Lena

After we get home Stef sends Callie and the siblings to play on Jesus's Xbox. As we make our way upstairs neither of us make a noise, needing time to collect our thoughts. I follow Stef into out bedroom and close the door behind us as Stef sits on the bed. I join her and we both release a breath we didn't realize we were holding.

"What are we going to do?" It's Stef who breaks the ice and asks the question we have both been thinking about ever since we left school.

"I have no idea. Do we split up the kids or will that just cause more harm than good?"

"And even if we do split them up, where would we send Eva, we don't exactly have the money for a specialty school and even if we did would sending her there for just a couple months while she is with us really help?"

"I don't know, but can she really thrive at Anchor Beach. Most kids with ADHD and Dyslexia are smart but not in the normal classroom but you heard how she did on the math portion of the test, I mean the proctor told us she needs to be in college classes for gods sake." I can't contain myself any more, I don't know what to think about this girl. She reads at a freshman or lower level but can do math I probably can't even think about.

"I think we need to send her to Anchor Beach, it really comes down to the siblings staying together, Eva will not do well anywhere without Nate and maybe with him there she will become relaxed enough to learn." Stef say and in all honesty I know she is right. Neither Nate or Eva will do well without the other. We saw it with the twins and with Callie and Jude. But I also know that Eva will probably sleep though all her math based classes like chemistry but struggle through a class like 8th grade English.

"Well we can set Eva up with a tutor and have her be put into a specialized English program to see if we can get her caught up."

"Ok," Stef says with a smile, "let's tell the kids, Eva and Callie seemed a little nervous in the car."

"Sounds like them," I say as I return the smile.

—

It was a hard decision but I new the real hard part was about to happen. I saw this all the time as vice principal. Kids who have trouble in school get defensive about it. Kids who are in the system, probably been put down and abused, and has trouble in school beyond there control, I have a feeling shits about to hit the fan.

Stef and I regroup in the kitchen and we call down Nate and Eva.

"What's up?" Eva says in a not so happy tone. I can help but notice that her brother is just slightly behind her reminding me of how Callie and Jude were when they first entered our home.

"Well we got the results from the test you guys took, we are happy to confirm that both of you will be attending anchor beach" Stef said excitedly.

"We are really proud of both of you, Nate I bet Callie would love to hear the news, wanna go upstairs and tell her for us, we need to talk to Eva for a minute." I can almost see the shift in Eva's demeanor when I ask Nate to do that. She become defensive and shifts he weight as if to prepare to take a hit. She whispers something I can't understand to Nate and he quickly makes his exit. I know we need to put her at ease but I can tell she doesn't trust us. I'm still running through options when Stef takes over.

Stef

As soon as I see Eva change into a defensive position I know I have to deescalate this problem before it become one. "Let's sit down, no one is in trouble we just need to take about your test scores." As I sit I make sure to make no sudden movements and Lena does the same. "So the good news is you did great on your math test, better than great, so good that during the summer we may want to sign you up for college courses." I make sure to emphasize that I am praising her because by the look on her face not many people have done that. I also throw out that she could be here this summer, after all it's about a month away. "So that's really good but it seems your a little bit behind in English," she cuts me off before I finish,

"You should see how smart I am in my language." She says angrily. I seem to have struck a nerve. I can see she is pissed. Her fist clenches and unclenches and I just can't think for a minute.

Eva

I take a deep breath and count to 5 in my head. I already knew I sucked at English, I didn't need another stupid test telling me this. I didn't need another set of stupid foster parents telling me I was dumb just because I didn't speak their language as good as mine. I remember home number 8 where I went to a school where every time you got a D or lower on an assignment they would call home. My foster father didn't appreciate getting called every 2 or 3 days about his stupid, illiterate foster kid who kept failing tests. That house gave me a lot of bruises but that was also the house that Nate taught me how to read in when the foster parents weren't home.

It was day two of this family and I was already done with the annoying cop who thought I was stupid.

"I'm going to me room." I make this a statement, with no room for argument. I know that if I can leave now no one will hit me.

"Wait!" Lena says but I already have my back turned and am walking towards the stairs with no plans on stopping.

AN

So what do you think? I know I haven't written in a while but I have a lot of school and that takes priority. I are basing this off of my life experiences (some past and some current) and I would love input especially from people who have a problem or two like Eva always R&R and if you don't want to put your input in a review PM me:)