In Your Time

Chapter 4

"Who are you, and why are you in my house?" He deadpanned.

"Phoenix! Braden! Dinner!" Elizabeth yelled from downstairs. I picked up my towel quickly and ran to

throw it in my room before sprinting down the stairs. Elizabeth motioned me to a seat. A moment later,

Braden came to sit at his seat. Elizabeth set the food on the table before sitting in her own seat. It was

odd seeing a family eat dinner together. Normally, my dad would be at work and my mom would be out

so I would have to fend for myself when it came to ordering something to eat. So this was the almighty

Braden's teenage years.

"Braden, this is Phoenix Di. She's a... daughter of a family friend. She'll be staying with us for a while,"

Elizabeth said. I looked at her curiously. She couldn't told the truth, but she probably wanted to

preserve my self-pride. Either that, or she didn't know how to explain my situation herself.

"I assume your parents will be in Australia for a while regardless, so after tomorrow, we'll enroll you in

Braden's school. Also, I'll do that checkup after we finish eating here," George said to me. I nodded,

unable to really say anything else.

"She's going to my school? Why?" Braden protested.

"Because she's not from here and we want to make sure she stays safe, so you have to help her out at

school. Alright?" Elizabeth said in a sort of warning.

"You're going to fish all that money out for someone else's daughter?" Braden asked as he raised an

eyebrow at them.

"It's not like we can't afford it. Plus, education is more important than your video games," Elizabeth

snapped back at her son. Braden huffed a breath before digging into his food.

"You wanted a daughter so badly, you stole someone else's," he muttered under his breath.

"Just eat your food," his mom sneered at him.

"So Phoenix, What do your parents do?" George asked.

"My dad is an astrophysicist, and my mom is a social... worker," I quickly corrected myself. I almost

said social net supervisor but that didn't exist yet. My mom didn't get that job until 2021.

"I can see how they may be extremely busy," George nodded thoughtfully.

"I thought she was a family friend. How is it that you don't know what her parents do?" Braden asked

suspiciously.

"She's my family friend. Your dad is learning about her just like you. All you need to know is that we're

trusting you to look after her when she enters your school," Elizabeth lied easily. After we finished

dinner, I met with George in the living room. He gave me a full check up. He paused when he lifted the

shirt on my back. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"You're all bruised up," he said hesitantly. "Does it have anything to do with what happened in the

park?" He asked softly.

"I-I don't remember how I got there so I wouldn't know," I lied. He sighed and had me stand before

checking my abdomen as well. I had bruises all over my torso. George sighed before he put his

stethoscope around his neck.

"For now, I'll give you some pain meds and we'll have you ice it every night until it gets better. It'll take

some time," He said.