Disaster Upon Disaster

The next morning, I got up a little late. A knock on the door woke me up.

"Gabriella," Mrs Young's voice drifted through the door. "You're going to be late for school. Wake up please."

I sighed and sat up. I rubbed my face and rolled out of bed. I pulled on a pair of black leggings, then slid on a pair of ripped skinny jeans. I slipped on a thin, long sleeved black shirt, then pulled a grey and black sweater over that. As I looked in the mirror, I tugged on the hem of my sweater until it covered my butt.

Why do you care, the voice in my head asked. It's not like anyone will look at your ugly body. You're invisible and even if people did hang out with you, they'd all end up hurt. Just give up.

I sighed and grabbed my bag from the chair at my desk. I went downstairs and got a huge sigh from Mrs Young.

"Thank god, there you are!" She thrust a banana into my hands. "Hurry and grab your coat. You might still be able to catch the bus!"

I got my coat on and left the house. As I stepped outside, I saw the bus pulling away from the bus stop on the corner. I sighed. I wasn't going to go back inside and ask Mrs Young for a ride. I didn't want her to yell at me all the way to school.

As I was stepping off the porch, I saw a boy around my age leaving the house across the street. He had a dark green jacket, with baggy blue jeans. A black beanie was shoved over shaggy blonde hair. Grey headphones were securely set over his beanie. A black backpack was strapped to his back.

I ran down the steps and across the road to the boy. I tapped on his shoulder as he set his skateboard down, raising one foot getting ready to take off. He pulled his headphones down to around his neck, and turned. My eyes grew wide as I recognised his face.

Link looked at me a little shocked. Then he grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Are you following me? Last time I checked, stalking was against the law."

I choked back a laugh. "Oh please, I would not stalk you. I just walked out of my foster parents house and saw you."

"Did you miss the bus," he asked as he picked up the skateboard.

I crossed my arms, in order to keep myself warm. "Yeah, but I don't want to ask Mrs Young for a ride. I'd rather not have her yell at me."

"I've never heard Mrs Young yell in my life. She's really nice. I broke her window once, and she just had me do yard work to pay for it. She didn't even tell my parents."

"Oh, cool," I said as we began walking. I looked around as we walked. The town was fairly busy. Cars were out, probably on the way to work, and kids were walking to school. Everything was covered in a layer of snow. I sighed, watching my breath float on the stiff, cold breeze.

"So, do you like living with the Young's," he asked.

I shrugged. "It's complicated," I said with a sigh.

Link nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine that you don't like it very much. I wouldn't like it if my parents messed up, and I was ripped from my family."

My head snapped around to glare at Link. I was regretting walking to school with him. "I didn't have much of a family to be ripped from. My parents aren't horrible people. They're dead."

His face dropped into a serious expression. "Oh crap, I didn't know. I'm sorry, Gabriella."

I rolled my eyes and rubbed my arms. "It's whatever. Just don't talk about it. We can talk about literally anything else."

Link nodded. "Okay. Do you play video games?"

I shrugged. "I used to. We had a Playstation 4, a Switch, and a Wii. I only used the Wii when I wanted to play Mario. When I used the Playstation, I was mostly playing Crash or Spyro."

"I've been playing a lot of Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. It's really good. Have you played it?"

I shook my head.

"Maybe you could come over today and play a few matches against me."

I shrugged, thinking about what he said for a minute. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Go back to where you came from.

Leave us alone.

No one wants you here.

The text messages appeared one right after the other. They were all from different phones. I bit my lip as I tried to hide my smile. This person was amazingly stupid. I can't just leave. I have to stay where I'm placed. Even if I wasn't in the system, I would be controlled by my parents. I'm a teenager, I can't control anything.

I turned my phone off and put it back in my pocket.

"So what are you gonna do this summer," Link asked.

I looked at him and shivered. "It's January," I pointed out. "Summer is a long way away."

Link shrugged. "That just gives you more time to flesh out your plans."

My first response was a sigh and eye roll. "What's the point? Anything I plan now, can be changed at the drop of a hat!

I shoved my phone and hands into my pockets. The chilly air made it hard to think about summer. It felt like this winter was going to last forever.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to see my brother," I began. "But anything other than that is up to the Young's. I can't really do anything without them now."

Link nodded. "That must suck. I can't imagine not having my family and putting my future into the hands of strangers."

I looked at him. "I hadn't thought of putting my future in their hands."

