‘I’ve got something to ask you’. Shit! What had he done this time? He thought he’d been unusually good, so he couldn’t think of anything he’d really done wrong, but these were rich people so maybe there was some rule he had broken that he didn’t know about? Barry felt panic rise in his chest and he forced himself to breath slowly, not wanting to panic visibly so in front of his foster father. No one wanted a crazy kid and Barry knew he was unstable, he’d always been. He wasn’t even sure if this family knew he had adhd and anxiety, the therapist he’d met when he first entered the system had said something about trauma too, but Barry didn’t remember too much from those sessions.
What? They want him to stay? Then why is he here now having a conversation with Mr Pennyworth? Conversations only happened when he’d done something bad. This was very confusing and before he could stop himself, his leg began bouncing. Sitting still was hard, especially when he got anxious and confused, which to be fair was most of the time. “No, Sir, I don’t want to return to the center. Nothing is wrong, Sir, I’m sorry if I made you think that. I promise to behave better. I’ve never lived with a rich family before so I don’t know if there’s any new rules I’ve broken, if I have I really didn’t mean to and I’m sorry for that, Sir. I’ll try my best, I promise and I... I’ll shut up now, sorry.” He’d rambled. That was not good. Not good at all. Barry felt the need to flee, to run, but he remained seated, though his leg was still bouncing and now it had been joined by his fingers tapping against his knees.