I didn't see much of Ben that day. He was resting, the nurse said. and I should leave him alone.
My foster parents, as usual, didn't even notice when I walked in the door. They really are kind people, when they notice me. Right now, though, I didn't want to face them. There silence suited me fine.
Once in my room, I pulled a leather thong out of my jacket. On it was a single white feather.
Mom had given this to me. She'd said it was from an angel, and I'd believed her. Now I just thought of it as a link to my mother.
"Monica, dear?" It was my foster mother. I quickly slipped the feather back into my shirt and called out, "Come in!"
Her face looked worn, tired somehow. "Did everything go ok at school?" she asked.
"Fine," I replied. "I made some new friends."
She beamed, all the care and age seeming to fall from her. "That's good."
I nodded. There really wasn't much to say. I mean, was I supposed to blurt out, "This kid got sick today?"
She seemed to understand. With another smile, she slipped out of my room.
I took off my backpack and sighed. No homework tonight, so that was good.
On an impulse, I sat in front of the shiny new computer my folks had given me. I didn't know how to use it well, but any fool can surf the net.
I'd heard about a social site from some of the girls at school, so I typed in the address. The machine whirred and showed a blue screen with four options. I chose Register.
Username:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I punched in a name and sat chewing my lip. What should my password be?
Then I had it: cherub. It was a type of angel I'd heard about, and nobody would guess.
Welcome! You have been registered.
Below that were more options; Chat, Blog, My Page and Forum.
I clicked on Chat.
Ben: Howdy, new girl.
Wow. Ben was here too? I typed in a reply. "Good to see you, Ben."
"Sure is," he typed back. "I'll introduce you to the others."
There was Sara, an exchange student, Kirk, a boy from Germany, and a host of others. I did my best to remember them all.
Sara: So how's life?
Monica232: Not bad. I get along.
Ben: And I help her.
I grinned and typed, "Yeah right."
Wes has signed on.
I typed in "Hi Wes" and got a cheerful "What's up?" This was fun!

