Her Unforeseen Destiny

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Emmeline dropped her bag with a thud as she opened the door to her new home. MY new home, she thought to herself, with a grin. Mine, mine, mine!

"God I hate stairs," gasped Laura, as she practically fell through the door. Emmeline laughed at her and raised an eyebrow. "I know, I know, you probably didn't even need to breathe, miss athletic."

Laura had always poked fun at how she was terribly unfit and how Emmeline never seemed to even break a sweat at all. Emmeline had always been fit and enjoyed sports at school. At least, she had enjoyed sports until classroom politics started getting in the way. It was always the popular girls who would choose the position they wanted to play in netball, and always the same popular crowd who made up the school hockey team. 

The one thing she had always been able to excel at over the other girls was running - sprinting, long-distance, hurdles, you name it. Emmeline was fast and she was the top long-distance runner at their school. Still, she didn't really enjoy running when it was a school chore. It was especially unpleasant when some of the popular girls would poke fun at her. She pretended it was like water off a duck's back, but their jibes did hurt. 

She knew she wasn't the prettiest, not the most beautiful. She wasn't tall with long legs, nor was she super curvy with a big bust and a small waist. Her thick, dark brown hair wasn't shiny and glossy and it was never styled. It was either in a bun on the top of her head, a tight ponytail, or - if she was really making an effort that day - in a French braid.

Alice had never taken her to a hairdresser and she had learned about periods, shaving and other super fun womanly things from girls at school or from the school nurse. She never got 'the talk' that the other girls mentioned they had to endure ("SUPER cringe, oh-em-gee") but instead learned about s*x from books in the library. They had studied the reproductive system in biology and, once she was old enough to take out books from the adult section of the library, she had read some of the more raunchy novels. Not many, mind you, as they mostly just made her blush and she was constantly worried about one of the stricter librarians judging her reading choices.

"So, what do you think of your new home?" Laura grinned at Emmeline, having finally caught her breath. 

"It's everything I wanted," Emmeline replied, with a smile. Closing the door behind them, she ran over to the sofa and jumped onto it, collapsing backwards. "And it's mine!"

"Did Alice not want to help you move in?" Laura asked, raising an eyebrow. She hadn't broached the topic of Emmeline's foster mother often but the relationship had always seemed strained. 

"Let's just say she'll miss me, but only because I did the cooking and the cleaning," scoffed Emmeline. "I highly doubt she will miss my company."

Laura smiled wryly. The majority of foster parents were lovely and got involved in fostering for the right reasons. Unfortunately, there was always a minority who didn't actually care about their young charges and only cared about the money from the council. 

"I'm glad I finally have my own space," Emmeline continued, in a much happier tone. "I can cook what I want, clean if I want to and I can invite any friends I want over."

Not that I have any to invite over, she thought to herself. She had never really seen eye to eye with the girls in her school, finding that a lot of them were way too far up their own butts to be particularly nice humans. Some of the girls had been nice to her, but it had always been a struggle to make friends when she knew that she would never be able to go out with them or have them over at the house. Alice wasn't exactly a fan of her having sleepovers or having a friend over for tea. Emmeline had learned that early on while living with Alice, after she had asked her foster carer if she could have a school friend over for tea. Alice's response was cold and harsh, informing Emmeline that she wasn't a charity nor a food bank. Emmeline hadn't bothered asking again after that.

"I know it's not fancy," Laura commented. "But we can go and pick up a few items if you want. My treat!"

"I can pay," Emmeline insisted. "It's really not a problem - I picked up lots of shifts lately in order to be able to get a few bits and pieces. Where is nearby?"

Laura thought for a moment before replying. 

"The nearest IKEA is up in Bristol," she mused. "I think there's a furniture store in the industrial estate on the edge of town, though. We could take a drive there and see what they have?"

"Sounds good to me!" Emmeline jumped up from the sofa and grabbed her backpack from where she had dropped it on the floor. "Let's go shopping!"

TWO HOURS LATER

"WHY do you have to live on the top floor?!" Huffed Laura, as she struggled up the last flight of stairs to get to the flat. Emmeline laughed, having practically bounded up the stairs as if it was barely anything. 

"Because I'm not rich and fancy," she shrugged, grinning at Laura. "When I'm wealthy I'll invite you to a housewarming at my big mansion, where you'll only have to go up one flight of stairs maximum."

"That sounds much better," laughed her advisor. "Let's get these bits and bobs unpacked!"

The pair had ended up visiting four different stores and picking out a few inexpensive items that would add to the small flat's atmosphere and make it super cosy. Emmeline had tried to refuse Laura's generosity, but Laura had just as vehemently refused to take no for an answer and had kindly paid for a cosy throw blanket for the sofa, which Emmeline had put back as it was too expensive. 

"Consider it a housewarming gift," Laura commented, removing the tags from the plush tartan throw. "It's the least I can do."

"You've done more than enough!" Emmeline exclaimed, shaking her head. She was incredibly touched by Laura's kindness. It was more than her foster mother had ever deigned to show her. 

"What needs to go where?" asked Laura, ignoring Emmeline's comment. 

They continued putting all Emmeline's new items in their rightful place. The flat had come furnished, but she needed a few items that hadn't come with it. They had ended up buying a laundry basket, a dish drainer, a few scented candles that Emmeline had found in the clearance section, a bedside lamp, and some extra cushions for the bed. They had visited M&S and Emmeline had finally bought herself the dressing gown and the slippers that she'd been admiring lately and she couldn't wait to get snug in them.

She had also indulged herself and bought some fairy lights. MY housewarming gift to myself, she had thought to herself. She was going to put them up around the little windows and they would be perfect when the weather turned cold. 

"It's starting to look nice and cosy," commented Laura, as they finished putting the cushions on the bed and on the sofa. She shook out the throw and wrapped it around Emmeline like a cape. "Finished!"

Emmeline giggled, removing the throw and draping it over the sofa. She smiled warmly at Laura.

"Thanks for helping me move in. It's the perfect house to call home now."