"Are you ready for this? I know you're scared, but this won't last long," Helio tells me as we pull up to the place which is only a eight minute drive from his place.
"I'm kind of ready. I met my roommate today and she seemed okay," I reply looking at the house.
"I'll walk you in and maybe I can help you unpack. I know you probably want to get rid of me, but I'm not prepared to leave you just yet." He jokes making us both laugh.
"I do, but maybe a couple minutes longer." I play along with his joke, even though I never want him to leave my side.
"Great! Let's meet these people." We walk up slowly, him holding my hand and I ring the doorbell.
"Coming!" An older lady shouts from inside.
"I got it!" A voice responds.
"Hi, I'm Luna. I'm supposed to be moving in." I explain to the girl who answers the door as I remove my hand from Helio's grip.
"Oh, I'll get Ms. Lilin. Wait, here." She disappears inside the house and I glance at Helio who is equally as nervous.
"Hello, I'm Ramona Lilin." Her smile is warm and comforting, calming me down.
"Hi, I'm Luna Westbrook which you already know. This is my friend, Helio Eastman." I introduce Helio as I shake hands with her.
"Hi, Helio." They shake hands and she steps aside afterwards to let us in.
"Izzy, can you get the other girls?" The girl from before nods then goes to get the other girls which only happens to be about five other girls, not including either of us.
"Hi." I smile at them when they all appear. Helio looks at me reassuringly.
"Introduce yourselves, girls." Ms. Lilin instructs.
"I'm Milly Aperns." A pale, blonde girl says with a shy smile.
"Oval Berris." An orange haired girl with pale skin states, shyly.
"I'm Jackie Munire." A tan, black haired girl says kindly.
"Hey, I'm Tess Sircy." A fair-skinned, red haired girl causally states.
"I'm Isadora Uline, but most people call me Izzy." The girl from before says. She doesn't have long hair, instead it's really short, but it looks good on her.
"And you already know me, Brielle Vulzini." Brielle grins widely, happy to see me again.
"It's lovely to meet all of you. This is my . . friend, Helio. He's been my support system lately." I point to Helio and he smiles then waves.
"Hello, I've never around this many nice females so I'm just gonna stand here . . awkwardly? Yes, awkwardly." His face turns red and I give him a slight shove.
"How about you stay for dinner? You should be here until Luna feels more comfortable." Ms. Lilin proposes with a small smirk.
"I can do that. I'll help out around the house, too!" He exclaims making me mentally facepalm.
"Great. Brielle, take them to Luna's new room so she can unpack."
"Will do."
Helio and I follow Brielle up the stairs and into the farthest room from the stairs. She shows me my side then leaves, the door staying slightly ajar. I look around and then sigh, not wanting this to be my new home. The girls may be nice, but I'm not ready for this.
I've never had to be in a group home like this before. I've been in at least four because of my inability to stay in an actual house for an extended period of time. I hated each one and they all bring back terrible memories, memories that I'd like to forget.
"So, how do you like it? I know it's not a futon in my living room, but it'll be fine." Helio tries to make me happy about it, but I just can't be happy.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way." I state, looking at Brielle's side of the room.
Brielle's side is painted purple with all the furnishings silver. Her bed is a cubby in the wall, but has cupboards under it which is similar to mine. There's built in shelves at the top of the cubby area. She has fairy lights hung on the wall with her pictures hanging from the lights. She has two big posters up, Glee and Pretty Little Liars. The small ones include two signed posters; a Ariana Grande and a Miley Cyrus poster then two unsigned ones, Shawn Mendes and a Zayn poster.
"I know, but you guys will get along just fine. It seems that she has a similar music taste as you."
"I know, but that doesn't mean much."
"Just wait. It'll feel like home in no time." He reassures me.
☼☾☼
"I made a house favorite, pizza and garlic bread. I know it's simple, but it's all homemade," Ms. Lilin explains as we all sit down.
"I love homemade food, especially pizza." I state.
"Wonderful!"
We start eating, with questions being thrown my way. I answer all of them simply, not wanting to give too much away. Helio joins the conversation every now and again, making jokes and being his normal, goofy self. The girls and Ms. Lilin seem to enjoy his presence which is a great thing for me. I also find out more about everyone, realizing that they've been here a while.
Tess was the first one here, she was only seven at the time. Her parents didn't want her anymore, saying how she was too much of a bother. That must of been a lie because they came back when she was twelve, but left her here after seeing how happy she was. Tess has been here for ten years and is currently in advanced classes. She's planning on leaving once she turns eighteen to become successful so that she can prove to her parents that she's just fine without them. I believe in her and I hope her parents regret their decision.
Milly came here when she was eight, being the second one. Her mother died in a car accident and her dad was never in the picture. Ms. Lilin took her in immediately and she's been here for eight years. Milly does homeschool because of the scar she has from the car accident, it covers most of her face and it makes her really insecure. I understand the insecurity, but she is still really beautiful.
Izzy came next, arriving here at age six. Her dad couldn't take care of her anymore because his cancer kept getting worse. He left her here, close to his death which happened only months later. She is only thirteen, being the youngest of all of us so she doesn't have any classes with us.
Oval came here at age ten and her story is similar to mine. Her mom abandoned her at eight after Oval's dad died, leaving her to their neighbor who barely took care of Oval. The neighbor used her to get money, the most money earned was with drugs and prostitution. Luckily, she was rescued at nine and ended up here only a week later on her tenth birthday. She's home schooled, too because she's scared easily, but she's fifteen so she has time to figure out her future.
Brielle showed up here at age thirteen, not knowing much about herself. Turns out, she was being heavily abused by her parents and she somehow escaped. Her parents were arrested and she stayed here, becoming a happier person. She wants to be a photographer just like me so I hope we'll get along.
Jackie was the last one before me, being fifteen when she arrived. She was homeless and was almost dead when she was found. Nobody knows why she was homeless, but nobody has asked because it could really damage her mental state. She turns eighteen in two weeks and has a plan to move to Paris or Rome to pursue fashion once she graduates. I honestly believe that she'll be very successful because the clothes Brielle and Milly are wearing were made by her and they look great.
"So, how was it? Be honest with me." Helio looks at me when we walk out to his car.
"Great, I think I'll really like it here." Even if I'll miss not having you close by, I add in my head.
