Chapter 12

I wrote this whole thing on notebook paper during the winter retreat with the youth group!

12

"So...do anything interesting at school today?" Blake said as he picked hungrily at his dinner.
Jenn took a sip of milk.
"Jenn?"
She gulped quickly and pointedly took a bite of lasagna. Then, motioning at her outh, mumbled, "Mouf fuh..."
"Seth?" he asked, dissapointed.
Seth wiped his mouth and set his napkid down on the tablecloth. "Uh...self-portraits...in...art?"
Sasha nodded her head."Fun,fun."
Seth shrugged.
"Seth has Science with Sam," Jenn said. "She's pretty psyched."
Seth dipped an eyebrow. "She talks a lot," he mumbled.
Sahsa smiled knowingly. Jenn just looked at him.
"Don't get me wrong, she's bery nice," he added quickly.
Jenn grinned and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
The table was silent for a uncomforable minute.
"May I have more lasanga?" Blake held his plate out to his wife.
"She took it from his hands. "sure."
"So, Seth, do you have any hobbies?" Blake asked, taking a big forkful.
Seth shrugged. "Guitar."
"Oh! Okay, that's cool," Blake said, "What songs?"
Seth tapped his long, pale fingers on the table. "I figure them out as I go."
Jenn suddenly got this "epiphany" look on her face. "So you play by ear?" she asked.
Seth nodded. "You're brilliant>"
She smirked.
Sasha spoke up. "Would you be willing to play for us?"
Seth frowned. "Uh...no."
Jenn pouted and Blake busily cut his food. "Please?" Jenn begged.
Seth shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable playing in front of people."
Sasha pursed her lips. "I know how that feels. I used to play the flute and was so embarrassed playing in front of groups."
One of Seth's dark eyebrows was down. "Yeah..."
"You can play for us when you're ready," Blake added.

* * *

"Hey, Seth!" Flashman called, motioning with his hand for Seth to join him in the computer lab at school. "Let me show you how to hack a computer's hard drive."

It was access period, and they had time to finish homework and projects.

Seth, of course, had nothing to wok on, because he'd only started school the day before. So he warily walked over to Flashman and pulled up a chair from the neighboring computer monitor.

"So, okay, first I need to check my blog real quick..." Flashman started, clicking open the Internet icon.

Seth frowned. "What's a blog?" he asked.

"Random text and crap I decide to share with the world," Flashman said plainly, his eyes never leaving the screen.

The Internet window opened and Flashman typed in the address. A screen popped up and the title "FLASHMAN!!" became visible against the dark blue background. The caption read "Providing hacks at ALL hours."

A teacher walked up behind them and gripped the back of Seth's chair.

"Doing homework, boys?" she asked.

Flashman tensed. "Yeah...I'm doing a report on basic computer DNA," he said unconvincingly.

"Sure," the teacher said. "And you're getting off now."

Seth's eyebrows drew together."He's just doing a project, come on."

She looked at him like he was crazy and walked away.

"Thanks, dude," Flashman said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"No prob."

"So first, you --"

"Look, I have some makeup homework to do," a lie, "so I'll see you later."

Flashman paused and frowned. "Oh. Well, uh, okay."

"See you later," Seth muttered and walked out of the lab.

The hallway was empty and had an almost ominous feeling to it.

Seth sat next to a wall and put his face in his hands.

Half of Chapter 11

“Who was that?” Blake asked, holding the door open for Seth.
Sasha looked a little shaken. “I don’t know.”
Jenn walked into the room and saw everyone a little freaked out. “Uh…is everyone okay?” her eyes met Seth’s.
One of his eyebrows dipped. “Yeah, some strange guy just came and verbally assaulted your mom,” he said, shaking his head. “No big deal.”
Blake gripped Seth’s shoulder. “Uh…Saush, what’s for dinner?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.
Seth tensed and held Jenn’s gaze. “Who was that?” Jenn asked Sasha.
Sasha looked at Seth uneasily. “Um…it was someone who said he worked for Seth’s dad.”
Seth frowned. “Wait, where does he work?”
“He didn’t say.”
Blake rocked back and forth on his feet. “Can…can we discuss this over dinner? I’m bushed.”
They all looked at him. His blue eyes were wide and scared. “Okay,” Sasha said. “I made some lasagna and it’s in the oven. It’s not quite ready,” she looked at Blake. “Can I talk to you in private?”
Seth and Jenn exchanged glances. “Sure,” Blake said.
The kids were left in the living room alone as Jenn’s parents walked down the hallway towards the family room.
Seth shifted his feet. “I thought he was dead,” he said, sounding disappointed, going over to the stairs to put his new clothes in ‘his room’.
Jenn followed. “Why did you think that?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Well, for one, he left seven years ago and didn’t come back,” he said, stopping at the top of the stairs and waiting for Jenn. “Two, he never sent us letters or anything. We never heard from him.”
Jenn stopped and stood by him at the top.
Seth was a good four inches taller than her, and her eyes were about level to his chin. Jenn looked up at his dark face and he peered down at her through a few strands of his black hair.
“When’s your birthday?” she asked suddenly, eyes questioning.
His chin moved back a half inch in surprise. “What?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “When is your birthday?”
One of his eyebrows dipped. “November eleventh,” he said. “Uh…yours?”
“January fifteenth,” her brow furrowed and she was silent for a minute. “What year?” she asked.
“Ninety-three,” he said. “Why?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You’re older than me.”
Seth laughed, his face breaking it’s normal impassive state. “Of all the things you could worry about, it’s me being older,” he chuckled.
Jenn rolled her eyes. “How old were you when your dad left?” she continued.
He stopped laughing and just looked at her. “Six.”
“Huh,” Jenn concluded.
She didn’t say any more about the subject. Seth held his bag a little higher. “I’ve got to go put these away,” he started walking towards his room, Jenn following.
“So,” she persisted, “that would give your dad plenty of time to…I dunno…like, start things over, you know? Like maybe you have half siblings in Britain, or something, and your dad mentioned you, and they decided they wanted to meet you.”
They got to his door and he turned the handle and stopped. “What are you getting at?” he asked, a little irritated.
She shrugged. “I dunno, I thought that maybe you have a better life outside all of this. Like, maybe you really do have somewhere to go. Maybe your dad wants you back.”
Seth opened the door and walked to ‘his’ dresser. “I don’t think so. I mean, you don’t just show up after seven years and demand custody of your kid that you don’t really know.”
Jenn sat on his bed and fingered his guitar. “Maybe you do.”
He frowned and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. “Are you trying to get rid of me or something?” he questioned.
She looked up and smiled at him. “No,” she said, “I'm just giving you hope.”
Seth scowled. “Hope?”
“Yeah. Someone obviously wants you, and I think you should try and find them.”

