Soul Searcher by D.M. Richardson (novel24 .TXT) 📕

into the hall which they called the entryway. It was spacious with a side table for keys and wallets. A rack on the wall was for coats and pictures hung all over the walls. The living room was through an archway to my left and the kitchen was through a swinging door to the right My new foster mom Sara Keely was a homemaker. She was pretty with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had a fair complexion and slender build standing a couple inches taller than me. She was only twenty three making her only six years older than me.

My foster father Koner Keely was a little older than her at twenty five. He owned his own mechanics shop and was one of the best in the county. He was quiet where she was almost bubble. He stood at about six one with a muscular torso. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes. I’ve only known them for about two days but they seemed to balance each other out.

They had tried to have a baby for about three years then went to the doctor. They found out that he was sterile, and she refused to take a donor. They were comfortable financially but didn’t have enough money to adopt. So as a result they decided to take on troubled kids in foster care. I think they wanted only younger kids but the timing just worked out that they ended up with me instead. They were just too nice to say no.

I ordinarily shouldn’t have this much information about my new foster parents but Jack always told me as much as he could before he placed me with a family. I placed my car keys in the bowl on the side table as quietly as I could. I didn’t generally like spending too much time with the inhabitants of a home. It made it so I could stay longer and the departure wasn’t nearly as painful if I didn’t get too attached.

Unfortunately it seemed Sara had exceptionally good hearing. I made it three steps towards the stairs before she immerged from the kitchen. She had a towel in her hands and was wringing it nervously.

“Oh Rayne, I was hoping to catch you. Jack called and said he had to cancel your dinner meeting. He said he could reschedule it for the middle of next week.”

I nodded as I stared at her ridiculously fashionable shoes. “Okay no problem.” I turned to continue my way up to my new room when she cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“Dinner will be done at about six. We usually eat in the dining room. If you have a lot of homework I understand but we try to eat dinner together every night.” I always found it interesting when a young couple who were new at the whole foster parenting thing try to set up rules. They were always hesitant and afraid of a teenage hormonal freak out. But this was a little different. She was setting a rule but also trying to give me a way to back out of it. I could lie and say I had a lot of homework so I could hide in my room. I had a feeling Jack told her about my tendency to be anti social. But no matter my quarks and my negative attributes I always did my best to be honest. It was a way for me to hold onto myself while I was constantly thrown into other peoples lives. I had rules that I followed no matter the circumstances. And to live honestly was rule number two. I didn’t lie, I didn’t steal, and I didn’t go behind anyone’s backs. I never said anything about anyone that I wasn’t willing to say to their face. Of course rule number one was to never tell anyone about my ability. That was just common sense.

“No I don’t have any homework. I’m ahead in most of my classes.” I said matter-of-factly. Her eyebrows rose slightly but she nodded and turned back to the kitchen. I continued my way up to my room.

My room was on the second floor in the front left hand side of the house. It was a medium sized room with a queen sized bed on the right hand wall. There were two end tables one on each side. It had a walk in closet as well as a large cedar dresser with a matching book shelf next to it. There was a fancy writing desk on the right side of the room for homework or whatever I might need it for. The desk looked to the south into the side yard through a medium sized window. The walls were a midnight blue and the carpet was soft the same shade as the walls. My favorite detail though was the bay window that overlooked the street. The house faced the west so the sunlight streamed in in the afternoon and evening. Which was perfect for reading.

I looked around the room and sighed. It was by far the nicest room I’ve ever slept in in my opinion. When I was twelve I was placed with a rich couple. They delighted in having new children to show off, but didn’t like to show off the same one more than once. They had the most child turnover than any other home I was placed with. They had a mansion with a sweet for each kid they took in, but it was always too much for me. I didn’t like a lot of space because I didn’t use all of it. This room was perfect because it had just enough room without there being too much or too little. It was comfortable. I had to be careful though. Rule number three: never ever get too attached to anything or anyone. It made the separation that much more depressing.

