Hi guys! It's been so long since I've written or done anything! Schools been crazy like always. I know I have a story: Saving Me. I'm sure you guys want me to update that and write more. I was starting to et to the fun and interesting part. I was almost done setting it all up but oh well. I haven't quit on it, I will write some more eventually but I want to write a quick little oneshot to try and get back into it. This idea has been bugging me bc sometimes I just really love the idea of Evil!Leo and now I just have to.
So, like always, favorite, follow, and comment! Comments are my favorite because I get to see you guys's ideas and feelings really well. I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope to get around to my stories soon and update quicker.
And, as always, I own nothing really.
Without any further Hesitation, here's Control, Taken from the song, Control by Halsey
(This was originally going to be a oneshot but I finished this part and realized how long was and it was literally just the setup for the story so I'm going to make it into multiple parts)
"We're sending you to a new foster home, Leo," my social services worker, Mr. Martin told me.
I looked at him as if to ask "Again?"
"They're nice people, don't worry, they'll take good care of you. And you won't be alone, they have four other foster children with them, all around your age so you'll have friends to hang out with and talk to," he insisted.
I didn't trust him or believe him. This was my fifth foster home and I had yet to land in a nice one. Some were better than others but none were perfect. I guess I was being unfair, looking for that 'perfect' foster home when in reality, the only thing I would consider to be perfect was a home with mi mamá, but she was gone so that wasn't happening. However, a decent one would suffice. Maybe one who acknowledged my existence AND treated me with love and respect and genuinely cared about me, although it seemed like a long shot.
I didn't have much of a choice so I reluctantly followed Mr. Martin into his black Cadillac and stared out the window solemnly as the scenes blurred past until we reached the new house. As we got out of the car I was able to get a good look at the house. It was fairly big with two stories and a nice sized back yard. The house was painted off-white with dark brown rims and had a colorful garden in front and all around the sides of the house.
I followed Mr. Martin up to the dark brown door that looked new and well-kept. With three orderly and swift knocks, the door swung wide open to reveal a tall man with a gruff yet well shaved brown beard and a shorter woman with small eyes, dark, straight hair, and a rounded face.
"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Kinsley, I'm Mr. Martin and this is Leo Valdez," he said putting his hand gently on my back and easing me forward.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Martin, so good to meet you," said the man shaking his hand. He then bent down to my eye level. "And you're little, Leo Valdez. It's nice to finally get to meet you. We've all been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Your bedroom is already made up and ready for you to sleep in," he said with a light tone and bright smile. He waited a couple seconds for me to say something back but I kept my mouth shut in slight fear. I knew better than to believe this happy acting. He was only acting this nice because Mr. Martin was here.
When I didn't reply back he gave a confused look at me and then up to Mr. Martin who answered him reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's not you, Leo just doesn't talk much when he first meets people. Once he gets to know you, he won't stop."
That wasn't necessarily true. Maybe at one point it was but I had found that the best way to stay out of trouble and keep others from getting angry was to just stay quiet and not say anything. If you don''t speak, they can't get agitated with your words. Lately, I had simply resorted to staying quiet at all times unless absolutely necessary.
"Please, come in, meet the children," Mrs. Kinsley said to me and Mr. Martin.
We walked into the house. Inside the house was clean and orderly, the same as the out. There was an open room with a white sofa and TV directly to the right and stairs leading upwards to the second floor on the left.
"Kids! Come down! Guess who's here!" Mrs. Kinsley shouted up the staircase. Within a couple of seconds, four other children came bounding down the steps, yelling and shoving each other in a race to reach the bottom first. As they reached the bottom the shouting didn't cease which resulted in a calm yet stern "Quiet, now" form Mrs. Kinsely. Once all the kids had settles down and stopped talking Mrs. Kinsley waved to Mr. Martin and I, gleaming happily. "Your new brother, Leo, is here!"
There was a round of happy shouts and whoops and one kid rushed forward and tackled me in a bone crushing hug. The shouting was okay, the quick lunge at me was not. I jumped and scooted back as I tried to wiggle out of his hold, panic seizing me. Ever since foster home #3 quick movements and lunging towards me set me on edge.
The adults seemed to notice my panicked look as Mrs. Kinsley grabbed the child and pulled him away from me while Mr. Martin put an arm around me to help calm me down. He had been there through all my foster homes and was aware of what had happened in #3 and how I avoided confrontation and physical contact since then. He had let my foster parents since then, know the situation.
The boy who had hugged me looked up at Mrs. Kinsely sadly. "What? Did I do something wrong?" he asked tearfully.
"No, no, it's fine. You didn't know. Leo doesn't like hard physical contact, that's all," she told him soothingly.
"He doesn't like hugs?" he asked confused. "But, I thought everyone liked hugs."
Mrs. Kinsley giggled politely. "Well now, Michael, not everyone likes hugs. But you have to ask someone if they want a hug first. You can't just run in and hug them, you might startle them," she said in a calm and teaching tone.
"So I can't give Leo a hug? Like, ever?" Michael asked sadly.
Mrs. Kinsley thought for a second before answering. "Well, maybe one day you can, but always ask before you do, you don't want to make him uncomfortable, okay?"
"Okay," Michael said nodding. He stuck his hand out and gave me a toothy grin. "My name's Michael. I'm ten." He waited for me to shake his hand but I kept my hands firmly in my pockets.
A girl with mahogany hair in two braids stepped forward before he could do anything else. "I'm Ashley, I'm twelve, I'm the oldest." She pointed at another girl with platinum blonde hair. "That's Brittany, she's ten too. And that's her younger brother, Ben, he's only eight," she said gesturing to a boy with bowl cut hair, equally as blonde.
