I forget Jack's foster parent names, I'll just call them Will and Jenny Martin. Sorry if that bugs anyone, but I can't seem to figure out their names. I'm adding this scene between Jamie and Madison; it might not make sense right now. Sorry this chapter is so short, the next one will begin right with Riley at school. I know my story kind of sucks, but I'm just a kid. Oh and I might have gotten Sawyer's age wrong, but I doubt it's off by that much.
Chapter 7
Jamie stands as his girlfriend opens the door to him blushing. Momma brought him to Madison's house after he got dropped off. He said he could walk home afterwards and he'd be home on time for dinner. She only agreed cause Lyd was in the middle of one of her fits. He likes the idea of calling someone his girlfriend. Even though, all the guys tease him because of it. He likes it and Madison. She's great.
"Hey Madison" Jamie said smiling at his girlfriend. He wonders if this is the best time to tell her. Riley's probably wrong about everything and they'll all be laughing about this later.
Madison grins back at him. "Hey, what'd you do today?" she asked knowing dinner will be ready soon.
"Me and Riley went to the River Court, she played against Chuck and lost…but it was a good game. What about you? Did you have fun with your grandparents?" Jamie asked knowing how much Madison enjoys spending time with them.
The smile on his girlfriend's face falters. "You and Riley?" Madison questioned looking annoyed.
"Yeah, I like her. She's cool" he admitted wondering why it suddenly feels like being friends with Riley is a bad thing.
"You think she's cool?" Madison asked angrily. Jamie nods; didn't he just say he thought she was? "You like her don't you?"
Jamie runs a hand through his hair. "Not like, I like you" he answered glancing down at his shoelaces for effect. He's wearing girl shoelaces, doesn't that mean anything?
"Yeah right" Madison scoffed starting to walk back to her house.
"Why are you so mad?" Jamie follows feeling a knot begin to tighten in the pit of his stomach.
"Because you like her" Madison snapped retreating to her house her hands clenched with anger.
Jamie watches her go wondering what just happened. This doesn't make any sense, at first they were having fun and now they might be in a fight. Girls are crazy…yep, that's it; all girls are insane. The nine year old turns on his heels and starts on the trip home. What the heck did he do wrong? He'll just ask her what he did wrong at school.
New people equal new problems, Riley thought miserably. Sam and Jack seem okay, but they're kind of annoying. Jack hardly ever talks and Sam seems annoying. Not like Madison, just like she knows better. Riley's decided to stay quiet until they leave. So far all they've talked about is Jack being a youth advocator and Sam's dumb book. They also get cooler stuff than milk to drink.
Brooke looks around for Riley's plate. She knows for certain the nine year old hadn't finish her dinner. "Riley, what happened to your dinner?" she demanded raising her eyebrows.
"I don't know" Riley shrugged looking out the window wishing she was in Charlotte with her friends. Tree Hill is stupid, nobody understands her here and it's not like eating her dinner matters much; especially, when it's yucky to begin with.
"The boys are getting so big and cute" Sam cut in knowing full well that Riley somehow managed to get rid of her plate without the parents noticing until now.
Brooke beams as she strokes Jude's cheek. "Maybe I should quit feeding them so they can be babies forever" she joked winking playfully at Riley.
"I no baby" Jude objected proudly, Julian smiles in agreement.
"No, you two are my big boys" he appraised as Jack watches wondering if he'll be half the father Will and Julian are.
Jude kicks his feet in agreement as Davis yawns tiredly. He agrees with his Daddy, but he's too sleepy to do anything. In fact, all he wants to do is watch a good cartoon and have a rest. Sam will probably still be here when he wakes up. Maybe Riley will wanna play with him later.
"Oh, right, Riley this is Sam; she was my first foster kid" Brooke said beaming at Sam who grins.
"Hi, Riley, it's great to meet you" Sam answered feeling jealous, if only Brooke and Julian had known her when she was eight.
Riley looks up and mumbles a quick hello. Julian frowns for a brief moment wondering whether he should tell her to be more polite. Sam and Jack did come all this way to meet their newest family member. Brooke beats him to it. "Rye, Sam came to meet you, be polite" she reprimanded gently.
"She didn't hafta come" Riley pouted as Sam half-smiles at the girl's gall. Maybe this kid isn't as bad as she thought. Brooke and Julian need some excitement in their life.
Rebecca was great, but Brooke will always be her first mom. Brooke in reality was the very first person who bothered to care. Although, she may have been annoying and set some ridiculous rules, Sam always felt safe with her. Rebecca came a little late in the game which caused the two to be more friends than parent and child.
"Don't be rude" Julian said taking a sip of his beer. He isn't sure if he likes the way Riley is behaving, she seemed okay the first few days, but now it's like she wants to get sent back to Charlotte.
