February

Wesley—Fourteen Years Old

A month has gone by, and even though I don’t understand why, John and Anna have become my…friends. The Andersons aren’t the worst foster family I’ve lived with, but that’s probably because I rarely see them.

Mrs. Bellamy insists I come to their house after school every day. John and I have a lot of the same classes, so we do homework together then play video games until it’s time for dinner. If he thinks it’s weird that I use his shower while I’m there, he doesn’t mention it.

And, every time I get home, I find Mrs. Bellamy snuck something into my book bag. That first day, I found two pairs of thick wool socks and a fleece sweatshirt tucked in between my freshly washed clothes. The next time I saw John, I wanted to return them, but he insisted that they didn’t fit him anymore and weren’t doing any good, taking up space in his dresser and convinced me I was doing him a favor by taking them off his hands. My only problem now is that I’m afraid to keep them in my bedroom, for fear that Davis, the other foster kid sharing my room, will steal them.

Davis is sixteen and bad news. He has a mean, manipulative way about him. Whenever the Andersons confront him about breaking or stealing something, he blames it on someone else and gets away with it every time. There are four foster kids living there, but I’m the newest, which means I’m his latest target. My only saving grace is that he’s in high school, so I don’t have to see him at school or after school.

Winter has always been my least favorite season. My clothes are never warm enough, but with Mrs. Bellamy’s gifts, my toes are warmer than they’ve been in a long time. John and Anna are trying to convince me to go sledding with them, and I think I’m going to take them up on it. I’ve never been before, but the way they talk about it makes it seem like so much fun.

The final bell rings, saving me from listening to the history teacher drone on about the Civil War. I quickly stop at my locker to get what I need for the weekend, then head toward John’s locker. I never want to assume I’m still invited over; I mean, this can’t last forever. But, when he sees me approaching, a wide smile pulls at his face, and I know I at least have another day. I respond with a nod, hiding the relief that floods through me. Anna says I’m not much of a smiler, and I suppose she’s right. I just haven’t had too many good things to smile about.

“Hey, did you ask if you could sleep over tonight?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” I didn’t really ask for permission, but they don’t care. It’s not like they pay attention to me when I’m there.

“Awesome! My mom said she’d take us to the movies tonight, and then tomorrow, we can go sledding. The only bummer is that Anna has to come with us.” He zips up his book bag and slings it over his shoulder.

We start walking toward the exit.

“That’s okay.” Anna’s actually pretty cool.

“I guess.”

“Did you and Anna have a fight?”

It always seems like they get along so well, unlike the relationships I see between foster siblings.

“No, it’s just…she’s twelve. I don’t want to hang out with my sister all the time, you know? What if Kim is at the movies? She’s going to think I’m a loser if I’m there with my sister.”

I grunt in response, not wanting to voice my thoughts. I’d give anything to have a sibling, a blood relative, someone who was my family. He’s lucky to have Anna.

“Hey, John! Hey, Wes!” Anna shouts excitedly as she catches up to us in the hall.

For some reason, the fact that she calls me Wes fills me with warmth. I’ve never had a friend long enough to give me a nickname, even if it is just a shortened version of my name.

“Hey, kid,” John greets her.

“You do realize, you’re still a kid, too, you know.” She scowls at him.

“Whatever you say, Anna Banana.”

“Ugh, do not call me that.” She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest.

John laughs at his sister’s disgust with his nickname for her, but she doesn’t realize how lucky she is to have it. She punches his arm, and he laughs even harder.

“No need to get violent.”

Longing pulls at my heart, seeing their affection for each other even if they show it with punches and teasing.

She growls at him, and a small smile tugs at my lips at the sound. She’s so feisty.

Looking over at me, she catches my expression and stares at my lips. Her cheeks pink, and she meets my gaze. “You sleeping over tonight? Mom says we’re going to the movies! Do you like popcorn?”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“Do you like M&M’s?” she asks. Her serious expression tells me this is an important question.

I reach for the door handle of the exit and pull it open, holding it while she and John walk through. “Yeah.”

“No, you’re not doing that to the popcorn tonight,” John protests.

“Doing what?”

“She likes to take a package of M&M’s and dump it in the popcorn.”

“Hey, it’s delicious! Salty and sweet—my favorite combination. Plus, when the popcorn is hot and you add the M&M’s right away, they get a bit melty.”

“That sounds pretty good actually,” I admit.

She beams at me, her pretty brown eyes full of happiness.

“Well, you two can share and get melted chocolate all over your fingers,” John huffs.

