Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead

“Wait!” I shouted, just as I heard him take a breath in to form his response. “Don’t answer that. Jesus, what is wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you… I’m so confused right now, what are you talking about?” He answered, sounding both irritated and amused.
“There is something wrong with me Matt. I’m an asshole. I can’t believe I haven’t talked to you in so long and the first words out of my mouth are about Drew. Hell, I can’t believe I even care what the hell Drew is up too, since he couldn’t even be bothered enough to come tell me goodbye. But, I do. I came all this way to get away from him, and yet I’m still jumping at the first chance I have. This is ridiculous.”
“Ella… It’s a tough situation.”
“Oh Matt, it’s not. It’s really not. I mean sure, breaking up sucks, and it sucks to care about someone who doesn’t care about you back. But people do it all the time. People move on, people get over it. People deal with real life problems that are much bigger and much harder than being dumped.”
“Some people’s molehills are other people’s mountains Ella. Just because someone else is going through worse doesn’t mean that what you’re going through doesn’t suck too.”
“Why are you so nice to me Matt? It seriously makes me a little angry. I don’t deserve this. I was an asshole to you too, asking about Drew before I even asked about you. I just don’t get why people like me. And I know that’s what someone says when they’re fishing for compliments, but I swear I’m not doing that. I just… I look back and I see one train wreck after the other, and most of the guys have been around to see the previous train wreck, or even multiple train wrecks, and I don’t understand why they want to get involved with me after witnessing that.”
“Maybe they’re hoping it’ll be different for them.”
“But isn’t the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? I mean if over and over again things get messed up, why would anyone expect it to be different for them?”
“Because Ella.” He sighed, clearly frustrated with the tone of this conversation. “That’s how relationships are. They all end until you find the person you’re supposed to be with. So, yeah, you pretty much go into every one thinking that it might be different. It doesn’t always happen, but the one time it does is supposed to be worth it.”
“I don’t know Matt. Maybe I’m the crazy one – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
“What do you want, Ella? What is your end goal?”
“I don’t know anymore. I just want to be in a healthy relationship. And you know, it doesn’t even have to last forever, but one that doesn’t end in a complete crash and burn.”
“Not all of your relationships have ended in a crash and burn Ella. You’re still friendly with some of your exes.”
I laughed. “Oh? Who exactly am I friendly with? Let’s see – there’s Seth, who moved really far away and I don’t speak too anymore. There’s Jacob, who didn’t even have the balls to break up with me himself and who knows where the hell he is now. There’s Greg, which, I guess wasn’t a crash and burn relationship, because it didn’t even get off the ground. There’s Drew, who despite being my best friend for, oh, my whole life, couldn’t be bothered to even come say goodbye to me.”
“There’s Jason.”
“Jason and my relationship is so warped from what it used to be. And it’s only like this after a very extensive and expensive repair. I know I sound like I’m whining, but I’m not trying to say poor me. It’s not poor me. While some of them have not been my fault, a lot of them have been. I suck at moving on. I suck at relationships.”
“Ella…”
“No, Matt. I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say I just haven’t met the right person yet and when I did, it would click. And I know that’s how it’s supposed to happen, but I think even if I met the right person right now, it wouldn’t happen. I’m just messed up. I know you like me, and I like you too. But, I love you as a friend Matt. You need to know that right now, I just can’t take that risk. I just don’t feel confident enough in myself that it would work out. Even if you’re the one for me, I think I’d ruin it, and I don’t want to risk another friendship for a relationship I know is doomed.”
“Ella, you’re being ridiculous. You don’t know our relationship is doomed, you haven’t even tried yet. I think you go into every relationship with the expectation of doom and it’s no wonder it always ends up crashing and burning.”
“While I agree that that is an issue, it is one of several Matt. And since I think that way, I can’t begin yet another relationship when that is my mindset. You’re arguing with me and it’s a moot point. I came here to clear my mind and get away from everyone. And while I’m crazy homesick, I think the best thing to do is to cut off contact with people from home. I just can’t hear stuff about Drew and not ask what’s going on, but you know… It’s over. It doesn’t matter what he’s doing or if he and his girlfriend broke up. He doesn’t want me. I’ve got to move on.”
“And how is not talking to anyone from home going to help that? I’m not Drew. Why should you cut off contact with me?” Matt sounded confused, and also a little pissed off.
“I’m not saying you’re Drew, or you’re like Drew. But, I know you have feelings for me Matt. And as I told you earlier, I do have feelings for you too – they just aren’t strong enough for me to want to get involved right now. I want to be able to give you a chance, but I also want to give you the best possible chance I can and getting involved with you right now won’t give you that. I need to get over Drew, I need to be on my own for a little bit, I need to figure things out. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, you have been amazing and I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. But right now, I need it to be just me.”
“I don’t think you need to be that drastic El.” He said, the anger gone from his voice.
“I think I do, Matt. I think I’ve never given myself a chance to mourn any of my lost relationships, so I’m carrying around all this extra grief and baggage from them. It seems like every ex-boyfriend I have had has butted into my current relationship, and maybe it’s just time I take some time to work through the issues I have with them so they’re gone for good.”
“What happens if I find someone new, Ella?”
“Then I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
“You won’t be sad? You won’t regret it.”
I sighed. “Yes, Matt. I’ll be sad. But I won’t regret it. I’ve said it already, I’d rather go into a new relationship with you knowing I could give it the best shot possible.” I paused for a moment. “Look, I’m going to say something really mean right now, but it’s the truth, and I think it’ll put things into perspective for you: if I started dating you today, and Drew showed up tomorrow asking for another chance, I’d give it to him. And that’s why I can’t start a relationship with you right now Matt. It’s not fair to you. Again, you deserve better than that. You deserve better than me.”
He didn’t say anything, and I was afraid I hurt his feelings.
“I’m sorry Matt.”
“I know Ella. I know you’re just trying to be honest and I appreciate that, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
“I’m sorry.” I repeated. “I hate to end things like this, but I have to go get ready. Please, just give me some space. If you need me, I’ll be there, but if you don’t…”
“I’ll let you call me when you’re ready.”
“Thanks Matt.”
“Bye Ella.”
“Bye.”

