As welcome as possible. The second those words registered into Zane's mind, he was off thinking of all the ways he could make the exact opposite happen. It wasn't that he immediately hated her or that he wanted to make her feel bad, it's just that he didn't get many opportunities to do pranks on others without getting in trouble. Thoughts were running through his head, ideas bouncing off into space, ricocheting around his room. A classic slime over her head when she walks through a door, or plastic wrap over the toilet seat. Many similar images ran through his mind.
He started visualizing whether or not she would shriek when it happened or if she would cry. Would she tell on him or would she act like it was no big deal? Would she play along with the joke or- His dreams were abruptly cut off by the sound of the air conditioning vents starting to whirr in his room. In reality, the sound wouldn't have been that loud but in the small room where the only sound he hears is the squeaking of his springy mattress, it was pretty loud. He left the room and started to survey what he could do with things in the kitchen.
Family Dinners (10/10)
Sam finished tying her running shoes and left her room to talk to Des. She couldn't care less about the new kid and everyone here probably felt the same way. She tried not to scowl at him calling her "kiddo". She loathed that nickname. "Des, I was going to go for a quick run. Is that chill?"
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Standing near the corner, his back pressed against the wall and his silvery black eyes shut. His wavy and partially coily pitch black hair falling over the scar on his eyebrow. He took a deep shaky breath when they mentioned a new kid. Of course…. Just another person to ruin everything.
Just what he wanted. He just scoffed at the thought. The thought of them maybe even talking to him. He already hated whoever this "new kid" was.
Tucked into a corner of her room, Em quietly hummed along to whatever was blasting into her headphones.
Beneath the music, she dimly heard Des shouting up that the new kid would be here any minute now. With a shiver she wrapped her arms tighter around herself. Would they be nice? Cruel? Scarred? Would they like it here? Would they run away, as so many had tried? What if they talked to her? Well, she'd be nice to them, that's what she'd do; she also knew it was possible she'd be the only welcoming one. What if they pinned her for the weak one because of it?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone heading downstairs, and then Sam was talking to Des.
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So it's a girl huh? Silas' eyes slowly opened upon hearing Des' voice. He remembered the news of a new kid spreading like wildfire when it was first announced. Immediately, however, he knew that not everyone was going to be so hot on the idea of it.
Silas stood underneath the flow of the shower, watching the soap suds running down his body. He himself couldn't quite decide if he was going to be alright with having a new person in the house – he wasn't that keen on change.
"I think it will be fun having another girl here!" Parisa hummed quietly. "There's too many guys."
"I thought you liked guys more than girls?" Silas spoke aloud, that way he knew she could actually hear him. Why was Parisa even awake? She usually slept in until noon.
"I do, but having another girl around will be fun. I should put my hair up or something, make myself look nice you know?" And just like that, she wandered off to who knows where. Silas had created his splits an entire dreamscape for them to roam around so they would never get bored, but he never knew where Parisa went when she wanted to do her hair.
What kind of person was the new girl going to be? Part of him hoped she would be a quiet girl who just wanted to keep out of the way of people. He liked people like that. His favorite kind of person was one who didn't try to become friends with you just because you are popular or have loads of money.
Silas stood in front of his mirror, towel drying his hair. Suddenly his hand moved to his stomach, his fingers trailing over his abs.
"You have a nice body, stop thinking you don't." Parisa whispered.
He hated it when they knew what he was thinking before he even thought it himself. "Yes well, try being in my body for day, then we'll see how much you like it."
"Was that an invite?"
"Sure, you like my body that much, you have free reign today."
Rather then neatening his hair out, Parisa kept it wild and messy. She loved being able to get away with messy hair, especially since no one else would know it was her. She rummaged around the bottom two drawers of his wardrobe, picking out a dark green crop hoodie and a pair of glasses.
"Finally, I can actually see." she smiled, pulling on the hoodie and a pair of black skinny jeans. "Now, where is he hiding my jewelry?"
Not on top of his bedside table, not inside the wardrobe, not in the drawers. Just as she was about to give up searching, she thought of the bed.
Damn it. she heard Silas say as she pulled a large rectangular box out from under his bed. Inside she found her favorite ruby pendant, ear studs, and anklet.
