Waking up in my bed is not exactly good especially if it is too early in the morning and my foster brother, Dean, is looming over me with an evil glint in his strange ever changing eyes. I guess I should start my story from the beginning back about nine years ago. My name is Lowell Archer. I have never known who my parents were. I was left in a small wooden cradle wrapped up in silvery and golden blankets on the steps of city hall in East Breach, NY. I have been bounced all around New York in the foster care system. I would either run away from a home or be pulled away because of fighting. I am kind of surprised it took them nine years to send me to a group home. That is like a last resort before you are sent to a juvenile detention center. Resort now there is a funny word it can be a refuge or an attempt at something, but I digress from my story. Where was I?
Oh right I have never stayed in any one place for very long and I doubt this new place will be much different I will probably be sent away for fighting with Dean. I usually ended up running away because of a strange creature; giant dogs the size of trucks, weird guys with fury legs and hoofs saying they want to help me, and many more. I barely escaped from them the last time only to be found by a good samaritan again. He found me every time I got away and sometime only in the nick of time. I justified every fight I have been in as teaching my opponent a much needed lesson in respect. At least that is how I saw it. All males seem to have a problem around the fairer sex especially maidens, and Dean in no exception. They are not able to keep their hands to themselves and their words are a worse offense than their hands could ever be. I go ballistic at the sight of a disrespectful male. That is how I ended up here in upstate New York.
The group home is run by the Jacksons no not Michael's family. The couple has no children of their own but choose to help the nearly lost causes in the foster system of New York. They own a ton of land and use it to raise horses in the fields, as well as owls that roam the forest around the fields. I do not mind the Jacksons. Percy and his wife Annabeth are kind to us and understand how it is to have dyslexia and ADHD, but they have some strange friends and they seem to follow the religion of the ancient Greeks. I have never been religious because I can always see hypocrites in the church, so the Jacksons' choice of worship kind of appealed to me. The others around the group home were a little perturbed by it though.
There were five other children at the Jackson House when I arrived a month ago. All of us are preteens or younger. Dean Mathews is the oldest and resident pretty boy. He is almost thirteen and always attracts the attention of every girl outside the house and some boys to his discomfort. He seems to get away with nearly everything and can talk his way out of almost any situation when he is not around the others mainly me and the twins, but he drives Sara crazy. Sara Jameson that is, another of the inmates, I mean children, at the group home. She is only a few months younger than Dean at twelve. The odd thing is that she has the same color of eyes as Annabeth Jackson, a cold calculating heartless storm of grey, so to tease her Dean calls her Sara Jackson until she outsmarts him. Sara is smart as a whip and can play chess like a demon, but can only shoot a bow a little better than Percy. Neither of them could hit the broad side of a barn unlike Annabeth, the twins and I. Annabeth is well practiced with a bow and says Sara could be as good only if she tried and put her mind to it, but until that time comes Annabeth just teaches the art of archery to the twins and me.
Oh the twins are Sharon and Julie Preston. They are nine so about as old as me, but they could not have a more different body clock. They love mornings and anytime the sun is up really. I also notice that they have very sunny personalities and love music which figures. Their mom used to be a famous singer before she got pregnant with them and had to leave the lime light at a young age child services had to step in before their mom hurt them worse than she already had. I liked to hang around the girls with their bright blue eyes. That is when I could be dragged out of bed of course. I am in no way a morning person. To me mornings mean the end of a good time to be active and unseen but to the twins it means it is time to get up and start singing or just face the day. I prefer the night by far. They also enjoy fire for some reason which helps them get along with the resident pyromaniac Paul.
Paul Andrews is the youngest of those who were at the Jacksons when I arrived in December just before my birthday on the winter solstice. Paul is seven and big for his age. I might be two years older than him but he is bigger than me. He could be a football player when he grows up but he loves fire too much and he can't keep still. I mean all of us are a little overactive but Paul can't keep his hands still for more than a minute while he is awake. He always fidgets with something hence why he ended up at the Jacksons' even with him being so young. That is everyone who was there upon my arrival.
