Having grown up in the foster care system, Emma was no stranger to bouncing from place to place. This was honestly the nicest car she had ever ridden in, and knew it was a luxury model that her new foster parents Rachel and Thomas owned. Usually she was accompanied by two other foster kids as they were usually dolled out in threes. However with the fact these two screamed wealth, Emma was not surprised that the normal rules didn't apply to them. Emma was fifteen years old, and planned on getting herself emancipated as quickly as possible. It was always the goal to get out of the foster system as soon as possible. No kid likes the system but Emma had ended up in some of the worst pockets of it. To be free, make her own decisions and feel safe because she was in control was all she desired.
"So what are your hobbies sweetheart?" Rachel from the passenger seat was leaning back in her chair to look at Emma, with a smile on her face, trying to engage in conversation with her. Rachel looked like a typical fifties house wife, nice teal blouse, navy blue cardigan, khaki skirt with beige tights, brown flats, a scarf tied up in her auburn hair to keep it pulled back but still loose, cherry red lips, light mascara and eyeliner and to complete the look a string of pearls. Thomas, her husband and driver of the luxury vehicle had dirty blonde hair kept short and neat, a blue sweater over a white collar button up shirt, khaki pants and brown oxford shoes. Emma felt shabby next to the two of them, with her long unkempt messy unnaturally red hair that she kept up in a messy bun to try to make it less noticeable, a plain black t-shirt, a zip up grey hoodie, ripped at the knees faded blue jeans and her knock off brand van shoes that were pink and brown. These clothes were bought by a previous foster parent who had only bought what was required of her for the kids, and had gone to a giant warehouse store to buy them as cheaply as possible. Emma's previous foster mother hadn't let the kids pick any of the clothes or styles, just threw the clothes at them and said to be grateful.
This was how a lot of foster parents had treated Emma, so she hadn't been surprised, but Emma hated anything pink, it always clashed with her hair, and she always got it because she was a girl. At least she had been able to throw away the pink camo clothes she had gotten from a different foster family that had been obsessed with the outdoors and everything camo. Emma had wanted to vomit at how much camo was around the house and decor especially because it all clashed and a lot was the pink camo she found to be tacky and stupid. "Foster kids don't have hobbies Ma'am. Hobbies require money. Same with sports." Emma finally replied to Rachel. Emma watched as Rachel's face fell a little and seemed to be trying to find a different way to ask Emma about herself.
Emma had spoken softly, as she always did. Emma never raised her voice, it would've never worked anyways or gotten her anywhere. She just kept her head down and kept moving. Something she always made sure she did though and would go out of her way to do so, was to use sir and ma'am when addressing her current foster parents at the time. Most would coo over the kids and say they could be called mom or dad, others would say their name would do, others had nicknames they wanted used, but no one ever got mad if she used sir or ma'am. "What kind of music do you like?" Rachel finally landed on. Emma had to think about that for a moment, she had only ever heard what was on the radio or what was played by others. "I guess I like it in general, but I haven't really settled on anything I particularly disliked or liked. I mostly only ever hear the radio". Rachel's face fell again and her head did so this time too. Emma felt a little bad, but at the same time, she couldn't really because it wasn't truly her fault.
"What's your favorite subject in school?" Thomas' gravel voice finally pitching in. Now that was something Emma could chime in on. "I love English the most, History is my second favorite. Writing about something else that isn't my life is calming to me, coming up with how a soldier in a war might have felt at the time or period of when they were in it. Or thinking about how it would have been to live alongside the Dinosaurs. I also love analyzing other people's stories and meanings they display in their books. I especially enjoy stories about the supernatural as it's fun to imagine what life might be like alongside witches, vampires and werewolves." Emma could feel the smile spreading across her face. At first Rachel had beamed at her when she started talking about what she enjoyed, but Emma caught the look of worry that crossed Rachel's face that she looked over at her husband with when Emma started talking about the supernatural. Thomas had made a small shake of his head at that, and Rachel had then plastered a smile back on her face again.
Emma wondered what that was about, but then Emma realized they might have been religious and therefore didn't like that the supernatural was something Emma enjoyed. So she quickly added "I am quite aware that it's all fiction of course, but imagining things that can't be real is something that makes me forget for a little while, but I don't obsess or dwell on it. You don't need to worry about me wanting to do or participate in some kind of satanic ritual or something silly like that". While Rachel smiled and gave a little laugh, and she heard a small chuckle from Thomas, Emma could still feel the unease that she had accidentally stumbled into.
"Did you ever have home economics, or any extra curricular studies you liked?" Rachel asked, the plastered fake smile still evident on her face. "The schools I went to never had home economics, unfortunately. Is that a class they offer here? That would definitely be useful." Emma had always wanted to learn to cook but bouncing from place to place she never really had the courage to ask, especially if she burned or messed up the food to where it had to be wasted by being thrown away. "They used to, but a few years ago some feds came through and said we needed to update with the times and changed our school's curriculum and what classes were offered. Lots of parents and most of the community was quite upset by the change. So we finally decided to do something about it and made our school a private school this year. It will be a whole new experience and will obviously have some hiccups, but we get to have the board, which is made up of parents, vote on the classes we bring back and make important. I am actually on the board, so I am partly asking so I can make sure anything you enjoy will stay on the offered list." Emma's mouth fell open at Rachel's words. Rachel would actually fight for what Emma liked? That was not something she had been expecting. "I would love if something like home economics was offered again, maybe even a class called life skills where we learn to hand sew or do taxes? The kind of stuff that we will have to do as an adult on our own and might not inherently know." Rachel smiled a genuine smile then.
"Ok we are here. Welcome to your new home Emma." As Thomas pulled up the driveway to the new house that was to be her home for as long as the feds decided and as well as Rachel and Thomas decided. Emma's jaw dropped. It was a large tudor style house. As Emma stepped out of the car she felt like she might have stepped into one of her fairytale books she liked to read and analyze. The outside wood beams contrasted to the cream whitewashed look of the walls. The bush and ivy crawled all over the house making it look like the house had been standing for years, yet the house looked impeccable and new. The house didn't have the traditional thatched roof that a Tudor usually had, but the way the shingle work on the roof had been done it looked almost like it was a thatched roof. The garden patches that surrounded the house looked almost like it was framing the house. The edge work was meticulous and the brickwork path up to the house was completely level, Emma couldn't see any bumps or any dips.
She looked at her new foster parents, who were looking at her with smiles on their faces from her awed look. "Do you like it?" Rachel asked Emma, almost seeming to bounce on the balls of her feet in excitement. "This isn't some joke is it?" Was all stunned Emma could utter. Rachel giggled and put a hand on Thomas' arm, who was still grinning and then turned to grab Emma's bag. That's when Emma snapped back to reality. "Oh I can get that, you don't have too!" Emma quickly blurted out. Her bag had a couple of her favorite books in it, making it a little heavy. However, Thomas slung her bag over his shoulder with such ease, it made Emma wonder if it still held her precious stories she loved. He just winked at her and started heading into the house. Rachel however seemed to almost bounce in front of her "Would you like a full tour of your new home?" She seemed quite excited to show her, so Emma couldn't disappoint this so far lovely and sweet lady. So Emma simply nodded and Rachel started leading her to the side where an arched gate looked to lead to the backyard of the estate.