Chapter 10

The shopping trip didn’t turn out to be so ‘fun’. Blake tried to convince Seth to try on a bunch of lighter colored clothes, but Seth wouldn’t have them. Then he tried to buy him a new jacket, and that didn’t go over so well. He tried to get him to buy a newer, Cherokee brand coat.
Seth refused.
They ended up with two pairs of black jeans, one pair of dark blue ones, and four black shirts. Blake paid for these and they both walked out to the BMW. “Don't you ever talk?” Blake asked.
Seth shook his head as he pulled the handle of the door and got into the front seat. Blake put his keys into the ignition. The car vibrated lightly, but otherwise made no indication it had started until it pulled out of the parking spot. Seth fingered a loose black thread on his old coat. “Where did you get that?” Blake asked, mentally noting it’s wear and tear.
“It was my dad’s,” Seth said quietly.
Silence.
It started to rain lightly and Seth watched the raindrops break on the windshield before being wiped away by the squeegees that swung back and forth across the glass. The even tempo of the light precipitation soothed his mind and he started tapping his fingers to a nameless beat as they rolled on out of the parking lot. “Do you ever hear from him?” Blake asked. “Your dad.”
Seth shook his head again. “He left a long time ago.”
They stopped at a red light about a mile from the Langley’s house. Blake opened his mouth again. “Do you hear from your mother?”
“No.”
The light turned green and the car surged into motion. “That's sad. You must be lonely,” Blake alleged.
Seth shifted in the gray leather seat uncomfortably. Blake noticed this, and dropped the question like the rain that fell from the dark clouds above them. He changed the subject. “How was school today?”
Seth drew his coat higher up his neck. “Fine,” he said, sounding a bit muddled and irritated.
The house came into view.
There was a man in a dark coat at the door arguing with Sasha. Blake and Seth opened their car doors and hopped out, Seth grabbing the bag with his clothes.
“–have no right to keep him here,” the man was saying in a low, angry voice, almost muffled by the rain.
The next bit was harder to make out, and then he turned and stalked off towards a old, rusted truck that was parked by the walk. His head turned and he met Seth’s gaze momentarily before climbing into the truck.
Something inside Seth froze, his gut turned to ice.
Where did he know that man from?
“Seth? Is that you? And Blake?” Sasha’s shrill voice broke through his confusion. “Come in here and get out of the rain.”
Seth didn’t move.
“Seth?”
The truck roared to life, and drove away.

Chapter 9

First of all, you guys had better comment or else i'm not posting any more. Thanks!

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“Hey guys, how was school?” Sasha asked as Seth and Jenn piled into the car.
“Fine,” Jenn sang.
Seth slammed the door loudly. “Seth? How’d it go for you?” Sasha asked him wth a concerned expression.
He exhaled. “Great,” he lied through his teeth; he already hated school. This was the one place that he could ever hear the lights without straining his ears.
In fact, almost everything about it was irritating to him. Mostly, it was really loud. His sensitive ears picked up every noise happening. There were footsteps everywhere. The lights burned his eyes and the sound made his mind foggy. The teachers were too loud and you could hear people chomping on their gum like a cow chews its cud.
He pulled his black backpack over his legs and leaned against the door with his shoulder. He sighed inwardly. “Was someone giving him a hard time?” he barely heard Sasha ask Jenn. Her jacket rustled as she shook her head.
The car started and the world whirred into motion.
Seth said nothing and watched the road go by through a few strands of his dark hair.
“Hey, Seth, Flashman said that you had art with him,” Jenn said, reaching across the seat to poke his backpack with one finger then sitting back.
He broke his concentration on the road and looked at her with a purposeful bored look. “Yep,” he said the one word quickly.
Jenn nodded once.
“You guys have a lot of homework?” asked Sasha.
“No,” Jenn answered for the both of them.
“Oh, because Blake wanted to take Seth shopping for some new clothes. I can take you with me, Jenn, and we can go get ice cream or something.”
Seth frowned. “I’ve got clothes,” he said seriously.
“I know, but you look like you’re growing out of them,” Sasha watched him momentarily from the rear-view mirror. “You really need a new coat.”
This angered him. “What’s wrong with my coat? ”
Sasha bit her lip. “It’s a little…” she trailed off.
“Ghetto?” Seth provided.
“No!” Sasha exclaimed, one hand flying off the wheel and coming back to rest on the black leather again. “No! That wasn’t what I was going to say! I was going to say ‘old’. They’re a little worn.”
Of course it was, it had been his dad’s, seven years ago. He remembered his father wearing it at the dinner table, the dark fabric blending into him, becoming him. Seth had looked up to his father, and when he left when Seth was seven, it had killed him. He saw that his father didn’t care for him the same way that he cared for the dark young man.
But he left The Coat.
Seth glared. “My coat is fine,” he said, finishing the discussion.

There were only clips of things that Seth remembered about his father. He remembered his mother telling him that he looked just like him. Same eyes, same hair, same fair skin. His mother told him he had his father’s strong hands.
His father never yelled at the children. Never talked to them either. He showed no interest in Violet, his daughter. Seth was of more importance to him, and so occasionally, he would get a few dollars to go spend on himself.
Seth had been a good boy, and he never used the money for himself. He gave it to his mother for groceries or something.
Mom never had any money. It was Daddy who had all the cash. Dad gambled. Dad won.
His father drank a lot. He also fought with his wife a lot, and hit her.
Seth always thought that his father was disappointed that he had been born. That both his children had. He didn’t think that his father found it convenient to have children to have to return to. Seth’s mother was demanding, and bitter. Seth didn’t like her either, and wondered what his father had thought about him when he first met her.
Secretly, Seth really believed that he was an accident. Nobody had ever really wanted him anyway, except Violet, but she had been less wanted that him. She was an accident too.

