So, as decided by you guys, here's THE FIRST CHAPTER to the sequel of my story PRETENDING.
Now admittedly it's kinda very short, but to be honest nothing I write is ever particularly long - though not by lack of trying...
Slightly off topic, but is anyone looking forward to the eclipse tomorrow? I'm pretty sure that it's reason enough to have a Heroes marathon - well, so long as I ignore the fact that I should be revising for Biology...
Anyway, without further ado, let the story-ing begin! (Heh - that almost definitely doesn't rhyme)
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. NOOOOTHIIIIIIIIING!
CHAPTER ONE
She knew that she should be happy. She was, after all, back at home and living with the Fosters. Not only that, but Robert had, once again, agreed to sign the papers. She should have been over the moon, but she wasn't.
She felt guilty. Guilty about just how pleased everyone was to have her back, guilty about how she'd made Lena and Stef worry when she'd gone, and guilty about how she'd treated Robert. She had, come to think about it, essentially emotionally blackmailed him into giving her up, without a single thought on how it affected her father. She hadn't cared about how he felt about it, and had completely disregarded the time and effort he'd put into both getting to know her and her general wellbeing. She'd acted completely selfish and self-obsessed. In fact, it kind of reminded her of Sophia. Her half-sister had ripped up the abandonment forms in an effort to gain a sister and a friend, and know she'd gotten herself arrested to gain a family. The two of them were alike, sharing more than just their looks.
And if she'd hated Sophia for what she'd done, God knows how Robert felt about her now.
He's probably realised what a selfish pathetic bitch you are. You cry and worry about people not wanting them, but really it's all you deserve. Your actions, your consequences.
She felt sick.
Closing her eyes, she counted backwards from ten, trying to fight the nausea. Failing, she raced to the bathroom and promptly threw up.
"Callie?" She looked up to find that Lena was stood in the doorway, the concern clear in her eyes. "Honey, are you okay?"
The girl shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just ate something bad I suppose." Her voice was firm and clear - an obvious dismissal.
Lena sighed. As much as she wanted to help her daughter - to comfort and hold her - she knew that nothing she did would work. If Callie didn't want to talk then she wouldn't - both she and Stef shared that same sometimes infuriating, stubborn streak.
"Okay." Pressing her lips together in a tight smile, Lena nodded and left the room, heading towards the kitchen to find her wife, and leaving the teen alone as silently requested.
Callie pressed the side of her face against the cool surface of the sink as she watched her leave. At one point, Lena wouldn't have just gone, but instead insist on staying to help her, before taking her to Stef and her's room and sitting her down, forcing her to talk to the, about what was wrong - be it that she wasn't feeling well or that a school topic was causing her stress. But since she'd been home... it was different. Both moms acted like they were treading on eggshells around her, as though one wrong move and she'd break into a thousand pieces.
Yeah, right. She was way past that stage. She'd been long past it before she'd even met them. But she knew how to pretend. Pretend that everything was alright. Pretend that she wasn't hurting. Pretend that she was okay. As weak and pitiful as she was, she could always pretend to be strong. She'd been doing it for years...
But they didn't seem to get that. Which meant that they continued to pussyfoot around her, in an attempt to make sure that she felt safe and at home, but really all that it made clear was how much she had to lose, on how, even after all this time, she was still separate from the rest of them, still threatened by the possibility of being taken away. It just reminded her of how little control she had over her own life, and how isolated she was front the rest of them - Jude included.
For god's sake, she hadn't even been properly punished for her getting-arrested-going-away stunt, instead grounded for a month and given extra chores and school related tasks for the remainder of her suspension. Jude, who'd hidden in the back of the car and helped find her, had also been grounded , though this time for two weeks with a lpromise of extra chores and a weeks ban on video games. It was ridiculous, and, in all honesty, made her wonder if she even belonged with the Fosters when she had so try so hard to fit in and still failed, or if it was - and always had been - just a really good illusion.