Riley looks up. "I'm not, your just being annoying" she retorted causing Brooke to stand up and take Riley's hand.
Sam watches Julian's reaction. "Riley, drop this attitude or you'll find yourself in time-out" Julian warned trying his best to be the little girl's father, but this is hard. He's never had to scold anyone before and it feels strange.
"No" Riley argued causing Sam to half-smile; honestly, Sam has never heard Julian sound so authoritative before.
"Riley, listen to Julian" Brooke ordered taking a quick sip of her wine.
"I don't hafta listen to you or Julian" the nine year old answered testing the waters with her foster parents.
Brooke's eyes narrow, this is their second day together and already Riley's causing trouble. "Watch yourself, Riley Grace" Brooke warned as everyone, including the boys watches as the scene unfold.
"How about everyone just chills out?" Sam offered causing Riley to glare at her.
"Shut the hell up, it's your fault they're mad" Riley replied causing Jack to stifle a smile; he's never heard words like that come out of a kid, well maybe Sam, but they were young when they were kids.
"Riley" Brooke exclaimed. "That's it" she shakes her head as she gets up and retrieves a blue chair from the playroom. The foster parent places the chair in the living room, so it's facing the wall and clearly visible from the kitchen.
"Babe, what are you doing" Julian asked trying to hide his worry, his wife isn't exactly known for her restraint.
Brooke ignores him. "You're going to sit in time-out" she stated keeping her eyes focused on the fidgeting Riley.
"But…Brooke, I didn't mean it" Riley whined wishing she hadn't swore at Sam.
"I think you need to cool-off for awhile. You can come out in ten minutes and tell Sam sorry" Brooke explained as Riley stands stubbornly.
"I'm not gonna apologize" the fourth grader argued.
"Then, we'll just have to repeat this until you do" Brooke sends the nine year old her way with a quick smack. Riley turns; surprised by the sting and reluctantly walks to the corner.
Sam shakes her head. "That wasn't necessary, Brooke" she said watching the sour child shift uncomfortably. Sam really didn't think Brooke swatted her that hard, but maybe little kids have softer bottoms or something.
"You might have thought it wasn't necessary, but I'm not going to let her speak to anyone like that" Brooke disagreed; she has a strange feeling Riley's trying to make her feel guilty for smacking her.
"When I was her age, I knew all a swear for every letter in the alphabet" Sam said grinning as Jack winks playfully at her.
Brooke shakes her head. "You must be so proud" the brunette chuckled taking a sip of her wine and watching Riley. She didn't want to send her to time-out, especially since they were having a good time before but something had to be done. It is not okay for nine year olds to swear.
"It was awesome, Brooke" Jack said kissing his girlfriend on the cheek, Brooke watches with a smile remembering the days when she and Julian started dating.
Riley folds her arms across her chest and huffs. This isn't fair, so what? She only said one bad word and she still got nailed for it. That sucks, plus getting sent to time-out with a smack. Little kids like Logan or Nate get those, not nine year olds. She's too big for this kind of punishment and normally she'd get up and ditch, but Brooke looked kinda scary and Riley doesn't want to push her luck.
Jamie moves around the mashed potatoes. Normally, he'd be stuffing his face with Momma's steak and mashed potatoes. Tonight is different, Riley's words really stuck with him. What she said about Madison can't be true, but at the party it seemed like it was. No, Jamie's known Madison for years; she wouldn't be mean like that.
"Dad, why do girls sometimes not like each other?" Jamie asked causing Nathan and Haley to share a look. They both hope Jamie isn't growing up too fast.
Nathan blinks; unsurely. "What brings this on, Jamie?" he asked glancing at his wife for assistance.
"Riley said Madison doesn't like her, but Madison got mad at me for hanging out with Riley today and now I think we're in a fight" Jamie squints trying to remember what exactly happened. Nathan chuckles at his son's confusion; women are in his opinion odd creatures you don't mess around with.
Haley smiles warmly at her nine year old. "I think and this is just the opinion of a woman, but Madison might be jealous of Riley" the mother explained.
"Why?" Jamie asked.
"Riley's a pretty girl, Jamie and I think Madison knows Riley is pretty and feels threatened" Haley said causing Jamie to frown; sure Riley's pretty, but Madison is pretty too.
"Oh…Momma, Riley said she's used to people not liking her cause she's a foster kid. Why did she say that?" he asked his tone becoming soft with worry.
"Because maybe that's how it's been for Riley" Haley replied wanting to stay honest with her eldest.
