INFINITE (Eminem Fan Fiction)

Chapter 18: Yellow Brick Road

Chapter 18: Yellow Brick Road

Fifteen Years Ago...

She hadn't even bothered unpacking this time. With the two tiny cardboard boxes that held her entire life, it was easier to leave them in the corner of the room than take everything out, only to repack in a month or two. They'd started collecting a layer of dust on the worn out tape. One of them even had a corner ripped off. But that's what happened when you overused them. She couldn't count the amount of times she'd packed, unpacked, repacked, untapped, taped shut, day in day out. She was surprised the boxes were still holding together.

She couldn't believe how some kids her age actually got excited about moving. It was nothing but a pain. It meant new city, new school, new house, new friends, new enemies and in her case... a new 'family'. The years were starting to blur together. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't recall every foster parent. Sometimes she'd move as much as once a month... the instability was a charmer.

Standing up from the old creaky bed, Riley tried to ignore the squealing floorboards as she crossed the room to the calendar that hung on the wall: the only personal item she'd actually had to courage to pull out. She knew today was the anniversary. But deep in her heart she just wanted to see that red circle around the thirteenth of August. It'd been a Friday when the accident happened. Friday the Thirtieth. The irony nearly killed her... but unfortunately... she wasn't the one that was taken away.

Closing her eyes, she had to take the calendar down, because all she could see was that damn red circle. Why she continued to torture herself like this, she didn't know. She'd hoped she'd be moving to a nicer city, a better place: somewhere the grass was green and children played in the streets. But when she found out her new foster home was in Detroit, she knew her dreams were about as far from reality as possible. She wasn't one to judge, but she'd never heard good things about the city.

Collapsing back onto the bed, the metal squealing and groaning from the weight of the mattress, she tried not to think about what school would be like. It was always the same and she never fit in. At first glance she was pretty but once they realized she was a foster kid, it was all over. And it was hard to ignore the fact that she had three sets of clothes, none of which were particular new. She had everything from ripped pockets to missing buttons. And nobody wanted to hang out with a kid who was on the lunch list.

She could hear the commotion downstairs. It was one of the bigger homes she'd stayed in. These foster parents had nine other children. The chances of her being moved were high with such large numbers. And she didn't make friends easily to help secure her position here. Grabbing her tattered backpack, her only notebook and pen in there, and wandered downstairs. The other kids all seemed to be close-knit and unwelcoming. Surprising coming from foster kids. You'd think she wouldn't be the only one who felt like this.

The morning passed by in a blur. It was all the same. Nothing had meaning or purpose anymore. She'd reached the point where she just didn't care anymore. Life wasn't worth the effort or the consideration. Even walking to school in the new neighborhood wasn't worth any excitement. It was damn cold here and she'd just hung back, following the other kids. Fortunately, New Osborn Middle School was only two blocks from her new place.

Her new foster parents had given her a letter with her timetable and locker number so she found her way pretty easy. Luckily she hadn't been given much trouble apart from some awful stares. Riley shoved her tattered bag into the locker, now empty as she clutched onto the worn out notebook. She heard yelling and glanced up over the top of the locked door, almost hiding behind it, she was so small.

Her eyes fell upon three big boys, which looked easily like sophomores, crowded around a boy, which looked her age. He was pale white with a huge brown mop of hair and big ears and teeth. Although he had a scrawny figure, he had a hard stare plastered across his face, like he wasn't taking shit from anyone today.