I got the idea for this today and wrote it really quickly. Apologies if it's awful, I really wanted to post it before I went to sleep. Let me know what you think, and if I should continue it. The next chapter will introduce Eli!
Imogen Moreno stood at the stranger's doorstep nervously, gripping the handle of the suitcase tightly. Her social worker stood beside her, knocking at the door softly. "You'll love her, Imogen. Her name is Audra Torres, and she has two sons around your age. You'll be going to Degrassi with them." Imogen nodded along, but didn't say anything back.
The door opened and revealed a smiling woman. "Hello!" she greeted, "Come in," she stepped aside, letting the two walk in. She closed the door behind them, and turned around. "You must be Imogen. I'm Audra Torres," she introduced herself.
"You have a nice home," Imogen commented politely, looking around the room. Audra thanked her, and turned to Imogen's social worker. "I'll be checking in once a week until things get settled down." the social worker told her, "If either of you two need anything, give me a call." Audra nodded, and let him out.
"Hey, mom!" a voice yelled out from the other room, "Have you seen my-" a tall boy entered the room, and paused when he noticed a girl. Audra shot him a look, and he instantly flashed the girl a smile.
"Sorry" he apologized, "Hey, Imogen right?" she nodded, "I'm Drew, welcome to our home."
"Thank you, Drew," Imogen said quietly, looking down.
"Drew, could show Imogen around? I have to go pick up Adam from his friend's house." Audra asked her eldest son. He nodded, grabbing one of Imogen's bags.
"You don't have to do that," Imogen said, reaching for her bag from him. Drew pulled his arm away, not letting her take it, "No, I've got it, it's fine," Imogen flashed him a slight grin.
"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," he told her, heading down to a stairwell that lead them to the basement. "Here's the basement. You'll be staying down here. Lucky you, by the way, the best bed in the house is down here."
After Drew showed Imogen around the rest of the house, he went up to his room, leaving Imogen to settle in her new room.
Imogen sat on her new bed and smiled for the first time in a few days. She was going to be staying in a nice house, with a nice family. Looking around at the boring white room, she felt inspiration hit. Getting up, she went over to get her suitcase from the floor. She unzipped it and starting unpacking.
She had folded her clothes and placed them inside the empty dresser, and organized her art supplies on top of it. Her favorite blanket was lying on her new bed, and her favorite painting hung on the wall.
When everything was unpacked, she felt like the room was starting to become hers.
When she sat back down on the bed, she heard a knocking from outside her door. "Come in," she said, turning to face the person who came inside.
"Hey!" the boy greeted, "I'm Adam. My mom said that she was ordering pizza, it should be here soon,"
"I'm Imogen, it's nice to meet you"
She expected him to turn around and walk out, but he stood in the middle of the room, looking around. "That's a nice painting," he commented, pointing to the piece on the wall.
"Thanks, I painted it a few weeks ago," Adam gasped, "You did that? That's really cool."
"I'm an artist."
"You'll have to help me out for my art project I have coming up. I can't even draw stick figures." He told her, chuckling.
"Now I'm sure that's not true. "
"I'm serious; I couldn't even draw to save my life. Now, if we're talking about music, that's a different story,"
"You're a musician?" she asked, interested. She had always wanted to learn an instrument.
"Yeah," he nodded, "I play the bass. You play anything?" Imogen shook her head, "No, but I've always wanted to learn to play the drums,"
"You know, Drew plays the drums. Maybe he could teach you." He suggested.
"That would be awesome," she grinned.
"Adam, Imogen, the pizza's here!" Audra's voice called down the steps.
Imogen stood up from the bed and followed behind Adam with a smile.
After dinner, Adam and Drew went upstairs to work on homework. It was a school night, but Imogen wasn't starting at Degrassi until the following week. She sat in the living room with Audra, watching a movie.
Imogen started to daydream, her mind drifting away from the movie. She thought of when she was little, with her mother and father. She thought about the day he mom left. She thought about her first day of middle school. She thought about the day she found out her dad had dementia. She thought about the last day she had with him, the day she didn't realize would be her last.
The next thing she knew, she was clinging on to Audra, who was rubbing her back.
The woman beside her remained silent as the 15 year old girl cried in her arms. She couldn't think of anything to say that would make the girl feel any better. Audra knew the girl had just lost her father no more than three days ago, and it was going to be really hard for her. She was even a bit surprised that the girl had gone all day without seeming upset.
When the tears wouldn't fall anymore, Imogen sniffed and scooted away from Audra. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
"There's nothing to be sorry for, dear." Audra told her softly, running a hand through her hair.
"Is it okay if I go take a shower?" Imogen begged, feeling sick.
"Of course, that's fine. There are towels in your bathroom. Just yell if you need anything, okay?" she gave the girl a soft smile. Imogen nodded, getting off the couch and rushing to her room in the basement.