The Foster Child (Dreamer & Jeccka)

Chase's face contorted in confusion, unable to fathom why Nettle didn't want to know about the sickness that plagued her. Nevertheless he let it go. She didn't want him to treat her any differently, right? He forced a laugh at her next question, burying his eyes behind one of his arms. "This is by far the best home." Chase said, effortlessly conjuring up the other foster places he had stayed at. "I've stayed in an apartment and three homes. They were bursting at the seams there were so many people as so many things." Now he revealed his eyes, Turing his head to the side as he lay upon the bed. "What's your first impression of me?"
 
"Best out of four, not bad." She smiled and tried to imagine what crowded must be like. It seemed more pleasant in a lot of ways. For one, she could disappear in the crowd and that noise would probably be a nice change compared to how silent her home was. She turned her head looking him over recalling when he had first set foot in the house and what her first impression had been. "Well you seem to have manners which at first I thought might be an act. You know when you first meet someone and they are all nice so you want them to come back and then when they do, their..different." she shrugged. "I thought you might be like that. What happened to your parents?"
 
Nettle's first impression was neither reassuring nor overly negative. It was difficult to tell what she really thought of him.Chase sat up at Nettle's next question, reaching just an inch or two taller than her. While she might be younger, she was certainly tall or he was just short for sixteen. "I never really knew them. Actually, the only way I ever found out what happened to them was when I asked after I was moved from my first foster home." It was all too easy to remember first grade when he was the new kid, shy and vulnerable. There had been plenty of children who had asked him about where he came from and his past which had made him wonder the very same questions. "My dad skipped town after I was born and mom - apparently we were both in a car accident, she didn't make it." Chase fiddled with his hands, staring at the wall past Nettle's face. For a few moments he was transfixed, lost in the day dream of his past. "What do you want to do with your life?"
 
Nettle's eyes followed him as he sat up before answering her question. She chewed on her lip thinking over his answer realizing he didn't remember his parents or the car crash. She wondered what that was like. She had always known who her parents were and had known for a long time that it was unlikely that she would loose them before they lost her. The comparison could be quite ironic if you looked at it in a certain way. Her body language suddenly changed after hearing his question and the weight of it fell on her. She hunched her shoulders over looking down at her hands. The future wasn't something she liked to think about, especially those 'when you grow up' kind of questions. She remembered telling her parents when she was little that when she grew up, she wanted to be a dancer. That was when she took ballet and her back up was to become a princess. Even at six years old, she knew the look on her parents face wasn't good. "I don't like that question." she muttered meekly shaking her head. "ask a different one."
 
Chase pulled himself out of his reverie and focused on Nettle, watching her as she thought of an answer to his question. As she sunk with the unforgiving future, he knew how she felt. As a child he never thought that he could grow up. How could he when he never had a permanent home? How could he when there was no one he could turn to to comfort him? How could he, he was so different from everyone else. It seemed impossible. "Okay," He thought for a moment, running a hand through his hair. "What's one thing you think I should know about you?" He tried that one, watching her again.
 
Nettle thought over the question a moment chewing on her cheek trying to decide. "I'll show you tomorrow." she decided. "I think it's better to show you rather then tell you." she answered. She decided to change the topic to a lighter tone, deciding the questions were heading into a direction she didn't like. "Have you ever kissed anyone?" she asked going to a more immature level of thinking.
 
Chase looked puzzled at Nettle's mysterious answer. So far she had been full of riddles and round about questions that left him wondering, like the ghost rooms. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just different. However her next question but a sly grin on his face. "Well, my first kiss was in eighth grade with a girl named Jinny. I took her to one of the dances." There had been countless others whose lips Chase had kissed but he didn't want to just come out and say it. Being a foster child actually helped his status in school and with girls. His reputation from previous schools didn't come with him and nobody was quite sure who he was, how many girls he had kissed, or how many times he got in trouble. "Have you ever been on a date?"
 
Nettle nodded. "Right a dance. Bet there's loads of kissing at one of those." she looked down drawing circles in the blanket after he asked her a question. "No, I haven't." she shook her head. "Unless you count my cousin coming around with a tray of food at the hospital for a few hours, which you shouldn't." she answered honestly. "But I get it. I'm not really something that a boy would be looking for you know with the whole dying thing." She stared down at the blankets chewing on her lip before remembering it was her turn to ask a question. "Who keeps texting you?" she asks remembering how his phone kept buzzing.
 
