Eli Fletcher: The Mark Of The King

Chapter Seven: A Gift From My Dad Turns Me Invisible

Chapter Seven

A Gift From Dad Turns Me Invisible

The next few days show quite an improvement with Billy. He's quiet and leaves the kids alone for the most part. There were a couple times he looked like he wanted to do or say something but a quick glance from me kept his mouth shut. The best day of his life comes, though, when Miss O tells me that they have found a foster family to take me in.

"They don't know anything about your situation, but they seem like the kind of people who would be very accepting if they found out," Miss O says, when we enter her office.

Her voice seems far away to me. I sit there in a chair, feeling disconnected from the world around me. Her voice becomes muffled like I've been put inside a glass box. I hear something about Manitou Springs and that the family is younger, but already have two adopted kids. Anything outside of that is just noise that bounces around inside my brain. After a few minutes, Miss O tells me to go ahead and start packing.

I wander my way through the halls towards my room. Everything I see along the way brings back a memory of the past few weeks. Some of the artwork that was done with the younger kids is still up. It'd been a mess cleaning up after that, but it was so much fun helping Abby and some of the other kids cut out the pieces and paste them onto the sheets of construction paper. They had to create a picture of their favorite animal; Abby's beaver that looked more like a hippopotamus is on the far right window, next to Robbie's foxlike horse.

I'm going to miss this place. It's become home to me and I've never felt that before. Before I realized I have friends here, I hadn't cared whether I'd be adopted or not. In fact, leaving seemed better because at least then I knew someone wanted me.

Now, because of some stupid rule, I'm being taken away from my friends to go live with some family I don't know. I guess in reality I should be used to living with people I don't know, but this is different. I'm probably getting my own room, too. You'd think I'd be excited about that, but I'm not. I've been sharing a room with other kids my whole life; I wouldn't know what to do with my own room. And here's another problem: I'm not even meeting them first! I don't getting any say in this! If I'm going to trust some family to take care of me, shouldn't I at least get to meet them first? Shouldn't I get a chance to reject them?

So, I decide to do something I know is...well, dumb. I was told to pack up and that's just what I'll do; pack up and leave before they can ship me off somewhere and forget about me. If I can't be here to look out for the kids and protect them from Billy or whatever else might attack them, then I'll go somewhere they can't find me.

I pick up the pace and turn the corner to the hall of the older boys' dorm. As I do I run into someone and stumble to the floor in a tangle of limbs. I twist my head around, looking over my shoulder and see Fiona lying on the ground next to me with our legs tangled together.

"Fiona," I say surprised. "Are you okay?"

She looks a little hurt but she's smiling at me; she's always smiling.

"Yeah," she says. She looks like she's been crying, but I can tell it wasn't from running into me in the hallway.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"I'm fine," she says, standing up. She starts to leave, but I get up and grab her hand before she can go.

Her eyes move from hands too my eyes, shocked that I'm still holding on. I don't want her leaving without knowing that she's actually okay. I also don't want her to go because I'm not sure when I'll see her again.

"You've been crying," I say, finally letting go of her hand.

Tears are already filling up in her eyes again. This isn't exactly what I was hoping for. I just wanted to know she's okay, not for her to start crying again. But, something's different this time; I'm not scared of her crying anymore. I step towards Fiona and hug her. That's when the real waterworks start. Her head falls right into my shoulder, so her eyes are in a perfect place to dry themselves on my shirt. She hugs me so tight, I'm actually afraid she'll crack some ribs.