There are seven days in a week.

Seven colors of the rainbow.

Seven deadly sins.

Seven Dwarfs.

Seven is Neptune

It is Nitrogen.

For the Lord made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.

Bill says, "This will be lucky number seven."

I was seven years old when I went into the foster care system.

Seven is not a lucky number.

Seven foster homes in a span of four years? I must have made a new record.

"Maisie, are you listening?"

Bill's hands tighten against the steering wheel as I shrug. "Where's Sonya?"

His grip releases and he lets out a sigh, "Sonya is no longer your primary social worker, I am. Let's not talk about Sonya anymore, okay?"

My nails dig into my palm, this is all your fault! You stupid little bi-

"Did I do something wrong?!", the edge of my voice cracks and my face blossoms red.

He turns to face me at a red light and winces. "It is our job as CPS to make sure you are in a loving and safe environment. Sonya could no longer provide that for you, but I promised to do my best as your new social worker."

I mumble, "But she was nice."

She's more than nice. An anchor on a ship, she's the constant in my life. Something familiar to come back to when people realize they don't want me and she would hold pieces together because she knew. She wasn't great, but she was Sonya.

If Bill hears my remark, he doesn't answer back. We park by the side of a house and my hold tightens on my raggedy bag. My other hand quickly grabs the standard 'foster kid' trash bag so I don't lose anything else and I get off the car.

Bill tries to usher me inside. "This is the new foster home I told you about Maisie. Come on, let's go inside."

My feet stay rooted in place in the driveway. What a cookie cutter house. Two cars in the driveway, a basketball court by the side of the house, and a picture perfect house. I don't belong here. This house is too nice and I am rough. Rough like sandpaper and pebbles that dig into your hands when you fall onto concrete. Nice and rough do not belong together.

I look into the darkness of the sky and try to forget about the house I was at this morning. Leaving was never easy, rushed or forced, things got lost, things were bound to be left behind. Never had it been this rushed, never had it been this late, and never have I been without Sonya.

An Emergency Placement, they called it.

Everything is too fast, I should be used to it by now. Nothing last forever. But, an hour ago I was in an old house with a rickety porch and a white picket fence. My knees dug into wooden flooring as I continued to mumble along to prayers I never quite learned, hands like knives swung-

Now, I am with my new social worker Bill and it is dark, so very dark and I just want to sleep.

"Maisie!"

I walk at a fast pace, just a few steps behind Bill and the front door swings open before we can even knock.

A blonde woman ushers us in while another in a cardigan anxiously waits behind her.

"I'm sorry for such a late notice, but you've just renewed your license and no one else would take her at this hour. The only place left for her to go was a group home and-", Bill pauses his rambling, but I quickly fill in the blanks.

A group home is for the leftovers, the discarded toys people outgrew when they realized their foster kid was no longer a child, but a teenager. Group homes, a basic death sentence to never getting adopted. I am eleven, my expiration date to be placed in a group home has not come yet, but it will very soon.

Cardigan smiles before saying, "It's no problem, Bill. For all you have done for us, this is the least we could do. I just wish this was a better time, we have a so much on our plate right now, it's been a lot."

Edit: We're doing this out of moral obligation and don't really want some rotten foster kid in our nice house.

"I know, I know. But this will only be for a little while."

Blondie sighs, "We would never turn her away now that she's here."

Bill nods before turning to me. "Maisie, this is Lena and Stef." He points to Cardigan and Blondie respectively before continuing, "You'll be staying with them while I try to find a more permanent arrangement, okay?"

My lack of reply doesn't faze him and he turns back to the women. "I'll bring her file in tomorrow and we discuss more. Thank you so much, this means a lot."

Blondie nods to the door. "Well, it's really late, so why don't you get on home and we'll get Maisie to bed."

I shouldn't be surprised at how quickly Bill walks in and out of my life, but after all this time I still am. I am left alone with Card- Lena and Stef.

"We don't have much room right now, so you'll need to camp out in the living room for tonight."

The lack of a room doesn't shock me. I've slept on the floor before, at least I have a couch this time. I move the tons of blankets off the couch until there is one left and I drop my trash bag onto the ground. I slip under the blanket, still gripping onto my backpack and shut my eyes. My eyes are heavy, I could easily fall asleep if it weren't for the tugging against my backpack.

My eyes snap open and Stef raises up her hands. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable with your bag on the floor?"

I narrow my eyes. "I'm fine."

"No one is going to steal anything-"

My teeth grind together. "I said I'm fine."

"Stef." Lena holds her hand out. "Let's go to bed okay?"

Stef eyes soften and her tugging stops. "Okay, goodnight Maisie."

"Jesus, give that back!"

"Jesus, stop being so mean to your sister and come eat at the table. Time's a wastin!"

"I don't want to eat eggs. Don't you kno-"

Groans erupt from the other side of the house, "We know Mariana!"

