A Place Called Home (Open)

Chest tightening and palms sweating, Cade didn't really know what to make of it all. This wasn't brand new information to him in any way, he knew he was being brought here, but there was a sore feeling settling in his stomach and he knew it would be bad if he didn't calm down now. To start his first day off here in a fit of rage would definitely land him in some serious crap, so the only option now would be to try and relax before a spell made its way to the surface.

It wasn't logical in any sense for him to be this bothered by it anyways. Cade had been taken from his real home before, so why did he feel so horrible about being moved away from a fake one? He hadn't even made any friends at New Hedley, so it's not like he'd be missing anyone. Maybe it was because it gave him the realization that he'd never be welcomed anywhere, but whatever it really was, he wasn't sure he even wanted to know.

The goodbye with Doctor Maine had been brief, like it should be. Cade didn't expect anything different from the man, but he wished he could have broken down, crying like a child. Being moved like this, it always brought out the little boy in him and he hated it. Now was the time be strong, not to fall to your knees and beg to come home. After Cade watched his longtime psychiatrist get into his car, he was ushered into the building by a member of the staff, his fists clenched and nails digging into the soft skin of his palm. It was a nice building, but it was very old and that was blatant to anyone with working eyes. After being shown where a few rooms that were considered necessities, the boy was left in his dormitory to unpack.

Staring at the wall, Cade threw his bags on the floor. Yeah, the room was a bit dingy, but he was used to things that weren't really considering 'high class'. It's not like he'd expected some lavish bedroom with a king sized bed and swimming pool, but it was small and to know he had to share it with a bunch of other boys rubbed him the wrong way. What if they were serial killers? One of them would murder him in his sleep! Cade threw himself onto the nearest bottom bunk and was about to bury his face in his hands when he noticed the blood his nails had caused dripping slowly down the pale skin. Crinkling his nose, Cade wiped them gingerly on his jeans, not caring if it left a stain. That wasn't his problem now.

Maybe if he just kept his mouth shut the whole time, they would let him leave earlier? Yes! Good behavior means a reward, right? Of course it did, so all Cade had to do now was act like a good little boy with his hands folded in his lap. If the people here weren't complete freaks, this would be easy, probably even easier than New Hedley. Take some meds, half ass some school work, and maybe even find some bloke to get him off. Sure, this would be fine. Now he just hoped no one would bother him, considering the tight feeling in his chest continued to linger.

Beth spotted the baggage for a million miles away. New kid, cool. She adjusted the black pork-pie hat on her head and walked over. Her long blonde hair hanging loose out out the bottom and waving like a flag as she moved. She wrapped her pale knuckles along the door frame as she got to it and gave the boy a quick wave and a grin.

"Oi! Hey there dude." She leaned on the door frame and gave him a once over. He was cute in the face. Not Beth's type at all, too innocent looking, but she could still recognize enough to know that someone around there would just love looking at him.

Personally, Beth was more than ready to call Highgrove home. She'd been there a month now. That was plenty long to her. And she did like it about as much as her old group home. Well, they both had about the same pro to con ratio anyways. She couldn't complain too much. She had more personal space here, but less freedom. There were fewer pissy old ladies yelling at her, but more threats of chores and being over medicated.

Really, she was just counting the days until they realized their mistake. Beth didn't belong there, obviously not. She wasn't delusional as they claimed. She knew that Samson was cheating on her all along. Just because he refused to fess up, that didn't make her the crazy one. It just made him an ass. Without Samson to admit his wandering eye and more, Beth did have to wonder what would finally make them realize she wasn't delusional. But then, that wasn't her job, she wasn't the damn doctor. Until then, Highgrove was as good as any other home for the orphaned and unfortunate. Either way, it was all just counting the days until she turned eighteen and hit the road.

"Welcome to Highgrove, what's your name then? Hm? I'm Bethany, Beth, B, whatever." Beth grinned, clearly her talkative dial was turned up to eleven today. She didn't enter the dorm room, honestly she wasn't sure she was actually allowed to. And guessing wasn't a good reason to end up with chores and shit as punishment. "Where ya from guy?"

It's seems as though his worst nightmare had instantly become a reality. Cade didn't hate socializing, he actually enjoyed speaking to others even if most hated speaking to him, but now really was not the time for a peppy introduction. Unsettled in the head and chest tightening enough to cut off his airways, Cade laid speculating eyes on the girl in the doorway. Older than him and with large doe eyes, the boy wondered on why she was so cheery. Maybe some of the other weak hearted freaks learned to like this place? Had they accepted their fate? Cade didn't feel so comfortable with believing he'd be here for that long, but it was only his first day. It could be better than New Hedley, however the resident handbook displayed a rather strict and organized way of doing things, something that really didn't fit his fancy.

After a moment of thought, Cade decided that he felt bad for the girl, but no less annoyed by her friendliness. Cade never considered himself an easy to get along with person because he blatantly wasn't. With unpredictable mood swings and a rude taste in humor, Cade knew that he bothered most people just as much as they bothered him. For that reason, the boy had spent most of his life just sticking to his older brothers like glue and their other friends, which didn't come in abundance. Most people liked those obnoxiously outgoing girls, so Cade wavered with the decision of this girl being popular here or not. Even though he hadn't even said anything in reply yet and the conversation had only begun a couple of moments ago, it was apparent that this girl was obviously one of those bubbly girls.

Oddly, Cade felt like the girl reminded him of someone. At the exact moment, he was unsure. After a minute of running through various images of girls he'd met before in his brain, only one remained. A bitter taste filled his mouth and the back of his throat, causing him to lock his jaw. The wide eyed girl reminded him so closely of Julianne. Lovely.

"Cade," The boy replied through his teeth. The girl seemed nice, yes, but he couldn't help the annoyance that was clouding his brain like a storm and the disgustingly similar characteristics between his sister and the girl. "I've just come from New Hedley, don't think many are too familiar with it though." Leaning even farther back on the bunk that wasn't his, Cade pulled his duffle bag that was currently on the floor closer to him and the bed with his feet. There was no interest to keep the conversation going with the girl whom she introduced herself as Bethany. Cade really didn't wish to hurt her feelings or come off like a prick, but he was honestly fearful that he might hit his breaking point and lash out. If you try and have a go with her, you'll definitely land yourself in shit, Cade chanted to himself in his head.

Others felt this irritated on their first day also, right? Was he blowing it out of proportion? Frankly, Cade didn't care too much about that right now. Maybe they'd felt defeated, which he did feel to a certain degree, or maybe they felt angry just like he did. It was logical to not be comfortable on your first day and if he was expected to act like a polite little angel, well then they had quite the surprise coming for themselves here at Highgrove. Still, the girl obviously only met to be nice and welcome him. She was uninformed of his current state, but Cade had a feeling she would be very soon.