"What was that about?" Rick's arm out in front of me stops me as I try to make it back up the stairs, "What?" I ask, looking down at the carpet of the stairs, "You know what I'm talking about. Since when did you care about newbies?"
"Since when did you not?" I retort, finally looking up into his eyes. They're cold and I know immediately that this isn't just going to be a friendly chat, "I felt sorry for her, okay? Don't you ever feel sorry for someone new?"
"I did, once,"
"Who was that?" I ask, not getting what he's on about, "You're gonna make me say it?"
"Well, yeah because I don't know!" I almost shout, "You! Okay?! I felt sorry for you when you first came!" He turns and half runs up the stairs leaving me standing there. A few seconds later, when I hear the slam of a door, I turn back around and go down the rest of the stairs. I've only gone a couple of steps when I almost smash straight into Harry. Harry's the youngest here, a sweet kid with the classic blonde hair and blue eyes. A chill run downs my spine as I look him straight in the eyes. I'm about to say sorry, for almost knocking him down, but I don't. Instead I stay rooted to the spot just staring at him. It's the first time I've seen him properly without anyone else being there to distract me, "What?" He asks, slightly nervously. Well wouldn't you be nervous if someone was stood there staring at you? "Nothing...you just look like someone I know, that's all,"
"Okay," He shrugs it off and picks up Jeff, his toy giraffe that fell out of his hands when I pushed past him, then carries on back up the stairs. I make my way through the hall into the living room where Ellie is sitting at the small table, alone, "Alright, Ellie?" I smile at her, taking the seat next to her. She let's out a long sigh then gives a slight shake of the head, "Not really,"
"Tell me about it," I mutter,
"I've never been in a place like this, you know?" I give her a small smile out of pity then have an idea,
"You wanna know a secret?" I ask, becoming her closer. She grins, showing her crooked white teeth, and leans in closer, "When I first went into care, I screamed a whole lot louder than you,"
"Were Mike and Gina nice to you?" I shake my head, laughing a little,
"I haven't been at this care home long. I was at another, until I got fostered," Ellie nods then frown, scrunching her eyes slightly,
"What's that?"
"Fostered? It's basically where another couple say they'll look after you,"
"Will I get fostered?" She asks nervously,
"Only if you don't want to, Ellie,"
"I don't," She says hastily. I told myself when I first started talking to this girl that I wasn't going to ask her what happened. But, I broke a lot of promises to myself in the years I've been alive so what's one more? Anyway, curiosity gets the better of me, "What happened so they had to bring you here?"
"A fire," she mumbles, fiddling with the jigsaw piece in her hands,
"Did anyone get hurt?" I'm not prepared for the answer she gives,
"My mum and my sisters. They..." She stops and looks up as the living room door opens and I see Rick walk in. What does he want, why can't he just keep away? "I'm sorry," I say earnestly, putting my arms around her protectively. For some reason I can't explain I feel like it's my duty to look after this little girl who's had everything ripped from her, "What about your dad?"
"He's away on a business trip," she says vaguely then looks me right in the eye, "He will come back you know," She's so convincing I almost believe her. Almost. I hold on tight to the girl who reminds me so much of myself until I see Rick staring out of the corner of my eye, "What's your problem?"
"I don't have one, Squint,"
"Is that why your parents dumped you?" Even as the words come out my mouth I know they're wrong. I put my hand up to my mouth to try to stop them, but it's far too late. I've already said them.
"Why are you here then?" Rick asked me. It was a simple enough question, yet I didn't really know for sure what the answer was. It had been a week since I came into care and so far no one had bothered to tell me why I was here or ask me how I felt about being here, "I dunno. I guess my mum don't want me," I said after a while, hugging my knees. We were sitting in my room, Rick lying on his front of my bed and me sitting on the floor, "Oh,"
"I kept telling Gareth, my social worker, that it doesn't matter because my brothers can look after me. He said they can't,"
"Can't or won't?"
"What?" I didn't understand back then, of course I didn't I was just a little kid,
"Maybe the social asked them to. Maybe they wouldn't,"
"Nah. We look out for each other back home. They wouldn't do that," I said confidently, "Go on then, spill. Why are you here?" I asked. Rick hadn't told me why he was in care either and now seemed like the perfect time to ask. He didn't seem to me to be the kind of person who opened up often so, now that there was an opportunity, I wasn't going to waste it, "My mum and dad were scammers," He starts,
"Scammers?" I didn't know what it was. For me, back then, there were just plain old thieves. Sometimes we'd pay, other times they'd get me to steal food for them, "Yeah, they tricked people out of money. Well they used to. They got arrested so now I've got no one to look after me so I'm here," He explains, sighing,
"So you didn't get dumped?"
"Not exactly. They're coming back for me. I just gotta wait here for a bit," I nodded my head then sat up straighter than before,
"D'ya think my mum'll come back for me?" I asked,
"I really don't know," he replied, running one hand through his hair. I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest, "Did she...leave you alone?" I don't know what made him ask that, maybe it was curiosity. I shook my head then stopped because that's wrong. She did leave me alone, "Yeah, sometimes. When Niall and Kian had to work she'd leave me with Danny. It was no big deal really,"
"Who's Danny?"
"My little brother. He's really cute," I smiled, uncrossing my arms and turning to face Rick,
"How old is he?"
"Three," I stopped suddenly as realisation of something washed over me, "He's probably got a new mum now,"
"What makes you say that?"
"Gareth told me he'd been adopted by a young couple who can't have their own children,"
"I'm sorry," he said truthfully. I just nodded. I had nothing else to say.