CIara Moon was nervous for the arrival of her new foster sibling. She had grown accustomed to welcoming new faces into her home, each one bringing a unique dynamic and new challenges to the household. Her mother’s kindness had been inherited by CIara, making her the perfect partner in welcoming every new arrival. However, this time was a little different than her last two foster siblings. They were seven and ten while the newest edition to the family is seventeen. A whole year older than her. This fact had caused some discomfort in the recent weeks.
As compassionate as her mom was she still had her daughter and the little ones to think about when considering an older kid. Statistically, older foster kids were more troubled and difficult to deal with. That being said, the new arrival wasn't her Miss Moon's first choice but the foster system did as it pleased. It did, however, help their acceptance of the situation upon hearing that the boy's father had died at a young age and his mother was in jail.
Remembering this when there came a sound of a car outside helped build up CIara's courage, but when she saw who showed up at the door, that courage shattered.
Her eyes widened, nose flaring. "Danny..."
There were few people that CIara truly disliked, and her elementary school bully was one of them. Danny Lockwood stepped through the door, his eyes met hers briefly before he turned away, his expression unreadable. He looked different—taller, more muscular, but the same hardened look was in his eyes.
“Welcome, Daniel,” her mom said warmly. “We’re happy to have you here.” She turned to give her daughter an encouraging nod. CIara tried to relax her shoulders. She didn't want Miss Moon detecting her uneasiness. After all, if she knew her daughter had ever been bullied in school without her knowledge, it would break the woman's heart. Even more so if the teen was forced to live under the same roof with him.
Danny shrugged, muttering a quiet, “yeah,” before following the older woman to his room with his suitcase. CIara stood frozen, her mind racing. Who was she kidding? The boy who had tormented her was now living under the same roof. How was she supposed to handle this?
The first few days were tense. Danny was distant, barely speaking to anyone and often retreating to his room. He gave cold, curt replies and showed no interest in becoming part of the family. CIara tried to be polite, but his presence brought back old memories she wished she forgot. Every encounter had turned out to be very brief and ended with her stomping away, holding her peace. She thought school would be a sanctuary from the taciturn boy. She did enjoy not being in close proximity with him, but she'd hear people talking about him at least twice a week. The word on the street was always either how mysteriously attractive he was or about the latest news on his bad behavior. And he wasn't even her only annoyance at school.
One day during lunch period, CIara found herself cornered by Mark, a boy who had been bothering her since she’d rejected his advances. “You think you’re too good for me, huh?” he sneered, his tone dripping with malice. “You’re just a fuckin' nobody.”
CIara, as usual, kept her composure, walking away without responding. She'd learned a long time ago that bullies lived for emotional responses. The girl vowed never to give them the satisfaction. Later that week, she overheard some classmates talking about how Mark hadn't showed up to school due to his face being beaten beyond recognition. The culprit, they whispered, was none other than her newest foster brother. The rumor stumped and annoyed her. Not that she'd be surprised, but she wondered what stupidity Mark had to have commited for Danny to have beat him senseless. In Danny's case did he even need a reason other than to advertise his bad boy rep?
Then things just got weird.
As the days passed, CIara started noticing subtle changes in Danny. He wasn’t sneaking out at night as much, and he seemed to be making an effort with her younger siblings; playing games with them or even teaching them how to throw a punch. Kaylee and Ren were surprisingly responsive. Danny normally made them nervous to be around but now they actually looked like they were having fun. This anomally only served to deepen her confusion and it made her feel uneasy. She felt reluctant to interrupt only so that Danny wouldn't acknowledge her.
"Kaylee, Ren, mom wants you both to clean your room before dinner," CIara announced while leaning on the wall, feigning nonchalance as she waited for them to be on their way. She ruffled Ren's hair as he passed, they shared a little snicker. When she looked up again, her eyes were met with Danny's. She gave him a cold look before walking away.
