Lights Up

The Story of the Tucks

HAVE A DOUBLE UPDATE BECAUSE I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING MIA FOR A MONTH

Crutchie's POV

I'm going to pass out. I am GOING TO PASS OUT. The social worker is coming to check and make sure I'm not being neglected or whatever by Aunt Mae and Uncle Angus. Everything has been great since I moved in, and there's no reason why I would get moved again, but that doesn't mean I'm not FREAKING OUT. The problem is, I have a very bad habit of taking any situation and immediately expecting the worst possible outcome without any thought that something might actually work out for me for once! The social worker will be here any minute, so naturally Jesse, Uncle Angus, and I are playing video games.

"DAD, did you just hit me with a blue shell! I thought you loved me!"

Ah, Mario Kart. Ruining relationships of any kind since its creation. There's a knock on the door, and Aunt Mae opens it for the social worker just in time for him to hear Uncle Angus yell very loudly because Jesse beat him. Oops.

"Angus, the SOCIAL WORKER is here."

My uncle jumps up at that and goes to shake his hand immediately, looking embarrassed. I'm a little thrown off because this isn't Ms. Jordan, my social worker who's been there since the beginning. This is a man, for one, with brown hair. He looks really nervous to even be in the apartment, and he kind of reminds me of Professor Quirrell. Hopefully he doesn't have Voldemort on the back of his head. Oh, great. He's talking to me.

"You must be Charles. I'm Mr. Seabury."

"Nice to meet you. What happened to Ms. Jordan?"

"She left work for a bit to deal with a family emergency. I'm just taking her place until she gets back."

Great. Check one on the list of what could go wrong, my social worker's gone. I didn't even know that was on the list. Mr. Seabury turned back to Uncle Angus.

"So besides Charles, it's you, your wife, and your...two sons?"

"My eldest, Miles, is away at college. That's Jesse behind you there."

"Ah, yes."
There's a slightly awkward silence before Seabury clears his throat and continues.

"Well, I'll need to see some paperwork later, could you show me where Charles is staying?"

Aunt Mae leads him down the hallway towards my room.

"Right this way."

The whole group just shuffles awkwardly down the small hallway to my room. It's nothing special, really. Grey bedspread, a desk, a beanbag in one corner. There's a Hufflepuff poster on the wall, and Jack's hoodie (that I still haven't given back) is laying on the floor where I threw it after tech rehearsal yesterday. I probably should have cleaned up since I knew this was today, but I was too tired after yesterday. Then I got caught up in Mario Kart. My attention is drawn back to what's happening when Seabury turns to leave the room, seeming satisfied with what he saw. He took a quick walk around the rest of the house, then turned back to the rest of us. We were right there, cause we'd been following him around anxiously for the past twenty minutes.

"Everything looks good. If I could get the adults so we can go over some paperwork..."

He shot a look that screamed "get lost" at Jesse and I. Uncle Angus seemed to agree with him, though he was nicer about it.

"Why don't you boys go find something else to do while we look at paperwork. Jesse, don't you have homework still?"

Jesse DID have homework, so he went to his room to work on it. I was still anxious and needed to talk to someone, so I facetimed Jack. As it went to dial tone, I remembered that Jack's phone broke during rehearsal yesterday because he jumped off a table. It flew out of his pocket and halfway across the auditorium. So I called Dia, who picked up immediately.

"Hey, Crutchie, what's up?"

"There's...asocialworkerinmyapartmentandit'sgivingmeanxietyandIneededtotalktosomeoneandJack'sphoneisbroken."

She looked confused for a moment, probably because I'm talking in run-on sentences. Jeez, I sound like Race. And I didn't think that would ever happen.

"Did you say social worker? What's going on?"

Oh yeah. I called the one person who's not aware of the whole "I'm an orphan" situation. Nice going.
"It's a long story."

She set down her violin, which I didn't notice she was holding. She must have been practicing. Oops.

"I've got time."

"So, when I was eleven, my parents died. Car accident, completely out of nowhere, I was at Jack's house that day, so I wasn't involved. My only living relatives were my uncle, who was my mom's stepbrother, and my aunt. The thing is, there was a really big fight when I was eight, and my mom literally put in her will that she would rather me go into foster care than live with them, which I never understood. So I got put in foster care, bounced around homes for five or six years. Luckily, I had a really good social worker who somehow managed to get me placed within the same school district, so I got to stay with Jack and the rest. Anyways, my aunt and uncle were trying to get custody, and they finally got it a few months ago. So they moved here from New Hampshire, and I moved in. Well, part of them getting permanent custody is a social worker doing a check-in like three weeks after I move in, and that's today, and I'm freaking out."

Dia was silent through that whole rant. After I finished, she let me catch my breath before responding.

"From what I've heard, your aunt and uncle are great people, so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. And if they fought that hard to get you in the first place, they probably won't let you go too easily. So just relax, and let things happen."

She's good at that whole advice thing.

"Thanks, Dia. Sorry for interrupting your practice."

"No big deal. Here, you want to listen? It'll take your mind off everything and you can give me feedback on my solo."

"Sure, though remember, I probably have no idea what it's supposed to sound like."

"Gotcha."

She starts playing, and she's really good. Even though it's coming through the tiny phone speakers, I sit and listen to one of my best friends make music and try not to think about the possibility of leaving. After a while of talking and listening to her play, Dia hangs up. A few minutes later, Jesse practically breaks down my door.

"The social worker just left. You're staying!"
I'm staying.

1109 words