Chapter 7 - Meeting People

Cailen made it to the first day of school, to his utter surprise.

This family hadn't returned him yet but he still had his doubts. It was only the fourth day and they hadn't sent him to school yet.

School and Cailen didn't mix well. He got bored easily and tended to entertain himself much to the teacher's dismay. Surely Eden would be called down to the school in no time and that would be the end of this.

He hoped he could pay attention and not get bored though. He liked this family. They treated him nicely but he figures that's only because they don't know the real Cailen yet.

Cailen was nervous when Eden dropped them off at school.

He always got nervous when he started a new school because everyone would look at you, everyone wanted to know your story, who you are, where you’re from, why you moved, but Cailen didn't like his story.

He hated telling people he was an orphan. They either gave him that sympathetic look that he hated or they avoided him like some kind of disease.

Either way, he never made many friends.

"Come on, Cailen. I'll show you to your class since it's closer to mine," Stella said.

William waved good bye to the both of them and went off in the other direction. He didn't want William to leave. He liked Stella but he didn't have the same connection with her as William.

William just seemed to make him feel more comfortable, like it was okay to be who he is, even if William didn't know what that was.

As promised, Stella showed him to his classroom. She even introduced Cailen to the teacher, Ms. Tinsley. Apparently, Stella had her last year. She had been Ms. Tinsley's favorite student.

Ms. Tinsley was an older lady with blonde hair wrapped in a bun. She wore a black pencil skirt and a white blouse and looked very much like a teacher. She was kind. She welcomed Cailen to the class, introduced him and found him a seat near the front then went on to begin class.

He did his best to pay attention and when he couldn't, he tried to be as quiet and non-distracting as possible.

He mostly doodled in his binder, on a piece of paper because this binder wasn't really his to draw on. While he was drawing, he could feel the sets of eyes on him from around the room.

Every so often, he'd hear whispers but he could never make out what they were saying. Cailen was used to this though, so he easily ignored them and before he knew it, it was lunch time.

He had to ask for directions to the cafeteria and soon enough, found himself standing at the entrance to a big room filled with many students.

His plan was to look for an empty table and sit there because he figured William and Stella wanted to spend time with their friends. But there wasn't many completely empty tables.

There was one with two other kids at it, younger than him so he figured they wouldn't say much if he just sat at the end of their table.

It was when he started to walk over to it that he spotted Stella sitting at a table with a bunch of other girls, giggling and talking among themselves.

When he saw her talking with her friends, that only confirmed his feeling of not wanting to interrupt them.

"Cailen!"

He heard his name being called and spun around to see William sitting at a table with two other boys. William was waving him over, trying to get him to come sit with him.

As if he would say ‘no’.

"Hi, William," Cailen smiled when he approached them, giving his two friends a wary glance.

"Cailen, sit with us! Guys, this is my big brother, Cailen!" William said looking to his friends.

Cailen couldn't help but smile at his words, trying his best to ignore the immediate reminder that he most likely wouldn't be his big brother for long.

He knew it wasn't a good idea to squelch that reminder because it'll only hurt more when he's tossed back to the orphanage.

"Cailen, these are my friends, Matthew and Asher," William introduced gesturing to the boys.

Matthew was a slightly chubby looking boy, with dark hair that really just laid flat on his head. He had light brown eyes behind thick framed glasses. 

Cailen thought he looked a bit awkward but you could tell that once he hit puberty and filled out a bit, every girl in the school would be all over him.

Asher had lighter brown hair with darker brown eyes that crinkled when he smiled politely at Cailen. He was a small boy, short and thin but Cailen thought he looked adorable, like a puppy.

"Hey, Cailen," Matthew greeted him first, sliding over to allow a room for him to sit.

"Hi, Cailen," Asher followed and Cailen took his seat beside Matthew.

"Hi," Cailen replied quietly. He dug into his backpack and pulled out the sandwich and juice box Eden had packed him for lunch, setting them on the table.

"William, I didn't know you had a brother. I thought Stella was your only sibling," Matthew inquired.

"Mom adopted him," William answered.

Matthew and Asher shared a surprised look then looked to Cailen for confirmation.

"Well, William, she hasn't adopted me yet," Cailen said because he was quite certain that William has in fact taken a shine to him. 

As happy as that made him, he didn't want William to get his hopes up either and have them squashed when Eden and Dean sent him home or he found out what he is really like.

"She's going to though," William countered. "And then you'll be my brother and Stella's brother and mom and Dean's son," he explained.

Cailen really liked the sound of that but, he knew it wouldn't happen like that.

*****

The second day didn't go over so smoothly.

It seemed like it was going to be an ordinary day, other students whispering behind Cailen's back but that was nothing new. He had lunch with William and his two friends, and for the most part paid attention in class.

It wasn't until after the final school bell had rung and Cailen desperately needed to use the washroom that the trouble started.

He was just washing his hands, trying to be as fast as he could be because he didn't want to make Eden wait any longer and possibly get left behind. He wasn't familiar with this neighborhood yet and was sure he wouldn't be able to find his way back to Eden's house.

So he scrubbed his hands with soap, rinsed them and grabbed some paper towel just as he heard the bathroom door opening. Cailen was still uncomfortable and shy with most students here so he ducked his head and willed himself to be invisible.

He heard multiple footsteps shuffling inside, voices talking and laughing until everything went quiet, shoes making a squeaking sound as if someone stopped abruptly.

He couldn't take the silence anymore so he risked a glance up and saw three older boys standing in the middle of the room, all looking at him.

Cailen tried a smile. He tried to be friendly but it didn't appear to be working.

The three boys consisted of a taller a boy with blonde hair that lay flat on his head, he had dull green eyes and wore baggy black clothes. This boy stood in between two others.

The one on the left was short and chubby with enough acne on his face to last him a life time. He too had blonde hair, though you could tell it wasn't natural, you could tell his natural hair color was the same color as his eyes, brown.

The one on the right had dyed blonde hair as well with green eyes and a cast on his right arm. All three boys wore black and baggy clothes as if they were trying to match each other.

The boy in the middle eyed Cailen while the other two shared a interested glance with each other.

Cailen was beginning to feel very uncomfortable so he tossed the paper towel in the trash bin and went to pick up his bag, but then the boy in the middle spoke.

"Cailen, right?" he asked.

Cailen nodded slowly. The orphanage told him that was his name, whether it really was or not, he had no way of knowing.

"What’s your surname?" the boy asked, obviously poking fun now.

Only it wasn't fun.

"He's an orphan, Billy. He doesn’t have one," the boy on the right said.

Cailen felt it was time to leave. He threw his bag over his shoulder and made for the door but was stopped by the chubby one.

"Where are you going, orphan?" he asked, pushing Cailen back slightly.

Cailen shuffled backwards, trying to find his footing without taking a tumble to the floor.

"Eden is waiting for me," Cailen mumbled quietly, looking to the ground.

"Eden? That's that William kid's mom, right?" the boy in the middle said, the other kids had called him Billy.

The two other boys nodded.

"Why is she waiting for you? She's not your mother. You don't have a mother," Billy said.

Cailen ducked his head further. He knew that. He didn't need to be reminded of that fact, thank you very much.

"Who would want to be your mom? Even you're actual mom didn't want to, why else would she have given you to an orphanage?"

Cailen was fighting tears by now. They were burning his eyes and making the tiling of the floor go all blurry.

"He's probably-" one of the other two started, which one Cailen didn't know because he refused to look up and show his tears.

"Cailen?" came a voice from the door as it opened.