Soon after I arrived another adult, Nico Di Angelo, came to stay with the Jacksons so that they could expand the number of kids they kept at the group home. Mr. Di Angelo has a sour personality and he sticks to the shadows a lot. He fit in well with Andrea Cleave a very pale ten year old girl who arrived in January. She cursed everyone especially her mother who killed herself by jumping out of a small plane. Andrea did not want to get along with anyone except Nico and both of them seemed to dislike Nathan Walker. Nathan was a boy blessed by the air. He was almost as light on his feet as me at night and he could hear almost anything. His only short fall had to be his ego. I mean he and Dean were so full of themselves it was embarrassing to even say I was the same gender as them. I was absolutely thrilled when Dean met the eleven year old electric blue eyed boy. They always tried to one up each other more often than not at my expense. Today is the last day of the school year and a new kid is supposed to arrive sometime while we are there. That means two and a half months with eight other troubled kids. I probably won't be back at this school next year.
Yet I have digressed enough time to pick back up with my rude awakening. Dean having just kicked me awake with an evil glint in his eye as he dropped his dirty clothes on top of me. "Make sure to fold and put them away this time sleeping ugly." Dean said before laughing at his own joke and heading to take a shower.
"Ugh… I hate mornings." I mumbled as I rolled over pulling the covers over my head. "It is too bloody bright." I continued to complain before trying to get back to sleep. I never seemed to get enough sleep in the spring and summer would be worse. Oh how I missed winter. My attempts were in vain however, as to people bounded into the room humming cheerfully.
The two girls landed on my bed on either side of me as I tried to burry myself under my covers. "Low wake up there is bacon downstairs." They sang out in unison. When I did not get up the decided to use a dirty evil trick they grabbed my covers and jumped up pulling the covers to the floor along with all Dean's dirty clothes. I scowled as my body was exposed to the cool morning air. Sharon and Julie held matching smirks as I sent them a glare which faded to a blank stare at their pouty faces.
I am too much of a push over when it comes to young innocent girls. They started to laugh at my defeated sigh as I climbed out of bed and grabbed a clean shirt sniffing it before I shrugged and pulled it over my head. I shook out my hair which fell to my shoulder blades running my fingers through it before I bound it in a rubber band at the base of my skull. The twins finally recovered from laughing helped me make my bed before following me out of the boys' room. I only spent enough time in there to sleep and occasionally I did not even do that in there. There was only so much time I could stand to spend around others of my gender and the older they were the worse that feeling got with the exception of Percy and normally Nico. Although he just creeped me out on a different level and I never liked being around him or Andrea.
I strolled downstairs with the twins bouncing along behind me to get some food before I start on my way to school. Annabeth and Percy made breakfast for us most mornings. I enjoyed their cooking it was some of the best food I have ever eaten and it meant that I did not have to eat cereal that day. Don't get me wrong cereal is good for you and all I just prefer meat. Today there was a nice spread of bacon, eggs, biscuits, sausage, and pancakes.
My mouth started watering the moment I hit the top step and could smell the food. I loaded up my plate and proceeded to scarf down the food. "Woo there Lowell you don't have to eat it all at once there is plenty of food here you don't have to fight for it." Percy said trying to get me to ease up like always, but when you have gone without food before you eat everything you can when you can. I have at least gotten a little better and stopped stealing the food and hiding it around the house. I finished eating by the time the egotists used up all the hot water and came downstairs acting like they owned the place.
"Hey shrimp, why are there clothes all over the floor? You should really clean up better." Nathan said patting my head in a patronizing manner before laughing in unison with Dean. I simply scowled at the table and was doing my best not to attack the older boys. Percy cleared his throat drawing their attention to his frowning face.
"I highly doubt that it is Lowell's fault since I saw him do his laundry yesterday along with helping the girls with theirs while you two were out after school with Zeus knows who." Mr. Jackson explained while looking at the two chauvinistic pigs in shame as if he felt sorry for them. I shoved Nathan's hand off my head and took my plate to the sink and began washing it. I knew how to have manners and even though I always looked good you well-kept and feminine you would never find me looking into a mirror for long unlike the vain chauvinist I roomed with.
I grabbed my bag and headed out the door to go meet our bus to get to school. I was doing my best to keep out of trouble outside the group home but that never seems to end well for me.