The Coulsons
Skye hated Saint Agnes. She hated the people, the chores, the chapel, the building itself. There wasn’t a single thing about it that she liked. She was always getting yelled at and blamed for things that weren’t her fault. It wasn’t fair.
But life wasn’t fair, as she had learned. Even at the young age of eight, Skye knew how cruel people could be. Her own parents didn’t want her, as the other children constantly reminded her, and no one else seemed to either. Family after family sent her back to the crappy and dreary building, for everything from failing her math test to eating food out of the fridge without asking. No matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to do any of it right. She had come to accept that no one wanted her, and that’s just how it was.
She got into another fight during what the orphanage passed as school. A girl was mocking her for not being able to read her section of the Old Testament, and Skye had had enough.
“Stupid Skye,” she taunted. “Can’t even read like the toddlers.”
Skye felt her face heating up and turned around in her seat. “No one’s lining up to take you home either.”
“Skye!” The instructor called. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Eyes forward. We’ve been over this. Out, now.”
Skye sighed heavily and had to use all her self restraint to not roll her eyes as she made her way out into the hallway. Some days, the instructor decided a simple whack with the yardstick was enough. Apparently, today was not one of those days.
“Nose against the wall until I say otherwise,” the man told her, before slamming the door to the classroom shut behind him. Skye sighed as she pressed her nose against the old brick of the building. At least she didn’t have to read any more today.
She hated standing still, though. The first few times, she had tried to get creative. All he had said was her nose had to stay on the wall. So she rolled back and forth on her feet, played games counting her fingers, and traced the patterns on the brick. But then someone had walked by and told her instructor she was fidgeting and she had gotten in even more trouble.
Some crappy kids even told her instructor they saw her away from the wall. Then she had to deal with beatings and chores later on. She really hated those kids.
But it was better than what some families did. They all had their own ideas of how to force her to listen to them and follow their rules, none of which worked. More often than not, Skye didn’t even understand why she was being punished, or what actions caused it. She wondered if their goal was to make her scared of them, or if it really was to teach her a lesson.
It didn’t work anyway. She wasn’t scared of anyone.
“Mary Sue,” Sister Margaret said, walking by. Skye closed her eyes and held in a sigh. “In trouble again, I see.”
“Hello Sister Margaret,” Skye said drily without moving at all.
“Well, today’s your lucky day,” she said. Skye’s eyebrows furrowed. Her interest was piqued. “There’s a couple here who wants to meet you.”
Skye waited a few seconds. She didn’t know if this was a trick to get her away from the wall or not.
“Sister?” That was a voice Skye hadn’t heard before. A woman’s voice, that was calm and soft.
Sister Margaret whirled around in annoyance. “I thought you two would remain in the office while I retrieved Mary Sue.”
“Skye,” she said, ever the fighter, even with her face in the brick.
“Well, we thought we’d take a little stroll around, see what the conditions are like here,” a man said. Then, “are you Skye?”
Skye could only assume he was talking to her. “Yeah.”
“Sister, why is she standing like that? It looks very uncomfortable. You can come away from the wall, Skye.” The woman’s voice again.
Skye didn’t hesitate to move away from the all too familiar wall. Sister Margaret let out a sigh of disdain. “She’s to stay with her nose against the wall in punishment for acting out in class,” she said. “What did you do this time, Skye?”
Skye opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t get the chance. Sister Margaret just shook her head and waved her hand. “You know what? I don’t even want to know. Skye, these are the Coulsons. They’re interested by your file.”
Skye finally took a look at them. There was a slight and short Asian woman with sleep and neat black hair. Beside her stood a slightly taller white man with soft brown hair and what Skye could only describe as kind eyes. They both offered her small smiles. Skye tried to return it.
“We’ve heard a lot about you,” the woman said softly.
Skye’s smile dimmed. “Oh. But you came anyway?”
The couple looked at each other in confusion. “Well, yeah,” the man said. “You sound like a bit of a firecracker in need of some love and stability.” His smile widened and he winked. “We can handle a little spunk.”
Skye relaxed and a real smile spread on her face. The couple seemed nice enough. The man seemed funny, too.
“Well, let’s get this underway. Other children have interviews today,” Sister Margaret said. “Why don’t we all go back to my office?”
Skye sat quietly and looked over her new foster parents as Sister Margaret went about her usual routine of trying to convince them not to take her.
“She’s a handful. Are you sure you read the entire file? It’s quite lengthy.”
“Yes, we’re sure,” the woman said patiently, like she was speaking to a child. Skye tried (poorly) to hide a snort of laughter. The woman caught her eye and gave her a wink.
“She does very poorly in school. We don’t even think she’ll pass.”
“We did read that, yes.”
“And she has a history of fights with other children and acting in anger.”
“Yup.”