Just a heads up, next week I have a buuuuunch of finals (well, all of them, lol) so Monday's post will probably not happen on Monday (I would write it ahead of time, but I've been a major slacker this wee and have pretty much done zero homework). I'm hoping this is the last time it happens, because I have two weeks off and plan on using them to get ahead before the next quarter starts.

When the hell does you'll get over it begin

(sorry guys, I'm sick, again, but I got it done only 2 hours after Monday ended! And if there's any typos I blame the nyquil, lol)


The next few days were a blur of meetings, orientations, team building exercises, and hikes. I felt bad because at the end of the night, I was so tired I would come back and just crash, but at least I didn’t have time to feel homesick. Cumulus was having the time of his life romping around in the woods, and I knew when I took him home, he’d miss the space. However, we were given the last two days before the kids were due back as time off – we were encouraged to get to know each other better, and a group had asked me to go out to dinner and a local bar with them. I agreed, but I knew I needed to make some catch up phone calls first.

I called my Mom first, and we had a strained conversation. She never really loved me working with at risk kids – said it was dangerous – but me going away to work with at risk kids really rubbed her the wrong way. It’s not like Mom and I were super close anyway. I think honestly we were just took similar to do so. I also wished at some point she’d stop Mothering me. I know it sounds weird, because she’s a Mom and that’s what she’s supposed to do, but I think at a certain age a Mom should step down and become more of a friend or at least realize that she has no control over what you do anymore. I also got to talk to my Dad, and it made my heart ache when I realized just how much I missed him.

Next on the list was actually Jason. I probably should have called Matt first, as he was the one who had been trying to get ahold of me, but curiosity won when I saw that I had a missed call from Jay the night before. He and I hadn’t spoken in a while, and I was curious to see what he wanted.

“Hey you.” He answered. “Didn’t think I’d hear back from you. Word on the street is that you fell off the face of the planet.”
“Ha, who’d you hear that from?”
“Drewbie.”
I choked on the soda I had just taken a sip of.
“You OK over there?”
“Yeah…” I answered, catching my breath. “How would Drew know what I was up too?”
“…You guys still aren’t talking?”
“Not really. No.”
“Huh. He didn’t mention that. I just called him last night and mentioned trying to call you. He said nobody’s been really able to get ahold of you.”
“I’ve been working a lot. You know how it is.”

