"So, you're a boy? What are you doing here?" I ask Cole as he hands me a wooden spoon to stir the soup with.
"I'm transgender, the council wouldn't let me into an LGBT home at first but they're finally seeing sense."
"You know they didn't have space for you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Becka says.
"Whatever. Gracie, stir," He demands. He points to the pot on the stove and stands back and watches as we all work on dinner.
"Why aren't you doing anything?"
"I'm kitchen foreman, I just supervise. If you don't do your job, you get a UA."
"What's that?"
"An unacceptable," Gabi says, still staring me out as she cuts up potatoes. Seeing her with a knife is horrible, I know she's desperate to gouge it into my face. I never understood why she hated me so much. I do as Cole says and start stirring. I talk to Kiara as she cuts up some carrots.
"Callie says you guys are good friends?" I ask her.
"Yeah, she's great. She saved me from the streets a couple of times, well technically it was Stef but if it weren't for Callie, Stef would never have known. They let me stay at their house for a night." They're so welcoming to everyone.
"I wish I was back there right now."
"Why? Don't you like us?" I turn back to Gabi, she's holding the knife at a weird angle pulling the most psychotic face.
"Most of you seem pretty cool," I mumble.
"I swear to god Gabi if one of those knives goes missing again, I'm looking right at you," Cole says. She's stolen knives before, awesome.
After dinner, we all have to clean up the other girls get to have free time, but I have to study, which honestly, I don't mind. If I can do anything to distract myself then I don't care what it is. But as I'm studying math, I suddenly remember that tonight was supposed to be my date with Taylor. I know Jude will have told her, but I just wish I could have done it myself. I would text her, but I don't want to risk having my phone taken from me. I don't know Kiara well enough to know if she would rat me out.
"So, are you guys allowed out?"
"Nah, aside from school it's pretty much lockdown. But sometimes we get field trips, and on Saturdays, we have Family Day. Are your moms coming?"
"I don't know, Callie said something about having visitation privileges, how do I get those?"
"Just talk in group, do your jobs, don't hit anyone, and then we all vote on Friday who deserves their privileges. You'll be fine." She lays down on her bed. "So, you and Gabi. Seems to be something going on there."
"She used to mess with me, in an old foster home. She stole all my stuff and burnt a lot of it, and she beat the crap out of me a couple of times."
"She didn't get in trouble?"
"No, she'd tell the staff that I did it to myself, it wasn't hard to believe because I was always hurting myself. As for the stealing and the fire, she said if I told anyone she'd get her boyfriend to kill me."
"That's crazy, I never knew how screwed up she was. Are you scared? Like, do you think she's gonna try something?" She asks.
"Yeah, she's been giving me the weirdest looks all day. I can tell she's just waiting for the moment she can knock my jaw out of place again."
"If she lays a hand on you, I'll pound her."
"No, I don't want you getting kicked out on my account, you're too nice. Thank you, though."
"I like to think I'm the nicest one here, you know, I thought Gabi was until you told me all that. But maybe she's changed, she doesn't seem like that anymore."
"I don't know, she didn't act that way with anyone apart from me. It's like she had two personalities. People love picking on me, it happens everywhere I go. I just attract bad people." The list of bad people I've met is endless.
"I'm sorry Gracie, sounds tough. But you know what? Tough life makes a tough girl."
Kiara falls asleep pretty quickly, but I spend yet another night lying awake, tossing and turning, nauseous with fear. Gabi is on the other side of the wall probably plotting her attack. At least I have school tomorrow, and I can see Callie but how am I supposed to focus on getting my privileges knowing that I'm now living with a girl who wants to hurt me and that my criminal of a father wants to take me away, he already has. I'll get to see mama too, I guess that's a plus, but it'll be hard knowing I can't go home with her.
The next morning, Rita drops me off at school for breakfast and Callie is there waiting at the doors for me.
"Hey." She hugs me. "How was it?"
"It was fine." I decide not to tell her about Gabi, she'll tell moms and they'll be so worried. I can't stress them out even more. "Rita and Kiara are nice; I didn't speak to any of the others that much."
"Don't worry, you'll get your privileges and we'll all be there to see you on Family Day." Callie and I walk to Lena's office.
"I'm so sorry Gracie," Mama cries as she embraces me.
"It's not your fault, it's his." I sit down. "Have you heard anything else?" I ask her.
"He's insisting on seeing you tomorrow," She sighs.
"If it'll get him off my case and back home with you guys, then I'll do it. I don't want to be in that group home any longer."
Back at Girls United, I try my best to stay well away from Gabi, taking the trash out, setting the table, but she finds her ways to follow me. When I'm mopping the bathroom floor, she manages to corner me. I avoid eye contact at all costs.
"I know you're scared of me," She says. Her eyes pierce mine, like a lion examining its next meal.
"With good reason." I talk quietly, I don't want to anger her.
"I can't deny it, seeing you again reminded me of how much fun we used to have." Fun? If that's her idea of fun, then she's twisted. "Remember why I used to hurt you?" She grabs my arm and tugs the sleeve up, revealing all the scars I've been trying so desperately to conceal since the second I got here, "I was just giving you what you asked for." She throws my arm down, almost knocking me over. I pull on my sleeve, gripping the seam with my fingertips. Then she walks out of the bathroom, staring at me with that same psychotic smile.
I have to take a moment alone to collect myself. I can't go downstairs like this, my cheeks are bright red and stained with tears, and I can't stop shaking for the life of me. When I'm finally a little calmer, I go downstairs and help the girls clean up the kitchen. Gabi's on mop duty, waiting for all the girls to turn away, another opportunity to torment me. Every time I walk across the kitchen to clean another counter, she pushes the mop out in my path in an attempt to trip me up, but I'm not stupid, I see it coming every time. But I think she's just trying to scare me. She wouldn't hurt me here, not in front of everyone. Right?
