Chapter 3: Trouble always finds me
"The rules are as follows. No back talk or disrespect, especially when it comes to the staff. You will need to keep your grades up at Asheville High. We expect to see A's and B's only. If any of your test grades are lower than a B, you'll need to bring them home for one of us to sign."
Ella May went on to list rules that were pretty common for foster homes. Lights out at eleven. No others allowed upstairs. Keep your hands to yourself. Don't take anything that doesn't belong to you. All standard rules. Then, as if it were just another rule, she said, "And never, under any circumstances, are you to go up to the third floor."
Immediately, a strange tingle went through my body. If she had never mentioned it, I probably wouldn't have given the third floor a second thought. But now it was mysterious. Forbidden. Tempting. What could they possibly be hiding up there that would be so important to protect?
"Let me be completely clear about this. If you are ever found breaking any of the rules we've talked about today, you'll be expelled from Shadowhall without a second chance. Do you understand?"
I nodded.
"And from what your case manager said on the phone when she called last night, you'll go straight from here to the detention centre in Atlanta. You seem like such a sweet boy. I would hate to see you end up at a place like that."
I didn't want to see myself end up there either. Juvenile detention was like a jail sentence. Not to mention that going there for my last few years of high school would kill my chances at ever getting into a good college. I had to make things work here, no matter what. That meant putting whatever was up on the third floor out of my mind. Not to mention whatever had happened with Mrs Shadowhall's teacup. I told myself it was nothing – that it couldn't be the same thing that happened to me when I got angry- then followed Ella May through the first floor of the house.
Shadowhall was even bigger than it looked from the outside. The large staircase split the floor in half. On one side was a formal sitting room with a big brick and tile fireplace. Heavy gold drapes hung in the windows and the antique furniture looked ornate and expensive. Ella May told me that the sitting room was only used for formal meetings and sometimes for special occasions.
Behind the sitting room was a formal dining room that held a long, shiny table and ten matching chairs. Against the wall, a china cabinet held beautiful bone china, crystal champagne flutes and silver serving trays. A sparkling chandelier hung above the table and a pretty stained glass window sent colourful light dancing across the room.
"Is this where we'll eat everyday?" I asked. I had never even been in a room so immaculate and fancy. If I had to eat here, I'd be scared of messing something up.
"No. Usually we all eat at the table in the kitchen. It's a little more casual and laid back in there. But on nights when Mrs Shadowhall joins us, she prefers us to eat in the dining room."
I wondered how often that actually happened. Hopefully not very often. The old woman had completely creeped me out. If at all possible, I planned to avoid her.
The kitchen ran along the back of the house. It was a huge room with lots of large windows that bathed the room in natural light. A large oak table with a scarred top and six mismatched chairs took up a large part of the floor on one side, while the other side held the main area of the kitchen. The cabinets were painted a butterfly yellow that gave the whole room a happy, cheerful feeling. So far, it was my favourite room in the house.
"Shar Griffin is our cook here. Shar, this is Casper, our newest resident."
Shar was a tall, pudgy woman with super short brown hair. She was cleaning the countertops and barely looked up to nod a curt hello to me. I had never had an actual cook before. At several of the foster homes, I'd been expected to fix my own meals most of the time.
The final room Ella May brought me into was warm and inviting. "This is where the others like to hang out and study or watch TV," she said.
The leather couch in the centre of the room looked comfortable and worn. Fuzzy blankets were piled together in a basket in the corner. Books were arranged neatly on built in bookcases on either side of the flat panel TV. I glanced through the titles and saw a few that actually looked interesting.
A couple of worn desks lined the room on the left side, each holding a cup of pencils, a stack of blank paper, and a laptop. "Can anyone use the laptops?"
"We only have those two laptops and anyone is free to use them as long as they stay down here in this room at all times. There is wireless internet, but you have to get permission to use it," she said.
I sighed. At least there was some link to the outside world here, but it would be a pain to get permission to use the internet every time. I'm sure all my friends in Atlanta would be wondering what the heck happened to me. They'd all get to school Monday and find out that I was moved to another town. Hopefully, no one would know exactly what happened. I'd have to think up something good for the email I sent out, but I could worry about that later.
The rest of the rooms on the first floor made up Mrs Shadowhall's private suite. "Unless you're specifically invited to go inside, those rooms are strictly off limits."