I wanted so badly to press Jason for more info: what did he say about me? Who had Drew talked too about me? But, I refrained. I was supposed to be here getting a break from everyone, and I highly doubt Jason knew anything anyway, especially since he hadn’t realized Drew and I weren’t talking.

“Oh yeah. How is that new job?”
“Don’t really know yet. We’ve just been doing all the getting to know you stuff. Which, I’m not a fan of. It always comes off so cheesy to me. And I don’t like talking about myself. I’m also a lot more home sick than I thought I would be.”
“Well, you’re an Ohio girl at heart.”
“I know.” I paused for a moment. “So… What’s up?”
“I can’t just call you to say hi?” Jason asked, pretending to sound offended.
“Well. You haven’t, in I don’t know how long. So. No?”
“OK, you’re right. I do have a reason for this phone call, BUT I should call you more often just to say hi.”
“What’s the reason?”
“I met someone. And, I know you don’t have to know, or approve or anything, but… I’m just trying to do things right this time. Taking things slow, and being as honest as I can be. So, I thought you deserved a heads up. I just met her, so I’m not talking marriage or anything yet, but I do really like her.”
I paused for a moment, to register how I felt. I was a little sad, but I think that’s to be expected. I think Jason and I had had something at one point, and it’s always sad when things ended, but I think I knew deep down that things were way too complicated to ever work out between us.
“You still there?”
“I am. Just thinking about things.”
“What kind of things?” He asked.
“You and me. We had a run, didn’t we?”
“We did. To be honest, I wanted to tell you so that if you wanted to give it one last shot, we could. Before things got serious. I don’t want you to have any regrets later on down the road, and I don’t want to think that I didn’t try either.”
“We can’t, Jas. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t want too, but there’s too much to get over. And, I don’t think our friendship could take it. I don’t want to lose you.”
“I figured you’d say that. I just had to give it a shot.”
We were quiet for a moment, neither of us sure what to say.
“Why aren’t you and Drew talking?”
“He has a girlfriend, who asked him to distance himself from me. It really hurt. I kind of get it now that I’ve had some distance from the situation. Drew was after me for so long and his and my history is almost as complicated as mine and yours, and I get she didn’t want it to interfere, but…” I shrugged, even though I knew Jason couldn’t see me. “It really hurts that he picked someone else over me. And what happens if they like, get married or something? Am I out of his life for good? I dunno. It’s just a mess.”
“Well… I’m not sure if I should tell you this…”
“Tell me what? You can’t say that and not tell me.”
“I think she’s moving out.”
“They just moved back in together.”
“I know. But when I called, Drew said he needed to go get boxes for his move back to Toni’s. I don’t know why he’d move back in with Toni if he was staying at a place with her.”
“I feel so out of the loop.” I said. And I did. But really, I don’t know if I minded. I wasn’t sure what to do with this new information, and I didn’t like the way it was making me feel.
“You’ll be home soon enough.”
“I know. Speaking of which, I hate to cut this short babe, but I do have some other calls to make. We’ve been so busy these last couple of days and I haven’t been able to talk to anyone. I finally have some down time and I have to squeeze everyone in.”
“Well, thanks for making time for me. I’m back home for a couple days actually. I might drive in tomorrow and visit Drew.”
“I’ll always have time for you Jay. I wish I could be there.”
“I know, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Hey Jay?”
“Yeah?”
“I am glad you found someone. I hope it works out.”
“Me too El.”
“Bye Jason.”

I didn’t have much time left before I had to start getting ready to go out with the group, and I couldn’t ignore Matt again, so instead of sitting and processing all that information, I called him as soon as I hung up with Jason.

My phone was hot against my face, and even though I hadn’t planned on anything, I blurted out when he picked up “what’s going on with Drew and his girlfriend.”
“Well, hello to you too. I’m doing fine, thanks for asking, I’m glad you’re not dead as I presumed.”
“Sorry Matt, how are you? I’ve been super busy. Now what’s going on with Drew and his girlfriend?”

Just a question

If you haven't checked in in awhile, there is a new post below, but I had a question, because I know we have a lot of Mom's or Aunts or people who are involved with kids who read.

