“I have some uh…Well, I got caught stealing at a convenience store. Twice. Not a big deal, but Aether said they’d help me get rid of the charges. And with the money…” Trent digs around in his jacket, then pulls out what must be his last cigarette. “Well, it’d be nice to not sleep on the streets anymore.”
“How long have you been on the streets?” Adam asks.
“Just the past year or so. The guy in my last foster home thought I was hitting on his wife, which was gross ’cause she was totally old. He told the social worker I stole from him, and I figured I was better off on my own. But shelter-hopping and squatting in abandoned buildings gets old after a while.” He lights his cigarette and inhales sharply. “Aether can set me up for life. Freedom and security. That’s what I want.”
I totally understand that desire—it’s behind everything I do too. The others look at me, waiting for my answer, but I pick at the edge of my cake. My plans seem so insignificant compared to all of theirs. And I’ve spent the last ten years keeping myself hidden, keeping everything personal tucked deep inside me where no one can see it. I don’t know how to show that side of myself now.
“I want to go to college and become a social worker,” I say. Zoe jerks her head up, and Chris raises his eyebrows.
“Why?” Trent asks, incredulous.
I know why they’re so surprised. Most social workers are dicks or, worse, idiots. They don’t give a shit about the kids they’re supposed to help, or maybe they’re just so overworked they can’t actually find time to give a shit. But they’re not all like that.
“When I was seven I was put in foster care. I was scared and injured, and I had no one. But the social worker who helped me, she actually cared. She made sure I was safe, set me up in a good home. She promised nothing bad would happen to me, and when she was around, nothing did.” My eyes tear up a little—from the wind, I tell myself—and I blink the water away. “Of course, it didn’t last. She disappeared, maybe got transferred or had a baby or something. But if it weren’t for her, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I just want to be that person for some other kid.”
My head drops. I’m suddenly exhausted by laying my soul out on the table like that. The others are silent, all staring at me. I’m sure they’re going to tell me I’m stupid for having a dream like that, but instead Chris lifts his soda in a toast.
“You’ll be a great social worker,” he says, and Zoe nods. Adam squeezes my hand under the table.
“Yeah, that’s an awesome goal,” Trent adds.
Their words make my chest ache, and I duck my head so they can’t see the emotion in my eyes or the redness of my cheeks.
“What about you, Adam?” Chris asks, leaning forward. “Why are you here?”
It’s the question I’ve been pondering myself, ever since I first saw Adam. I asked him the same thing before and he never answered me. Then once we got to the future I was too distracted with everything else going on to ask him again. But I can tell it’s been on Chris’s mind this entire time—and with the way he’s looking at Adam now, I wonder if he started this conversation just to get to this point.
Adam pulls his hand away from mine and adjusts his glasses. “My mom. She’s…she’s having a hard time right now, and I’ve been working two jobs to pay the bills. I’ve had to postpone going back to school and gave up my scholarships so I could take care of her. But Aether said they’d get her some help, pay off our debt, and let me go back to school. They even offered me an internship with them while I’m in school or a job once I finish…which I guess my future self took, since he began working for them.”
Sounds like his mom has a problem—an illness? Alcohol? Drugs? I guess it makes sense he wouldn’t want to talk about it before. I remember his story of how she taught him origami. She clearly means a lot to him, and it must hurt a lot to see her like that.
“What about your father?” Chris asks.
“He left when I was five, started a new family in Florida. I’m the only one my mom has.”