#sh:avery

Brody’s perspective

Brody felt very grateful that his new parents let him hang out with his friends at ThrifTea. His former foster parents always treated him like he was up to no good, which wasn’t fair. He wondered what he did to make them think that way.

When he got to ThrifTea, Nadia greeted him and showed him a stupid meme on her phone. Then he got to meet some more of his new classmates.

There was Avery, a soft-spoken girl who seemed more comfortable with the boys.

Then there were Kiely and Carmelo. Kiely was Nadia’s best friend and they were attached at the hip. Carmelo seemed pretty cool.

Malik and Toru were also hanging out that night. They were all being nice to him, but he clammed up a bit when they started asking questions. He wasn’t ready to tell everyone that he’d just been adopted and was getting used to a whole new family. 

Brody decided to distract everyone from prying more into his personal life by going up to the microphone and telling some jokes. He got a few laughs, but people were more interested in mingling than watching him perform. He knew he would have to open up eventually if he wanted to make some genuine friendships, but the thought was scary.