Care home kids
Chapter 1: Dan's arrival
He walked up the long pathway that led to the next care home trying to ignore the stares and the whispers from behind him. He was 'just another care kid' so he was used to it. Used to how people would stare at him wearily, wondering what sort of trouble he was going to cause, used to the whispers of "Care home? It must be so hard when your parents don't want you." Sometimes people tried to be sympathetic, but that was just as bad. He didn't want to be singled out, to be pitied. Most of the time though, you were just ignored. That's how he liked it.
He finally managed to drag his suitcase up the stairway in front of the house, and he pushed on the door to let himself in. It was his new home after all, why would he knock? He wasn't too bothered about making people angry though, he probably wouldn't be here for long. This was his 12 care home in just under 2 years. He never stayed anywhere for long. One by one each care home decided he was too much to handle, and they moved him along. He was used to it. You learn not to get too many possessions, learn to travel light so you can leave at a moment's notice. He chuckled slightly to himself, his suitcase wasn't exactly light. He sighed as he stepped into the huge hallway, closing the door behind him. He looked around and took it all in. There was a lot of yellow; it was starting to give him a headache. This wasn't like most of the care homes he'd been in. They were all old houses with long cold corridors. This was more modern, more comfy. Maybe it would be better here, he told himself. Maybe he'd stay here longer, after all, this was a care home for 'difficult children' as his old head care worker had called it, before telling him he wasn't going to be his care worker anymore. They always changed too. Nobody wanted to stick with him, he just made people uncomfortable. He was tempted to walk straight back out, but he'd promised Jake, his favourite carer from his last home, that he'd at least give it a shot. He prepared himself to go find someone and tell them he was here when a boy walked out of the room directly opposite from him, watching his phone.
Phil scanned through twitter on his phone having just stolen the new code so he could access the internet on his phone. They weren't supposed to have un-authorised internet access, he assumed because they might look up ways to hurt themselves. Or others. Most of the people in this place were good enough at that anyway, they didn't need research. They also weren't meant to be a member of any social networking sites until they were 16 either, 'for their own safety', but Phil knew for a fact some of the younger kids had facebook. He walked out of the main living room and felt a presence. He glanced up, wondering if Oliver was watching from under the staircase again and saw a boy. Phil assumed he was new, but he was a bit distracted. This boy was tall and lanky, with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had prominent cheek bones and tanned skin. Phil took all this in quickly and then noticed the adorable dimples the boy had as he smiled at him.
The boy glanced up from his phone, and Dan was happy he was too far away to see his shaking. He had dark hair that cut across his face, a bit like his own, and he was very pale. He was skinny, and smaller than him, although not by much. He saw his eyes, they were a startling blue. It felt like he was staring right through him. Dan smiled, deciding he wanted to put in the effort to get to know this boy. Most of the time he wouldn't bother, but he decided to make an exception. The boy smiled back at him, sticking his tongue out slightly as he did so. He slid his phone in his back pocket as he walked over, still smiling. He came and stood in front of Dan who said a soft "Hey". The boy studied him for a minute before replying just as quietly "Hi. What's your name?" He spoke as though he was talking to a small child and Dan tried to speak a bit louder, trying to show he was normal. He wasn't, most care kids weren't, but he still wanted to appear as such. Most care kids had a few issues, but Dan hated it when people assumed things. "Dan, yours?" The boy smiled still as he replied "Phil, you staying here?" Dan motioned towards his suitcase and said "Yup." He struggled not to laugh as he watched a slight blush cross Phil's cheeks.