It didn't really feel like Chase's place to be reassuring in this instance as the two of them had only just met. It wouldn't have been right to say Nettle was wrong that no boy would like her because he had been admiring her since he got here. "Just some people from my last school. I don't like keeping many friends from place to place but some are persistent." He paused, thinking about how best to say what he wanted to. "You just need to find the right person, that's all. I like to think that there's a match for everyone, even you." For a moment he looked at Nettle reassuringly as he thought of another question. "What kind of music do you like?"
 
Nettle lifted her head to look at him when he tried to reassure her. "No it's fine. Maybe It's better that I don't have one. I mean if I did care about someone in that way, I wouldn't want to put him through what my parents go through." She wet her lips before answering his question. "Classical music. I like music without lyrics. Then you can make up the meaning of the song and change it as you like. I like that." she answered. "Is that weird?" she asked after thinking about what she had just said. "Anyway, why don't you like to keep your friends?" she asked him, following up from her previous question.
 
Unwilling to further encourage Nettle that she did indeed have someone somewhere that was more than willing to be romantically involved, Chase dropped the subject. He had never had an ear for Classical music, preferring to belt out the lyrics as loud as he could, even rap music sometimes caught his attention. But wasn't that the opposite of what Classical music lovers liked? "I think that's cool that you have fun with your music." He said. "I prefer a fresh start. It's not like I'm going to fly out to hang with my friends anymore, I feel like they just weigh me down. No mean to be a downer..." He added quickly. "Do you have a crush on anyone?" He continued with their immature line of questions, trying to change the subject from his more private affairs.
 
Nettle shook her head. "No, but it's not like you would know who it was if I did." she looked down quietly for a moment debating and weather to ask the follow up question she had thought up. She lifted her head after a few seconds biting on her lip deciding she wanted to know the answer more then she was embarrassed but the question. "Is that is what is going to happen if-- when you leave? You're going to forget about me too?" she asked obviously a bit bothered by what he had said.
 
Chase shrugged his shoulders, looking a little defeated. He hadn't meant for Nettle to make such wild guesses at the future. "Well, not exactly. I don't usually just push away my foster families, they're a bit more personal -" he stopped himself. Clearly the girl was troubled by his methods and didn't want to stunt their friendship now, it was still the first day after all. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to make you a promise, right now. No matter what. Whether I move or we fight or argue, or anything else you can think of - I'll always remember you. I'll make an effort." Chase by all means meant what he said. He had no intention of breaking his promise, no matter how childish and trivial it sounded. "Tell me, what is your greatest joy?"
 
Nettle nodded a bit reassured by his promise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so insecure." she looked down a little embarrassed by what she had said causing a tuft of her hair to fall into her face. She thought over his next question, but couldn't wrap her head around the meaning. "My greatest joy?" she asked lifting her head again. "Can you elaborate?" she asked not knowing how to begin to answer. "Do you mean what makes me happiest?" she takes a guess.
 
Chase nodded, looking to the floor just at her feet. "I can ask you something else, if you like." Downstairs the voice of Mr. Primp could be heard, Mrs. Primp's softer as less defined, the sound of footfalls on the hardwood floors. Whether they're arguing or agreeing, talking and enjoying themselves, Chase felt the sense of home. Their voice should be familiar to Nettle, this moment familiar. For the most part he always skipped the homely and comforting part of belonging to a family, living with practical strangers. The key was really knowing someone, having a bond. Chase had never been good with trust however, this girl before him, seemingly so brave and strong even when faced with so much as death, he could help but make himself promise that he wouldn't leave her, not forever. Like so many other people in his life she couldn't disappear, she had something he needed; courage, bravery, whatever it was called.
 
Nettle shook her head. "I don't know." she answered not sure how to reply. "I guess it's seeing the sunrise each morning or the sunset each day." she shrugged her shoulders. "or those little moments that you remember and no one else does. The things that are important. The little things, like when I caught a butterfly and put it in a jar and I hid it under my bed because I was afraid if my parents knew, they would make me set it free." she answered as best she could. She noticed his head tilted toward the floor and thought about asking if he was upset about something, but decided that was an unfair question to ask. "What are you afraid of?"
 
