I tapped my foot repeatedly out of boredom. The lady who oversees my foster placement, Mrs. Morrison, sat behind her big wooden desk, talking away on her phone, clearly about me. I was brought back in after fighting, actual fists flying kind of fighting, with my foster parents. This makes the second time in three months. Everyone else doesn't find it amusing, but I take pride in this new record.

"All right, thank you so much. Yep, uh-huh, bye-bye." Mrs. Morrison spun around in her office chair and folded her hands on the desk, "What am I going to do with you, Alice? You can't keep doing this. You're ruining your future." Her eyes locked on mine, unwavering.

"They took my phone. They can't do that, it's mine!" I hissed.

Mrs. Morrison closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh, "Alice, you have no where left to go. You're going to be 18 soon, you aren't close to graduating, you constantly get kicked out of other homes. I-I can't understand why you are doing this to yourself."

I just shrug and stare off at the things around the room. Plaques on the wall, a photo of Mrs. Morrison's family, a weird painting that looks like random splatters on paper.

The phone rang. Mrs. Morrison let it ring a few times before she looked away from me and answered.

"Hello? Yes, this is she. As a matter of fact, she's here in the room with me," her eyes flicked over my way as if to make sure I really was still here. "Yes, yes!," she began writing stuff down on a piece of paper. "All right. Thank you for this. Yep, see you tomorrow afternoon. Bye-bye." She hung up and faced me with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm not going." I knew what that call was about. I've heard several like it over the years.

"Yes." she organized some papers into her little cubby holes, "you are. These people are the first, after hearing about you, who want to take you in with open arms. This is your last chance, Alice. And I'm not going to sit here and let you throw it away."

I groaned standing up, walking over to the piece of paper she doodled on. "Mr and Mrs Rollins? Never heard of them before." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"They're actually highly recommended. They've taken many kids in over the years, like yourself, and have had no complaints or issues." She finished up with her desk, began gathering her belongings and headed for the door. "Come on. It's late, and we're meeting them tomorrow."

I followed her out and was put up in the same room I normally am; a side office with one of those chair-bed things you see in fancy psychiatrist's offices. It's comfy, but not a bed. I get situated with the same pillow and same blanket I always use.

Mrs. Morrison stopped at the door before heading off, "Alice. Please give these people a chance. I know you don't like foster care, but please, please, give this last chance a real shot. For me?"

"I'll see what they're like." I pulled the blanket up to my shoulders and snuggled my head deep into the middle of the pillow. "Good night."

"Good night, Alice." The lights flicked off and the door softly squeaked being closed shut.

"Mr and Mrs Rollins, huh? I already don't like their name." I yawned and drifted off to sleep.

♦♦♦♦♦

The next morning, Mrs. Morrison was hyped to go. We packed all my things, just a small suitcase of my tomboy clothes, some snacks for the road and my most favorite thing in the world, Mr Fluffykins, my small stuffed rabbit. I don't go anywhere without him. He and I have been through everything together and that's not about to change now. It's a bit childish, I know. But he's been the one thing that's stuck with me all these years, besides Mrs. Morrison of course.

The long drive there was a pain in the behind, literally. Mine went numb ages ago. We've been out of the city for about an hour and now all that was out the windows was open land, cornfields, fields growing other stuff, farms, you know, the kind of places you see in horror movies.

We turned on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. I mean, before this we were nowhere, but this was really nowhere. There was a single mailbox on this road and, of course, that's where we were heading.

"If I don't like this place, I'll just run away again." I mumble aloud as I watch yet another cornfield pass by my window.

The car jerked and slid on the gravel when Mrs. Morrison hit the break and brought the car to a stop off to the side next to the ditch. She forced the gear into park and twisted around in her seat so she was facing me. "You will not! These are good people Alice. They were kind enough to give you a home, a bed to sleep in, food to eat and water to drink. That's way more than you'll have if this place doesn't work. You'll be on your own, do you understand me?"

I fidgeted against my seatbelt. Yes, I understand, and yes being by myself is scary. I just don't like people. Except Mrs. Morrison, but she isn't able to take me in.

"Fine," I pouted. "I'll give these Rollins a chance."

I didn't really want to, but Mrs. Morrison has been there for me so much, the least I can do is stay in a home for more than a little while.

"Promise me."

"Ugh, fine. I promise!" I said out of agitation.

"Thank you. If you don't like it, you can always call me and I'll come pick you up, okay?" She turned back around and we were off again.

"You'll be the first to know if I don't like it. You always are."

We turned by the mailbox. This driveway was the longest I've ever seen. On both sides of it was a cornfield. It felt like we were driving into one. There was a big, red tractor in the middle of it off to the right.
I think they call it a combine??
What it was doing in there while the cornstalks were still tall and dark green, I don't know.