Why had he asked him if he was staying? He was such an idiot. He felt the warmth on his cheeks and decided to try and distract Dan from his idiocy. "Erm, I guess I better take you to Dave. He's the boss around here." Dan smiled and made to pick up his suitcase but Phil shook his head "Leave it here. No-ones gonna touch it, there all out." Dan raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Sarah's taken them out to see some film at the cinema." Dan put the suitcase back down and Phil started walking through the living room he had just exited. "Why aren't you there?" Phil laughed and said "One, I have no interest in whatever animated movie they went to see, because it's not Disney and it doesn't have Sarah Michelle Gellar in it. Two, I hate watching movies with that lot. All they do is natter." Dan laughed "I hate that too." They wandered through the kitchen and Phil sneakily reached into a drawer. He grabbed two things out of it and threw one at Dan, who caught it easily. It was chocolate bar. Phil stuck his tongue out at him and whispered "Have it later. They think I don't know where they keep them!" Dan chuckled slightly. He suddenly realised that Phil was a lot older than most kids he'd ever seen in care, and before thinking he said "Phil? How old are you? You're the oldest kid I've seen in one of these places." Phil replied causally "18. They got special permission to keep me here till im 19. Afraid I'm gonna relapse I guess." Dan decided not to question further, he just smiled at Phil who returned the smile before saying "How old are you?" Dan sighed, embarrassed. People never believed his age; apparently he looked so much older. He couldn't see it himself and he made it clear when he said "Turned 14 two weeks ago. Apparently I look older, but…" Phil laughed and replied "You do!" They stopped in front of a door which had a bee painted on it. Phil whispered "Prepare to enter the dragons den" Dan bit his lip, slightly nervous and whispered back "Is he that bad?"Phil chuckled before saying in normal volume "Nope." He pushed the door open without even knocking and called "Dave, Dan's here." Dan wandered into the office and smiled slightly. It was a mess, paper everywhere, and Dan liked it. He liked things that looked lived in. He glanced over at the only person in the room, and his smile grew wider. The man was bald and wore glasses, he looked slightly flustered. He was staring at the boy in surprise and he smacked himself on the forehead comically. "God, sorry! I got the days confused again; I didn't think you were coming until tomorrow." He leant forward a shook Dan's hand warmly before motioning for him to sit down. "So, I'm Dave, and I see you've already met Phil. The other people that work here you'll get to know soon enough too. There's only Sarah, Harry and Sonia. We're a pretty small group here, so you'll get to know the other kids here soon enough too I expect." Dan nodded slightly, looking at his hands. Dave smiled at him and said calmly "I'm not going to give you a huge talk, you know how it works, I know you've been to plenty of these places. It's a bit different here, but you'll adjust. You'll be fine! I guess I should let you get settled, your room number 11. Do you want me to come with you?" Dan shook his head and said "its fine, I'll go by myself. Thanks Dave." It was strange calling adults by their first names; all his care homes had been strict. He nodded again as he left, and he saw Phil sat on the floor on his phone, waiting. Dan smiled again and Phil bounced up quickly. "What room you in?" Dan thought for a minute and said "11" Phil's smile dropped slightly and he said "Not on my floor. You're with the littlies. Oh well, it'll be quieter! Come on, I'll show you to your room." Dan smiled again and said "Sure". They retraced their steps back to the lobby so Dan could grab his suitcase and Phil winked at him. "Were not meant to use the lift, but Dave isn't gonna care while the others are out." Dan nodded his head gratefully; happy he wasn't going to have to carry his suitcase up the stairs. Soon they'd reached the first floor, and Phil lead him to the other end of the corridor. He opened the door and bowed deeply "You humble abode sir" Dan giggled and walked in, dumping his suitcase on the bed. It was fairly basic, just a desk against one wall with a chair, and a bed against the other wall. There was one thing that made his grin spread across his face though. He had a large window, and even though it was locked, Dan didn't care. He was more interested on the cushioned seat that was where the windowsill would normally be. "I've always wanted something like this!" he exclaimed. Phil laughed and said "Yeah, you've got one of the best rooms alright. Do you want to get settled or…?" Phil's question tailed off and Dan raised an eyebrow before asking "or what?" Phil laughed and said "I could give you a tour if you'd like." Dan nodded vigorously.
Soon they were back downstairs, and Phil was showing him around. He'd already seen the living room and the kitchen so Phil showed him the other rooms. There was a games room, with one wall taken up by computers and another with a shelving unit full of games, DVDs and books. There was a snooker table in the middle of the room. There was also what Phil called "the quiet room" which was painted completely white. There was no windows, just a beanbag, and nothing else. Phil looked at Dan's look of confusion and asked him "Didn't you have one of these in your old home?" Dan shook his head "Nope, none of them" Phil didn't ask what he meant, but just said "They send us here when we go too far. It drives you crazy, it's too quiet." He nodded towards the walls "Soundproof." Dan looked at him and asked timidly "Have you been in here." Phil nodded, but said nothing. Dan didn't push him, and they carried on the tour. The only other room on the ground floor was the 'therapy room' but it was locked. The other three floors were dedicated to bedrooms, even though there weren't that many kids. Phil took him up to the top floor and along the corridor. He stopped in front of a door and said "And here's my room" before opening the door.