Life in Color ✔️

52~ Potential

I stare back at her, a clump of pancake batter falling onto the floor.

Holy mother of God. She's here. At my front door. Wanting to come inside. Looks like I wasn't getting an email.

Forcing a smile, I step out of the way, "Welcome, Ms. Wainwright. Please, right this way."

My voice carries, the music instantly turning off. She steps into the room, looking around before curling her lip in distaste. The house isn't a mess by any means but it's definitely not as clean as it was for Ms. Sims.

"I'm sorry for the disorganization, school mornings can be a little more fast paced." I offer lightheartedly.

She sniffs the air and I can smell burning pancakes. There's shuffling from the kitchen before the trash can opens up, looks like they're too busy eavesdropping.

Instead of acknowledging what I just said, she eyes me, "And what exactly are you wearing?"

Instinctively, my hands wrap around the sleeves of Ashton's black hoodie. I hid it in my locker Monday and, while I didn't wear it as school, I barely take it off at home.

It isn't the real thing but it's close enough.

Watching my words carefully, I smile. "It was my brothers, he gave it to me once he out grew it. It's quite comfortable."

She hums, writing something down on her clipboard. I show her around the house, my confidence wavering with each flaw she points out along the way. And she finds plenty.

There's a scratch in the wood. This door doesn't properly close. The basement stairs are too narrow, that's a dangerous thing to have with such large people living in the house. There's a draft coming in from the garage magically in the middle of spring.

It gets worse as we continue. Entering the kitchen, I'm relieved to see they've managed to clean up. They're even dressed in different clothing from the laundry room, surely Sage's idea. All four sitting around the table, eating pancakes and drinking juice.

"Hello, Ms. Wainwright, lovely to see you on such a nice morning." Sage offers with a tight smile.

"Care for a drink of water?" Sterling asks, already getting out of his seat.

Her eyes scan the kitchen, not bothering to acknowledge my siblings. "Chemicals should never be in the same vicinity as food." She states, pointing to a bottle of Clorox wipes by the stove before walking towards the stairs.

I follow her, at this point I'm hardly showing her around. She mumbles about how dirty Silver's room is. Mentions how unsafe Sterling's robotics are. I'm given a lecture on how toxic paint fumes can be when she sees the mural in Sage's room and goes on about possible suffocation when she learns Saffron has a canopied bed.

Obviously this is going better than expected.

She stomps up to my room, flinging the door open with a violent force. Her eyes instantly fall on my picture wall, like she already knew it would be there. I wait as she evaluates every frame.

Not that she'll find what she's looking for, I removed the pictures of Ashton two nights ago. It was strange to see my wall missing so many pictures but it's for the best.

Patricia makes the interesting decision to look in my closet, to make sure the entire attic is finished, paying extra attention to my clothes. Not that it matters, none of Ashton's stuff is in here anymore.

Patricia Wainwright is here on a mission and I'm determined to ensure she fails. There's is no trace of Ashton McClain in my house. It's like he never existed.