After putting on all her jewelry, she stood in the mirror, satisfied with her appearance. "I'm ready to meet the new girl, this should be fun!" she left the room, a light spring in her step as she made her way downstairs.
Blake slipped downstairs, only to the kitchen though, he needed enough snacks to last him the entirety the new person would be arriving, it was the weekend so he would only have to come out for one family dinner. Okay, granola, dried fruit, water… What else do I need? He thought as he went through the cabinet, it was just the food cabinet though. All the silverware and such was locked up, just a safety precaution he'd think. Blake shook his head, he could think about that later, he really needed to get upstairs before the new kid. If he didn't and the new kid saw him going up the stairs she would hate him for leaving her.
Two more people heading down the stairs; there were now four people.
It was the best to be fifth downstairs, because the chances someone would notice and come talk to you were slimmest. That way, she only had to talk if she was feeling up to it. She slowly drew in a breath and got to her feet, padding over to mirror.
She looked acceptable, in a mid-thigh length pale yellow dress and barefoot. With a nod and nervous smile, she pushed open her bedroom door.
Ellie should have been used to the first meeting jitters by now, considering how many foster houses she had been shuffled between. But there were still butterflies as the car pulled up to the house. She knew there were a lot of other kids here, so maybe the parents would lose her in the crowd. She really hoped so, that way they wouldn't have to worry about her… Or catch her during meals. It was always worse when they made her eat.
She straightened out her skirt as she was handed her two bags and put on a nervous smile. It’s ok to be nervous, just don't make them worry.
Des slipped out of the house and opened the car door, smiling kindly. "Hi, I'm Des, I'll be one of your parents at the House." They introduced, holding out a hand to help the girl out of the car.
Ellie smiled, accepting the help out of the car. ”Hi, Des. I’m Ellie.” She knew how to act; foster parents always seem nice during introductions especially when someone else is there. She’d get a real impression of them over the week. She took her bags and followed Des to the house.
"Alrighty, all the main rooms are upstairs. Every night except for Sundays, we have something we call Family Dinners." Des told her, opening the door for Ellie to pass-through then closing it behind her. "We have seven other kiddos here. Thankfully the house is big enough so no one has to share a room."
Em was just about to start down the stairs when the sound of a car pulling up stopped her. She now had two options.
One, run down the stairs in hopes that she'd get downstairs before the new girl came in and risk being noticed for the fact she'd probably be breathing heavily. Two, wait at the top of the stairs and get a look at the new girl before meeting her, and risk looking very very strange standing silently and watching. She vouched for the first option– the new girl would need someone and Em wanted to be that someone. She started down the stairs full pelt, trying hard to keep her breathing level so she wouldn't be too out of breath by the time she got down.
Ellie's stomach churned at the mention of ”Family Dinners”. That was going to be a challenge. She was glad to hear that she wouldn't have to share a room with anyone this time. It didn't always go well when she did. ”Wow, talk about a full house.” she joked, looking around the room before seeing the other girl. ”Oh, hi.”
"Hello Em, this is Ellie. I'm going to go round up the other kiddos." Des said, eyes crinkling up in a smile as they walked up the stairs, knocking on every door. "Hey kids, the new kid is here, you don't have to meet her now but remember we have family dinner tonight."
Holding her breath, Em held up her hand in a wave and smiled. "Hey! Welcome!" Don't seem too excited. You'll weird her out. She tried to hold in her uneven breathing, but let out a cough. A cough.
Her face flushed but she maintained the smile.
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Min-Hyuk walked from his bedroom down to the door, taking his precious time.
" 왜 우리는 새로운 아이를 가져야합니까? 우리는 이미 많은 것을 가지고 있습니다. 당신이 나에게 묻는다면 또 다른 성가심."
He mumbles to himself, a little loudly than he meant to as he walked down the stairs. The sun shining in had made his black hair look almost blue as the rays hit him.
Zane saw a glimpse of the new kid and Des talking to Em. Great, a distraction. He said, glad that he could execute his next steps of plans. He hurried down the stairs and avoided the three of them and started looking into the kitchen cupboards. He found the plastic wrap, Oreos, and tape. He then rummaged around the living room and found some copy paper and glue. He wanted to start with all the original pranks and jokes before getting to the intense ones. He wasn't allowed near any sharp objects in the house so finding a way to cut paper would be a challenge. He headed back to his room, his arms full of supplies and materials as he shut the door with his foot.