Cayden's birthday is coming up (in a month and two days - crazy!) and I wondered if anyone has any suggestions on what to get him? I've picked up a few little things, and have a few other things in mind, but those aren't really toys (he has TONS of toys, and I know will only be getting more from his Aunt, Uncle, grandparents, friends, ect. so I'm buying him clothes. Sounds boring, but it's stuff I wouldn't buy normally because it's more expensive then I'd spend, so kind of splurging on 'special' stuff.) Anyway, I do want to get him maybe one or two (littler) toys, and I'm stumped.

He likes cars still, but is mainly moving into super hero stuff. Batman is his favorite. He also is starting to get into video games, but I'm finding it hard to find ones he can do. He also likes blocks (like the mega blocks)

I like things that come with a case, ha ha, for easy clean up and storage.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone had seen anything cool as of lately?

So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste any more of mine

(Note: A couple people point out that I forgot all about Cumulus in the last entry. They were correct, and so I went back and edited it so he was in it. Sorry guys, my memory is not the greatest and since I don't have an editor and don't proofread, sometimes I miss stuff and mess stuff up! So, if you read it before the edit, Cue didn't pop out of thing air, I did fix it!)

I wanted to call someone from home, but I was sure if it would help me feel more or less home sick. This is what I wanted, though. To be away from everyone, to stand on my own two feet, to figure things out for myself and by myself. I just hadn’t realized that it would be this hard.

I also didn’t want anyone from home to know how hard it was for me. Hadn’t I whined about being a big girl and being able to do it on my own? So I should suck it up and do it on my own. I just needed to get settled – being settled would help settle me down. But Cumulus whined at the door, and I knew before anything else, I needed to give him a better walk.

The kids hadn’t arrived yet – a session was as long as they needed it to be (and the director had told me some of those sessions had lasted a year or longer.) But the kids did get what they called “vacations” – some of the kids earned the right to go home for vacations, and other kids who were still on the lower rungs went to a different facility, and their families came out to do family counseling. At the end of vacations, caseworkers went out to the homes to meet with the kids who went home, and sometimes they were allowed to stay there. I was coming in after one of these. The caseworker’s had mad their decisions about who was staying home and who was coming back, and tonight at the meeting I predicted I would get my list of girls.

The “camp” I guess we’ll call it, for lack of better terms, was relatively small. I wasn’t sure how many adults we had on staff, but I knew I’d have no more than eight girls in my group – and I was told that eight was pushing it, and if they needed a cabin that sized, was usually given to a more experienced staff member. I’d be in charge of this “core unit” (they used to call it a “family unit” until the kids started calling it their “F.U”) We’d take meals together, and do “core activities” together. However, the girls would each have classes and therapy, and when they were doing that, I’d be doing one on one therapy with a few other kids. All in all, from my packet of information, they wanted our core kids to get close to us, BUT, they also wanted them to get used to trusting other adults, which is why they mixed up staff members a little. Keeping it close knit meant any problems that arose could easily be discussed and understood between staff.

All in all, I loved the idea of the place. But the actual reality was a cold room with a naked full-sized bed and empty white walls.

“It’ll get better.” I mumbled to myself. “Once the girls are here and you’ve made friends and you’re settled.”

With that pep talk, I pushed myself off the bed and leashed up Cue to take him for his walk.
After a nice long walk, where Cumulus relieved himself on every tree he came into contact with, I headed back to my cabin with the hopes of decorating it a little to make it feel more like home. Instead, I ended up making my bed, and falling asleep with Cumulus snuggled up beside me.

I awoke to a loud knock on the door, and I jumped.

“Damnit!” I mumbled to myself, feeling groggy all over again. I stumbled out of bed and in the direction I remember the door being.
It was the guy, again.
“Ready?” He asked, turning before I could answer.
“Sure… But hey. What’s your name?”
“Santana.”
And with that, he was off again, again so quickly I had to run to catch up.

Santana took the last seat in a row, so I couldn’t sit with him. I had planned on it, since I knew nobody else. However, a warm face waved me over and patted the seat next to hers. She was short, with spiky brown hair, and clunky jewelry.

