"Morning JJ. You ready?" Elliot says, as I make my way downstairs having had a shower and gotten dressed.
"Yeah, I suppose" I reply, not really wanting today to actually happen. Today's the day I move in with my foster family.
"Right come on then" Tom says flashing me a smile which I couldn't help but respond to with a small smile myself even if I wasn't in the mood. We follow Elliot to his car and I slide into the back whilst Tom and Elliot jump into the front seats. I put in my headphones and play some music as I'm really not in the mood to talk. I resist the urge to burst into tears as we drive down the street I liv- used to live on. Elliot pulls up outside and I don't move. I only come back down to earth when Tom gets out of the car and opens my door for me. I sigh before climbing out. I walk up to the front door and pulls the keys out of my pocket. Tom comes and stands next to me whilst Elliot stands behind us. I glance down at the keys in my shaky hands and take a deep breath.
"You know you don't have to do-" Elliot starts to say seeing how I'm reacting.
"Yes...yes I do" I say fighting back the tears. I take slow steady breaths as I put the key in the door and turn it until the door unlocks. I push it open and walk inside. Tom stops to pick up all the mail whilst I walk straight up the stairs and into my room. I stop dead in my tracks when my eyes land upon the pictures on my wall of me and my mum. I can't hold them in any longer so I let the tears pour down my face. I hear the creaking of the stairs before someone comes to stand behind me. I don't have to turn around to know it's Tom. He walks around to face me and pulls me into his arms.
"I can't do this Tom..." I say into his chest.
"Hey..." He says, moving to hold me out at arm length whilst looking me straight in the eyes.
"Yes, you can. JJ, you are so strong and stubborn and so much more...look at me JJ" He says, as I try to look anywhere but at him. I gently uses his hand to move my head so that I'm facing him.
"You've got this okay? You're doing so well..." he says, making me smile a little. I nod my head and wipes my eyes before moving to grab my suitcase. With the help of Tom and Elliot I pack up all the things that I want to keep and move them downstairs. I then go into my mum's room and take some of her things that I want to keep and do the same around the house before I'm ready to leave. Tom and Elliot help me to the car before we drive to my foster house.

Not 10 minutes later do we pull up outside a modern looking house. I smile when I see the family coming out the house. They have a young toddler. I get out of the car and walk over to them behind Elliot.
"JJ, this is Jesse, Miya and Rikki" Elliot says, introducing me to the family.
"Hi" I say shyly. The little boy – Rikki – smiles and waves at me making me laugh.
"Hi JJ. I'm sorry to hear about your mum...but I want you to know we're here if you want to talk okay?" Miya – my new foster mum says.
"Thank you..." I say respectably.
"Right, lets show you to your room" Jesse – my foster dad – says, helping Tom with my belongings. We follow them into the house and down the corridor to my room which is downstairs. When we walk in I look around in awe.

One of the walls is dark blue whilst the other 3 are white. There's a double bed with the headboard on the blue wall and across from the bed there's a white desk. Next to the desk there's a white bookcase which sits next to the window that looks out into the back garden. The bedding is very modern as it's light grey with black pillows and sheets.
"I hope you like it..." Miya says from behind me.
"Are you kidding me it's amazing" I say flashing her a smile.
"I have one question though...am I allowed to hand pictures and stuff like that?" I ask, turning to face her.
"Of course." she says sweetly.
"Right JJ...I think we best be off. Are you going to be okay?" Elliot says.
"Yeah" I say looking at Miya and Jesse.
"Right well you have my number, so any issues, day or night call me okay?" Elliot says.
"Yeah me too" Tom says from behind me.
"Thank you, guys" I say, giving them both hugs. I walk them out and watch them drive away before joining Miya and Jesse in the kitchen. I sit down at the table whilst they make some tea before we all sit down, and sort put the basics.
"We do have some rules..." Jesse says.
"Of course," I say.
"Firstly, you have to be home by 7 on weekdays and 8:30 on the weekends." Miya says. I nod my head and allow them to continue.
"Secondly, dinner is always around 5:30, so if you want dinner here you have to be home in time and if you're eating somewhere else then please let us know" Jesse says. Again, I nod my head.
"Thirdly, you're allowed friends around but please ask us first. And no-one past 7 unless we've spoken about it. Also, try to answer if we call you..." Miya says.
"If I don't answer I'll call you back as soon as possible" I say politely. They nod their heads and continue.
"And finally. If you respect us and listen to us, then we'll do the same to you. Also mind your language, especially around Rikki."
"Oh- Definitely. And don't worry I rarely swear and I defiantly wouldn't around Rikki"
"Right well as you saw you have a small on-suit to your room which is your bathroom. We'll leave you to get settled in just call if you need anything." They says, as I check the time.
"Actually, is it alright if I go out for a bit. My friend, Josh gets out of school soon..." I ask politely.
"Of course. He can come for dinner if you like?" Miya asks.
"Thank you." I say, as she hands me a set of house keys. I go to my room and find my hoodie and headphone before saying goodbye and leaving. Luckily, I know the area, so it only takes me like 10 minutes to get to school. When I do the bell has just gone so I walk inside the gates and wait for Josh. I see Mr Byrne and Mr Mead outside, so I walk over to them.
"Hi JJ. How you doing?" Mr Mead asks me one he sees me.
"I'm okay. I moved in with my foster family today. I should be back tomorrow." I say wanting to get back to normality even though the funeral is next week.
"What's your family like" Someone says behind me and I laugh as it's Josh. I recover from the shock.
"Well, Miya and Jesse my foster parents are really nice. And then there's Rikki, he's their toddler. He's really cute. Oh and they invited you around for dinner Josh" I say, turning to face him.
"Sweet" He says.
"Right well, come to my office tomorrow registration okay?" Mr Byrne asks. I nod my head and we say goodbye before I walk off with Josh.
"OMG, you should see my room it's really cool. They also set some nice rules. Curfew for 7 on weekdays and 8:30 for weekends." I say excitedly as we arrive on the street. Josh just stays quiet but smiles at me, obviously happy to see me smiling after the rough – well life changing - week I've had.

We arrive at my foster home within 10 minutes and I introduce Josh to my foster family.
"This is Josh, my best friend. Josh this is Miya, Jesse and little Rikki" I say, as Josh shakes everyone's hand. I showed Josh around my room which he helped me set up as we waited for dinner. After dinner we sat and played with Rikki as he seemed to really like Josh. When it neared 7, Josh called his dad to come and pick him up and we waited on the wall in the front garden. Tom pulled up 15 minutes later and I gave Josh a hug. Tom offered to pick me up tomorrow morning as it's my first day back to which I politely declined as I wanted to use the walk in the morning to calm myself for the day ahead. I waved off the pair before making my way back inside. I helped to put Rikki to bed before going to have a shower. I washed my hair before getting out of the shower and slipping into my pyjamas. I sorted out my things for school tomorrow before jumping into bed, deciding it was probably best to get an early night. By the time my eyes started to drift shut it was 9pm, however what I didn't know it what the night ahead of me would be like.