He laid out all of his items onto his bed, visualizing all the reactions again, with a clear goal in mind. He took out his crayons, the only drawing utensil he was allowed to use since it didn't have points and started drawing on the paper. His drawing skills were great in his opinion considering his only materials were crayons, at least he had that going for him. He went into the bathroom, lifted the seat and place the plastic wrap on, making sure it was smoothed out with no noticeable wrinkles. He then opened the Oreos and scraped out the cream and added toothpaste, resealing the container. He ripped off a sticky note and added some encouraging and welcoming quote before sticking it on the Oreo packet. As he left the room he placed the plastic wrap around the door and headed to the newly furnished room.
He had to hurry before Des came up the stairs to show her her room. He placed the box of cookies on her bed, clearly in sight before again covering the entrance with the plastic.
He ran out of the room before they could get upstairs and locked himself back in his room.
Ellie tried to keep smiling and look friendly, but she couldn't keep it up for the whole night. ”I don't suppose you would know which room I can drop off my bags in, do you?” It’s the first night, maybe I can use that as an excuse.
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"Oh please, stop being so nice would you?"
Min-Hyuk says steppeng off of the last step, closing the huge book he had been reading. A mini sketchbook in his back pocket and a small stick of charcoal covered in plastic wrap so it wouldn't get on his jeans. That was his only drawing utensil. If he tried to hurt himself with it, it would merely crumble.
Blake slipped downstairs after putting his snacks in his room, he had gotten it up before Des had seen, so that was good. He did, however, stand behind Min-Hyuck like he could protect the smaller boy. "No one's nice on the first day." He muttered quietly, making eye contact for a moment before ducking back behind Min-Hyuck.
Ellie let her smile fall to her usual neutral expression, raising a brow at the two boys attitude. ”Fine then. Can you at least tell me who to avoid? Other than you both.” she said with a small amount of ice coating her tone.
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(Lol its Min-Hyuk. Or is he purposely doing that XD)
With a sigh he looks behind him with a slight grin, then turning around to face the girl.
"Her. She's not gonna like you anyway"
He says with a sigh, looking down at his book then back at her, the sun was hitting only one eye, making it appear almost purely white, the other one close to black.
"Zane will probably try to prank you, so don't eat anything he gives you," Blake said skittishly, he was stimming with his hands, mostly just rubbing them then flicking them out. "He's still nice though. The people you want to avoid are at school, they'll beat you up if they think you're weird."
Ellie sighed, ”So nothing new there. Thanks for the warning.” Unnecessary but still… She gripped her bags and headed upstairs, deciding to go and look for her room on her own. She didn't bother to change her expression this time. Maybe the other kids would think she was just tired.
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Looking back at Blake as he turned around, taking a step back. He actually had forgotten his name and was now trying to remember. He was never good with names.
"Blake right?"
He says looking at him with a plain expression.
The only glimpse Sam saw of the new kid was the car pulling into the driveway as she ran down it. She put her headphones in and started at a jog down the street. In past experiences she had found it better not to be around when the new kid got there. One, she tended to snap at them. Not a great way to start a new relationship. Two, everyone made way too big of a deal out of new kids arriving. Who cares? Just another kid in their fucked-up Brady Bunch. Nothing to celebrate.
Blake nodded slowly, that was his name. His fingers were the only sound that was heard in the awkward silence that he was supposed to talk in. Blake had lived with the people in this house forever, but he was still anxious around them.
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"Hmm, Min-Hyuk. Call me Huck and I kill you"
He says looking back at the top of the stairs, then back at him. He had stayed quiet long enough and his only friends were the demons and shadows he would see when he was anxious. Though they were getting a tad annoying.
"I know your name already…" Blake trailed off, then looked startled. "Sorry." He muttered before bolting back upstairs to his room. You're an idiot Blake. He told himself before going back to his chemistry book that he had left on his desk.
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"Um…youre fine?"
He says Blushing a tad as he let out a laugh
"Oh okay…"
He muttered to himself before heading back upstairs himself.