Kathy

Shutting my laptop after talking to Alex made me feel heavy and sad. I paced my new room and tried to get used to the differences between this one and my room back home. The walls here were painted a soft purple, there was a desk and one dresser that were a dark mahogany and a single bed with a flowered quilt thrown over the end.

Suddenly everything became too confining. I changed quickly into a pair of shorts and a sports bra, tied on my running shoes and tried to escape without being noticed. Unfortunately, I ended up running into Thomas on the way out.

He stared wide-eyed at what little clothing I was wearing and at my wiry athletic build. I heard him whistle, “Dang, no one said the new chick was hot.”

I self-consciously covered my bare stomach and pushed passed him to get out the door. Once outside, I started to run. I pushed my headphones into my ears and turned on my iPod. The music pumped in rhythm with my legs as I fell into the familiar work of my run. For a while I could actually imagine myself running on my lake shore road without having to worry about traffic or people… but that didn’t last very long.

After what felt like to time at all it was over and I was back in the unfamiliar house. Irene spotted me when I came in the door, a thin sheen of sweat covering my face and body.

She frowned at me, “We were going to take you out to dinner for your first day here, so we can try to make you feel more comfortable, would you like to have a shower first?”

I smiled at her, “Yeah, I’ll be quick.”

Underneath the hot spray of the shower I could pretend that everything was normal. I put on my high school hockey track pants and a tank top, threw on my favourite sweater and a pair of flats before heading upstairs to my new “family”.