Moving Forward

A Helping Hand

Shan's POV

"Have you decided what you wanted to do yet?" I asked Nathan after the meeting.

"I don't want to leave my home," he was honest. "How do I stay there without having to worry about the state grabbing me?"

"We have a free range member that recently lost her husband and she is lonely. She works as the Entertainment Director at our local retirement home and they had no children, she is looking for a housemate. One who loves to eat, who picks up after themselves and they must love scary movies. She can go without the first two, but not the last. She has to have her movies, the scarier the better."

"Can I meet her first and would she mind that she would live at my house?"

"Yes you can and I don't think she will mind." I replied. I really liked this kid, he reminded me so much of myself at that age. I had something back then that he does not have I had security. When Sven and Colt dragged us home with them, Rolf and Bjorn became our foster family. They would have adopted us, but our parents never signed the release papers so they couldn't. It did not matter in the end; they never made us feel that we were not a part of the family. It was the same for Colt and his mother. I wanted the same for Nathan and I think he will find it with Matilda. "I will take you to meet her tomorrow after school."

Colt's POV

"We should have computers like these at Headquarters," I tell Sven as we go through the information that Raschel's computers have gathered. "They are better at searches than the laptops."

"You talk to Chel about it; I like my head where it is. She still has not gotten over you accidently killing The Hulk and Captain America."

"I did not kill them," I said through gritted teeth.

"You fried them, same thing." He smirked.

"It is a sad world when a fifteen-year-old girl can hold us hostage over a computer," I grumble.

"All you have to do is spend some time with her," Sven snorted. "She may be growing up, but she is still the little girl inside who wanted to die just to escape the pain. To her, the greatest gift you can give is your time. Let her teach you how to build the computer you want, take her to find the best pizza in all of Boston. Just do something with her that you both will enjoy. Once she is assured that her Uncle Colt still loves her, she will be happy to help him out."

"Pizza it is," I chuckle. I knew Sven was right, we had become her lifeline and she was not ready to let go of us yet. I should have known better, that girl stuck like glue. She was never going to release us from her heart.

Unknown POV

I could already tell that classes at Ashley Waters were going to suck. Maybe I should not have taken the AP classes; schoolwork had never been my strong point. I really did not have a choice. I have come this far, I could not turn back now. 'It will be all right' I assured myself silently. 'Just stick to the plan and control your temper, it will work.'

I knew I could do this as long as I controlled my weaknesses. That meant biting my tongue instead of letting it shred whatever moron got in my way. I needed to stay away from hot guys, do my homework, avoid making friends and not let anyone find out where I was living. Piece of Cake, I just needed to keep reminding myself of the end goal. I counted my remaining money and set fifty aside to get some different clothes. I would need to go the thrift stores and maybe GoodWill; they would be apt to have the styles I needed. I needed drab colored skirts and blouses, longer than I normally wore and maybe a bit looser. Clothing that would make people look past me as we sat in class or passed in the hallway. I needed to become one of the invisible, one of the kids everyone ignores.

The thrift store was only a few blocks from where I was staying and an old woman with thick glasses was tending the shop. I looked through the blouses and found four that would work; I reluctantly added three skirts, two pairs of ugly shorts and a couple baggy t-shirts. I threw in a pair of loose jeans, the kind nerds wore. Then went in search of a school bag and some sandals, the old woman rung me up without a word and did not even thank me for coming to her shop. I bridled my tongue as I left, not used to being ignored. The Dollar store was next, I needed school supplies, something I should have gotten a few days ago.

I wanted to scream and throw things. I hated what she had reduced me to, that she took everything from me and forced me to live this way. I should be a normal teenage girl, going on dates, wearing pretty clothes and having a ton of friends. Instead, I live in the shadows and attend this crappy school.