Never feel alone

Chapter 2

Would you like to help me set the table, sweets?" Lena asked Sophia.

Sophia nodded. She seemed more relaxed now. "Sure." She went to our new foster mother and took a stack of dishes from her. She held them so tight, her knuckles were white. I watched her set the stack on the table, and carefully set a plate at each place, chewing her lower lip. Her relaxed demeanor was gone. I could see the tension in her shoulders. These were nice dishes, and she was terrified that she would accidentally break one and get the snot beat out of her.

"Let me help you," I offered, feeling sorry for her. I took the dishes. There were a lot of them. I silently counted. One for me, Sophia, Lena, her partner, and... three more. So they had three kids. They probably weren't in the market for any more. I was sorting the silverware when the back door opened and closed.

"Hey, kids," Lena smiled. Two out of the three of the kids waved at her. They both had dark hair and eyes. They looked alike. Natural siblings, like me and Sophia. "I want you to meet our house guests. This is Callie, and Sophia. They're going to be staying with us for a while."

The girl studied me up and down, as if she didn't trust me.

Lena turned to us. "Girls, this is our son, Jesus, and our daughter, Mariana. They're fifteen."

Just then, another teenage boy came into the room. A cute teenage boy, with wavy brown hair and eyes the color of green sea glass. "This is our oldest, Brandon," Lena told us. "Callie, you and Brandon will be in the same grade at school, so he can show you around."

I nodded, a little sorry I swore off boys recently. "Cool."

"Who are they?" Brandon asked his mom.

"Callie and Sophia Jacob," Lena reminded him. "Bill brought them by today."

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "I forgot they were coming today." He reached across the table and served us each a piece of lasagna. I picked at the food, my stomach in knots.

"Jesus and Mariana were in the foster system too," Lena told us as she ate. "We formally adopted them about five years ago."

Sophia smiled, but her face looked sad. I looked down at my food, avoiding her eyes. "How old were you guys when you went into foster care?" she asked.

"Five," said Jesus, stuffing a hunk of garlic bread into his mouth.

Lena raised an eyebrow at him. "Please don't talk with your mouth full, buddy."

"Sorry," he mumbled, swallowing. "How about you guys?"

"I was six, and Callie was ten," she told him. "Hey... are you guys twins?"

Jesus nodded, then turned his attention to me. "What happened to your face?"

Lena shook her head. "Jesus, please. Let Callie eat without an interrogation."

"I got into a fight," I told him. My busted lip caused me to lisp slightly, and my stringy brown hair made a curtain around my face. I reached for my water glass and took a sip, hoping he would drop the subject.

"Did you win?"

"Uh, no, I didn't." My arm jerked, and the glass tipped over. Water puddled in the middle of the table, soaking the garlic bread. Lena jumped up immediately and grabbed a handful of napkins.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, angry at myself for screwing up when I had barely been in the house for an hour. My body tensed, and I waited for the slap I had coming to me. It never came.

"Don't worry about it, sweets," said Lena, giving me a look of sympathy. A mom look, I thought. "Accidents happen." She mopped up the spill and threw the napkins away.