Part TWO of Chapter Eight!

“Are you lost?” Flashman’s voice broke through Seth’s silent panic.
He looked up. Yes. “No,” he clamied.
But he really was. He was confused at the whole structure of the building; it all looked alike. One pod was just like the other. The Language Arts room was always beside the Social Studies room, which was across from the Math room, which was always beside the Health room, which was always vertical from the Science room. In. Every. Pod.
Well, no, except for the one pod that was above the Gym, and the Band room, across from the stage. And, except for the library, above the front office and entryway.
Flashman took Seth’s schedule away from him and looked at it. “Oh, the Art room’s behind the stage on the second floor. Yours is the one on the right, 2D. 3D is on the left,” he smiled helpfully.
But Seth didn’t find it all that encouraging. He was still lost. Where were the stairs, again?
“How ‘bout I walk you?” Flashman offered. “That’s my next class, too.”
Great. “Cool,” Seth managed.
Flashman lead the way up a set of back stairs in a seventh grade pod. Then they took a left down a hallway, and took the second door on the same side.
“New student!” Flashman called, moving a girl much shorter than him out of his way. “Make room!”
They moved to a table in back with four stools, all vacant. “Nobody sits here. Or there, or there,” he said, motioning with a long hand. “I gotta grab my project, so…just sit somewhere.”
Seth sat.
Class started a minute later, after Flashman had sat down a couple stools away from him. An artsy looking teacher with black glasses, looking very ‘Tina Fey’ waltzed freely through the class door fluidly. “Good morning, class,” she sang. “Today we will continue working on our self portraits.”
Flashman raised his hand. “Ms. Teacher, we have a new student.”
“Flashman! Way in the back – Good morning to you,” she said, acknowledging his presence. “Yeah, um, Seth, was it?”
Flashman smiled. “That’s the kid,” he laughed once, hitting Seth on the back lightly.
The teacher walked down the isle between the rows of tables. Kids were working diligently and monotonous. The teacher had a clipboard in her hand and looked as if she was taking roll. She flipped the page on front over the clip, and appeared to search the content of it. “Ah, here we are, Seth Shepherds?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Seth answered, inwardly rolling his eyes. That would be, what? The sixth time today?
The teacher smiled and held out her hand to shake. He took it. “Seth, then. I’m Ms. Colfer. Have you ever taken an art class before, Seth?”
“Yeah…at my old elementary school,” his tried to smile, and failed.
Ms. Colfer withdrew her hand. “Okay, I’m just going to start you off with drawing yourself. I have mirror over here that you can use. Do you think you can do that?”
Seth shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose.”
“You suppose,” Ms. Colfer echoed walking over to another table and grabbing supplies for him. “You don’t know. Oh! The sadness! The horror! You poor, pathetic young man!”
She dropped the stuff on his workspace. “There you go, Mr. Shepherds.”
“Drama queen,” Flashman muttered.

Half of Chapter 8

8.

Lunch was crowded. There were people at every table, and were no empty spots, so Seth observed. It was a large room, and sound echoed even though there were blocks to prevent that sort of thing.
He went through the lunch line, and paid for a sandwich and milk with the money Sasha had given him that morning.
When he was out, he looked around for Jenn. Maybe she was around somewhere, saving him a spot with her friends. When he didn’t see her, his energy dropped. He wandered aimlessly around the cafeteria hoping he’d see her. Then, “Seth!”
He turned to see Sam and Jenn sitting at a table with a bunch of other kids that he didn’t know. “Hey,” he said.
Jenn scooted over on the bench and patted the seat next to her. “You can sit here,” she said.
He sat where he was told, and conversation started up again. “Is the science test hard?” a boy asked.
Another guy spoke up, “Not if you know the patterns in the Periodic Table. Like, um, atomic number, mass, and a ton of crap like that,” he said, and then pointed at Seth. “Who’s he?” he asked. “Jenn, is he another one of your ‘friends’?”
She looked hard at the boy. “Really, Flashman?” she said sternly.
The kid watched her for a second, and then his eyebrows went up and his mouth opened.
“Oh! Right, right, right,” the boy, Flashman, said, nodding. He was tall, maybe five-foot-five, five-foot-seven, or so, and had big brown eyes behind thick designer glasses. He wore a nice brand of sweater-vest with a collared shirt. His brown hair was cut evenly around his face, skater-style, and brushed to the side.
Jenn took a bite of her pizza. “This nut-ball’s Alex Flashman,” she pointed to the glasses-kid, addressing Seth, then to the other boy who’d asked the original question, “And that’s Chase Witthers. Flashman’s our best computer hack, and Chase provides funds.”
Seth watched her warily behind his dark hair. He spoke quietly, “For what?”
Chase spoke up, “Different things.”
“Revenge, getting even with teachers…,” Flashman counted off his fingers. “Grading systems…”
Jenn laughed once, elbowing Sam. Seth stayed silent as he chewed his sandwich.
“Attention, Eighth Graders!” someone on the mike up front fumed.
“Oh, God, here we go,” Flashman groaned, leaning back on the bench.
“Would you please check the lost and found for any lost items? We are donating all clothing items left over the weekend. I repeat. We are donating all the clothing items left over the weekend. Thank you.”
Everyone exchanged looks until Chase finally broke the silence and laughed. Then the bell rang.

...after much consiteration, i decided to make a second half to chapter 7...so...here it is!

