As soon as I was able to button up the jeans I had just put on, the door slammed open to reveal a bubbly girl around my age. "You must be Chloe! Oh it's so nice to see someone new! Not that everyone here is really all that bad. In fact, making friends here isn't so hard. I'm just used to there being more people around. I actually just came from a really big high school a while ago. There were a ton of kids there…." I was taken completely by surprise as she made her way over to my closet, looking through the clothes that my aunt or one of the nurses had put up while I must've been sleeping. She continued on about school and clothes for a minute while I studied her. Her blonde hair was just a little darker than mine, her being more golden while mine was pale. Her eyes were a dark blue, rivaling my light. She made her way over to me, being at least four inches taller than me. She was making a ton of noise, so I guessed this was Elizabeth and not some chatty ghost.
"Sorry, Tori says that I can be scary with how much I talk. How old are you? You look like you're close to my age. Are you thirteen? Fourteen?"
I tried my best not to glare. She was just being nice. I forced a quick smile to my face. "Sixteen." A look of surprise flashed through her face. "Oh jeez, my bad. I always hated how people thought I was younger than I am, and here I go making the same mistake. You're definitely around our ages though. I think the youngest here would be Peter. He's about thirteen, I think…"
"Peter? Guys are here too?" I said, a bit surprised. My aunt agreed to this? She always hated the thought of boys being anywhere too close to me, not that she had to worry too much about it in the past…
"Yep! This place is coed. We all share the bottom floor, it's the top floor we split. The guys have the other side of the house. The nurses make sure we don't sneak over there, too. Like we would…" She thought for second. "Actually, I take that back, Tori would probably sneak over there, given the chance. She's real gutsy like that. And I might've, if Tori didn't already call dibs on Simon. Not that I'm all that interested anyway. Don't get me wrong! He's a really nice guy too. His brother is more quiet, though. He's a year older than us. Same with Rae, Tori and Simon are our age."
She kept on talking, and I nodded and smiled, keeping my guard up. She was really nice, but she was put in here for a reason, same with the others. Not saying that I was any better than the rest of them, but I had long ago confirmed that I wasn't just hallucinating.
As we made our way downstairs, Elizabeth - who actually wanted to go by Liz- went through the names of the crew of nurses. Besides the two that I have met and the teacher they had mentioned, there was also a Dr. Gill, the psychologist that each one of us had to talk to. There was also a third nurse by the name of Mrs. Abdo, but she only came in on weekends to give the other nurses a break.
The house was similar to the room upstairs. All painted in calming colors. House plants littered the corners of each room, and the smell of lemon cleaner scorched through the house. The living room had a worn, but comfortable look to it, calling out to me to sit and relax. If I ever had to create a set for an "average" group home, this would've made my list of choices.
We stopped by the dining room entryway, Liz pointing out the other members of the house. "Over there in the corner is Tori, her mood swings are legendary, but she's still a super nice person. She's actually my best friend. Over there is Rae, and she has a thing for fire, so just be careful." She smiled happily and took a seat next to Tori, starting to blab away.
Both girls had dark hair, but Tori's was short and it went well with her tall figure. Rae, on the other hand, was shorter with nice copper skin, and her hair flowed down into loose curls.
I took a seat close enough not to feel weird, but not close enough to really participate in any conversation. So far, I had to watch out for what I assumed was bipolar disorder as well as someone burning down the place.
Is this place really that safe? I worried to myself.
After breakfast, Ms. Van Dop pulled me aside and handed over my chore list as well as a general schedule for what went on around the house.
"Your classes won't be ready for you until Friday, which will give you a couple days break from academics. However, we still expect you to remain active and complete the chores on the list. The ones up top need to be done daily, while the ones on the bottom are weekly. Feel free to do it more often, if you find yourself bored. You may also ask the nurses for any additional jobs."
Normally, I would have declined doing extra work, but seeing as though I probably needed to get on everyone's good side to get out of here, I mentally prepared myself to fill every moment of my time here helping out where I could. I just wanted to go back home.
Nodding and turning away, I made my way up the stairs only to bump into Tori.
"Sor-" I started, but she quickly interrupted.
"Watch it kid." She snapped, pushing my shoulder. I had to grab the handrail in order to keep myself from falling.
"I-I'm not a k-kid." I said, slightly annoyed. Of all the times for my stutter to come out…
"Ble-ble-ble That's all folks!" She said mockingly, getting close to my face. "What are you, special? Take the small bus to school, there kiddo?" My face flushed red as she pushed passed me, continuing her way downstairs.
I stood there for a few seconds, taking deep breaths. After calming down a bit, I made my way to the bathroom, getting started on the list of chores. Better to do them now while everyone was in class, where they couldn't bother me for today.