I pull the blanket off me while folding and rearranging the pillows around me back into place. Am I allowed to eat food with them? I contemplate for a second before deciding that the possibility of an empty stomach outweighs the possibility from a beating.

I follow the loud noises before a silence erupts as I enter the room. The other children lose my interest as soon as I notice Cardigan and Blondie kissing and the fact Blondie has a police uniform.

My mind screams cop, cop!, COP! While the other half flips because they are together.

"Who are you?"

The question is thrown across the room by the oldest boy. Lena answers, "Everyone this is Maisie, she will be staying with us for a couple of days."

"I thought we weren't going to take any more foster kids?"

"It's just for a little while." Lena turns to me, "Maisie these are our kids: Brandon, Callie, Jesus, Mariana, and Jude. We formally adopted Jesus, Mariana, about 10 years ago and recently adopted Jude and Callie."

I look at Brandon. "What about him?"

Stef sips from her mug before answering, "I had Brandon during my first marriage before I married Lena."

Ahh, he's the real son. Lena and Stef intertwin their hands and I bite the inside of my cheek till I taste blood. "So, you're like together?"

"They're lesbians." My head snaps in Jesus's direction. "Got a problem with that?"

I shake my head rapidly to extinguish a fire I had no intention of starting. I did not want to get beat up by these kids for potential insulting their family.

Stef scolds him, "Jesus! She is allowed to ask questions."

Lena calls me over, "Come eat Maisie. We have a lot to do today."

With the permission now granted, I sit on the end of the table and pile on eggs that I remember hearing one of the kids didn't want to eat. I eat it slowly, urging it to last while slipping an orange into my bag. You never know when the next time you're going to eat.

The Brady Bunch leave off to school and Bill arrives a few moments later. I am ushered outside so they can have their "adult" conversation. Their backyard is something out of a commercial. Grass that's a perfect green, a little picnic area, and swing set tied to an old tree. This is a limited time offer folks, this can be yours for only $599.

Out of all the extravagant things in the yard, it's the cherry tree that catches my eyes. The height indicates how young it is, the soil tells it was planted only a few months ago. I sit by it admiring its petals and wonder how tall it will grow to be. I press my fingers against the soil and look around the yard. It needs to be watered.

I pick up a watering can and pour a generous, but not too much water, into the cherry tree and lay down beside it. The blue in the sky is the color of calmness as it reflects endless oceans into my eyes. Blue eyes and a goofy smile grinning back at me.

"Do you like gardening?"

I sit up straight to find Lena staring back at me. I nod slowly and she smiles softly. "I like gardening too."

I remark quietly, "It's a beautiful tree."

Tears slowly fill her eyes and I pinch myself because I must be punished for saying something so wrong. I open my mouth to explain-

"It is, isn't it?" She looks up into the blue sky and sighs, "We planted it in memory of our daughter Frankie."

The air is knocked out of my chest and knot forms in my throat. There is a sadness in her voice that I know all too well and my hand trembles softly. "There is nothing more we can do."

I don't know this woman, I don't know what she's been through, and I don't even know who Frankie is. But, there is a pain that mirrors my own so I hesitantly place my hand over hers. "I'm sorry for your loss."

I regret it instantly, I want to take it back as her eyes soften in a way few people have looked at me before. I am used to the cold and rough. Used to screams and shoves. Punches and kicks. I know how to respond to violence and hate. How do you react to something you've never seen?

I pull my hand back and walk away from the cherry tree. "Did Bill want something?"

Lena clears her throat, "Bill wanted to talk to you before he left."

"Okay."

I follow Lena inside and Bill pulls me aside speaking in a hushed voice, "I haven't been with you long, I don't know who you are Maisie, but I need you to be good for Lena and Stef. They are really kind people so don't go causing any trouble for them, okay?"

I grind my teeth while slowly nodding my head because that's what I am: an inconvenience, a burden. I am to be seen, not heard. To stay silent, but to "speak up when I am talking to you Girl!" To stay in line, so I'm not kicked out of the latest temporary house.

"I noticed your file is missing a couple of things." My blood freezes and I hold my breath. "Did you know anything about that?"

I pinch the inside of my wrist and exhale, "I'm not supposed to look in my file."

Bill looks at me for a few seconds before picking up his suitcase. "Be good Maisie."

Be good Maisie. Why does it feel like a death sentence?

A couple of months ago (when I should have been studying for multiple tests), I really got back into The Fosters. I finally watched the whole show and I loved it! I even began to watch Good Trouble. Anyway, watching the show reminded me about the fanfiction I wrote back in 2015. For fun, I decided to read it and I realized how terrible it was, like how did anyone enjoy reading it? At the time, it was one of the most popular fanfiction I had written and to this day I'm still pretty proud of it, but I never finished the story. I decided it was time to finish and rewrite a better fanfiction. These chapters will be a lot longer than the original and I have already nine chapters written and will begin writing more when I see how well this is received. Thanks all!