered changing it to a picture of Taylor and me but decided against it and changed the home screen wallpaper instead.

I came here on Sunday and it was Tuesday now which meant I had exactly a week until school started. I wasn't looking forward to it but at least I'd have something to occupy myself with, and I'd always gotten good enough grades so I'd never had a hard time keeping up with my schoolwork.

The Jones's, Alice and Pete, weren't bad foster parents either. Pete worked as an architect so he was away a lot and Alice spent most of her time in the small jewelry store she owned with a friend. It was nice that they trusted me to stay home alone but since I didn't know anyone here, I found myself wasting a lot of time on my phone in bed or on the couch in the living room.

I could hear Alice in the kitchen downstairs as I lay sprawled on my back on the bed and stared out through the small window. My cream-colored bedroom was on the second floor, and it was small but not too small to feel claustrophobic. I'd put up a poster that Connor had given me from the RED era on the wall above my bed, and the framed picture of my mom sat on the dresser, but that was basically all I had decorated.

Connor and I had talked on the phone a few times during the past two days. He'd made an announcement on swift-show, letting them know that we probably wouldn't be updating there for a while, and the people in the comment section had been surprisingly upset about it.

I felt my phone vibrate in my hand and held it up over my face to check it. I smiled when I saw that Natalie had DM'd me on Instagram and swiped my finger across the screen to see what she'd said.

natxoxo: Hey Skye! I just wanted to check in with you and see how you're doing 💜💜 I saw the post on your other account, did something happen?

I sighed and contemplated how to answer her. We hadn't gone into any details in the caption, and I wasn't sure if I wanted her to know about my situation, but finally decided to just tell her.

skyejoy13: hi nat☺️ it's nothing serious, i'm fine.
skyejoy13: im a foster kid and was placed in a new foster home in kentucky a few days ago, so i had to kinda quit my job
skyejoy13: they were super nice about it and said that i could come back if i ever moved back but that's why i won't be able to update as usual
skyejoy13: it ain't too bad here so don't worry about me but if you come up with a way to get me outta here let me know lol

The last message had been a joke and I didn't wait to see what she replied before going to the bathroom. When I came back, I saw that she had written back.

natxoxo: Wow I rly didn't know that. I'm sorry you had to move and quit your job😢

I'd not expected what she sent me next; telling me that she was here with her boyfriend in Kentucky, and wondered where I lived and if I wanted to meet up. Without thinking it through, I sent her my address and she replied that it wasn't far from where he lived. She sent me a location where we could meet up — that wasn't too far from my house — and I said I would be there.

I felt a tinge of excitement as I grabbed my phone and left the room. I had never been one of those unruly kids who disobeyed and lied to their parents — not that I had any parents to lie to — so this would be the first rebellious thing I would do. Not that people would actually count it as rebellious anyway — lying to meet up with some friends — but it kind of was for me.

I found Alice in the kitchen, mixing something in a green plastic mixing bowl, and she looked up when she heard me walking in.

"Hi, good to see you up and about," Alice said and gave me the hint of a smile. "Ollie was always out doing stuff."