Chapter Two
Jack and Mary Bolton waited in Mary's co-worker's office. Jack was twitching his leg from nerves.
"Stop worrying Jack. It will be fine." Mary tried to assure her husband.
"I just… I didn't know that she was… a girl!" Jack told her.
"How is that a problem?"
"I believe the problem is the 17 year old teenager that already lives with us." Jack pointed out.
"Oh I doubt Troy would even think of it." Mary dismissed the idea.
"He is a 17 year old, fully grown guy, hormones included Mary."
Before she could respond, a woman entered the office. She waited at the doorway and tried to coax someone inside.
After a few minutes, a small teenage girl with dirty blonde hair slowly walked into the office and stood quietly in the corner. Her hands were folded in front of her and her head was down, as if she were afraid to look away from the floor.
"Monica? Sweetie, this is Mr. and Mrs. Bolton. You will be staying with them for a little while." The woman, Jackie, told the girl.
The girl looked up at the couple slowly, but didn't show any of the emotion that she was feeling.
After more talking among the adults, the Boltons walked with Monica to the car. The ride to the house was silent except for Mary explaining things to Monica. She noticed that the girl took in a deep breath when she mentioned that Troy was just a couple months older than her and was about the same size as her husband, making both males of the house almost a foot taller than the girl's 5'0 frame.
"Don't worry about anything Sweetie. You are safe with us." She tried to reassure her.
Jack pulled the car into the driveway and got out and got Monica's things while Mary led Monica into the house.
"Do you want the tour of the house or go see your room first?" Mary suggested. She was hoping that if she gave the girl options, she would speak her mind. It didn't work like she had hoped. The girl only shrugged her thin shoulders in response. She decided to show Monica around the house and end in her bedroom on the top floor.
Soon after, Monica was sitting on a full size bed with a floral print in a room whose balcony overlooked the luscious backyard, equipped with a mini basketball court.
Suddenly, in a flash, Monica began digging frantically through her things, throwing clothes around the room. She finally came to the bottom of her small suitcase.
She found what she was looking for and carefully placed it on the nightstand beside her bed. She starred long into the faces looking back at her.
They were the elderly faces of a man and a woman, both well into their 60's when the picture was taken. On the woman's lap, a bright eyed girl sat and smiled happily. Her, over 10 years ago, when she was 3 years old.
After a few moments and a few tears escaping her eyes, she went back to her suitcase and pulled out a notebook full of blank pages with a pen stuffed into the silver coils.
Without thinking or hesitation, she pulled the pen out of the coils, turned to a page near the back and began to write.
In a new place again. This time it is my caseworker and her family. She seems nice enough. Her husband seems ok… so far. They have a son who is my age. What am I going to do about this? My therapist says that I should express what I am feeling. I'm scared. No, not scared. Absolutely terrified.
By the time she finished writing, it was the middle of the afternoon and she faintly heard someone come in through the front door.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on her open door's frame. Mary walked in, followed by a boy with dark blonde hair.
"Monica, this is our son Troy." She turned and looked at her son. "Honey, this is Monica. She is the girl who is going to be staying with us for a while."
"Hey." Troy smiled and waved.
The young girl smiled for a split second and kept her eyes directed to the wall behind the two.
"Dinner will be ready in about an hour. You can come down and help me if you'd like Monica. I'm making scalloped potatoes and biscuits."
Monica shook her head slightly and went back to her notebook. She turned to a page near the front and wrote something. She gave the notebook to Mary so she could read it.
No thank you. I will just come down when it is ready.
Troy looked over his mom's shoulder at what Monica wrote. His mom nodded and handed the notebook back to her. "That's fine Honey. Come down whenever you wish." She turned to her son. "Homework?"
"I'll get it done Mom. Nice meeting you Monica." He said and left the room.
After he left, Mary walked over and sat on the bed with Monica.
"You alright Honey? Have everything you need?"
Monica nodded in assurance and Mary left.
Troy sat in his room and thought about the girl that was living down the hall from him. He was surprised that it was a girl, they had all thought that is was going to be a young boy staying with them. He couldn't stop thinking about the look in her eyes. They seemed empty of emotion. Then he remembered what Taylor had said that morning at the lockers. 'Maybe they were unable to show emotion.' He thought.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews so far. This used to be a Jesse McCartney story when I was still into him. But when that phase ended, I became engrossed in HSM. LOL.
Just by curiousity, what do you think is wrong with Monica? What caused her to 'go mute', as Troy says. You will learn why later in the story, but I'm just curious as to what you think.