Chapter Three | All The Children

"whether it be the colors of a dollhouse or the ones of a race car"

...

THE DOORBELL chimed an entire rhythm before the front door finally flew open. Standing on the other side of the wooden door was Ivy Hill's foster father, George Wright. With his neatly trimmed beard, George was an empathetic, family man, unlike the other foster fathers Ivy had witnessed. Ivy waved wildly to Adam who had walked her home. They both had after school activities- Ivy writer's club and Adam football practice.

George moved to the side, clearing the entrance, and ushered Ivy into the house. Elizabeth Wright, Ivy's foster mother, appeared in the hallway near the kitchen, brushing her hands on her apron while simultaneously tucking a curl behind her ear. "How was your day, sweetie?"

Elizabeth was the type of woman you would never take a second glance at. Always wearing her dark blue jeans and multi-colored blouses, she was the perfect housewife. Elizabeth had a long-lasting dream of taking in a foster child and when Ivy's social worker came knocking on their door, she didn't hesitate. Ivy on the other hand had an entirely different take on the situation. She had been in the foster system for ages, ever since she was two-years-old. Having been to several foster homes and dealt with traumatic experiences, she was grateful to have been taken in by such a considerate family. What Ivy hated most though was when someone called her a 'foster child.' She hated the pitiful looks that came along with the phrase. How everyone curled their lip downwards slightly and crinkled their eyebrows with pity. Ivy was a strong girl and didn't need anyone's looks of pity. She had her friends and that to her was enough.

"Good. We had a history test and it wasn't too bad." Ivy replied, placing her school bag down at the edge of the room. Elizabeth watched her with pride swirling her eyes. Ivy was the perfect daughter in her eyes and was considering signing adoption papers to make it official. She didn't plan on telling Ivy yet, not wanting to get her hopes too high, but she loved the two years she already spent with Ivy and considered her just as much her child as she considered her son, Oliver Wright.

Oliver rushed into the room the moment he heard the front door close and was observing from a corner. The moment he saw Ivy, the race cars in his hand were forgotten about as he raced to Ivy's legs. Ivy caught him just in time.

"Woah, slow down, race car." Ivy chuckled while bending down to Oliver's level. "How was kindergarten today?" Oliver had quickly gotten used to having Ivy around and declared her his favorite not too long after they met. George and Elizabeth's offended expression lasted a second but were grateful for their two children to be getting along.

"It was amazing. Mr. Frederick let us play outside for a longer time during recess than the other classes. I got through the entire monkey bars and Caleb clapped when I finished and we wrote buddy letters to the fifth graders and-"

Ivy had zoned out there. Her thoughts were on a specific brown haired boy, Adam. The cliche rule 'don't-fall-in-love-with-your-best-friend' exactly represented her feelings for her best friend. Adam had been her crush since as long as she could remember. She had known Adam and the entire group from when she was three-years-old, at her first foster home. When the foster mother had forgotten to lock the door, curious as always, Ivy had snuck to the park outside the house. There, she met her life-long friends and an everlasting tradition. Ivy's social worker was good enough at her job to never force Ivy to leave Weathering Peaks. The most Ivy had even traveled was to the neighboring city for a debate tournament.

During their late night gossip sessions, Adelyn was fan-girled about Wesley while Ivy went on about Adam. Unlike Adelyn and Wesley, Ivy and Adam weren't the type to confess their feelings. While both were going through hard times, they never talked about it while they were alone. Anyone who knew Adelyn and Wesley knew they were soul mates. Even Savannah and Lucas, their siblings, had gotten used to it. Lucas was convinced that it was temporary and that he only gave Wesley permission for five years. Wesley and Adelyn never took that rule seriously. Well, until Adelyn left.

"-and tomorrow we are making a snowman out of shaving cream." Oliver's enthusiastic voice brought her back. Ivy let out a small laugh. Kindergarten, good times.

Adam Park stood outside his house two hours after dropping Ivy off at hers. It didn't take two hours to walk between their houses, it only took twenty minutes. But Adam dreaded the moments he stepped into his alcohol smelling, poor-excuse of a house. The sole reason Adam didn't run away from that hell-hole was because of the light of his life, his younger sister. Five-year-old Elena Park was just approaching her first day of kindergarten in a month and she was thrilled. Adam couldn't count the number of times she had screamed 'school' in the past three months.

If only Adam was that excited to go to the school he considered prison everyday.

