Chapter 4

It's the next morning, and I still can't believe what happened last night. After Anna told me, we talked for a while to try and figure out what we can do. Our plan is to have Anna get her license to foster, and then we can try to get Cayenne to live with us, and if Anna and Cayenne both want it, she can be adopted. Anna was able to get custody of me straight away, so she never had to get a foster license, so today she is going to look into seeing what the process is.

I'm really worried for her and I just want to make sure that she is safe. Hopefully the process isn't long because I really need to make sure she is okay. Anna told me not to stress about it and that she will handle it and make sure she gets here, but that's easier said than done.

Jacob texts me saying that he was going to pick me up for lunch at 1, so I need to get ready. I was going to reschedule because of everything, but I think talking to him about it will help me. So I got ready, and now I'm just sitting on the couch waiting for him to get here. I'm excited to go out with him, I just wish that there weren't any problems going on, so I can truly enjoy it. There is a knock at the door, so I go and open it, and there stands Jacob with a single sunflower.

"Aw, thank you Jacob." I say as I take it inside and put it on the kitchen counter

"You're welcome. Are you ready to get going?"

"Yes, just let me grab my bag."

We walk out and he opens the car door for me. He said that it was a surprise of where we were going, so I am a little curious. It was a bit of a drive, and along the way I figured out we were going to this beach that we all used to hang out at. We finally get there and I am hoping that he brought some food, because I am really hungry. We get out of the car and he goes to the trunk and pulls out a backpack. We are walking towards the beach when he interlocks his fingers with mine and smiles at me. We get to the sand and he pulls a blanket out of his backpack and lays it on the sand. We sit down on the blanket and he pulls out some sandwiches, chips, and fruit so I dig right in.

"Thank you for all this, it's really nice." I say

"You're welcome, I wanted to make it special."

"I have some bad news." I say

"What's wrong?" He says concerningly

"Last night they called Anna and told her that Cayenne's aunt and uncle were arrested and she's with a foster until they figure out what to do. Anna is going to get her license to foster so that we can try and bring her here."

"Oh my gosh Julia, I'm so sorry" he says as he leans over and hugs me.

The second he hugs me I feel my eyes start to water, and all my emotions just hit me all at once. We stay like this for some time, and it feels good to just cry. I can't remember the last time I cried. I always held everything in because I always had to be strong and never show let my dad see any of my weaknesses. But now that I have someone who I can be real with, I never want this feeling to go away. I pulled away from him and wiped my tears away.

"Okay, enough of that. Let's eat." I say.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything."

"I know, and I feel better. I just want to eat right now, I'm really hungry." I say.

We eat all the food he brought and just talk about everything. I told him how I am nervous to go back to school. I have been keeping up with all my work but I had been doing it at home, but now I'm going to go back to school in January. I don't know how people are going to react with me being back, and I told him how I am scared. He reassured me that he would be there and Brett would too and that they wouldn't let anything happen. I am extremely thankful for both of them, and I know that they will always be here for me.

After we ate and talked for a while longer, it was getting really cold so we decided it was time to go. So we walked back to the car and started the journey back to my house. We talked more in the car, and then we finally got back to my house. He walked me to the front door, and we stopped in front of it. He was leaning in to me, and all of a sudden the door swings open and Anna pops out of it.

"Hey guys, you're back!" She says

Jacob and I look at each other and just laugh because of Anna. I say goodnight to Jacob and he leaves and goes back to his car. As I walk into the house Anna is just standing there and smiling at me.

"Sorry I ruined the moment, I just felt like I had to." She says.

"It's alright, I get it. I'm going to go shower and get ready for bed."

"Okay, goodnight."

I go and walk into the bathroom and get undressed and get into the shower. I had a really good time today, better than I've had in a long time. He makes me really happy. Anna kind of ruined the moment, but I get now that she meant well. If that happened with my dad, I would be in so much trouble with him. But the way Anna did it really shows me that she actually cares. Everything she does is done with thoughtfulness, and it's something I've never had before and now I know it's really something I missed out on. I try not to think back too much because those times were so horrible, and I'm so grateful for what I have now. But I also need to think back because the people I have now got me through those times, especially Jacob and Anna.

I sometimes think back to when I first met her. She was my eighth grade english teacher and I absolutely hated her. I had no reason to hate her, but I did. All she wanted to do was teach me and make sure I was learning in a way that fit me, and I didn't care and thought she was the biggest snake I had ever met. At that time she got me in a lot of trouble with my dad because she was telling the principle that I needed extra help so they called my dad and he was super upset with me, Anna and the principle. But over time I just stopped going to school so it didn't matter anymore.

I got out of the shower and then started to realize how tired I was, so I brushed my teeth and hair and went to sleep.