The question caught Chase off guard. His gaze flicked up to Nettle's face, initial bewilderment in his eyes that burned into calculated thought. He ran a hand through his hair. "I - uh." He was caught in the fork of the road, whether to lie or tell the truth. "I don't want to be alone." It made him uncomfortable to say. This exterior image he put out to others was supposed to be confident and seemingly unworried, hiding true fear. "I want to be loved, for who I am..." His jaw clenched, the muscles jumping with tension. "We should play a different game."
 
Nettle watched as he suddenly looked uncomfortable and hesitant for the first time before answering her question. She shifted a bit, not sure how to respond to his sudden change in behavior. She decided not to mention it and turned her head searching around the room as if trying to look for the next game. "What do you want to do then?" she asked. "Did you have a game in mind?"
 
"No -" Chase grumbled, getting up from the bed. He walked to the door then turned and walked back to the bed. He began to pace, unable to think clearly. His jaw was locked and his eyes never left the floor. Then, abruptly he came to a stop, right in front of Nettle. "I'm sorry." He huffed, looking to the girl for a moment. "I'm just - I'm just tired is all. It's been a long week." He lied through his teeth. Once again he sat down beside Nettle, his head hung.
 
Nettle watched him pace the room. She stared at him, following his back and fort motion with her head confused. She suddenly felt like she had said something wrong and tensed her shoulders until he came to a stop and apologized. She watched him sit back down and stayed silent for a moment gathering her thoughts. "I" she began and then stopped wetting her lips before staring over. "I don't want to play anymore." she stated and turned her head toward her side of the room. "I'm tired. I think I'll just go take a nap." she stood up off of Chase's bed and made her way back over to her own. She didn't bother with the curtain and left it open as she slid underneath the covers. She rested her head on her pillow on her side, her back facing Chase.
 
"I said I was sorry." Chase said as he watched Nettle get up and go to her side. She was still in plain sight as she slipped beneath the covers. He got up and carefully fixed the curtain shut, she must have forgotten to close it. From his bag he pulled three posters. The first of Shawn White snowboarding, the second depicted the entirety of Sleeping With Sirens and lastly there was a futuristic car modeled with a blonde woman on the hood. Chase always kept pins with him which he stuffed in his pocket as he stood on the bed. He spread out the paper for each one and carefully tacked them to the wall. When he was finished he stepped back to make sure they looked good, covering up some of the meticulously painted nettle on the wall. Satisfied, he took out the rest of his belongings, folded jeans and shirts he hung in the wardrobe that was now his. On the bedside table he plugged in his phone charger and placed a small wooden box along with a small journal. Finished moving in, Chase tucked his suitcase under the bed and closed the wardrobe doors.
 
Nettle was staring at the wall when she heard his words. "What are you sorry for?" she asked as she heard the curtain close behind her. She rolled over looking at the curtain as she listened to his footsteps as he moved things around. She wondered what he was up to and why he wanted the curtain closed. She closed her eyes after a few minutes trying to block out the noise and fall asleep.
 
Chase was already unpacking, too involved in his own actions to respond to Nettle's question. It wasn't until he was finished moving in that he spoke again. "So, what do you usually do around here?" He was itching to go outside, if only to walk around. This town was completely new territory that he couldn't wait to explore on his skateboard. He almost felt like a caged bird, staying in one room with the windows closed, lack of fresh air and... People in general. It seemed like a lonely, almost sagging, old house. Devoid of natural life, except the painting on the bedroom wall.
 
Nettle rolled over looking at the curtain hearing his question. Deciding she wasn't going to sleep, she sat up rubbing her eyes. She pulled the curtain open. "I have an endless supply of books if you're bored, or I can loan you one of my extra sketchbooks. Mom will probably let you paint in her studio." she answered, not sure what he was asking for.
 
Chase squinted his eyes in distaste. "Books?" Nettle definitely looked like the book type, especially with how young she was. It was probably easier for children to get lost in books. It was as if her words hadn't yet registered in his mind for a moment later he perked up. "Your sketch book? Mind if I take a look at your drawings?" He asked.
 
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