“Perfect. You can stick to your boring Swedish Fish,” she glowers in irritation.

“Soon, you won’t be able to eat popcorn anymore. I guess you should have your fill while you can.” John smirks.

Anna’s scowl is back, and she shoots daggers at her brother with her glare.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She sighs. “I’m getting braces next week.”

“Oh.” I’ve always been grateful that my teeth are fairly straight; otherwise, I would’ve had to live with crooked teeth. Foster kids don’t get braces. “And you can’t have popcorn with braces?”

“No, I guess, if you bite into a kernel, a bracket could break.”

“Well then, we should definitely have popcorn tonight,” I say solemnly.

Her smile returns, and my stomach flips, knowing I helped cheer her up.

As it turned out, Kim did come to the movies tonight. John spotted her in the ticket line, and she left her group of friends to talk to him. I assured him I’d stick with Anna, so he could have fun with the girl he’d been crushing on for the past few weeks.

As soon as we get our tickets, Anna heads to the concession stand, orders the largest bucket of popcorn available along with two bags of M&M’s, and promptly dumps the chocolate morsels into the freshly popped popcorn. We find seats and dig in to our snacks while we wait for the movie to start.

“What do you think?” Anna asks.

“It’s delicious.” My mouth waters at the taste. I’ve never had movie theater popcorn before. The butter, salt, and chocolate taste surprisingly good together.

Anna smiles and reaches into the bucket for another handful. Our fingers bump together, and I fluster, pulling back so that she can take her serving first.

John and Kim sit together a few rows ahead of us, and we can hear Kim gushing over John’s deep voice, which makes John talk even deeper.

Anna rolls her eyes at him, and I bite my lip so as not to smile. She catches me and stares at my mouth, causing that weird flip in my stomach again.

“Uh-oh.”

I raise my eyebrows in question.

“Better be careful. You almost smiled.”

My lips curve up at this, stretching my cheeks into a grin.

“Ha! I need to write this day down—the day I saw Wesley Scott smile.” She grins, staring at my face.

“Hey, I smile,” I protest.

“Well, I think you should smile more often. It looks good on you.”

My eyes dart to hers, and even in the dim light, I can see her flush. Luckily, the movie starts up, saving me from blurting out that she’s one of the only people to make me smile.

The movie is the latest superhero action film, full of fight scenes with the requisite bad guy and good guy and, of course, a love interest. Anna gasps during a particularly gory part and covers her eyes with her hands, leaning into my neck to hide.

“I can’t watch. Tell me when it’s over,” she whispers.

Her hair tickles my face when I turn my head into her to shield her face from the screen.

“Okay,” I whisper. I’ve never been this close to her before, and the scent of peaches fills my nose. It’s light and sweet, and I inhale to get more.

A loud explosion on the screen makes her jump in fright and burrow deeper into my side. I feel her tremble, and though part of me is amused that she can be this scared over a movie, the other part of me wants to soothe her.

“Keep your eyes closed. I’m just putting the popcorn down, okay?”

She nods.

I put the popcorn down in between my feet, so I can prevent it from falling over. Then, I lift the armrest between our seats, allowing me to put my arm around her tiny frame and pull her into me. She inches closer, her warm breath fanning out against my neck. Having Anna this close, in my arms, her peach scent filling me up with sweetness—it feels so nice.

I almost regret when the scary part is over. “The coast is clear.”

She hesitantly peeks at the screen but doesn’t move away from me completely, staying tucked under my arm, her face mere inches away from mine. I focus on the movie—or at least, I try to. My body is just so aware of Anna’s proximity. Not very many people touch me. Her burrowing into my side is the closest thing I’ve had to a hug in years.

Soon, the movie turns to the love-interest portion of the story. Anna’s eyes widen when the actors’ soft kisses turn into passionate ones. They start taking each other’s clothes off and tumble into bed—nothing too racy, as the movie is PG-13, but still, sounds of kissing, panting, and moaning fill the theater. I swallow thickly, my mouth suddenly dry. I’ve never kissed a girl. Even though most of my life has been spent being too cold, too hungry, or too scared, I’m still a fourteen-year-old boy who’d really like to kiss a girl. Unfortunately, no girl has ever wanted to talk to me, let alone kiss me.

I glance at Anna, and she glances my way at the same time.

Her eyes are still wide, and she mouths, Wow.

I smirk at her honest reaction. She’s so genuine, even now. What could have been an awkward moment turns into a comfortable one. It makes me like being around her that much more.