I\u2019m Claire, 28, and I know the foster system too well.<\/p>\n
By the time I was eight, I\u2019d lived in more homes than I could remember. I learned early not to get attached. People call kids like me \u201cresilient,\u201d but really, we just learn how to pack fast and expect nothing.<\/p>\n
Then I met Noah.<\/p>\n
He was nine, quiet, sharp-eyed, sitting in a wheelchair that made adults awkward and kids unsure. They weren\u2019t mean to him\u2014just distant. They\u2019d wave, then run off to games he couldn\u2019t join. Staff talked around him instead of to him, like he was a task instead of a person.<\/p>\n
One afternoon, I sat beside him with my book and joked, \u201cIf you\u2019re guarding the window, you should share the view.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me and said, \u201cYou\u2019re new.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReturned,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNoah.\u201d<\/p>\n
From that moment on, we were inseparable.<\/p>\n
Growing up together meant seeing every version of each other\u2014angry, quiet, hopeful, disappointed. When couples toured the home, we never bothered hoping. We knew they wanted someone easier. Someone without a wheelchair. Someone without a file full of failed placements.<\/p>\n
We made a joke of it.
\n\u201cIf you get adopted, I get your headphones.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you do, I get your hoodie.\u201d<\/p>\n
We laughed, but we both knew no one was coming.<\/p>\n
When we aged out at eighteen, they handed us papers, a bus pass, and wished us luck. No celebration. No safety net. Just the door closing behind us.<\/p>\n
We left together with our belongings in plastic bags.<\/p>\n
We enrolled in community college, found a tiny apartment above a laundromat, and took whatever jobs we could. He did remote IT work and tutoring. I worked coffee shifts and night stocking. The stairs were terrible, but the rent was cheap. It was the first place that felt like home.<\/p>\n
Somewhere along the way, our friendship quietly became something more. No big confession. No dramatic moment. Just the realization that life felt calmer when we were together.<\/p>\n
One night, exhausted, I said, \u201cWe\u2019re basically already together, aren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d he replied. \u201cI thought it was just me.\u201d<\/p>\n
We finished school one semester at a time. When our diplomas arrived, we stared at them like proof we\u2019d survived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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