Chapter 10

By the time dinner was prepared, C had still not woken up. Sylvia made lasagna and a Caesar salad and was setting the table. Foster was grabbing the silverware while Sylvia placed the plates and cups down. Once everything was ready, they both sat at opposite sides of the table.

"So how did you and Claudia meet?" Sylvia asks, pushing food around her plate, slightly uncomfortable with the current situation.

"Her first day at school, she was wandering around the halls. She was lost and honestly, I don't think she was going to be able to find her way to class, so I walked her to her class which also happened to be my class. We actually have the same schedule. Your daughter is incredibly smart."

Foster could have gone on for ages talking about Claudia and what he has learned about her in the past few days. Thinking about her was making him anxious. He started fidgeting with his hands under the table. He wasn't hungry anymore. Sylvia was silently taking bites and watching Foster, trying to think of a way to comfort him.

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I wake up in bed. I stare at the ceiling, trying to figure out when and how I fell asleep. Nothing comes to mind. The last thing I remember was finishing my coloring page with Foster and then- where is Foster? I stand up and before I am fully out of bed, my vision gets blurry. I sit back down for a minute to wait for it to go back to normal. I get up slower the second time. I accidentally kick over Foster's backpack on my way out of the room. That must mean he's still here. As I walk through the hallway and towards the kitchen, my stomach starts to growl.

"Is that you honey?" I can hear mom not too far away. She must be in the dining room.

"Yeah, is dinner ready?" I see Foster sitting at the table. When my eyes meet his, I notice they don't seem happy. I don't know how to label that emotion exactly. It's like someone kicked his puppy or destroyed his favorite thing. The longer I look, the calmer he gets.

I walk to the table and sit in the chair next to Foster. My mom stands up and dishes out some lasagna and salad. Mmmm lasagna is one of my favorite foods. It isn't like regular lasagna. My mom makes a special white veggie lasagna. Instead of marinara sauce, she uses alfredo sauce. Instead of ground beef, she uses peas and chopped-up baby carrots. It still has the same noodles and the same ricotta filling. My favorite difference is that her lasagna gets covered in panko so that when it's ready to eat, it's nice and crispy on the outside. I wouldn't eat lasagna any other way.

"Are you feeling better?" Foster puts his hand up to my forehead and stares directly into my eyes. It makes me feel naked like he is trying to look directly into my thoughts.

"I'm okay? What happened? Did I just fall asleep after we finished coloring?"

"C you started crying and then you passed out. I was so worried. You were asleep for so long. I had no idea when you were going to wake up. I get so nervous when people are ill. Please let me know if you are ever feeling like that again." He looks down at his hands. He twiddles his thumbs.

A pang of guilt shoots through my chest. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for him. "I don't remember any of that. I'm sorry if I freaked you out."

He looks back up at the table and starts to eat the meal that my mom made. I reach over and grab the hand that isn't occupied. His eyes widen a bit when our hands meet but he holds on. He squeezes my hand a bit and I can see the tension, fear, and worry all dissipate. I wonder why he was so upset. I can understand being freaked out that your friend is sick, but it felt like more than that.

After dinner, Foster and I go back into my room and pick out a different movie. This time Foster picks again, but he picks something unexpected. He picks a rom-com. Definitely not what I was expecting from him or any boy really. The one he picked happens to be one of my favorites. It's called fifty first-dates. It's super cute.

Halfway through the movie, I notice he is holding my hand again. When I look over to him, he is dozed off and drooling slightly onto my comforter. I scooch closer to him and look at his face. Bushy eyebrows, a nice nose, full lips. He kind of reminds me of a Ken doll, not because of his appearance, but because of how beautiful he is.

Foster has shaggy black hair. It's got body but I imagine he doesn't use any products in it. Too bad, he might have a beautiful curl pattern if he actually took care of it appropriately. His hair looks soft. I reach my hand up towards his locks. I hesitantly run my fingers through his hair, earning a cute little groan from him. I lay down next to him while I continue to play with his hair. I was right, it is soft. I lay my head on his chest and go back to watching my movie. I take a deep breath. It smells like the forest after some rain. It's comforting.

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Around eleven p.m. Sylvia notices that it got quiet in Claudia's room again. She cracks the door as quietly as she can and peeks in. She doesn't love snooping on C because she trusts C, but she still wants to make sure everyone is safe. She spots both of them laying cuddled up against each other, sleeping. Sylvia grabs a throw blanket from the couch and lays it over them. She turns off the TV and then turns out the lights.

'I should probably find a way to reach out to his mom to let her know he fell asleep. I don't want her to worry about why her kid isn't home. It is getting sort of late,' she thinks to herself. Before she walks out of the room, she writes a quick little note mentioning how she went to talk to Foster's mom to let her know that they were asleep and that she didn't want to wake them. After finishing the note and taping it to the TV screen, she closes the door and gets ready to drive over to the café that C mentioned earlier in the day.

She locks the doors to the main entrance of the building and yawns as she gets into her car. She buckles herself in and drives the minute and a half it takes to get to the café. It looks closed. She exits her car and walks up to the front doors of the café. She sees a ray of light, illuminating a small window towards the back of the dining room.

'Might as well give it a shot,' she grabs for the handle of the door. Surprisingly enough, it opens. 'I wonder if she's waiting up for her kid.' Sylvia shuffles in. After the door behind her shuts, she stands just inside the dining room and cups her hands around her mouth.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She waits for an answer. When she doesn't hear anything she tries again, "Hello? Is Mrs. Foster here? Or Mr. Foster?" A door at the back of the café swings open. A small middle-aged woman, around 5'6" with long black curls and a curvy figure turns the lights to the dining room on.

"Hi there? I'm Mrs. Foster. What can I do for you?" She asks. She crosses her arms over her chest and waits for a reply, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you so late. Are you Foster's mom? I'm Claudia's mom. My name is Sylvia. I came over because I wanted to let you know that your son fell asleep at my house. I didn't want to wake him up. He looked like he could use the sleep. He dealt with a lot today. He actually kept my daughter safe while I was out grocery shopping. I guess while I was gone, she had a panic attack and passed out. I wasn't expecting that to happen because she has only ever had them after nightmares, so I wasn't even aware of the situation until after I made it back home. I wanted to let you know that he's safe so that you wouldn't worry. You have a lovely boy. You raised him well." Sylvia gushes.

So much has happened in the last few hours that she didn't even realize how much it had affected her because she was so focused on the kids.

"Oh! I'm sorry for being short with you. I thought you were a customer who can't read signs. My name is Dawn. I am Foster's mom. I was wondering what he was up to. Usually, by now he would have called or sent me a text to let me know when he was coming home. Thanks for driving all the way over here. You really didn't have to do that. Are you just going to let him stay the night? Do you want me to swing by and pick him up?"

"I don't mind if he stays. It's up to you. Whatever you are comfortable with is fine with me. He's a nice boy so I'm not worried about anything happening. It seems like our kids have gotten really close these last few days. Frankly, I'm thrilled. We just moved here, and I was worried that Claudia was going to have a rough time fitting in. Fortunately, she met your son, and he has really helped her gain enough confidence to make other friends already."

"He is a good boy. Honestly, I have no idea how I would get him home without waking him up. Thanks for letting him stay over. Will you be alright with two teenagers for the night?"

"I think I can manage." Sylvia and Dawn chat a bit longer. Midnight rolls around and Dawn walks Sylvia to her car. They exchange goodbyes and Sylvia heads back home to go to sleep. It's been a long Saturday. That's something she never thought she would say. She has a policy that Saturdays are for relaxing. That did not happen today.