EDITED

I sat in art class finishing up a sketch for a painting I was working on, we were learning about working with watercolors, when Ms. Adwin stood up in front of the class.

"Now, I know class is going to end soon but before you all pack up I have an announcement to make." She said "the state is holding an art contest for all highschool students. Each district will be allowed to send three students from each grade level to compete." She explained "if any of you are interested I have a flyer here with instructions on how to submit an art piece for the chance to compete in the main competition. If any of you are interested feel free to come up and grab a flyer."

Everyone began to pack up their stuff, getting ready for the bell to ring so we could go home. The bell rang and I started to head out when Ms. Adwin called out to me.

"Virgil," she said and I turned around.

"Yes?"

"Don't you want a flyer?" She asked.

I shook my head "I doubt I'll have a chance of winning. I'm not that good."

"You're a lot better than most Freshman." She said "just give it a chance."

I sighed and took the paper she offered me "alright, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"That's the spirit!" She smiled at me and turned back to her desk.

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I stared at the email, frozen in shock. I had submitted a drawing, just like Ms. Adwin suggested, but I had never thought I would actually get chosen! Logging out of my email I brought Thomas' laptop downstairs and returned it to him.

"Thanks" He said, taking it. I just nodded and headed back upstairs.

According to them I would have to submit a new piece of art work using my choice of medium and then on a certain date I would go to where the competition was held and they would let people look at the art displayed and that evening they would announce the winners.

But, there was one problem. The competition wasn't being held anywhere nearby and an adult would have to come with me. Which meant that I had to ask Thomas to take me. And I had no idea how he was going to react.

Yeah, sure, Patton, Thomas, and I had a fun time watching cartoons a couple of weeks ago but that didn't mean that Thomas suddenly wanted to drop everything and drive for two hours just for some art show. I know that he said he was willing to do what he could to make me happy, but what if this was asking for too much?

Still... The school district liked my art work. They had chosen me (and two others) among who knows how many other Freshman's work. And if I had a chance of winning a prize of some kind, just because of something I made then... maybe it was a risk worth taking.

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The next day after school I went off to find Thomas, in my hands I clutched the paper that Ms. Adwin had given me, it had all the information he would need for the competition. I took a deep breath. There was no point in waiting. After a little bit of looking I eventually found him looking at the photos hanging up in the hallway.

"Thomas?"

He turned to me "oh, hey Virgil! Did you need anything?"

I shook my head "what are you doing?"

"Just looking at photos and trying to decide which ones to replace."

"Why would you need to replace any of them?" I asked.

"Well, you're here now so I thought that it would be nice to have a couple of you up." He said "if you're okay with it, of course."

I was surprised. That was another thing my past Foster Families never did. Then again, the Sanders weren't like any other Foster Family. I hesitated with my answer, Dr Picani had been encouraging me to express my feelings to Thomas and I had promised him I would in our last session.

"Um... What would be the point?" I asked "I mean... I haven't been here all that long."

"Yeah I guess that's true. But you have been here for four months now." He said. "And unless the agency says otherwise I don't see you leaving anytime soon."

I blinked, surprised "really? Why?"

Thomas smiled "because you're a great kid. And I know that I said this before but I really do want you here."

"Oh" I looked down at my feet, suddenly feeling shy "thanks."

"Your welcome." Thomas said with a smile.

"Um.. I looked back up at him and said, "you can hang up photos of me if you want."

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Thomas and I began to look at the different photos in the hallway and Thomas was telling me the stories behind them. I had never bothered to look at them before. I noticed that a lot of them were of Patton. But there were plenty of Thomas when he was younger too.

"What's that one?" I asked pointing at one of the frames. The one I pointed at was of a slightly younger Thomas standing in what looked to be a courtroom wearing a nice looking suit and a blond haired toddler in his arms.

"Ah" Thomas smiled "that's the day I adopted Patton."

"Wait, that kid's Patton?"

He laughed "yup, kind of hard to believe it's been so long. It's been eleven years if I'm remembering correctly."

I nodded before asking a question that's been on my mind a while "if you don't mind me asking... what happened to Patton's birth parents?"

"Well," Thomas said "long story short, but basically they died in a car crash when he was only two. I had just been approved to be a foster parent so I took him in. Then, a little over a year later I adopted him."

"Didn't he have any other family who could take him in?" I asked and Thomas shook his head.

"There were his Grandparents but they were unable to. They still send him birthday and Christmas presents every year though." Thomas said with a light chuckle "they're very nice."

"That's cool."

"What about you?" He asked "do you have any family? I know you have a brother but do you have any other family?"

I shook my head "not really. Mom's parents died before I was born and my Dad's didn't want anything to do with us after he went to jail."

Thomas nodded " I see."

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After I helped Thomas pick out a couple of photos to swap out I then remembered the paper I needed to give him. I pulled it out of my pocket and held it out to him.

"What's this?" He asked unfolding it and reading through it. He looked up at me with wide eyes. "You won an art contest?"

"Uh no, not really." I said "I was just selected to be in the contest. You don't have to take me" I reassured him "I really don't mind, I just wanted to ask."

"Well I would be happy to take you!" He said with a smile.

"Really?" I was shocked. Was Thomas really willing to drive two hours (both ways) just for some contest for a kid that wasn't even his?

"Of course!" He grinded "I mean, my kid is going to be in a state wide art contest. Why wouldn't I want to go." He patted my shoulder gently "anyway, I should get some work to do." And he walked off.

It wasn't until later that I realized that Thomas had referred to me as 'his kid.' And I didn't know why but I felt happy when he said that. 

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A/N: Just to help explain the time line, Virgil moved in with the Sanders in the middle of August and when this chapter takes place it is the beginning of November. Also, yes the main characters are Freshman. Patton is the oldest (age 15), Virgil is the second youngest in the group. And I'll explain who the youngest is here in a few chapters because it ties in with one of the future books in the series. 

Thoughts on this chapter? I really wanted to give Virgil and Thomas some bonding time. Sorry that Logan and Roman aren't show too much, but they do come up here in the next few chapters. And (spoilers) the next chapter is going to show a lot of character development on Roman's side of things. 

Also, the title of this chapter comes from the song 'Bad Guy' from Thomas Sanders' musical 'Ultimate Storytime. 

Stay safe everyone, and wear your mask. 

Take it easy Guys, Gals, and Non-Binary Pals. PEACE OUT!

-Isabel