The Girl Who Was Adopted

Chapter 11 - I Need A Wingman

I was seated on the couch beside Sarah when my phone vibrated and I switched on the screen; it was a message from Tyler, nothing but the poop emoticon. I rolled my eyes before switching off the screen again. A moment later, another poop emoticon came through, and I shook my head as I put my phone back on the couch.

Sarah was watching re-runs of America's Next Top Model, and somehow, I had ended up watching with her. I wasn't sure what had brought me to the living room, but I sat in silence with her as some girl told a story about her life.

My phone began to ring and Tyler's picture popped up on my screen, I picked up my phone and walked into the kitchen for privacy. "Tyler."

"Ada, my dear." He sounded really happy, as though it was the best day of his life. I liked that he was happy. "Megan is having a party tonight, and we have to go."

"It's the middle of the week," I dead-panned. "I'm not going." It was a stupid idea, I had a curfew and the curfew was to be respected. I wasn't about to leave and disrespect Clare and Phil's rules for some stupid party.

I heard Clare enter into the living room, and I moved towards the kitchen door, hoping to lower the possibility of being overheard.

"It's not like you haven't snuck out before," he answered playfully. I hadn't sneaked out in a while, in the three weeks since I'd heard about the drug addict that was my real mum, I'd withdrawn from my friends a lot.

"I'm not doing it for something stupid like this," I answered. I didn't want to risk saying what Tyler actually wanted to do, in case someone overheard; which made the entire idea of the party so much less worth it. "You go, and you have fun."

Tyler sighed, "You don't understand, I need a wingman. I really need to hook up with Megan, and I've been trying for a few years; this is my last chance. Please?" I sighed, not wanting to give in on account of Tyler's hook up; there would be other opportunities. "I'll pick you up at ten thirty. See you then." He hung up and I rolled my eyes as I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

Great, now I had to go to some stupid party. I had enough homework to do, and I didn't even want to go.

Things had changed a lot in the past three weeks since Sarah had broken up with Hank; she spent a lot of time at the house with Clare, she'd given up most of her partying and spent her time with friends at school; the only times during the week that she wasn't home was when she was working and when she had cheer practice. Phil had started working more, coming home during dinner and heading into the study straight after, it made me glad that Clare had Sarah around for the evenings.

The most time Sarah and I spent together was when we were watching random girly shows on TV, but apparently Sarah really liked them. I spent more time trying to focus on my homework, but Tyler was trying to make that difficult, evidently.

I stepped towards the living room, about to enter, when I heard Clare crying. "I miss Becca, too," I could hear her heart breaking as she spoke. "She would have achieved so much already."

"She'd be in her last year of college," Sarah sighed, and I could hear from her voice that she was crying. "She and Cameron would be engaged, probably ready to get married in the summer. She would have had a job waiting for her as soon as she finished..." More heart-breaking tears.

"I know, honey, it's hard." I could tell that Clare had stopped crying. I froze before turning up the stairs. I didn't want to be here, I didn't belong. The front door opened as Phil returned from work and I took the stairs three at a time. I needed to get away.

Clare and Sarah probably greeted Phil with a hug as they cried and he held them together. I didn't belong.

I stepped into the bathroom and threw up. I didn't want to be here, I needed to get away. In this house, despite all the efforts made, I still remained nothing more than an outcast and I doubted that it would change at any time.