“Stealing, too. From those who are kind enough to take her in. And-“
“Sister Margaret,” the woman cut her off. Skye wanted to laugh at the look on Sister Margaret’s face. Skye wasn’t sure anyone had ever been brave enough to cut her off before. “Sharon Carter, Skye’s social worker, has filled us in quite a bit. Plus, we have read the entire file. I think we have enough information. The only thing we haven’t gotten to do that we’d like to is talk to Skye.”
Sister Margaret just stared at her like she had grown a second head. After a moment of silence, she stood up. “Fine. I’ll be back in five minutes. Then, you two can make your final decision.” Then she was gone in a huff.
There was a quiet that followed, where no one really knew what to say. Skye turned to them and they turned to her. She gave them a half smile.
“Hi.”
The couple chuckled. “Hi,” the man said. “Sorry we didn’t get to introduce ourselves earlier. You can call me Phil if you want.”
“And my last name is actually May,” said the woman. “That’s what most people call me. I never changed it after we got married.”
“Okay,” Skye said, nodding slowly. “Everyone here calls me Mary Sue, because that’s the name they gave me when I was dropped off here, but it’s terrible and I hate it.”
The couple laughed again. “So Skye, where did that come from?” May asked curiously.
Skye shrugged. “I dunno. I just like it.”
“Well there’s nothing wrong with that,” Phil said. “I don’t think Sister Margaret was really giving the right impression a few minutes ago. The only question we actually wanted to ask you was if you wanted to come live with us.”
Skye’s eyebrows went up. “Do I want to? I don’t have a say, do I?”
“You should always have a say in what happens to you,” May said. “If you don’t want to come with us, you don’t have to, but we thought you might like to try it out.”
Skye was quiet for a minute, before snapping out of her trance. “Yes please. That would be awesome. Anywhere’s better than here.”
Phil laughed. “That’s some high praise. We’ll do our best to live up to awesome.”
They chatted about nothing until Sister Margaret came back in. Skye found that she really liked the couple. They seemed like very kind people who weren’t just in fostering for the government check. They seemed different than any other family she had ever stayed with.
“So what’s your final decision?” Sister Margaret asked. “Nothing’s been done that can’t be undone.”
“Nothing to undo,” May said simply. “We’d like to take Skye home with us.”
Sister Margaret blinked. “Really?”
“Yes,” May said, eyes glaring through her skull. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Sister Margaret shook her head a little. “Okay, whatever.”
The paperwork was long and boring, so they sent Skye upstairs to pack. She didn’t have much anyway. She shoved her tattered hand-me-downs into the Saint Agnes backpack that was under her bed, along with the few special items she had managed to keep hold of from people that had truly liked her.
She was done within twenty minutes and happily hopping down the stairs, where it looked like the paperwork process was wrapping up.
The couple smiled at her as she came down. “All ready to go?” Phil asked. “Anyone you wanna say goodbye to?”
“Nope,” Skye said with a grin.
Phil and May looked at each other, amused. “Alright then,” Phil said. “Let’s get going then.”
Skye didn’t look back as she led the way out the front door. She was excited to be leaving, even if it was only for a little while.
“So,” Phil said as he started the engine. “Do you want to stop and get lunch or just go straight home?”
Skye debated for a few seconds. “Lunch, if that’s okay. I’m hungry.”
“Sure,” Phil said. “We’ll go through the drive through. Mel, do you wanna text Trip and ask what he wants?”
“Who’s Trip?” Skye asked.
“Our son,” May said, turning in her seat. “He started in the foster system, too. It’s his story to tell, and I don’t want to share it without his permission.” Skye nodded. She got that.
“Trip is 11,” Phil told her. “He’s a funny guy-“
“And he knows it,” May interrupted with a smirk.
Phil laughed. “Yeah, he does. He’s really nice and excited to have a sister.”
“Are we gonna have to share a room?”
“Nope, you have your own room.”
“Cool, cool,” Skye said, nodding. “Is your house big? Do you guys have a pool? I’ve never stayed at a house with a pool but once I knew a girl who had one.”
“We don’t have a pool,” Phil said patiently. “And our house is fairly big, I guess. Mel and I have worked very hard to make sure we can live comfortably, and so can anyone else who joins our family.”
“What do you guys do? Do we pray before dinner? What’s the school like? Is Miss Carter gonna come visit? Are we vegans or anything like that? Do you guys have a tv? Is there-“
“Skye,” Phil said, meeting her eye in the rear view mirror. There was a twinkle in his eyes. “Slow down a little, kiddo. We’re happy to answer all your questions, just, maybe one at a time?”
“Sorry,” Skye said. She deflated a little. She said it again. “Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” May told her with a soft chuckle. “We’re excited to meet you too, kiddo. But I don’t think we’re as good at rapid fire questions as we used to be. We’re too slow for that. Go slow for us elders, yeah?”
Skye furrowed her eyebrows. “But you’re not old.”
Phil laughed. “Thanks for that kiddo.”
Skye was going to fit in just fine.