Figuring Out Foster

Chapter 12

Walking into detention, I noticed Foster had his head down on his usual desk and Mr. Fitz is already at the front of the room. Foster didn't look up when he heard me walk in and Mr. Fitz greeted me with a friendly smile. Even though I was late. To show him my gratitude of not getting me into more trouble, I smiled back then warily looked around the rest of the room and let out a huge sigh of relief. No Vincent. I guessed he only got a two-day detention for harassing me, in which I thought he deserved more time. But I was glad that he was done with detention. Since, then, detention would be one less place to worry about where Vincent was concerned.

I plopped down at my usual desk, and glanced over to see that Foster was fast asleep.

He was extremely pissed when Vincent angrily threw my bag, thinking that Vincent wouldn't hesitate about taking his angry out on me, not just my bag. Yet, I didn't agree and just rolled my eyes up at Foster before going over to help Jess from going into a full blown panic attack.

Although when I walked over, Michael was already calming her down. That day I learned she didn't like being yelled at. So I told them that Foster and I wouldn't hang around them at lunch until we get this Vincent thing solved.

With nothing else to do in detention, given you can't really do much, I watched Foster sleep.

As he slept, I noticed he was different. More childlike. His jaw, which is flexed at all times unless he is teasing me, was now relaxed. His eyes were shut concealing all the different expressions he can hold within one day. He had no care in the world while he slept, his past didn't matter, Vincent didn't matter and I didn't matter.

I wondered where he went to when he's dreaming, and just then, he sighed softly shifting his positioning.

I knew he was out of balance today because he didn't get any sleep at my house. It made me feel guilty for him staying with me, waking him up and making him talk to me so early in the morning.

"You can quit staring at me, Maggot." Foster's eye opened suddenly, completely catching me off guard but he didn't say anything more as he faced away from me to fall asleep once more.

For a beat, I sat there being stunned over the fact I got caught observing him. God, I was such a freak.

To hide my embarrassment, I leaned over my desk. With one quick look at Foster's back, I waited for detention to be over without another word, allowing Foster some peace and quiet to sleep.

When Mr. Fitz announced that detention was finished, I looked toward Foster and realized he's too far gone to hear that we were no longer being held against our will.

Standing, I pulled my tote bag over my shoulder and walked to Foster's desk, and gave Mr. Fitz a look stating that I would handle him. Mr. Fitz smiled to me in thank you, and demanded for me to have a good rest of the day, before leaving the room.

Once I heard the door shut softly behind him, I quietly ask Foster to wake up. No response. So next, I poke him. Still nothing.

Sighing, I sat in the desk chair in front of him and decided to wait for him to wake himself up. He was probably extremely tired.

To cure me of boredom, I texted Cassie but don't get a response. She might be working or with a guy, right now. After about five minutes, I figured she wasn't going to text back anytime soon. I put my cellphone back into my bag before turning around in the desk to glance at Foster.

Still asleep.

More time goes by and he hasn't moved or even shown that he was going to wake up anytime soon.

Tired of waiting, I slammed the tip of my shoe into the leg of Foster's desk. To which he automatically lifted his head but upon noticing that I was the one that woke him, he frowned. He unhappily looked at my smiling face.