“You must be new recruit. I see they sent out the welcoming committee for you.”
“Uh, what?” I asked, confused.
“Tana. They sent him to pick you up, I’m assuming? You look lost, and that’s usually how Tana leaves ‘em. Oh,” she said, smacking her forehead. “Where are my manners? My name’s Micah. Have a seat.”
“OK. I’m Ella. And I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t really have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“I’m sorry.” She said, laughing. “Sometimes people say I talk cryptically. I don’t mean too, I guess I just assume everyone is always on the same wavelength as me. Let’s start over. Santana greeted you at the airport, correct? Or maybe greeted is too warm a word.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s like that with all the noobs. Totally cold, totally stand off-ish. I don’t know why they send him to pick people up. I remember not that long ago they sent him, and some girl almost left the day she got here. He made her cry.”
“Oh, well, he wasn’t mean to me…”
“He wasn’t mean to her either. And really, he’s not a mean guy at all, he’s just very closed. The girl thought she had done something to offend him and was just hurt. Which, honestly she was way too sensitive to be here anyway. Anyway, so I don’t sound like a total gossip, Tana is a really good guy, once you get to know him. He’s just very closed off. You looked so lost standing there, I didn’t want you to think we were all like that. New places can be confusing.”
“Well, no offense to Santana, but if he’s like that with all noobs, how do the kids take him?”
“He’s not like that with the kids at all. He’s one of the best and actually takes on the harder cases most of the time. It’s just the adults.”
“Oh…”

I wanted to ask more questions, but before I could, the meeting was called to order. Still, I couldn’t shake Santana from my mind, and I kept peeking at him out of the corner of my eye. I guess most girls would consider him good looking. I usually went for the clean cut all American boys, but I could appreciate the beauty in his features. His skin was a caramel color, his eyes a deep brown. His jaw was chiseled and a tad on the scruffy side, while the hair on his head was buzzed and barely there at all. He was tall, and broad shoulder, but as I noticed earlier, quick on his feet.

I didn’t like him. While Micah had called him closed off, I thought him to be more rude. The fact that he was only this way with strangers ticked me off even more – it was almost as if he thought I had something to prove to him. I wasn’t there to earn anyone’s trust except for the children, so he could go fuck himself. I sat there, fuming more and more, wondering if there was any way I could nicely request that someone else be in charge of showing me around, when Micah nudged me.

“What?” I asked, breaking out of my thoughts.
“They asked you to introduce yourself.” She mumbled, eyeing the room.

I felt my cheeks turn red at the fact I had been caught not paying attention. I stood slowly, facing the opposite way of Santana.

“Hi, I’m Ella. I’ll be an intern here for the next six months. I came from a program that worked with inner city kids. I loved it there, and I miss my kids right now, but the time came to grow and move on to better things. I’m eager to meet you guys and the new kids and see what all you have to teach me.”

I then sat down, and I couldn’t help but glance in Santana’s direction. That fucker hadn’t even stuck around from my introduction.

I wanted to fume, but instead made myself focus on the rest of the meeting – which was short. We were dismissed to go pick up our information packets and head off for small group meetings.

new post tomorrow hopefully

hey guys, excuse the typos, im mobile. I will hopefully be able to post tomorrow. its done, but my internet is down for some reason. we are having a storm, but I still have cable and electric so idk whats going on with the net. if its still down in the am, ill call and see whats going on and when they expect it to be restored. sorry!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Gee, but it's lonely being alone...

(Obviously my brain is fried, because as several of you mentioned, I forgot about Cumulus. I did edit it to add him in. I'll post this note at the top of the page on the next posting so if you read this before the edit, you can come back and see where I added him in. Thanks for letting me know!)

I ended up falling asleep on the plane, and when we touched down, I woke up discombobulated. I stretched, feeling stiff, and shuffled off the plane. I regretted sleeping, now I was seriously tired and grumpy. The nap had done nothing to improve my mood or up my energy, and I also realized I had no idea where I was going, who I was looking for, no idea where to go. This is when I needed to be sharp, and instead I just felt fuzzy and muffled.
Stepping off the plane, I turned on my phone and waited to see if I had any messages. We had gone over so much about the job, I just didn’t even think to ask about who would be picking me up, or where to go. I had a missed call and a couple of missed text messages. Even though I was checking to see if the director messaged me, I was really hoping one of them would be from Drew. I still couldn’t believe he didn’t even bother to say goodbye.

