In the current reality, the Fergusons had no children of their own...and had opted to adopt foster children...educating them in the ways of their church. This Mrs. Ferguson was not quite like her predecessor.
Barbara, or Barbie as her mother called her, had suffered as much as any of Athena's kids, perhaps more, because while Barb admired her for doing what she wanted, she wasn't exactly thrilled with how she'd had to pick up the slack and make sure her siblings were taken care of.
She'd always suspected it was one of her younger siblings who had called in the state. While Barb herself had never been adopted, some of her siblings had been, trying to pretend like they'd never been raised in a place like this.
In truth, it was in fact her sister, who was a freshmen at school, who had called them...not that she'd ever tell Barb. She and Barb had barely spoke, to the point few people at school even realized they were related, especially since they didn't share a father. She was pleased she'd gotten most of them out. And if she turned out nothing like her mother, she'd be thrilled. She tried very hard already. Her mother was a fat slob, and who acted like more of a child than any of her children. She tried to be responsible, clean, and hard working...and never give her new family any reason to want her gone.
It was a change for the girl, not that she'd known it. Until Wednesday afternoon, she'd been Mrs. Amanda Brewer...a somewhat overweight mother. While she'd been married to someone who liked full-figured women, unlike Zoe Brewer, she didn't consider it a challenge she needed to work on.
Mandy, unlike her mother or older sister, hadn't even had a serious boyfriend....not that she wasn't attractive, but she she tended to hang around with people who hadn't had the upbringing she did...so she'd never gone much beyond innocent flirting...despite the fact she'd seen a lot more growing up. She arrived at school that morning and slid into homeroom next to Mallory Nguyen. "Hey," she said. "Are you excited about getting the lead?"
"So much..." Mallory said. "But Mom was so mad at my brother all night..."
"Jon? What did he do?" Mandy didn't know Mallory's brother that well, but Mallory and her family were good people.
"Well, I was walking home, and saw him sitting at McDonalds, staring at his phone. Then he forgot his phone there, and someone made off with it. Mom was so upset about that and she blames his girlfriend for distracting him. So, lots of drama...so no time for my drama."
There are worse things than getting pushed to the background because your mother is too worried about your brother, Mandy thought. Like your family running out of food because your Mom went on a four day bender and didn't leave any money or groceries. She pushed the thought away. "Well, I think it's great that you got the lead."
"You get to play Kate..."
"Yeah, but Kate doesn't get many lines...At least it's something.I could have been stuck painting sets."
Elsewhere in school, Jon slid into his homeroom seat, noticing Marie Brewer sitting two rows back. No wonder she'd been surprised he'd stumbled over her name. "Hi, Jon!" She called. He acknowledged her, and sat down in time to see someone slid into the seat next to him. "You didn't answer my text last night, are you all right?" A female voice said. He turned to see who it was...
