"Hey Lizzy!"

The teen girl looked up. "Oh, hey Charlie."

"Mind if I sit?"

"No of course, go ahead."

Charlie pulled out a chair from the table and sat in front of Lizzy. "Haven't done this in a while," he said.

"Oh, yeah…" said Lizzy, looking down at her food. She went back to twisting a fork inside a bowl filled to the rim with pasta. "Sorry, it's been a bit crazy, what with finals, soccer practice..."

The two teenagers were on the cafeteria for lunch period. Having lunch together like this had almost become a routine among the two of them, although it hadn't happened much lately.

"No, no, I feel you; I've also been a bit busy," said Charlie as he opened up his backpack and got out a sandwich.

"What have you been up to?" she asked.

"Just piano and school. Had a science project due last week so that took a lot of my time. But my family and I went camping last weekend and that was a nice break," he said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"That's cool," said Lizzy, looking up at Charlie. "I love camping. I went with my…uhm… well, not that long ago. It was a lot of fun."

Charlie swallowed. "How's it going with your…" he started, but left the words hanging in the air.

Lizzy went back to looking at her food and twisting the fork around.

"…Family?" he finally said after seeing no response from Lizzy.

"Not bad, I just—" she started saying, but then shook her head. "Never mind. It's fine. It's all good."

Charlie took another bite from his sandwich. Lizzy still hadn't taken a bite out of her food. The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence while Charlie chewed.

"You've seemed a little off lately," he finally ventured. "Not that I've been stalking you or anything, I just mean, I've seen you around the hallways and at the cafeteria when I've come to get food."

"Oh yeah no, I get it," said Lizzy. "I just… well, I guess I have been a little off lately."

Charlie put his sandwich down. "Can I ask why?"

Lizzy looked up at him. "Yeah, I mean, just silly stuff, I guess?" she smiled in attempt to make light of the situation. Charlie wasn't fooled.

"Do you have to move foster placements again? I thought this one was final," he said.

"Yeah no it is, I mean, it's supposed to be," said Lizzy.

"Do you not want it to?" he asked.

"I do, I just—" she closed her eyes and paused for a moment. "I don't know."

There was a moment of silence while Lizzy took her first bite.

"Sorry," she said with her mouth full. "I'm boring you with my stupid stuff. Got any big recitals coming up?"

"Not until the end of the year," said Charlie, "and you don't have to apologize. You're not boring me or anything. Your family seem quite nice."

Lizzy let out a laugh.

"How can you say that after how they accosted you!?"

Charlie smiled. "But they thought I was someone else! Plus, well, they did it because they care, right? I think, it would have been worse if they hadn't."

Lizzy sighed and looked away. "Yeah, I guess."

"Do you not want them to care?" Charlie knitted his eyebrows.

"I do, I just—," she sighed again. "I'm just… worried, I guess?"

"Worried?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah like, what if they wake up one day and realize they don't actually want this, you know?" she said.

"This?"

"Me," she paused. "What if they don't want me. Wouldn't be the first time."

Charlie stayed quiet for a moment.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," said Lizzy, breaking the silence. "I don't know why I'm blurting all of this."

She went back to her food and took another bite. Charlie still didn't say anything.

"Have they given you a reason to think they don't want you?" he finally asked.

"No," Lizzy smiled. "It's been the opposite actually. I just, I know how this works." Her smile disappeared. "Adults always say one thing but then they do another."

Charlie took a bite out of his sandwich and chewed slowly.

"Well, I don't know if this helps," he said, pausing to swallow, "but when you parents realized I wasn't Jacob, they asked me if I knew anyone by that name, but like, they asked if I knew anyone by that name who had been hanging around with their daughter, Lizzy Viara."

Lizzy frowned.

"What I mean is, they called you their 'daughter', even then. And that was the day before the hearing, right? So, they knew your birth mom could potentially reunite, but they still called you their daughter. I think that says a lot."

Lizzy was stunned in silence for the next few minutes. She looked down at her food. Charlie gave her the space to process what he had just said.

Finally, she looked up at him. "Yeah, I guess that says a lot," she said.

She let out a small, genuine smile.