You know the saying every cloud has a silver lining? Well, it turns out that that's only half of it. You see, every cloud may have a silver lining, but every silver lining also has a cloud, so there's no winning. Not in my life, anyway.
Past
I woke up at around six o'clock in the morning, due to something gently patting my face, and I opened my eyes groggily (six o'clock is definitely not a time I should be conscious at- not even on a school day!), and sat up, scrambling back so fast I almost hit my head on the wall behind me, before my sleep addled brain registered that there was, in fact, no danger, only my cat sat on my stomach, having been prodding my face for a reason which, unsurprisingly, evaded my knowledge. I sighed, rubbing my eyes, and then stroking my cat. Yes, she was annoying, but Minnie the old tabby had been my mum's cat before, and I loved her as well as feeling duty bound to look after her.
Present
I stepped through the door, pulling my black suitcase behind me with one hand, carrying Minnie as carefully as I could with the other, and woas met by the stares of several other kids - care kids, I guessed - and they ranged from slightly older than me to much younger.
"Guys, this is Alex. Be nice." Mike, the social worker who had picked me up said to the small congregation that had gathered, and then he turned to me.
"Welcome to the mad house!" He said, sounding only half sarcastic.
"Is that a cat?" Asked a small girl loudly, staring at Minnie. "How come she's allowed a pet?!"
"Floss..." Said a woman warningly who I hadn't noticed before, standing further down the corridor, but I smiled an replied anyway.
"I don't know if I can keep her yet, and anyway, she isn't actually a cat-" I lowered my voice conspiratorially, "she's a tiger in disguise!" I finished, noticing most of the other kids' amused grins, and I winked at her as she smiled widely up at me. I was about to talk to the woman who'd been watching from the hall, smiling at my interaction with Floss, and ask her what I needed to do with my belongings when I saw a small blonde figure rushing down the stairs.
"Alex!" He yelled, running towards me, and I grinned wider than I had grinned all year.
"Harry!" I dropped the handle of my suitcase as he hugged me tightly, and Minnie me owed in protest as she was squashed between us.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" He asked me, scratching behind Minnie's ears just how she liked.
"Well, I didn't know myself until about five minutes ago! You see-" but I broke off when I saw all of the interested faces surrounding us.
"We can talk about that later. How's Jeff?" I asked, referencing his cuddly toy ( a giraffe) an the people around us still looked vaguely interested, still watching us, but they also appeared to be speculating among themselves about who I might be. It made my slightly nervous to have so many peoples' attention on me, but what unnerved me the most was the tall, brown haired boy leaning against the doorframe of what I guessed was the living room, practically glaring at me, with his arms folded. I gave him a raise of my eyebrows, and the woman down the corridor finally spoke up.
"Alex, could you come with me a sec?" She asked, and I nodded, hugging Harry briefly again and walking down the corridor after her.
"Wait!" Called Harry after me, and I turned back around, "Can I hold Minnie?" He asked, and I grinned.
"Course." I handed over the cat, and carried on down the corridor and into an office.
"So, I'm May-li, and welcome to Ashdene Ridge!" She said with a warm smile. "You'll be sharing a room if that's okay?" I nodded, and she smiled again. "Excellent. You'll be sharing a room with - oh, here she comes now!" A girl with long brown hair tied back in a pony tail was running down the corridor, laughing as she was chased by a taller boy with wild, curly hair.
"Jodie! Tyler!" Called out May-li, stopping them in their tracks. "Could you show Alex around, please?" And then she turned to me, saying "You'll be sharing a room with Jodie for now."
"Good luck with that!" Said the boy, Tyler, "You can hear her snoring from a mile off!" Jodie elbowed him in the ribs, and said "Come on, I'll show you our room." So she led me up the stairs, around a corner and into her - our - room.
"Just ignore Tyler." She said.
"Are you two, you know, a couple or something...?" Jodie pulled a face, making me laugh.
"God no! We're best friends though. Do you want some help unpacking?"
"There isn't really much to unpack- I might do it later. Do you know where Harry might be?" She looked suddenly twice as interested.
"Are you his long lost sister or something?" She asked, and I shook my head.
"Not exactly, no." Seeing that this was all she'd be able to get out of me, she shrugged, and gestured for me to leave the room.
"His room's right down the corridor. I'll show you." She led me further down the corridor, and pointed to a door.
"That's his. See you later!" She grinned at me, and I smiled back, before knocking on the door.
It was answered by the boy who'd been glowering at me before, and he didn't look best pleased to see me.
"What do you want?" He demanded, and I rolled my eyes.
"Nice to meet you too." I replied sarcastically.
"Just let her in, would you?" I heard Harry say from inside the room, and I pushed my way past Ryan, who didn't seem very keen on letting me in.
"Can we talk now?" Harry asked, and I came over and sat next to him on his bed.
"Yeah, sure - when he leaves." I said, gesturing to Ryan, who was still stood in the doorway, but who was now approaching me.
"Harry and I are mates, so whatever you say to him, you can say to me." He said, and to my consternation, Harry said
"Let him stay. Minnie likes him too!" Ryan smirked and sat on the bed, and Minnie, who Harry had been holding, leapt on to his lap. So much for loyalty.
"Why are you here?" Asked Harry "I thought things were going okay with you and Helen?" He said it as a question, so I launched into a full explanation of what had happened to me, and to her.
"So, let me get this straight, you two are ... Half brother and sister?" Ryan interrupted me, and Harry nodded before I had time to say something slightly less PG.
"Different mums, same dad." He said.
"Let me guess- you want to hear the whole story." I said, and Ryan looked at me innocently.
"If you wouldn't mind."
"Well, my parents met when they were younger, and I guess they were so in love that they didn't believe that they could ever not be, which of course wasn't true. You see, when my mum, Helen, got pregnant with me, they weren't married and they were both still in their early twenties, and my mum's family didn't think that she would cope. They wanted her to get an abortion and wait a few years until they had settled down with good jobs and a nice house before they even thought about having children, but of course she wouldn't listen. They rented a small apartment together and had me. Everything was great for a couple of years, but they weren't making enough money, and they had to work for longer and longer, seeing less of each other in an attempt to make enough money to survive by, and in the end, my father gave up. He ran, and he met Harry's mum. I lived with them for a while, but I had to go and live with my mum because - well, I'm sure you know the rest of the story." I felt as though I should be crying or something, but I only felt cold. Cold and alone and abandoned, despite Harry sitting right next to me.
To my surprise, Ryan put his arm around me, and smiled reassuringly.
"We've all been through a lot. You'll be okay; you have Harry and Minnie, and at least you're together again." His words sounded reassuring, but there was something in his smile that made me want to pull away, despite how comforting the arm around my shoulder was.
"What about you, then?" I asked, and when his expression shut down immediately, I knew I was right - his sympathy, however genuine I wanted it to be, was just a show.
"Well, I ... I don't-" he faltered, and I stood up abruptly.
"I knew it." I said, and he glared at me again, opening his mouth to say something, but he never quite got around to it, because May-Ali yelled "DINNER!" And Minnie leapt from his lap and onto Harry's pillow as he stood up, and as he walked past me, he muttered so that Harry wouldn't hear me, "You don't know anything."