He found himself grinning as she hugged him and remarked about how he'd hardly changed. "Yeah, I've heard that," he replied, still grinning. But then she was letting go of him and moving to someone else. Everybody else seemed to have somebody they had some strong linkage to- everyone but him, that was. So maybe that was just another nail in his coffin. He'd be back before he'd even introduced himself to everyone.
But then somebody's hand landed on his shoulder, and it was like an electric shock going through his body- but not in a bad way. There was a strange sense of completeness to that shock, as though something had just finished and something else had just begun. He turned around to the person who stood behind him. Even though he could swear he'd never seen her before, he also vaguely recognised her.
[color=#8A0000]"Hey,"[/colour] was all he managed to get out before realising that everyone else was sitting. He smiled awkwardly at the girl standing across from him as he sat down, nodding at the empty seat besides him.
Dalia introduced herself, and Ollie looked at her as she spoke. But the temptation to look at the girl sitting beside him was almost overwhelming, and as Ashleigh started introducing herself, Ollie found himself sneaking peeks at her. He honestly had no idea how he knew her, but he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that they did, somehow, know each other.
There was a bit of a silence once Ashleigh finished talking, and Ollie found himself needing to fill the silence.
"I'm Ollie, and this is my... fifth foster home. Assuming we're only counting the ones where I actually got to the house," he said jokingly. It didn't feel like a joke, though. All that time spent getting his hopes up, only to have it all ripped away, had taken its toll on him. But none as much as the last.