"That doesn't make any sense, she's great" Jamie grins wishing he could say he didn't find Riley pretty. "When we were playing basketball today, she let Chuck win on purpose cause she didn't wanna embarrass him."
"That was nice of her" Nathan mused remembering when he was nine and the idea of a girl beating him was humiliating.
"Yeah and she didn't even care that much. She acted like it wasn't a big deal and stuff" Jamie admitted suddenly realizing why Madison doesn't want him to be friends with Riley.
Austin Teague isn't quite sure what to make of this new arrangement Nat has set up for him. He knows Natalie is supposed to be one of the best, well all the older kids say she is. They think Nat finds the best families in the entire world, but what do they know.
The family she has picked for him lives on a boat with his foster father's mother and her boyfriend. What the hell does that even mean? The man and woman don't even have real jobs. How Nat managed that is beyond him. The only good thing that could possibly come out of this is the couple having a kid. She may be a few years younger, but at least it's someone to talk to.
"Nat are sure about this?" Austin whispered glancing nervously down at his suitcase. "We can always turn around and ditch em."
"That wouldn't be very polite Austin" Natalie reprimanded smiling at the boy's worry.
Austin scratches the back of his neck. "What do you really know about these people?" he demanded watching them enter the court house.
"I know these people are the perfect fit for you" the social worker stated; she feels bad for thinking this, but she's honestly going to miss the little boy. He and Riley are such great kids; Natalie's never had children quite like them.
"What are their names again?" the nine year old asked wiping his sweaty hands on his faded blue jeans.
Natalie smiles, "Peyton and Lucas Scott, they have a five year old, Sawyer. Don't worry Austin; I did a thorough back-round check" she assured the youngster who stands as the couple walk towards them.
Austin doesn't say anything for a moment. "If that's what'll help you sleep at Nat" he mumbled trying to stifle his worry with a stupid joke. It doesn't work.
Brooke checks her watch, before exiting from the table and walking over to her foster daughter. Julian watches wondering how his wife is going to handle this situation. Sam and Jack watch as well, they both want to have children someday, but they aren't sure if they could handle these kind of situations.
"Your time-outs over" Riley turns around to face her mother, "I sent you to time-out for swearing and being disrespectful. You needed to cool off and sometimes time-outs can do just that" Brooke said her tone soft.
The nine year old looks down. "It wasn't that bad of a swear" Riley answered pouting.
"It was still a, swear and it is not okay for you to swear. Do you understand?" Riley nods sighing. "Okay, good. Come on, I think there's something you need to do" Brooke said holding out her hand.
"Do I really gotta say I'm sorry?" the nine year old complained reluctantly taking Brooke's hand.
"Yes, sweetie, you really gotta."
"But, I didn't mean it" Riley answered softly. "You already know I'm sorry, why do I gotta say it to her?"
"You might not have meant it, but it still hurt Sam's feelings when you said that to her" Brooke replied causing Riley to nod sadly; she knows she hurt Sam's feelings. Saying sorry really sucks.
"I don't like apologizing" Riley admitted causing Brooke to chuckle, maybe somehow Riley is her actual child.
"Nobody does" Brooke agreed kissing the top of her head. "Come on, after we'll have ice-cream and watch a movie" she offered causing a half-smiel to form on Riley's young face.
"Okay, Brooke?" she asked weakly.
"Yeah, sweetie" the foster mother said keeping her eyes focused on the kitchen table.
"I'm sorry for swearing. I just…new people are weird."
Brooke looks down suddenly concerned about the child. "What are you talking about?" she asked her brow wrinkling into lines of worry.
"New people…they change things and stuff" Riley shrugs, not sure if she wants to talk about it.
"Change isn't always bad; Julian changed my life and look where I am now, my life is different, but good because of him" Brooke explained tucking Riley's hair behind her ear.
Julian nods at his wife; pleased she took this one. "Sam, Riley has something she'd like to say to you" Brooke said nudging the little girl.
Riley glances at Julian who raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry for saying hell to you, it was mean" the fourth grader said glancing up at Brooke who nods.
"No problem, I've said and heard worse" Sam shrugs causing Riley to let her guard down.
"Really, like what?" Riley asked perking up. Now that her apology is done with, they can all move on.
Sam nods her head at Julian and Brooke. "There will be other times for those kinds of stories" Sam promised causing a dimpled smile to form on Riley's cheeks.
"Oh god, I don't know if Riley getting along with Sam is a good thing or bad thing" Brooke groaned overdramatically causing Jack and Julian to share smirks.
Julian kisses his wife. "This is the beginning of something great, I can tell" the husband said his eyes smiling.
Brooke shakes her head, playfully. "You're a cheese-ball" she groaned as Riley looks around giggling. Maybe she could stick it out for awhile.