I clocked in as the second oldest at eleven but I didn't bother telling them that. It was extra information they didn't really have to know.
Mr. Martin broke the awkward silence. "Well, I best be on my way now," he knelt down to look me in the eyes and spoke slow and clearly. "Leo, you behave now, alright? These nice people are going to take good care of you. I'll be in to check on you everyone in a while. If you need anything just call, okay?" I nodded slightly. "Okay, good," he stood up to face Mr. and Mrs. Kinsley. He gave them each a quick handshake before heading off. "I look forward to seeing you guys in the future. Call if you have any questions or need anything. Have a good day," he said giving them a smile before walking out.
I watched as Mr. Martin walked out and the door swung closed. When it locked into place I was ready for the yelling to begin. I was prepared for the hitting and insulting language yet nothing came. Instead, they told me to come and follow them upstair to my bedroom. I followed up the stairs and walked down the hall into my room. They opened the pristine white door to a rather large bedroom (at least for my standards) with light blue walls and a dark mahogany brown bed frame with a mattress and dark blue sheets and pillows in the middle of the room. Other than that, the room was fairly empty.
"You get this room to yourself," Mr. Kinsley explained. "Usually you share with someone but since you're the fifth, it's an odd number so you get to be by yourself."
"Lucky," Michael said behind me. I walked into the room and set my bag down onto the floor.
"Well, we'll let you get acquainted now, if you need anything we'll be downstairs," Mrs. Kinsley said before her and her husband walked out. I stood in my room and looked around. I was a little confused. By now my other foster parents would have started beating me or yelling or at least locking away in a room out of sight so that I wouldn't bother them. But nothing had come. Nothing came. There were no blows to my stomach, there were no insults or curse words, there were no attics or basements to lock my in and forget about me. My mind wandered. What was the catch? There had to be something bad. Don't get me wrong, I wanted a nice foster home with loving parents but my luck was bad. The chances of me getting that were slim to none which is why I was so skeptical of it all.
There was a tap on my shoulder. I jumped and quickly turned around to see Brittany smiling at me with a childish grin. "Hi, Leo. We're going outside to play ball, wanna come?" She asked me. I didn't answer her but also didn't turn away. I guess she took this as a yes because she quickly turned around yelling, "C'mon!" as she tore down the steps as quickly as her little legs could take her.
I followed behind her at a normal speed. I was a little afraid of running in the house. Before, that would be a crime punishable by a good whipping of the belt. Or no dinner. Or cleaning of the entire house. It depended on which house I was in. But she ran all the way outside with out ever once being yelled at. Still, I decided to not push my luck and kept walking. In the back yard the four kids were throwing a ball around in the bright grass. It was still fairly sunny out, I assumed it was around 3:00. I stared at the back yard in wonder and amazement. My appreciation was cut short by a shout from another kid.
"C'mon, Leo, come play!" Ashley yelled, waving me over.
I walked slowly over to the section of grass they were playing in. They had a bright red bouncy ball, the size of my face and where throwing it back and forth to each other. I watched as they laughed and tossed the ball happily back and forth. "Hey, Leo, catch!" Brittany shouted throwing the ball my way.
Rather than putting my hands up and catching it like ay other person, my first reaction was to jump out of the way, down to the floor and cover my head with my arms. Things being thrown at me were usually something bad that I didn't want to catch. Like a beer bottle or object on the coffee table nearby.
I laid on the floor whimpering slightly, still covering my head in self protection. "Leo, Leo," a calm voice said above me. I looked up slowly to find Ashley bent down and looking at me with concern. "Hey, Leo, it's okay. We're not trying to hurt you, just play. You're okay."
I looked at her trying to decide if I should believe her or not. I decided I might as well and slowly stood back up.
Ashley smiled at me. "We're just throwing the ball around. All you do is put your hands up and catch it. You can play if you want. Or you can watch us and play later," she offered.
I looked down at the floor and plopped down, criss crossed and plucked at the grass. Having something thrown at me was not my idea of fun. My idea of fun was playing with machine parts, being able to build or fix something. Ashley nodded and went back to throwing the ball around. I simply sat there playing with the grass until Mrs. Kinsley called out that dinner was ready.
We all ran inside (well, I walked) and sat down at a large, dark brown dinner table. A plate was set in front of me. It had fish, mashed potatoes, and corn. I sat and stared at my food, waiting for everyone else to start eating first. Everyone talked about their day while they ate. They asked me question to which I would sometimes respond with a nod or shake of my head and sometimes with nothing but a glance downward.
Finally, we finished up eating dinner. I made sure to eat it all so that food wasn't wasted, something also punished in my other foster homes, but I noticed all the other kids had left at least a little on their plate. Mr. Kinsley didn't seem to have a problem with it. We cleaned up the table before heading back up to bed. We all bade our goodnights to the adults, me a simple wave, and walked up to get ready for bed. I stood outside the bathroom waiting for Michael to finish up brushing his teeth so that I could.
"Oh, do you need to come in?" he asked. I nodded. "Well I'm almost done," he said finishing up ad walking out. He stared at me intently as he walked out. "You really don't say much, do you?" he noted. My response was a quiet standing there waiting for him to move from the doorway so that I could get in. "Well, that'll change eventually, you're going to start talking and hanging out with us soon," he said in a determined voice. "Well, goodnight!" he shouted before running off to bed.
I finished up and laid down, my head swirling with the occurrences of this day that seemed to last forever. A new foster home and so far nothing had turned out horribly wrong but who knew just what could happen.