Third period was science. Seth scanned the room, looking for an empty seat. There were four rows of three tables that fit two people. Way in the back, there was an empty seat next to Sam. He reluctantly walked over to it, and sat down without saying a word.
“Hi!” Sam said, chipper as always.
Seth held her gaze for a moment, the looked away to another direction, hand under his chin, observing all aspects of the room.
It was cold, he decided, but non-threatening. The school was well funded, and there were all kinds of objects that would not have been found at the school he went to downtown.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Sam said. “I think Jenn told me, but I forgot.”
He sighed and turned his head. “It’s Seth,” he said, and held out his hand.
Sam looked at it like fish bait. Didn’t people shake hands here? “I’m Sam,” she said.
He nodded, pulling his hand back, feeling stupid not knowing how people acted.
They sat in silence for a minute before Sam summoned up the courage to speak again.
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Fourteen,” he answered automatically and immediately.
More silence. The teacher walked in and started writing something on the old-fashioned chalk-board in front. He watched, and his gaze flickered to the mirror that was secured to the ceiling above the teacher’s black desk. It looked that it could pivot so the students could see what the teacher was doing on his or her desk, similar to an overhead projector.
He shrank back into his chair, slouching, and his jaw touched the collar of his jacket.
“How long are you staying with Jenn’s family?” Sam asked, shifting in her own black plastic seat.
Seth peered at her through the dark strands of his hair that covered his face.
Sam shut up.
“Class!” the teacher barked from the front of the room; a man, shorter than average. Brown suit and green tie, black leather shoes that nocked on the tile floor of the room as he walked, piercing green eyes and dark brown hair, and goatee around his mouth. “We have a new student today. Seth Shepherds. Stand, would you please, sir?”
Seth remained in his seat, slouched, where he was.
“Mr. Shepherds?”
Seth said nothing.
“Right then,” the teacher said.
The teacher walked back to his desk and moved a red foam apple into alignment with the other things in his space. He straightened a pen and a pencil so they were perfect where they were, and made a short hm! noise, as if intensely satisfied with himself.
The class stayed silent.
“I am Mr. Geer,” he said loudly, eyes fixated on his desk.
The class remained quiet.
Mr. Geer walked around his it, his feet making the nock, nock, nock sound as he walked. He sneezed, and then sniffed. “I have a passion for science,” he said, speaking widely with his hands. “I could be teaching high school students, or even in universities,” Mr. Geer stopped for a dramatic effect, “But,” he continued, “I,” he walked down the isle between science tables, taking a step with every word, “Teach. You.”
He continued walking around the room. Nock, nock, nock…and then he stopped – right in front of Seth.
Nock.
“Have you got that, Mr. Shepherds?”
Seth held the man’s gaze for a minute before seriously answering, “Yes, sir,” to the horrible little man.
“Good man!” Mr. Geer said, his eyebrows drawing together. He addressed the class, “Everyone get out your Science spirals as we continue our lesson on atoms. You see, atoms–” he trailed off talking, his hands gesturing wildly as if trying to communicate the deaf.
He started drawing something on the chalk board. “Copy this down, boys and girls.”
Sam tore out a sheet of paper for Seth and handed it to him, and he joined everyone duplicating the model onto their papers. “He’s not very nice,” she muttered knowingly out of the side of her mouth.
Seth exhaled a single short laugh.
“Ms. Kyoko,” Mr. Geer warned, half turning around. “Mr. Shepherds is busy, and so should you be.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed, and she continued writing out the notes on the board.

Chapter 7 (slightly revised, so re-read it anyway!)

The next morning, Seth was woken up rudely at five thirty. It had been so quite, peaceful, dark, and warm.
Then, “Hey, wake up! School!” Jenn was on top of him, shining a light into his dark eyes.
He squinted and groaned. “Get off me,” he said.
Jenn shook him. “No, get up.”
He sat up. “I said. Get. Off. Me,” he growled, sitting up.
Jenn rolled off the bed and onto her feet. She was already dressed and ready to go. “Sheesh, grouchy much?”
She shut the light off and went over to the door. “Okay, but make sure you’re all ready to leave the house and not be hungry until,” she checked her watch, “Six thirty.”
He rubbed his face and shook his hair. “’Kay.”
As she left, she flicked on the light switch. Seth dropped and covered his eyes. “Aah!”
He heard a low chuckle in the hallway.
He groaned again and got out of ‘his’ bed. He opened ‘his’ dresser and pulled out one of his black t-shirts and a dark pair of jeans.
When he’d changed, he walked into the bathroom to fix his severe bed-head.

“Ready for your first day?” Sasha asked from the front seat of the car.
Jenn was literally bouncing in her seat.
Seth wasn’t interested.
“Seth?” she asked, flicking the left signal up quickly with her finger and turning left.
A nice looking school came into view. Ivy covered the outside bricks and a black wrought-iron fence lined the yard. The sky was a blanket of gray watercolor.
And it was raining again.
He took a deep breath and gave her another one-word answer, “Sure.”
He shifted his black backpack on his shoulder, where the straps felt like plastic fabric. The binder inside was heavy with new supplies. He wore his black jacket with the high collar that went halfway up to his neck. It was really warm, and water tight. He looked over at Jenn. She was sitting on the other side of the car listening to her new iPod. She had a dark blue t-shirt on with a black cami and light jeans. On her feet were brown and light green skate shoes.
He shook his head, black hair falling into his face again and making his nose itch.
“Okay, guys, see you later,” Sasha pulled the car up to the sidewalk where other children were unloading.
Jenn opened her door, and set one foot out onto the damp sidewalk and got out. “’Cmon, Seth,” she added, holding the door open for him.
He gave a low growl and made his way to the door. He immediately knew that he was one of the only new kids because heads swiveled his way.
Yeah, pick on the figure in black, he thought angrily.
The door of the car slammed, and the BMW drove away. And he was on his own with Jenn.
Which was, technically, alone.
Footsteps were everywhere. “Jenn!” someone behind them called.
An Asian girl ran towards them and tackle-hugged Jenn. “Hey! How was your weekend? Did you get him yet? Is he cute? Is –”
Jenn clamped a hand over the girl’s mouth. “Shut up!” she hissed. “I missed you too.”
Then the girl caught sight of Seth. “Ooh, Jenn,” she giggled.
Jenn pulled away from the girl, still holding her shoulder with one hand. “This is Seth,” Jenn said. “Seth, this is Sam.”
The girl, Sam, giggled again. “Hi,” she grinned, and gave a small wave.
He nodded once.
She swiveled back to Jenn, “OhmyGod he’s cute,” she squealed before Jenn covered her mouth again.
“Shh-shh-shh!” she giggled.
Then a bus pulled up and unloaded, and Seth lost sight of the girls. Someone bigger than him shoved him and yelled, “Move it, freak!” and swore at him.
Seth staggered back a few steps and into a few more kids. Now he was feeling even more lost.
One side of his mouth drooped.
This could be a long day.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, CHAPTER SIX!!! CHAPTER SIX!! Oh, oh, oh, oh...

