Max jumped slightly as the man greeted them, trying to return their smiles but failing miserably. Instead, he decided to close in on himself, trying to avoid their eyes, his own glancing around the inside of the house for any sign of what the family was like. His eyes quickly skimmed over the people populating the entrance hall, two adults, two teenagers. He took in a deep breath, so it couldn’t be too bad, right? If they were already fostering. They were fed, clothed, and had a nice roof over their heads. He could live with this. He could deal with this.
He hesitantly shook their hands, not looking directly at them as he did so. They were all firm, confident handshakes that made him want to run and hide, except the girl’s. Natalie, she said her name was. He merely nodded in response, still not finding his voice.
He tried to reassure himself throughout the paperwork, not really concentrating, and just nodding timidly whenever Ann asked him a question. A part of him wanted to take the papers and tear them apart, burn them, throw them out the window, do whatever he could to stop this from becoming final, but the other part of him willed him to stay quiet, and stay still. Stiff in his seat as he waited for the process to be over.
Half an hour to an hour, he wasn’t sure which, later, they finished up.
He just kind of half-shrugged at the idea of being shown around, he didn’t particularly want to be away from Ann just yet. It wasn’t that he necessarily trusted her, or even liked her. But he was aware that it was her job to keep him safe, which, at the very least, made him feel slightly better around her than others.
But nevertheless, he was taken away to explore the house with his two new foster siblings, the eldest leading the way. He looked around the house as they walked through it, his head practically doing a 360 as he tried to take in every detail, every hint of who they were. It wasn’t until he heard Natalie’s voice that he looked at her. His stomach dropped as he listened to her words, suddenly feeling very ill. He watched her as she caught up with the other boy, stumbling over his own feet with his sudden increase of anxiety. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he regained his balance. He didn’t understand what she meant, was she messing with him? Trying to get some kind of reaction out of him? He wasn’t used to people, he didn’t know social cues, Even if she was being serious, there was no way they were worse than his step-mom. That wasn’t possible.
germansingergirl
blakekathryn
2087
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
prguitarman
theartofmadeline
