“Madison this is Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, your new foster parents. I’m going to come inside with you, so you can get situated than I am going to go.” Miss Delilah ushered me inside, while Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery gushed over me. It felt a little over the top, I wasn’t much to look at. They showed me around the house and then we went upstairs to see my new bedroom. It was fit for a princess. The walls were light pink with pretty white lace curtains and a canopy for the bed. I was shocked, it was so much better than the mattress I had on the stained up rug in our trailer. The rugs in this room where the complete opposite too, they were so white and fluffy.
“Madison we are also fostering a boy, about two years older, named Jude. Do you want to go and meet him now?” Mrs. Montgomery asked. Mr. Montgomery hasn’t said much since Miss Delilah left after they showed me my room. He was glued to his phone, but I figured it was probably work stuff. Miss Delilah said he was the mayor of Burlington.
We walked down the hallway to the last door which was Jude’s room. The Montgomery’s room was in the opposite hallway of our rooms. I grew anxious when she knocked on his door and I heard him walking over to open it. My heart started pounding when my eyes met his. He had the bluest eyes I ever seen. They stood out so much from his pale skin with dark brown hair. He was dressed in a crisp light blue dress shirt and khaki pants that fit him like they were made for him. Jude was tall too, he towered over me and looked much older than twelve.
“Ok, I am going to let you guys get to know each other. Madison dinner is at five o’clock sharp and I expect you to change out of those rags and put something nice on that I left for you.” Mrs. Montgomery didn’t spare me a second glance and headed off towards her room. It left me feeling uneasy.
“Get used to that. She’ll come around when she needs you to make an appearance, but after that she’ll go drown herself in Xanax and wine.” Jude than nodded towards my room and shut the door. Awesome, I sarcastically said to myself.
The weeks past by and I barely saw anybody besides the house keeper, Mrs. Quinn. She was on the heavier side, gray hair, but a smile that made you feel welcome. I loved spending time with her in the kitchen and hearing all the stories about her grandchildren. I was happy to hear there were kids out there that had normal lives.
~.~
Present
That asshole knew who I exactly was and it made me so angry that he pretended that he didn’t. I think I would have rather him forget me than pretend not to know me. If it wasn’t for the little bird comment, I would have second guessed if he was the Jude I grew up with.
“Earth to Maddy, where you go beautiful?” Knox grabbed a piece of my hair and put it behind my ear. He started to look worry and I couldn’t blame him. I was staring at the door with my mouth still open like I’ve seen a ghost.
“Sorry, I got lost in thought.” I shrugged him off and went to go grab his plate to take to the sink. I didn’t want to talk about Jude and I wasn’t sure I should even bring up that I know him to Knox. It wouldn’t be a lie not telling him anyways because the Jude I knew wouldn’t treat me like that.
“It looks like you knew him?” He asked casually, but you can tell from his body he was tense. Knowing him, he probably thought I slept with him.
“He just looked familiar, but I don’t think so.” I just played it off like I had no clue and you can tell that answer made Knox happy. I didn’t want to lie, but I really didn’t want to talk about it.
Knox comes around the table and hoists me up on the counter. “Hey so I know we said no commitments, but since I have to live with the guy, no fucking him. Ok?” I don’t like when someone orders me around, but I didn’t feel like arguing. He’s been there for me for the past year and was a good friend.
“Oh Knox you don’t see me making rules about you not sleeping with my roommate.” I said with a huge grin, waiting to see his response. Right on cue, his eyes bulged out.
“That’s because she’s my sister!” He shouts. I couldn’t keep the laughter inside me if I tried.
“Ok big guy, I won’t sleep with your roommate.” I really hope I didn’t just lie to him again.
“Ok thank you, now come here beautiful we got a hour before she gets here.” He grabs me by the hair and starts kissing down my neck. Usually I would be all for a quickie with him, but after seeing Jude, I wasn’t in the mood.
“As much as I would love to continue this, I had a rough night and didn’t sleep a wink. I need to go lay down and sleep before Stella gets here.” I yawned and started making my way to my bedroom.
“What does that mean? Like you were with someone all night or couldn’t sleep?”
“Jealous much. Not that its your business, since we aren’t in a relationship, I was alone and just couldn’t sleep. I was really anxious and just kept tossing and turning.” I got in my bedroom and plopped right down on the bed.
“Alright Maddy, everything will be ok. You get some sleep and we’ll