The house came into view. A big, white house. Clearly old and has most definitely seen better days. The paint was peeling off in some places, the roof looked like it needed some work and the upper windows were so dusty, you could draw on them with your fingers. The yard was decent sized, but there was nothing on it except a few small trees and a wood pile with an ax sticking out of a big log. As we pulled up to the house, I noticed that the driveway wasn't the only thing surrounded by corn. The entire property was.

Again the car was put in park and we got out. The house was much bigger now that I was standing on the front steps. Mrs. Morrison opened a screen door that opened up to a small, covered front porch. There was a couch and a table with playing cards that were set up like it was the middle of a game on it. A few soft knocks drew my attention away from the cards and back to the front door.

"Be on your best behavior." Mrs. Morrison's tone was serious. I just put on a fake smile to show that I understood.

The door opened up and a lady with an apron greeted us. Her hair was poofy and curly like she came straight out of the 1980s.

"Mrs. Rollins?" Mrs. Morrison stuck her hand out to shake.

"Just call me Betty," they shook hands and her gaze drifted to me, "And you must be Alice." The way she said my name and the smile that spread across her lips sent a shiver down my spine. I just nodded.

"Well come on in, let's talk inside." Betty stepped aside and let us in. The big, heavy door clanked shut behind us.

The inside looked okay. It looked recently refurnished with nice wooden furniture, old-fashioned glass casings around the bulbs in the light fixtures, the stairs to the second floor looked worn along with the railing. I bent over a bit to look up the stairs when Betty started talking to me.

"Go on and explore the living room. We call this place the Happy Place," she laughed, clearly amused with her own nickname for the house.

I cocked my head and looked at Mrs. Morrison with that "Really?" kind of look. She just smiled and motioned with her hand for me to go. I rolled my eyes and set my stuff down by the door and wandered into the living room. There was a kid sitting on the couch in an old t-shirt, shorts and bulky glasses watching a movie on an ancient TV. This thing was a solid square box and had squiggly wires out of the top with little knobs and dials on the front. Somehow, it was connected to a DVD player.

The boy turned and looked at me with wide eyes and turned his head to look all around. He ran up to me and tried to speak, but only raspy sounds escaped as he pointed back toward the door.

"What? I don't understand." He looked worried, but wasn't making any sense. He just kept pointing to the door.

"Are you Alice?" A deep voice came from behind the boy. A tall man stood with circled glasses like Harry Potter and his hair was reaching his shoulders. He came up and rested his hand on the boy's shoulder and he went quiet. No more pointing or trying to speak, he looked sad as he stared in my eyes.

"That's me." I said giving him a fake smile.

"Well aren't you chipper." He said with a half-hearted laugh.

"Alice. I'm about to go, come say goodbye?" Mrs. Morrison shouted from the hallway.

The man and I head back. I find out he's Mr. Rollins, aka Henry.

I hug Mrs. Morrison so tight, I don't want to let her go. I want to go with her actually, but I promised I'd give this place a shot.

"They also do homeschooling here. How great is that?"

"Yay, super fantastic, can't wait." My monotone enthusiasm didn't sound so convincing.

Mrs. Morrison kissed the top of my head and opened the big, heavy looking house door, "I'll call often to check in on you okay? I'll even drop by sometime and see you in person."

"Make it soon." I gave a small wave.

She narrowed her eyes at me to remind me of what she said before: Best Behavior and Last Chance.

"Don't have too much fun!" And with that she closed the door behind her.

"Oh I won't." I mumbled under my breath.

I turned and saw Henry and Betty standing side-by-side, looking at me like they just won a prize. They looked at each other and Henry walked off. Betty clapped her hands and offered to take my luggage. I reluctantly agreed and gave it to her, except Mr Fluffykins.

Before she went up the stairs with my things, she turned around and gave me a look that could still blood. Even though there was a faint smile, her stare was cold and sharp like daggers.

"You're going to have so much fun here. If you follow the rules, you'll be just fine." She stomped up the stairs with my things.

I don't know what it was, but a chill ran over my body. The way they looked at me, the way they spoke my name, the way the atmosphere felt here. All of it made me feel uneasy. But I promised. So I'll stay for awhile.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and clicked the button to light up the screen. In the top corner next to my battery percentage, were empty bars.

No service out here.

I already don't like this place.

~~~~~~~~~~

*Author's Note*
Hey guys! This is a new style for me so I hope it works well.
Remember, if you like it, Click that Star and comment on your favorite parts!
Thanks so much and Happy Reading! :)

~ZeB