No messages from him. Of course not. I had one from my mother and Matt, both requesting I check in so they knew I arrived safely, and one from an unknown number, telling me they’d meet me at baggage claim. I assumed that was my ride.

I tried to shake off the mood I was in. I didn’t want to give a funky first impression to someone, so I plastered on a smile as I made my way to the baggage claim. Arriving, I looked around and spotted no one that seemed like they were looking for me. I contemplated texting the person back, asking for a physical description or something, but figured that maybe they were just running late – my plane had actually arrived on time, so maybe they were banking on me being late. I grabbed my bags and lugged them to the wall, out of everyone else’s way, and proceeded to text Matt and my Mom and let them know that I was OK. Matt called about thirty seconds after I hit send.

“Miss me already?” I asked.
“Just wanted to see how your flight was. And yes, work is a little boring without you.”
“It was pretty uneventful. I fell asleep.”
“You OK? You sound weird.” He asked. I heard his chair squeak and I pictured him, back at the agency. It made my stomach clench.
“Can I be homesick already? I’ve only been here for like, five seconds.”
“Home is sick for you too.” He said, his voice going soft.
“Well. I better go. I need to look for whoever is supposed to be picking me up.”
“I miss you.”
“Matt…” I said, sighing. I didn’t want to go there.
“What?”
“Nothing. Nevermind. Miss you too.”
“Call me later?”
“We’ll see. Bye.”

I hung up the phone and glanced around. There was a man scanning the area, obviously looking for someone. I felt weird, approaching someone I didn’t know, but I didn’t really know what else to do. When I caught him looking in my direction, I offered a half wave.

“Ella?” The man asked, his voice deep.
“Yeah… Are you my ride?” I asked, smiling.
“Yes. Do you need help with your bags?”
“Um, if you don’t mind? That’d be great.”
He walked over to my bags and grabbed the biggest one, leaving me with the three smaller ones. I slung one over my shoulder and picked up the other two, following behind him. He walked briskly, and I had trouble keeping up. I wanted to ask him to slow down, but I didn’t want to seem like I was whining, or like I couldn’t keep up. Our job was an awful lot of hiking, and the buildings looked like they were a good distance from each other. I didn’t know if he was a boss or simply a co-worker, but I didn’t want to appear lazy.

We were almost on our way out when I remembered Cumulus. How I could possibly forget my dog, I have no idea.
"Um, I forgot, I have my dog... I just need to go pick up his crate."
"I'll wait here." He said.
I wasn't sure I could handle his crate and my bags, so I left them by his feet and hoped he'd keep an eye on them.

I got Cumulus, and thankfully was given a cart to wheel him on. When I got back to the guy, whose name I realized I didn't even know, I set my bags on the cart and wheeled him out. We finally reached his truck, and he threw my bags in the back.
"You care if I walk him for a sec? It's been a long flight." I asked.
He shrugged in response. I let Cue out of his crate and took him for a short walk, letting him do his business. When I arrived back at the car, the guy had loaded the crate into the back.
"Go ahead and put him in the cab with us." He said "I don't have anything to secure the crate with, and you don't need him to jump or fall out."

All three of us squished into the tiny cab and settled into uneasy silence - which I couldn't handle.

“So. How long have you been working for the program?” I asked.
“Awhile.” He answered, then after an awkward beat of quiet “I think this is my sixth year.”
His tone in his voice was clear that he didn’t want to converse, but after a few minutes of silence, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“It sure is really pretty here. Did you grow up nearby?”
“Nope. Grew up in Cali.”
“How’d you get here?” I asked, and then worried after the fact that it could be considered nosy.
Again, he was quiet for a long while, and I began to fidget.
“I was in the program, actually. When I graduated, I just sort of stayed on. Left a bit for college, but came right back.”
“Oh….”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say. We spent the rest of the trip in silence, and walked to my cabin in silence.

“This is your cabin. The girls will stay upstairs and you get the room downstairs. Unfortunately, there’s little privacy, as your room has the only exit, but it’s to prevent the girls from sneaking out at night. You can unpack and get settled in, there’s a staff meeting in a couple hours. I’ll come back and get you before.”
I nodded and tried not to cry. The walls were blank, the bed was hard, and all I could think was this was clearly not home.