It was around four p.m. when Mrs. Talbot called me over to the kitchen to help peel potatoes for tonight's meal. The kitchen was nice, more elbow room than most, and the dining room could easily be seen. I stayed near the sink while peeling, forgetting the feeling of bandages still wrapped around my hands. I was looking around and noticing different alarms set up by the windows and the back door near the dining room.
Makes sense, don't want to run the risk of us children escaping. I thought to myself, turning back to peeling. I still couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia. I felt as if someone was breathing down my neck. I peeked behind me and saw nothing, however I heard some rattling behind the closed door of the pantry. Curious, and a little bit frightened, I wandered over to the door and was just about to pull it open when it decided to open by itself…
Straight into my nose.
I gasped and stumbled back, pulling my hands to my face.
"Shit! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!" Hands made their way into my view, most likely to pull them away to see the damage, but I flinched and pulled them out of his reach.
"N-no worries, I shouldn't have been so close to the door." I said, looking up. I was met with a smile from a strange boy. Living boy, judging by the racket he was making in the pantry and the soreness of my face. He looked to be my age, with almond-shaped eyes and strange enough, blond hair. It didn't look bad though, it was strangely attractive.
"What a way to make an introduction huh? The name's Simon, you must be -" He stopped talking and listened for a moment. A couple of nurses seemed to be talking in the hallway behind the kitchen. His eyes flashed above me and then back to me.
"I'll be back, I have to go distract the nurses. Don't want to get caught snatching food!" He gave a quick wave and rounded the corner, running into one of the nurses and starting a conversation. Giving a little smile, I turned around and came eye to eye - well, more like eye - to chest- with another person. Backpedaling as fast as I could and squeaking out my surprise, I looked up to see a man… a boy?.. Looking at me blankly. He was a giant, standing at at least 6 feet, probably more. His clothes were baggy, and he looked stocky, acne angrily covering his face. Poor guy. His eyes were a sharp green, though, and quite beautiful.
We stared at each other for a few seconds. He didn't make a sound, his chest rising and falling slightly, but I couldn't hear any breathing. Was he a ghost? Surely Simon would have pointed him out before? I took a deep breath and straightened myself out. Looking around quickly and seeing no one, I gathered up my courage and walked forward. He watched me, scowling slightly as I got closer. When I was within arm's reach, I slowly lifted up my hand and gave a small poke at his stomach.
Solid, definitely solid. Not a ghost.
I looked up to see surprise and what I could only guess as curiosity dance in his eyes, even as he glared down at me. I immediately turned red and jumped back.
"S-s-sorry, I-I-I w-was just ch-checking.." I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse that didn't sound completely crazy.
"Checking what?" He said shortly, turning his back towards me as he reached to grab an apple out of the basket. His voice was super deep, not sounding like a teenager at all. It was strange, besides him talking, I still heard no sound from him, even as he walked past me to the pantry. It honestly freaked me out. Could he be like the Thing? But he looked more human…
I looked behind me to see him grabbing a few snacks and still looking at me, expecting an answer. Just as I opened my mouth, Simon came back.
"Alright! Coast is clear! But not for long!" Simon looked between me and the boy (?). "I see you've met my brother! Chloe, this is Derek." I gave a huge breath of relief at the realization that this Derek person wasn't like the Thing. I looked back to Derek again to see that he just looked all the more curious.
"Nice to meet you." I said, giving a small smile to both of them. Simon just looked to me for a second, looking a little concerned.
"So what happened to your hands?" He gestured toward the bandages. Shoot, I thought to myself, how do I explain that a creepy monster at school decided to test his nail strength on me?
"W-well I-I-I.."
"Slow down and think before speaking." Derek snapped impatiently. I quickly looked up and glared at him, feeling my eyebrow twitch. I hated it enough when I got told to slow down from adults, it felt even worse getting told the same thing by him.
"Derek…" Simon said quietly. I quickly turned back to peeling potatoes. "It was nice meeting you." I said shortly. "You should leave before the nurses come back." I heard Simon shuffle behind me, giving me a quick pat on the back.
"We'll see you around, maybe when Derek isn't feeling so grumpy." He laughed quickly and made his way out of the kitchen. I didn't hear Derek leave, but I assumed he left with his brother. Thinking about it now, though, they didn't exactly look to be related.
I shrugged to myself and continued working, muttering to myself quietly about how much Derek was a "big bully" and how it's "not my fault he moves like a freakin' ghost."
As I continued, I swore I heard a quiet rumble of what I could only guess as a chuckle leaving the kitchen.
