Two Days Later

Sam

It's been two days since the whole shebang with the forest and I haven't been left alone except going to the bathroom, and even then they are hanging out in the corridor talking to each other, which can I say, makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

They are like rats at the moment, always clinging, pretending that they are busy with something but I could feel them watching me in the corner of their eye. I had brace on my foot which made it very difficult to move anywhere, I more hopped places. I didn't want there help, only Charlie's, and even then he was still sore.

His back had big red marks down the side of it which had now turned into a harsh purple, it looked really bad just by looking at it, so he must be in a lot of pain, therefore I don't let him carry me around because I don't want to hurt him more.

Though Charlie starts school in a few days and I can tell he isn't looking forward to it whatsoever. Whenever Adam mentions it to him, I could see the annoyance in his face, but he had to go to school, it's the law.

I doubt that Adam and Leo would let him get away with just skipping his classes, which he used to do often so he could, though his grades weren't tragic, they were B's and C's but still, he could easily get all A's if he just studied. Though he mostly can't be bothered, he only studies for certain subjects and even then he doesn't care.

He is actually really smart but has no motivation whatsoever, he doesn't want to go to university either, rather he would learn a trade and start his own business, which is also a really good plan to go for, he isn't the type for university and that's okay. Though I do want to end up in good universities like Cambridge or Oxford, maybe St Andrews or Edinburgh though they are very hard to get into, though that's not for another few years.

We were sat the dinner table right now, Charlie made me some plain pasta with bits of ham in it, my favourite meal, reliable and simple. The others had spaghetti bolognese with meatballs which had a billion different colours in.

I had gotten to know the Chef but I still didn't like someone else cooking my food so Charlie still did it for me, which he didn't mind doing but I could see it was starting to annoy the others that I didn't trust them to cook my food.

"How's your food?", Charlie asked me, I gave him a little nod as I kept eating, I had been hungry all the time lately and I don't know why, I read about hormones at this age so that's probably the reason. I fancied going to the library today to be honest but this stupid leg won't allow me to go anywhere, I don't mean the library in the house, rather the public library, I had my card with me in my bag but I doubt I could get there without two functioning feet.

When this foot heals, it's the first thing that I am going to do. Charlie would never let me go on my own but I needed some me time and I would be fine getting the bus and reading for a bit. I have a corner in the library with all of my favourite books kept on the shelf.

We sat in silence for a moment before Adam put his fork down onto his plate, making a dramatic bang noise.

"Alright, tonight we will have a family meeting, Sam as you are only ten years old you will be going to bed before the meeting as it's not relevant to you", He said, pausing as if waiting for me to argue back. Charlie would just tell me what happened so I just raised a thumbs up to him and kept eating my pasta. He raised his eyebrow at me as I saw Leo smirk.

Obviously Adam wanted an argument, probably so he could ask other questions and start moaning about other stuff, giving him an excuse to be annoying. Charlie gave me a little nod and kept eating his pasta. It was already half 6 so I would be in bed in about an hour and a half anyway and I fancied reading for a bit before bed.

"It's alright. I will go to bed now and read for a while.", I said quietly, still not used to speaking with them around, yet it was becoming better around them, though it has only been a few days so I might be speaking a bit to early for my liking.

Adam just nodded slowly as he motioned to Max to help me up, I just waved my hand at him and hobbled to my room, limping slightly due to the thick bandages on my foot. I could see them all about to jump out of their seat if I fall but I was fine, Vickey and Teresa also kept quite close to me though I wanted to make a point that I could defend myself and I was alright without them needing to be near me all the time.

I needed alone time, just time with my books without having to be constantly checked up on and this meeting was the perfect opportunity for that. However, I wonder what will be said at the meeting is relevant to me, if so, why didn't they just ask me?

Charlie

Sam hobbled off to her room, I wished I could help her yet I could still feel the bruises on my back, stiff as a board. Max and Aiden just watched me eat for a moment before sighing at the same time.

"You know, it's very easy to tell what you're thinking", Aiden said with bored eyes, swirling a bit of pasta and shoving it into his gob though a bit of sauce got onto his cheek, if Sam was here she would of looked disgusted at him.

"We had a meeting soon anyway, everyone come to my office in twenty minutes", Adam said, finishing off his dinner and getting up, Leo followed him as he left with his hands placed behind his back, trying to seem classy yet he just seemed like an arrogant asshole.

"Yes, very easy to read", Max said as both him and Aiden got up and went towards the gym, talking very quietly to each other yet I heard my name. Great, it's only been a few days and they already hate me. Just like as kids I guess.

Chris got up after a moment and headed up to the garden though it was dark and cold outside so my guess is for a smoke which I'm sure Raymond though the same thing as he raised his eyebrows at Chris's back as he left outside.

"How are you?", Raymond asked me with a smile, finishing off his pasta.

"Sam's fine which makes me alright", I said quickly, shoving a meatball into my mouth, I was starving.

"No, I asked, how are you? I know Sam is alright but how are you feeling?", He asked me, genuinely worried about how I was feeling. It made me feel rather emotionally actually, everyone is normally worried about Sam rather than me, I rarely get asked that and even when I did it was always by Sam, so it's not like I can tell her what was wrong, she's only a kid.

"I'm good", I said confidently though it came out squeaky so it made it seem like I was lying which I wasn't. I am fine, I have always been alright.

"You are really not a good liar mate, might want to work on that living in this household", He said, finishing off his pasta yet he didn't leave, rather just wait for me to finish.

"Do you have something to do before this family meeting?", I asked him quietly eating my meatballs. A few other maids and the girl we saw before from the kitchen started to come into the room talking but when they saw us they went deadly silent and bowed slightly.

"Apologise, we thought you were all finished", One of them said and they all hurried out of the room. Raymond just sighed and put his head against the neck of the chair, obviously bored.

"You can leave you know? I don't mind", I said loudly this time, finishing off my pasta as Raymond just sat there with his eyes closed, obviously tired. Chris came back in after a few minutes with the stink of smoke around him, god could he make it anymore obvious?

"Oh, didn't know you guys were still in here", he said, obviously nervous. Raymond opened his eyes and just stared at him with his eyebrows raised. He got up and took out a bottle of deodorant from the draw below the china cabinet and threw it at him.

"Next time, don't be so obvious. Come on, we have a meeting to get to", He said, motioning to Adams office.