When they arrived home, dinner was ready.
“Smells good, Mom!” Jenn said when they walked in.
“Thanks, it’s stew. I think it’s ready. You can grab a bowl for both of you, it’s in the crock,” Sasha said, taking her light leather coat off and hanging it on the swirling bronze coat-rack.
“Here, ‘cmon Seth, I’ll get you some,” Jenn said, grabbing his jacket sleeve and pulling him into the kitchen.
Then he smelled it. The warm smell of tomato, kinda spaghetti-ish, and sorta like meat, and potatoes, vegetables. “Smells good,” he said when Jenn finally had gotten two bowls out of the cupboard and filled them with the steamy red soup.
Jenn took a spoonful and blew on it. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “Trust me, you will never have better food at anyone else’s house.”
Seth weighed the stew in his spoon, swirled it around.
“Seth, it’s not like it’s poisoned.”
He shot her the bird and took a bite, without braking eye contact.
She glared right back, then smirked when they held gazes for over a minute. “Just eat it,” she said, looking down and taking another bite.
He put the spoon in his mouth and swallowed the soup, and decided it was okay, so he took another bite. “Oh, um…what happened to that guy…Wade or something…?” he asked, mouth full and nose slightly hurting from the spices.
Jenn almost spit her food out as she let out a startled chuckle. She rolled her eyes. “That freak show?” she said. “Dad fired him. He was weird.”

For the remainder of the evening, Jenn took Seth into the basement and pulled out a bunch of video games for him to choose from. He selected Guitar Conqueror 3.
“Dude, my pinky is incapable of even reaching the orange button!” she complained angrily as he won a sixth battle. “That’s not fair, you actually play guitar.”
“You actually play the game,” he said. “Wanna play again?”
Jenn smirked at his face and pressed the green button on her plastic, black guitar. PLAY AGAIN? “Yes,” she said aloud, and it made a computerized electric chord noise.
“This is fun,” Seth said, playing EXPERT on ‘Free to Fly’. .
Jenn was on EASY, and still struggling.
His fingers pressed the plastic keys, now sticky with sweat and friction, and his thumb strummed – no, vibrated – the little bar at the mouth of the instrument.
They ended up playing until eleven, and then Jenn’s mom yelled from upstairs for them to get off the video games and go to bed.
“Seth’s good,” Jenn whispered to Sasha as she passed her.

In the bathroom, Seth selected his toothbrush and cleaned his teeth. Jenn did the same.
“Do you need to shower tonight?” she asked randomly, spitting the toothpaste out of her mouth. She licked her lips.
Seth spit into the sink, then washed the white foam and little bits of chili down the drain. “I don’t…uh, I don’t have shampoo,” he said.
Jenn shrugged. “You can use mine, I’m going to bed.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Jenn walked out of the bathroom, and a door opened. “Night, Seth,” she called, and it closed.
Seth didn’t say anything. He shut the bathroom door and locked it. He took off his shirt, and went to go start the water.

Chap-tah five

The sun was too bright, and it was hot against his skin. His small feet hit the sidewalk on short legs. The grass was brown, and so was the city surrounding him. Crumbly, abandoned warehouses flanked the black asphalt road.
He held Mom’s hand and looked up at her. Dark brown hair framed her face, brown eyes and tan skin reflected a bit of the sunlight. She pushed a plastic stroller with a crying black haired baby in a dirty purple onesy.
“Shh,” she continued to tell his sister, leaning down and stroking her face. “Shh.”
She continued to cry.
“Mommy,” the boy said, “I’m hungry.”
She looked down at him with sad eyes, took her hand out of his and stroked his cheek with it. “I know, baby, I'm sorry."

* * *

They walked all the way to the grocery store, passing more huge houses, green lawns endless streets.
“Okay, so it’s really not hard to navigate,” Jenn said as they walked from their house to the park. “The Elementary school’s over there, there’s a big park across from it. The grocery store’s that way,” she explained, pointing in a direction. “And there’s, like, a million things next to it, so it’s basically a mini mall.”
Seth said nothing. He looked at the too-green grass and the too-white sidewalks.
There was a cold breeze. It looked like it might rain. And when if finally did, they were in the safety of the trees in the park. There were oak trees everywhere, and they stood beneath one when the rain really started coming down.
“We haven’t had rain in awhile,” Jenn said, looking up through the leaves of the large oak they stood under, it’s roots extending like spider’s legs.
She watched him as he took this unfamiliar place and touched the rough bark of the tree. “What was it like where you lived?” she asked curiously.
His eyes met hers. Words floated through his mind. Dirty, untamed, dangerous…
He stared across the green park. The home he knew wasn’t like this at all.
“It was…” he breathed in the clean scent of the rain, and exhaled, “…really, really different from all this,” he picked up a leaf and twirled it in between his hands. He watched her, and she was still listening.
“Not everybody has a home, not like you do here. There are motels with just…people hanging around. Children without their parents because they’re off buying drugs or somethin’. I used to see them every day. I knew a lot of them by name.”
He swallowed and looked down at a root, kicking it once. “You gotta watch your back. You don’t know who’s behind you. Who’s following you. Kids don’t just carry baseball bats with them anymore, you know?”
He glanced back up, and her eyes flickered.
She spoke. “Is…is that how you got…?” her finger traced the line of her jaw.
His eyes dropped from her face. His own fingers went to his chin and traced up his own jawbone and to his ear where the scar was.
“Yeah, I learned that last one the hard way,” he said quietly.
They were silent for awhile.
“What…” Jenn began hesitantly, “What was your family like?”
That hurt. He looked away, his eyes clouded with saddness. Someone jogged by on the sidewalk with a greyhound. Seth watched them. The grass blew softly in the wind, and drops pattered their way down the leaves of the tree and occasionally landed on the two. The sky was a deep blue-gray, like a soft blanket wrapped around the earth.
Seth stared off into the distance, watching rain hit the leaves of the trees. “We were close,” he finally, almost at a whisper, “We were really close.”
Jenn smiled a little.
A gentle breeze blew oak blossoms off the sidewalks. His hair blew out of his face a little, and Jenn saw all of it for the first time. “What was your sister like?" she asked quietly.
He ducked his head again, and his hair fell back into his face. He spoke quietly. “She was bright, beautiful. Her smile…” the corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly, and he drew the collar of his jacket closer to his neck, and exhaled, “…it just lit up the room, you know? Made the world spin a little faster.” he looked back at Jenn, his brown eyes warm with a memory. He looked back down at the ground. “I loved her. I loved her a lot,” he murmured quietly.
“She sounds like she was…” Jenn picked at the damp grass.
“Jenn! Seth!” someone called from a blue BMW. It was Sasha. What was she doing here? “What are you doing? Get in the car! You’ll catch a chill!”
Jenn stood up obediently. “C’mon,” she said to Seth, and they ran off under the dripping trees towards the car.
Seth pulled on the handle of the door for the back seats, and they both got in. “Hey, Mom,” Jenn said cheerfully.
Sasha looked into the back at them, all wet and cold from the rain. “What were you doing? It was raining.”
Jenn smiled a bit. “I was getting to know my new brother.”