CIara had gone to the kitchen, now furiously chopping vegetables for dinner. She didn't know why she was so mad. All she knew was that when Danny was around, she hated the way he made her feel. Not long into her task, she heard Danny's heavy footsteps approaching. She stiffened but didn't look up, focusing intently on her task. She could feel his presence filling the room, a silent tension hanging between them.
The boy passed her to get to the fridge, grabbed a soda, and then leaned against the counter, watching her. “You got a problem with me or something?”
CIara’s jaw clenched. “I’m just trying to make dinner,” she replied curtly, keeping her eyes on the cutting board.
“You’ve been trying to ignore me since I got here,” Danny said, his tone challenging. “What’s your deal?”
The girl laughed sarcastically, her annoyance apparent. “You’re seriously asking me that? You made my life hell in elementary school, Danny. Why do you think I’m upset?”
He shrugged, taking a sip of his soda. “That was a long time ago. You still holding onto that?”
“Yes, I am!” she snapped. CIara slammed the knife down, turning to face him with fire in her eyes. “You were horrible—and terrifying! And now you’re here, acting like nothing happened.”
“Maybe because I don’t dwell on the past like you do,” he shot back. “Besides in case you havent noticed, its been ten years. People do this thing called, changing.”
She glared at him, her anger simmering. “Oh, do they? Because all I see is the same jerk who tortured me.”
He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t even know anything about me now. You’ve been too busy pretending I don’t exist.”
CIara’s heart raced, skin prickling. She hated how he could still get under her skin so easily. The girl returned to cutting veggies, not wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore. “Whatever.”
"See? There you go again. Maybe that's your problem, Clara, you don't deal with things." Danny nagged, causing CIara to pick up the cutting board and move to the ajacent counter. "You ignore me, you ignored that asshole at school." His voice followed her.
"Right, I guess I should've beat him to a pulp then, huh? Is that how I should deal with you?"
"Fine, do it! Anything is better than letting people walk all over you. Or letting yourself feel like shit for holding on to the past!"
"It's called being the bigger person," her voice shook.
"And how did that work out for you? That prick harassed you everyday. And I'm guessing your mom doesn't know about what he's been doing either. Bigger person, my ass. It's bullshit!" She could feel his body heat radiating onto her, everything buzzing. "Took me only three minutes to get him to leave you alone."
CIara froze, the knife sat motionless, mid-slice in the center of a bell pepper. Carefully setting the knife down, she turned around. When she did Danny was standing a lot closer to her than before. The boy blinked, suddenly aware of the small distance between them. "You beat him up... to stop him from harassing me?" She looked at him with heavy suspicion. "Why would you do that?"
"Why the hell else? He's a dick, you couldn't handle him, so I did. It's not rocket science." Danny squirmed a bit, which seemed off for him.
"But why even bother?" Clara crossed her arms, standing perplexed at him.
The boy shook his head with a look of disbelief before scoffing. Then, suddenly, he leaned forward on the counter behind her—his eyes trained on hers. CIara felt her breath hitch. "Maybe I'm just not the jerk you think I am, CIara."
CIara was stunned. There was something raw and honest in his voice that threw her off balance. She opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words. The air between them crackled with unspoken tension.
Danny continued with eyes locked on hers. "Look, you wanna keep hating me, fine. But at least have the guts to look me in the eye when you do. Either way, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. So you're just gonna have to find a way to deal with it.” Her foster brother moved to grab his soda, looked at her once more, then left the kitchen.
CIara’s arms and legs felt like jelly. She let out a shaky breath before leaning back on the counter. Her heart pounded in her chest. She felt a mix of emotions swirling inside her—anger, confusion, and something else she couldn’t quite name. The most worrisome thing was that she felt a strange pull towards him, despite everything, despite all that he had put her through during their childhood. She hated that he could make her feel this way and then walk away without a care in the world.
CIara didn't move for a while, her mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. She didn’t know what to think about Danny anymore, but one thing was clear—ignoring him was no longer an option.