You don't have much of a future, nitwit.

He grinned and looked at me. "I think I'll play video games all summer. You can join me, if you want."

Of course he wanted to play video games. With a roll of my eyes and a smile, I looked at the concrete in front of us. "Don't you think your parents are going to have a problem with that?"

I saw Link's shrug out the corner of my eye. "Maybe, but that's their problem."

We crossed the street, then walked a little ways. We reached the school just as the first bell rang.

"Do you need a guide again today," Link asked.

I nodded distractedly as I dug around in my backpack. We were standing in the entrance. Everyone rolled their eyes and brushed past us as I fished in my bag for my folder.

"I want to find my folder first. I need my locker and combination number."

Link stood with me until I found the right folder. We began wandering down the halls of lockers to find mine.

"Where's your locker?"

He looked up and down the row, then tapped the locker under mine with his foot. "Right there. I haven't touched it since the start of the year."

"Why not? You wouldn't have to drag around a heavy winter coat."

He shrugged. "Eh, I might try it." He took off his coat and opened his locker.

I realised that he never locked his locker. He just twirled the lock so it looked like it was locked. I fiddled with my lock and got it open after trying three times. I gathered my books and threw my coat in.

After ditching our coats, we ran to class, getting there just in time. The day was uneventful for the most part. The most interesting thing came from theatre class.

As we all filed into the auditorium, we were handed a script. There was already a small circle of people on the stage. Some were reading the script, others were talking to each other. Link and I joined them, then I looked at the script. I felt a pang in my chest. Tears threatened to build up in my eyes. Twelfth Night. Great.

Mom loved this play. It was her favourite play. She loved it so much that she lied to her teacher and said she lost her copy when they read it in English class. Why was this the play?

I looked around, trying to determine how many people knew this play. A lot of people were reading it over. I took a deep breath.

"This is awesome," Link said. He looked around me to the guy on my left. "Chuck, I finally get a chance at Orsino!"

"It sounds like we have a volunteer," Ms Anderson said with a smile. She sat down in the circle and looked at Link. "Read when you're ready, Lincoln."

Link got up and cleared his throat. He looked off into the distance dramatically, like a love sick puppy. "If music be the food of love, play on." His voice matched his expression.

On the last line of Link's paragraph, Ms Anderson pointed at the boy on my left. The one Link called Chuck. He took a deep breath.

"Will you go hunt, my lord?"

Link looked at him. Chuck looked back. There was silence for a moment.

"I can't hear you, if you're not standing," Link said seriously.

Chuck rolled his eyes and stood up. He looked at Link and put a hand on his shoulder. I scooted back to give them space.

"Will you go hunt, my lord?"

For a moment, a boyish grin lit up Link's face. Then he snapped back into a character. A frown took over and he tilted his head to the side. "What, Curio?"

"The hart," Curio replied.

Link and Chuck were great together. Link brought out the best in him. They kept adding as the lines came. Ms Anderson seemed to pick them at random.

Then scene two came. She pointed at me. I raised an eyebrow as the boys sat down.

"You want me to read for Viola?"

Ms Anderson nodded. "Give it your best shot."

I took a deep breath and stood up. I wasn't going to be the only one who didn't stand. I looked around, imagining a beach around me. The circle melted away slowly. "What country, friends, is this?"

I came back to the girl as Ms Anderson pointed at a red headed girl. She looked at Ms Anderson in disbelief.

"But, I've been the female lead since I was a freshman!"

Ms Anderson raised an eyebrow. "Do you not want the part? I can give it to someone else and you can take a different class."

The girl sighed and stood. She faced me. There was a small level of hate in her eyes.

"This is Illyria, lady." Her voice was gentle, which seemed weird to me. All the hate and rage scared me a little, and I fumbled with my next line.

"A-and what should I do in Illyria? My brother-" My voice gave out as I realised how much this line holds now. My hands dropped to my side, and my gaze lowered to the floor. "My brother, he is in Elysium. Perchance he is not drown'd: what think you sailors?"

Suddenly Ms Anderson started clapping. "That's the kind of emotion I want behind Viola! That is so raw and real! Well done, Gabriella!"

I smiled a little and tried to act like I wasn't dying inside. I looked back at the girl. She wasn't trying to hide her glare now.

"It is perchance that you yourself were saved," she said through gritted teeth.

Oh man, I was well and truly screwed.