* * *

Two children ran around on the yellow grass. Weeds littered the patched lawn wherever there was dirt. The house was a plain, dirty white, and windows with torn screens reflected the foul, trashed street the house itself was on. Their mother sat on the porch watching them as she smoked a cigarette. Despite the awful conditions they lived in, they were happy. And she was happy, too, now that their father had finally come back. The children both had black hair, like him, and on both their sweet, fair little faces were grins that shone bright and happy, like little suns. The girl was five, the boy was eight.
“Tahwg!” the girl giggled, touching the boy on the shoulder.
The boy shrieked with laughter and turned back on her, running the other direction. The girl screamed and ran from him. The boy bounded until he was finally in reach of his sister, playfully slapping her back. “Yerr it!”

...the other half of chapter 4

* * *

Their kitchen was huge, like the rest of the house. He searched the cabinets for cereal and settled for a bowl of Froot-o’s once he’d found the one percent milk.
He saw a paper on the table as he sat down, and pulled it over to his spot. He opened it to a random page and took a bite of cereal. He gagged. To sweet. He got up and went to the sink, pouring the stuff down the drain a turning the disposal on.
He heard Blake’s footsteps before he saw his new foster father. “Hey! Morning, Seth,” Blake said as he walked in.
Seth nodded. “Hey.”
Blake went to a cabinet and took out a granola bar that said Coffee Crumbles on the wrapper. “Want one?” he asked, holding up the box.
Seth shrugged and took one.
Blake had opened the wrapper of his and took a bite. “They’re pretty good,” he said. “Look, I have to take off to work. Sasha’s still in bed. Jenn…I don’t know where she is, actually. But, help yourself to the food…and, um…yeah. Ask Jenn if you need anything.”
“Okay,” Seth said, giving an effort to smile.
Blake smiled back. “Okay, see you later,” he said, waving, and walking out the door.
Seth heard the door slam, and then he was alone again. He wondered what he could do today. It was…Monday…but Jenn was taking the day off of school. Probably because he was there.
He finished his coffee bar and threw the wrapper away in the trash can in the corner by the door. He looked around. What to do?
“Hey, Seth.”
He turned around. Geez, these people were everywhere. “Hi,” he said to Jenn.
She was pulling a cereal box out of a cubbard. “I was gonna eat breakfast,” Jenn said. “Did you wanna do anything today?” she then asked, pouring it into a bowl.
Seth shrugged. “What’s there to do?”
Jenn got out a spoon and milk. “Um…I could show you around town?”
He sat down across from her at the table. It wasn’t like there was anything else to do. “Okay.”
Jenn grinned. “I think you’ll enjoy yourself,” she said.

Chapter 4 (well half of it anyway...)

“Hey Seth,” Sasha’s voice called from the doorway.
He looked up. “Oh, hey,” he said quietly.
Her hair was wet, and she was in her pajamas. Not wearing make-up made her look like a totally different person. She had white slippers on.
“Can I come in?” she asked, smiling wide with her mouthful of white, straight teeth.
Seth looked down at the bag he was unpacking on his bed. “Um, yeah, I guess,” he said, pulling out another shirt, folding it, and putting it on the shirt stack.
She came in and sat on the edge of the bed. “So, how are you liking your new room?” she asked, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “Adjusting well?”
He nodded, folding a pair of jeans, not looking up. “’m okay.”
She said nothing, and he made a mental note to practice facial expressions in the mirror sometime soon.
She tapped her fingers on her fleece pajama leg, trying to think. “Uh…do you like the colors?” she asked.
He decided to look up and look around. “Yeah. I like…blue.”
She sighed quietly, but Seth heard. “That’s good.”
He looked at her and tried to smile. Her hand extended to touch him on the cheek, but he automatically flinched away, dropping the jacket he was folding from his hands. He took a step back.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
Seth just stared.
“I should go,” Sasha said, giving a weak, smile. “Goodnight.”