Finally, Ella May led me up the stairs, down the hallway, and into a room with light blue walls. "This will be your room," she said.
I stepped inside and my mouth opened in awe. A queen sized wooden bed with a beautiful canopy was the centrepiece of the room. One one wall there was a dressing table with a beautiful mirror attached and a stool to sit on. The floors were covered in the middle by a plush rug in dark blue. "Are all the rooms like this?"
Ella May laughed and touched my arm gently. "This is a gorgeous old house. I know you're going to love it here. Mrs Shadowhall is really a wonderful, giving woman once you get to know her. And she's so generous, letting you lot use this heirloom furniture that's been in her family for generations. I trust you'll treat these things with care and respect."
Wonderful and giving weren't the first words that came to mind when I thought about the woman I'd met downstairs, but Ella May had a point. No one had ever trusted me with such opulent, expensive things. It only made it all the more important that I didn't mess up and let my anger get the best of me here.
"Hi neighbour," Agnes said, knocking three times on my door. "What do you think? These rooms are amazing aren't they?"
"I'll leave you two to get acquainted," Ella May said. "See you downstairs for in an hour for lunch, then we'll head into town to get supplies for school on Monday."
When we were alone, Agnes plopped onto my bed. "Don't you just love this canopy? I have one in my room too, but its red instead of blue. And did you see your bathroom?"
I shook my head and she jumped up and went to a closed door on the other side of the bed. When she opened it, I could hardly believe my eyes. "Are you serious?"
In a house with four other kids, I fully expected to share a bathroom. Instead, I had this large bathroom with a claw-foot tub and a small white pedestal sink all to myself.
"Totally. Each of us gets our own bathroom here, which is way cool," she said. "We're responsible for cleaning our own rooms and bathrooms at least once a week. And we have to do our own laundry and stuff. I don't care, though. This is by far the nicest place I've ever lived."
"How long have you been here?" We walked back into my main room and I started unpacking my bag. I didn't have much. Just a few torn pairs of jeans, some T-shirt's, and other essentials. My crimson necklace was pretty much the only thing of value that I had.
"Oh gosh. Almost two years, I guess. Ever since I was fourteen."
I continued to unpack as Agnes talked about the school and the town and how different things had been for her ever since she first came to Shadowhall. She talked about this place as though it had saved her life. I couldn't help but wonder if it would do the same for me.
When my clothes and things were put away, I stuffed my bag under the bed and walked over to the widow to see what kind of view I had from up here. My room faced the back of the house. Just behind where the kitchen was, a cement patio extended outward. Agnes said that sometimes they had barbecues out back there. Beyond the patio was a garden, and although it looked overgrown, it was still filled with a mixture of colourful flowers and leafy plants. A stone fountain in the middle was covered with deep green moss. Many years ago, it must have been so beautiful out there, but now it was neglected and almost eerily dark.
"What are those buildings out back? Past the garden?"
Agnes peered around me and squinted in the bright sunlight. "Well, the building there off to the right of the house is the barn. I've never been in there, but I guess there's like tools and stuff in there. And back behind the garden is the house where Ella May lives."
Movement near the barn caught my eye, and I saw someone quickly dart out from behind the weathered brown door. When he turned around, my straight heart did a little double time. It was a guy who looked about my age, maybe a little older, and he was stunning. He wore a plain black T-shirt and loose jeans, torn at the knee. His hair was brown and spiked a bit on top. He looked like the kind of guy who didn't follow the rules. Even from this distance, I could tell he was tall.
"I thought I'd met everyone," I said, nodding towards the guy. He glanced around as if to make sure no one had seen him come out of the barn, then started walking toward the house.
"Oh him," Agnes said. "That's Ella May's son, Jackson. Trust me when I say you don't want anything to do with him."
"Why not?"
"He's trouble."
As if to prove her point, Jackson stopped and looked straight up at me. My heart stopped as our eyes met across the distance. Casually, he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the mid-morning sun. Yes, he was trouble alright as a smirk crossed his face. No matter where I went, trouble always seemed to find me.
I waved down to him and Jacksons face broke out in a smile. He lifted his chin in a nod of acknowledgement, then turned and made his way back to the small house behind the garden.
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