Adam's house was a small, blue, wood-built house at the corner of Rasberry Lane. The neighborhood itself was a fancy one. Large mansions filled the street with glistening fountains at each doorstep, but the house Adam lived in was the misfit. It was the witch-house the children dared each other to go knock on and one the parents warned their children not to go near. And it was true. The house was undeniably falling apart. The wood was barely standing with each plank hanging by its last splint and the paint was scratched off. The lawn was un-mowed, almost reaching knee height, and a golden yellow. In the fall, neighbors constantly tormented Adam to rake the yard. They would complain that the excess leaves kept flying into their perfect, movie-styled yards. Adam would do nothing besides flip them off. There was no way the leaves would stay gone anyway. They were all going to fly away and back at one point.

Sighing, Adam braced himself for whatever he was about to face and pushed the door open. The tiny residence was abnormally quiet for a Tuesday evening. Looking for an explanation, Adam peaked into the living room. His father lay passed out on the couch, a beer bottle in one hand and drool out of the side of his mouth. This being a daily occurrence didn't stop Adam from shuddering in disgust.

He dropped his backpack by the barstool carelessly. Unsurprisingly, the bare kitchen cupboards were empty. His father had forgotten to stock the fridge again. Adam had reminded him this morning before school, but didn't expect him to remember anyway. He exhaled loudly, running a hand through his hair. He flung his backpack from the floor onto the kitchen island and dug a hand into the depths of it. With a cry of 'eureka', he pulled out the treasure he was hunting for. An apple.

He hadn't eaten lunch this afternoon, as he had sacrificed the last tiny box of macaroni-and-cheese to Elena's preschool princess lunch bag. He munched into the apple and abandoned his opened bag.

The creaky wood snapped as Adam tip-toed up the stairs, looking for his little princess. Adam lived alone with only his father and Elena. Their mother had fled the scene, four years ago, abandoning Adam who was now in charge of their family. The only people that knew of his living conditions were his few close friends.

Adam would never risk putting his best friends in any danger so they rarely came over. Ivy and Savannah, though, loved sneaking over in the evenings to play with Elena under the light shadow of the setting sun. Adam would bring Elena outside to the tiny park, with only one slide set and a swing, on those special occasions. Oliver came along with Ivy sometimes, and the two youngsters would run around the entire lot. Ivy, Savannah, and Adam would sit on the swings, watching, and they would all laugh until the clock hit ten, before Adam would have to hurry back with his sleeping sister.

"Ele? Are you here?" Adam's voice was a hush whisper, high enough to hear but low enough to not wake up his father. He saw the silhouette of Elena hovered behind a curtain. Ah, they were playing hide-and-seek. Hide-and-seek was a daily ritual for them. When Elena was younger, Adam used to tell her to hide in the closet, like a game of hide-and-seek, until their father had passed his drunk expeditions. Adam always took their father's verbal abuse for Elena. Never in his lifetime even considering Elena getting hurt or hearing the cruel, harsh words that spit out of their father. If anyone wanted to hurt her, they would have to get past his six-feet muscular frame first. Elena was now old enough to realize their living situation, but the game never ended.

"Hm... maybe Ele disappeared?" Adam droned, drumming his chin exaggeratedly knowing his sister was peeking right behind the curtain. A giggle escaped the little girl's lips before she could stop it. Elena placed her chubby hand over her mouth in an attempt to smother the noise. Adam shook his head, grinning to himself, but continued playing along.

"I heard a very very tiny noise somewhere here. Now, where could it be coming from?" Adam's words were answered with another soft, irresistible giggle. "Could she be in here?" Adam gently yanked the curtain open, revealing a squished Elena.

Elena was quick to jump to her feet and crash into Adam. "Bubba! I missed you." An adorable voice pouted and made all the struggles of the day worth it in Adam's eyes.

"And I missed you too, princess! How was Mrs. Barb today?" Mrs. Barb was Elena's preschool teacher and she had helped the two kids throughout their childhood. When Adam had been stranded between his own school and picking up Elena, Mrs. Barb had offered to drop her off at home daily. Mrs. Barb was one of the only adults that wouldn't ask questions or make fun of their tiny house. She knew that they were going through a tough time and just offered to help out in any way.

"She was very nice. She taught me how to write the E in my name, and guess what bubba? Guess what?" Adam leaned down towards Elena's level and tapped her chin softly.

"Hm, you wrote your E's," his first guess sounded. Elena wildly shook her head, her curls dancing around with the notion. Adam tugged gently on one of her curls before asking, "Then?"

"My E's looked like carrots," she giggled. Adam scrunched up his eyebrows for a moment, wondering how an E could look like a carrot, before shaking his head.

"And that's my creative girl. Love you, princess." He ruffled her hair, before kissing her temple. Standing in front of him was his princess- his sunshine- and he knew he wouldn't leave her for the world.

"Love you too, bubba."

...

hey again you all! the newest chapter has been published :) this chapter gives a short background on the characters which is meant to help you see the characters in a different light and get to know them and their struggles better. hope everyone has an awesome day, and thank you for reading.