I walked over to the closet and pulled out my bags to go ahead and unpack. I had two duffel bags worth of belongings. I never took anything with me when I left a home that had been bought or given to me. I didn’t want the people to feel like I had wronged them. I put both bags onto the beg and unzipped them. One was full of clothes. Seven shirts some short sleeve like the one I wore and some long sleeved for winter. And I had one pair of shorts for exceptionally hot summer days and five pairs of jeans. Also identical to the ones I wore. And on the bottom was my one and only hoodie. It was the only article of clothing I owned that had any designs on it. It was black like the rest of my shirts but it had a skull and dragon on the front. I loved that hoodie it was the first thing I bought myself after I got my first job.

The second bag was full of books and one photograph. It was me and my best friend when I was about eight. We were in the same home together. I was only with them for about six months, but in that short time we had become as close as sisters.

I put the picture on the desk and placed all of the books neatly on the book shelf. After that was done I hung all of my clothes in the closet, and put my odd assortment of undergarments in the dresser. All of five minutes and I was completely unpacked.

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. It was only three forty five. I took advantage of my free time to sit at the bay window and watch the sun drop slowly toward the horizon. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on this street. It was actually a really quiet neighborhood. Full of families and elderly couples. I could see young kids swinging on swing sets being pushed by their moms or dads. Kids a little older were riding their bikes up and down the street, but were always within sight of their parents. I didn’t see many teenagers, but that didn’t surprise me. This was a neighborhood for young families and couples old enough for their children to be starting their own families.

I felt the jealousy stir in the pit of my stomach. They had what I once had. What I would never have again. What I yearned for more than anything in the world. To have a family that loved you. That cared enough to keep you around no matter your oddities.

I shook my head and stomped down on my jealousy. Rule number four was one that I held onto the hardest: never look back, and never give in. No matter how badly I felt I couldn’t afford to dwell on what I did and didn’t have. I had me and that’s all I needed.

I moved to get up but a sleek black car caught my attention. I paused to watch it park in driveway at the end of the street. A tall dark figure unfolded out of the driver’s seat. I gasped. It was Zeke. I couldn’t seem to get rid of him. He was everywhere at school and now he lives just down the street. He had a nice car though.

I watched him pull his bag out of the car and turn toward his front door. He must have felt eyes on him because he turned to look in my direction. I jumped and hopped off the seat taking a few steps back into the room and out of site.

I plopped down on the bed and let out the breath I didn’t know I had been holding. I waited to the count of a hundred then inched back over to the window. He was gone. Probably inside. I continued to watch the street when I noticed Koner’s truck pulling into the driveway. I looked at the clock and sighed. It was five forty five. I had killed two hours just people watching. I went into my private bathroom to wash up for dinner. A habit formed when I lived with the wealthy.

I splashed cold water on my face to make me more alert. I dried my face with the hand towel on the sink and stared at my features in the mirror. Olive toned skin framed by dark brown hair pulled tight into a braid. Slightly arched eyebrows that seemed to give away any emotion I felt at the time. A strong straight nose with a slight bump where it had been broken during self defense classes. A square jaw with a strong chin. I had long eyelashes that framed eyes even darker than my hair, and dark circles under my eyes that never seemed to go away. I assessed my appearance and decided I looked tired. But my exhaustion was more mental than physical.

I let out another sigh and made my way back through the bedroom and down the stairs. I followed the sound of voices through the kitchen and into the old fashioned dining room. Koner and Sara were setting the table from the look of it they were trying to decide where I would be more comfortable sitting. I watched silently as they decided to both sit on one side of the table instead of one of them sitting at the head, and they put me opposite them. From what I could hear of their murmurs they were trying to treat me as an equal, but Sara was worried that it would seem like they were trying to separate themselves from me. I decided to put them out of their misery and stepped into the room.

I cleared my throat making them jump. “Can I help with anything?” I asked quietly.

“Oh yes umm where would you like to sit?” I pointed to the chair opposite the other two.

“There’s fine. Do you want me to do anything?”

“Everything’s already done. If your ready we can just dig in.” Koner answered and pulled Sara’s chair out for her.