Hello! Sorry this one is out so late today. I tried to invoke the muse earlier, but they said no. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!
Stepping up the few marble steps to the front door had become routine, at this point. She would knock, wait a few seconds, then the door would open to display either Mr. or Mrs. Garrett.
What was not routine, however, was the cheerful smile on Mr. Garrett's face.
Shouldn't he still be mad from last night? Or at least silent and stern? Sking the friend group she had found earlier that day. "I got invited to sit with people at lunch, so I guess I made a few friends."
"That's great, doll!" Mr. Garrett said in a tone that sounded sincere before walking back to the kitchen. "We have a few hours before going out, so if you have any homework you need to do, I would recommend you get it done now."
Going out? What? Skye wondered, before remembering the conversation earlier that day. oh! Right! Out to eat! she smiled, though a bit on ease from the previous night. She was confused that they'd be going out to eat when she just got in trouble, but she knew better than to question it.
Instead, she sat at the dining room table and begun working. She had some biology homework, which was much easier today as Jemma helped explain it to her during work time earlier that day. English probably took the longest, primarily because she wasn't too fond of the book they were reading (Of Mice and Men), but she still managed to complete it. History always had her favorite homework (Besides her computer science projects, but she didn't really count that towards academics) because Mr. Coulson always did some fun project or something besides just reading from the textbook, like her old history teacher did.
She had just finished when Mrs. Garrett walked through the front door, holding her purse in one hand and her phone in the other. She didn't even look up as she asked "Are you both ready to go? The reservation is set for 6:00."
Reservation? Was this somewhere fancy? Should she change? She almost liked her outfit though. It wasn't what she normally would've preferred, but the gray shirt was nice. But was it nice enough? She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Garrett and they were both well dressed, but not exceptionally fancy. Hopefully this is good enough. No time to change now.
Skye nodded and smiled, packing up the last of her homework.
"Alright," Mrs. Garrett said, finally looking up from her phone. "I'll pull the car out front."
The drive was quick, and soon Skye was sitting somewhat uncomfortably in a high class restaurant, holding a menu with a bunch of fancy foods she had never tried before.
The Garretts seemed to be happy, though, so that was something.
"Skye, dear," Mrs. Garrett began, "What would you like to order?"
She shifted in her seat, trying to hide her nervousness. *What if I order the wrong thing? Or what if I order something I don't like and then I have to eat it? Everything here is so expensive. Will they be mad that they have to spend so much money on me? Or maybe it'd be rude of me not to order anything. They wanted me here, so they're okay with me ordering, right?* She looked at the menu again, spotting something that was called something fancy in a different language, but it just looked like a fish dish.
"Uh, may I, uh," She could feel her cheeks burning, not wanting to mispronounce it. Instead, she opted for just pointing at it on her menu, looking at Mr. Garrett.
"Ah, the bouillabaisse. Excellent choice." Mr. Garrett smiled at her, another genuine smile, and she was hoping this is how it would be. She just had to stop messing things up. She needed to stop ruining everything.
She was extra careful the entire meal to be polite, not talking with her mouth full and not getting anything on her clothes and maintaining proper table etiquette.
Things were going well. This was nice. Enjoyable. Skye repeated those thoughts in her mind, almost subconsciously forcing herself to forget about the incident last night. She needed to savor this while it lasted.
"Skye, Doll," Mrs. Garrett began, looking at Mr. Garrett then towards Skye herself. "You've been with us for a few days now, and we wanted to make sure you had a way of contacting us if something ever happened, so well," she glanced at Mr. Garrett again, "we got you a small gift," she finished off smiling.
A gift? again? so much money. they were spending so much on her. She didn't know if she could keep doing this. She was going to get sent back soon enough, and this would all be ripped from her. But it would be so nice to accept it. Savor it. Enjoy it. She thought, again trying to force the nerves out of her system. She wasn't even sure why she was so uncertain. It felt like she was always waiting for it all to crash and burn. She forced a smile on her face, excitement bubbling together with anxiety in her stomach.
Mr. Garrett pulled out a little blue box, wrapped with a white ribbon. When Skye undid the ribbon, she couldn't help the audible gasp that she produced.
*A phone.* They got her a phone. A shiny, new phone with a sky blue case on it.
"Wow I-" *What did you do to deserve this? what are you going to have to do? what's the cost?* "I don't know what to say, I- Thank you, thank you so much!" She picked up the Phone like the most priceless object in the world.
They both beamed at her, giving what she assumed were genuine smiles as she admired the beautiful, shiny new device.
Later that night she finished setting it up, placing a picture of a galaxy as her lock screen. She noted that she would have to get all of her friend's numbers at school tomorrow.
She fell asleep that night with a smile on her face, even as her brain demanded to know why they had given her this. She insisted they were just being nice. Just being loving. She was cared for. She would be okay, right? She had to be. She didn't think she could handle it if she wasn't.
I really hope this doesn't seem to be dragging, because I swear it's going somewhere and we're going to get there very soon. She doesn't stay with the Garrett's forever! As always, reviews are much appreciated, even if it's just to call me out for something!
