Never feel alone

Chapter 20

warning- this chapter contains some coarse language and descriptions of abuse)

Callie

"That must be him," I said, as the doorbell rang. I'd called Ben the day before, and he agreed to come over the next day. And now, here he was.

"Isn't anyone going to answer?" Mariana asked. She groaned dramatically. "I see I'm gonna have to get it." She went to the door and opened it. Her eyes widened. Ben was still cute, athletic and dark-haired, with lightly tanned skin. When we went to school together, I had a hard time believing a guy like him could truly take an interest in me. But he did. We'd been paired for a science project, and from there, we became a couple. He was one of the only people who talked to me at my last school. I've always had a hard time making friends.

"I'm Mariana," Mariana smiled, flashing him a flirty grin. "You must be Ben." She jutted her hand out to shake his. He shook it politely, smiling back, then looked over her shoulder.

"Callie?"

"Hi," I said, blushing, giving a slight wave. "Come on in." I quickly introduced him to the family. "You already know Sophia. These are my foster moms, Stef and Lena, and their kids, Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana."

"Hey," he said, nodding. "It's great to meet you."

"You too, Ben," said Lena. "Any friend of Callie's is a friend of ours."

"Can we offer you something to drink?" Stef asked him. "How about some iced tea?"

"Sure," he nodded. "That sounds great. Thanks."

Stef winked at me, then went to the kitchen. When she returned with drinks, Ben and I took our glasses and wandered onto the porch. We sat down on the swing, sipping our drinks and rocking back and forth slowly. The chains creaked as the swing went back and forth.

"I'm really glad you came," I said quietly.

"Me too," he nodded. "I can't believe you found my note."

"Actually, Stef did," I told him. "But still, it's pretty cool."

He turned to me slightly, gripping his glass in both hands. "So they treat you okay? Your foster family?"

"Yeah," I nodded, without bothering to hide my smile. "This is definitely the best foster home we've ever had. Stef and Lena are so nice, and Stef is like my best friend." I paused. "I don't want to jinx it, but they're going to adopt us."

"That's awesome," he said. He drained his glass, then set it on the porch. "You seem much happier now than you were before." He gave me a searching look. "Callie, what happened in your last home? I mean, I know bits and pieces..."

"What do you know?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "That your foster dad was shot in the chest and died. The night we sneaked out."

I traced my initials on the condensation on my glass, nervously, before setting it down. "I'm not really allowed to talk about what happened right now." Stef had advised us not to talk to anyone about the case, unless their lawyer was present.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "There's some things going on. Legal things. Please, just trust me on this."

"Okay," he finally nodded. "I get it. I've just... been worried. That last week you were around, I kind of sensed you pulling away. Then that night, everything seemed good between us. Then, the next day, you disappeared."

I sucked in my breath, my chest tight with nerves. He was right about me pulling away. That last week, things at home had come to a head. Brian was getting drunk every day, taking every little thing out on me and my sister. It was all I could do to take care of Sophia and myself, let alone worry about my love life.