Free What I've Done by Jen Naumann Page A

to know how everything works and I had even discussed my future options once with our last case worker.
    “Can I go to the beach later?” I ask Svetlana cautiously.
    She turns to me with a smile. “We all go to the beach later, yes?”
    I give her what I hope to be a convincing smile. “Actually, I was hoping to go alone, to meet with a friend.”
    Rose sits higher in her seat. “Gabe?”
    “Yeah,” I answer. I hope he will have some ideas where I can get a job. Without any identification or job history I know it will not be easy.
    Svetlana’s look turns skeptical. “I think maybe you don’t run around with boy.”
    One serious flaw in this arrangement is going to be the tight supervision and having to ask permission to do everything short of sneezing. It is quite the reverse of what I am used to, especially after spending the past few weeks out here on our own.
    “Am I going to Westerville?” I ask, knowing we are probably still in the same school district. She nods while watching me closely. “Gabe goes there, too. I was kind of hoping he could at least show me where the school is. You know, so I’m not so nervous about tomorrow.”
    Svetlana stops stirring the egg mixture and sighs. “Okay, you go with boy. I give you two hours and you come back. Deal?” She flashes a bright smile and I nod.
    As I finish helping our kind, new foster mother prepare our first home cooked meal in months, I can only hope her husband is this friendly.
     
    * * *
     
    I am sitting on the beach for less than ten minutes, playing with the cell phone Svetlana let me use, when the sun burns brightly. I have to cover my face from the flare. When I bring my hand down Gabe appears in a dark blue polo shirt, plaid white and gray shorts and the same worn sandals he has worn nearly every day. His brilliant smile returns when he spots me. I can’t help but return his upbeat mood with an equally large smile.
    “Hey!” He beams with radiance. “You look beautiful again today.”
    “Thanks,” I reply. I look down when the annoying heat creeps into my cheeks. The new dusty rose colored t-shirt and dark capris I wear had been in a popular store at the mall. It was a totally new experience for both Rose and me to be allowed to pick brand new clothing out with Melissa. I had gone along with my friend Tasha a few times to shop in the past, but never had the money to actually buy anything I wanted.
    By habit I had been modest with Melissa in choosing things that weren’t overly expensive but still fashionable. I am growing accustomed to my newly colored hair and have pulled it high on top of my head in a sloppy bun.
    “What happened to you this morning?” Gabe asks.
    “I’m sorry again that we weren’t able to meet you,” I say. “I feel bad that you went to the trouble of buying breakfast and meeting us here.”
    He shrugs and plops down onto the sand beside me. “It didn’t go to waste. I just hope everything is okay at home.” My body sizzles in response to his being so close.
    The ocean is still impressive again today despite the dark and direful clouds that threaten a possible rain shower. Only a few locals exercise along the shore, however, so I guess the impending storm to be keeping most people away. The sky swarms with sea gulls, their cries louder each time they skim the water’s surface in search of food. A light breeze brings a strong drift of the ocean’s scent our way and I inhale deeply-it is becoming my new favorite smell.
    “You’re still enjoying it out here?” Gabe asks, watching me take everything in.
    He is grinning at me in a tantalizing kind of way. He is certainly one of the most chipper people I have ever met and it has been awhile since I was last allowed to be happy, so it is kind of nice.
    I nod. “I totally love it. I can see us being happy here.”
    I have lied to Gabe about many things, but this is not one of them. I really love it here and hope to find a way we can stay. Being placed in foster