The next morning, he woke in his new bed. The unfamiliar smell made him uncomforable. This always happened to him. He’d move somewhere new, and it had a different smell. The different feel of sheets, colors, and made him twitchy.
Seth had to get out of bed.
He pushed the sheets far enough down to get out of the tangle of blankets. He shook his black hair about his face like a dog, rubbed his eyes, and let out a soft groan. “Urm…”.
He walked to the bathroom, to his right, but the door was shut. Huh, he thought, and knocked.
A muffled “What?” came from behind it, “Oh, crap.” The door opened, and a turban-toweled, pajama’d Jenn with a toothbrush in her mouth stood in front of him. “Mm!” she squealed, and turned quickly to spit toothpaste out. “I’m so sorry, Seth, I forgot! Here, you can come in,” she said, opening the door.
He grabbed the toothbrush he’d put in the holder and squeezed his own toothpaste on it. He brushed and spit into the second sink, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Then he grabbed his little black plastic comb and straightened his bed-hair.
Jenn combed her own hair with a brush. “Sorry, Seth. I swear, I won’t do it again.”
He put the comb by the wall near the mirror. “No, it’s okay.”
“You sure? ‘Cause I could totally get up earlier.”
He shrugged, looking at his reflection. A tall, dark haired, brown eyed boy looked back at him.
Jenn struggled with the comb. “You’re not that bad looking.” She smiled, and laughed. "And your hair looks really anime."
Seth smirked. She was friendly. Which, he guessed, was good. He wouldn’t have to do a ton of talking around her.
“Hey, you got an iPod?” she asked suddenly, opening a drawer full of make-up and pulling out a tan bottle.
He shook his head. “No.”
“’Cause I have an old one, if you want it. It’s a Nano, if that’s okay,” she said, blotting some of the tan liquid out on her finger and putting it on her face.
“I wouldn’t know the difference,” he said just as his stomach growled.
Jenn looked at him. “You should go get some breakfast,” she said, looking back into her magic drawer.
“What’s there to eat?” he asked. Might as well.
Jenn held a green circle container with a little round pad with peach powder in it. She padded some on her face. “Ah…there’s a lot of stuff. Like cereal? There’s frozen waffles in the freezer. Pancake mix, if you know how to make ‘em…and there’s a skillet in the cabinet under the ‘island. Um…I think there’s bagels? I think they’re, like, blueberry or something. I dunno. Oh! And there’s two percent and one percent milk in the ‘fridge. Whatever you prefer…” her voice trailed off as she applied pink powder to her cheeks with a brush.
He nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Hey, anytime,” she said, looking back into the drawer.
As he left he could hear her singing to herself.
He decided he liked her. She was okay. Better than any of the foster siblings he’d had before, who treated him like crap. Jenn treated him like a brother.

* * *

Chapter 3 (not a re-do because i hadn't written a third chapter before!)

“You must be Seth,” a tall gray man said when he opened the door.
Seth nodded.
“Mr. and Mrs. Langley have been expecting you,” the man said.
Jeff held out his hand. “I’m Jeff Greene,” he said.
The man looked at his hand blankly.
“Wade? Is that him?” a lady’s voice called from another room.
Seth looked past the man called Wade. A lady in a nice blouse and jeans hurried out of, as he assumed, the kitchen. “Blake!” she yelled over her shoulder, “Ah, Jenn, go tell you’re father he’s here.”
A brown-haired girl wearing jeans and a concert shirt walked out of a room in socks with an iPod earphone stuck in one ear. She looked about his age. Jenn appeared to hear her mom and rushed into the third room that he could see. “Daaad?!” The noise echoed through their house.
The lady, Sasha, he presumed, came and grabbed the door from Wade.
“Hey! Good to see you!” she said, “I’m Sasha. I don’t know if you remember.”
Seth nodded, but Jeff elbowed him. “Yeah!” he yelped. “I mean, I remember.”
Sasha smiled.
Blake soon appeared, with Jenn, the daughter, following him. “Well, come in!” Sasha grinned. “Welcome!”
Seth picked his bag and guitar up with his left hand and stepped inside.
It was big, but nice. It had a lot of rooms. A computer room, a dining room, and down a hallway was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. There were stairs leading up from the living room into a upstairs hallway and balcony. The walls were painted a deep, soothing crimson.
It felt like a home should.
“Hey!” Blake said, beaming, “You made it!” He patted him on the back.
Seth cracked a smile.
He turned around when he felt something yank on the suitcase. His grip tightened. “Relax,” Jenn said. “C’mon, I’ll show you your room,” she gestured her head towards the stairs. He noticed her earphone had been taken out and tucked safely into her pocket. He wondered what she listened to.

She started walking and he followed her up the stairs, shooting a glace at Jeff, who smiled at him reassuringly. Go on.
“Your room’s here on the left,” she said, leading him down a hallway. “And my room’s next door to yours,” she looked to the right.
Jenn opened his door into a room with the walls painted blue. There was a bed with a blue and black striped comforter on it. A stained wood desk, a dresser, a chair, a stocked bookshelf. Band posters covered the walls.

This was nothing like his room back home, where Mom could barely pay the house bills. He had been eight, Vi had been six. They had slept on a uncovered mattress under the big patchwork quilt that Mom said their grandmother made for Seth when he was a baby. The walls had been white. There was no other furniture other than that one tiny mattress. A light bulb hung uncovered from the ceiling.

Jenn put his bag on the floor. She kept the guitar case in her hand. “You play?”
Seth reached down and put the bag on the bed.
“Do you talk much?” Jenn asked. She pulled the chair out from the desk and turned it around to face him, sitting in it.
Seth sat on the bed, cross-legged with his elbows on his knees and his hands on his face. “I’m tired, okay?”
“Oh,” Jenn said.
Seth looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were wet. Jenn sat dumbly, looking at him, trying to sympathize with something he wouldn’t tell her.
“My sister died,” he said quietly.
Jenn was shocked. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Seth looked down. “You wouldn’t know.”
Seth inspected the room from where he sat. There was a window with dark shades on it. Band posters advertised Three Days Grace, Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, 3 Doors Down. “What’s your favorite?” he asked.
“What?” Jenn said.
He studied his shoes with great interest. “Your favorite band.”
Jenn thought. “Mm…I’d have to say Thousand Foot Krutch. Have you heard of them?”
“No.” Seth nudged the guitar with his foot. “I’ve played a Skillet song before.”
Jenn smiled. “Which ones?” she asked. “Could you show me?”
He shook his head and looked down.
“Okay,” Jenn said.
They were silent for awhile.
Jenn shifted in her seat. “Er…how old are you?”
Seth’s attention shifted from the floor back up to her. “Fourteen.”
“No way, so am I.”
“Ki-i-ids!”
They both looked at the door at the same time. “Yeah?!” Jenn shouted.
“Jeff’s leaving!”
Jenn looked at Seth.
He nodded.

At dinner, Sasha and Blake asked Seth a lot of questions. He didn’t like it when they asked questions about his family. He’d try and change the subject. “Please pass the rolls.”
“I like your shirt,” Sasha said.
Seth looked down, not remembering what he’d thrown on earlier that morning. A gray and black striped sweater. Right. “Thanks?” he said.
He shoveled some peas onto his fork and rolled them back and forth, just looking at them blankly. He wasn’t really hungry. He put it down and looked around the dining room for the third time.
The walls were a pear green. There were old paintings of flowers and stuff hanging up on the walls. There was an antique dresser with plates on display in the cabinet part of it. Seth never understood why people would put plates on display. Like, ‘oh, wow, a plate.’ Never seen one of those before.
Jenn sat across from him, chewing thoughtfully on her roasted chicken as she stared. She swallowed an took a bite of mashed potato. “How’d you get into foster care?” she blurted finally.
Seth looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Jenn!” Blake exclaimed, nearly choking on a pea.
“What?! It’s an honest question!” she argued.
Sasha busily cut her meat to the right of Seth.
He shrugged. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “My mom’s in prison. Drown a kid. We thought she was crazy, Vi and I did.” He took a bite of chicken.
The table fell silent.
“Good food, by the way,” he said.

(redo) Chapter 2

2.

Everything. Everything here was black. The black air smelled of death. Everyone was wearing it. Everyone carried it.
Seth didn’t cry. Crying never helped anything. And so crying was not an option.
He sat on one of the wooden pews in front. The director of the Court Appointed Special Advocates, Jeff Greene, sat next to him. He knew Jeff. He’d known the black man since he was nine, he trusted him. Jeff put a hand on Seth’s shoulder.
“Do you need to leave?” he asked, reading Seth’s emotions in the way that he did.
Seth shook his head.
The brims of his eyes were wet. He couldn’t see. He wiped them with the sleeve of his black suit. He couldn’t cry.
He’d seen the way his little sister had looked. Dead, pale and cold in her casket. That simply wasn’t her. That wasn’t the Violet he’d grown up with, the Violet he’d played with, the Violet he loved.

After the funeral, Seth got into the car with Jeff. Jeff had some of her things in a box. Seth had it safely placed on his lap, protective hands held the sides tightly.
He remained frozen in the front passenger seat, staring forward. He was very close to crying now. He concentrated on the asphalt road whizzing by.
One tear finally broke free and rolled down his cheek.
He was going to a new home. Again. He didn’t know the people. He’d met them, but that wasn’t the same.

“Good morning…Seth, is it? I’m Blake, and this is Sasha…”

He remembered the interview clearly. It didn’t really matter to him. One place was just like another.
“You need to cry,” Jeff said matter-of-fact-like.
Seth slouched in the seat. “I can’t.”
Jeff glanced at him out of one eye. “Yes, you can. Anyone can cry. I’ve seen you do it.”
Seth just looked at him. His face was straight, but his eyes were sad.
“Look, I’m sorry, Seth. I know this is tough for you,” he flicked his left signal on and turned. “But they want to help.”
They passed a park full of bloomed oaks, encircled with a black, wrought ironed fence. This place was nice, the houses were huge. It was like Hollywood; everyone was rich.
“What if they’re mean to me?” he asked in a cracked voice.
Jeff looked at him. “We very carefully choose homes for you kids.”
“I know, but…still. I wonder.”

They passed a bunch of brick houses, engulfed in green ivy, looking very old. There were hedges that circled the gigantic yards bordered with more of the same gates he saw in the park. They pulled into a driveway and parked. Jeff opened his door.
“I don’t want to go,” Seth said quietly.
Jeff gave him a reassuring look and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. “I know, kid.”
He looked around.
Roses grew along-side a brick pathway leading up to the front door, which was glorious in it’s own. Made of some wood that he didn’t know the name of. It was pretty. There were four tall lamp-posts, and a big window that stood above the door. He could see a chandelier in through it.
Jeff opened Seth’s door.
“Let’s go.”

(redo) Chapter 1

1.

He looked out the window, the panes were streaked with rain fallen from the dark gray clouds that overshadowed the hospital. There was a stone courtyard four stories down from it. The bricks were stained from rainy weather over the years, wear and tear. There were forest-green bushes cut into shapes to amuse onlookers passing by.
He sat in a red patterned chair in a plain, gray room. It was uninteresting to him; he liked colors. The room was furnished with a little gray table with a glass cup that held water, the chair, a small black TV, and a hospital bed that contained his sister.
Her foster mom worked, she came only when she could. Sometimes, during school, he’d ditch to see her because nobody else came . During the summer, he stayed for hours.
“How are you today?” he would ask her each day as he came in to sit on the edge of her bed.
“I’m fine, how are you?” she’d reply.
“Great,” he’d say, smiling.
But he was never great. Everything he loved was being pulled out from under him.
His sister was a frail girl of age eleven; her birthday was in two weeks, and she would be twelve. Her favorite color was purple, and she loved giraffes. She had a lavender nightgown with a yellow daisy on the front. He loved her dearly, so dearly. It was the same love that a mother would have for her child; fierce and protective.
All of her beautiful, dark brown hair, same as his, was gone; her skin had faded; her brown eyes had become lifeless; and her lips turned the same gray as the room imprisoning her.
Still, she remained optimistic about her condition. Her doctors said that was the only thing keeping her going, now. They couldn’t do anything for her.
She was going to die.
And very, very soon.

“Hey, Seth?” she asked him one day
“Hey, yeah?” he answered, getting up from the chair. He kneeled at her side. “Do you need more water? Are you hungry? I can get the doctor if you need…”
She had the strangest expression on her face; she felt confused and was in pain and felt really, really weak and unusually tired. “I-I don’t know…I feel, like, like, I dunno…”His eyes widened. “Do you want me to call the doctor? I can…I can do that if you’d like—“
She shook her head and looked at the cup sitting on the gray table. “Can you get me more water?” she asked.
Later that day, she stopped breathing. Seth had kneeled by her side holding her small hand in his and wept very silently. He swept his other hand over her face to close her sightless eyes.
Violet Shepherds was dead.

um...

I like to write in my spare time, as you can see.