Everything I Ever Wanted

The Park

I am running, no sprinting, through the streets of New York. Let's just say being on the younger side of the kids in the orphanage has its perks, but it also has its flaws. For one, the bigs(older kids) are usually pretty good about keeping an eye on the littles(younger kids), especially with a keeper like Ms. Hanson, or as the kids refer to her the Devil. She's super mean until she's in front of possible adopters, police, or service workers. But that's not the point, right now I'm being chased by some of the bigs because well.. i don't really know why. All I know is one minute I'm sitting in my shared room and the next I'm being told to run and being chased by six of the bigs ages 14-17. I may be pretty small for my age, or most people would say tiny, but I'm really fast. You kinda learn to be fast when you're raised in a place where you have to fight for the scraps of food on the table just to get something to eat. Although my size also helps when I'm weaving between the people on the sidewalks. I don't really remember what's happening when I'm running from my housemates, I'm usually more focused on getting away then what's going on. I do know that at some point I always end up in the park, which is like eight blocks from the orphanage. Sorry, what was I doing again? Oh right, running. I make it to the park with my housemates a good distance behind. I almost made it across when I hit something- no SOMEONE!! While falling, I saw my housemates rushing back to the orphanage so they couldn't be blamed for any possible injuries I acquired. I hit the ground and tumbled a bit after landing on my stomach and scraping my face and hands on the ground. The other person barely took a step back. I guess even with the momentum of running behind me I was too little to cause any real damage at least to someone besides myself. Sorry, I got sidetracked again. My cuts and scrapes burned and I wanted to cry so bad, but there were people around so I had to suck it up. The person I ran into saw me while brushing of their clothes and immediately ran to check on me. They knelt down to me and touched their hand to my back, asking 'Are you ok?' I quickly used my hands to wipe the tears building in my eyes, because like I said there were people around, except when I did, I felt a stinging sensation through my hands, but I ignored it to sit up. I didn't know what to say, so I just blurted out.'I'm so so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and I ran into you. I should've paid more attention. I'm sorry.' I was shocked to hear a sweet chuckle escape their mouth. 'It's ok. But are you alright?' They said. I looked up to see charming green eyes that were filled with love and kindness. It was a lady, a pretty lady. She had medium length dirty blonde hair, was tall, compared to me, and had soft yet sharp features. She was wearing a blue button-down shirt tucked into black jeans with a pair of black flats. She looked high-end. I nodded my head 'yes' not having the courage to speak to a stranger. She just stood up and reached her hands down to help me up. I didn't want to be rude so I grabbed her hands just to find that mine were like the size of her palms. As she gripped on tighter a pulled me up, I winced at the contact on my ripped up hands. She took notice of this and flipped my hands over to see them covered with scrapes and little blood. 'Your hands are all scraped up!' She announced.'It's not too bad. I'll just clean them up when I get back.' I instantly responded afraid I would burden her. She looked up from my hands to my face and just then noticed the scrape on my chin and my cheek near my eye. I was too in shock to register how painful my body felt. She reached her hand up to hold my face while she examined my injuries. She was gentle and soft as she looked, something I have never experienced. 'Let me do it. I insist. You have cuts and scrapes all over your hands and face. It'll only take a few minutes.' She tried to bargain with me and let me just say it was working. I had to urge to give in just by looking into her eyes. Her sweet, kind eyes. Did I say that already? What? Oh yeah. 'Sorry, but I really have to get back. I'll get in trouble if I'm late. But thank you.' I almost shouted with the realization of how late I already was. Today was Friday or the day couples came in to do privates with Ms. Hanson and whatever kid(s) in the age range and genders they might be looking for.
Age range:
3- 2 boys
4- 1 girl
7- 2 boys, 1 girl
8- 1 girl(me)
12- 1 boy and 1 girl (twins)
14- 3 boys
15- 2 boys, 3 girls
16- 2 boys, 2 girls
17- 2 boys, 3 girls
While the lady was still surprised by my quick response I quickly took a step away from her before sprinting back. I could tell she wanted to say something else, but I just couldn't wait to hear it. I was already preparing myself for the screaming I would hear from Ms. Hanson. As I was running, I could feel my body aching. It hurt. Bad. But I have to get back. Once again I lost focus on what I was doing and next thing I know I'm back at the steps of the place I live or more like I'm held prisoner at. I walk up to the door and stop to take a couple deeps breaths to ready myself for my keeper, before I finish the door opens and I'm yanked in by her. She slams the door shut and starts screaming. 'YOU'RE LATE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHY CAN'T YOU FOLLOW THE RULES!' And a bunch of other stuff I had learned to zone out. I didn't say anything. She heard the doorbell ring a few minutes into scolding me and looked out the peephole, which seemed to compose her. She turned back to me without the evil glare and told me to get myself cleaned up and sit in my room like all the other kids were. I ran up the stairs and into the bathroom to look at the damage. 'Woah! They weren't kidding when they said you took a fall.' I heard from the door. I looked to see one of the 17 year old girls standing in the door way observing my state. I looked at her with pleading eyes saying 'please help me'. She caught on and decided to be nice this time as everyone heard me being yelled at. 'Here, let's clean you up.' She walked over and lifted me onto the counter. Then took a washcloth and got it damp before carefully cleaning all of my injuries. Her help just reminded me of the lady, but the lady was softer and took more care in making sure she wasn't hurting me. My housemate on the other hand, let's just say she could care less. I didn't realize until now that I also had messed both of my knees up tearing through my leggings. I was so focused on the pain that I missed her putting the ointments and antiseptics on. I only came back to reality when she finished putting the last bandage on and helped me down before telling me to change. I did as told and went back to my room to sit on my bed. All of the other girls were talking, but I was just sitting there playing with my bunny(at the top). His name is professor hops. I'll just say I can't sleep without him. We all sat on our bed waiting to see who would be pulled out but no seemed to be taken that was until I heard the words I never thought I'd hear. 'Eva come on, Ms. Hanson's waiting on you in the privates room.' What? Me? It's never me. Well when it is they say I'm too shy and send me back ten minutes in. I'm never picked, at least not until now, but I don't know that yet.

A/N: Most of this story is in Eva's POV unless specified as someone else. Also, Eva doesn't have ADHD or ADD if you're wondering because of her lack of focus. She has anxiety(why she is shy) which causes her to hyper focus on distracting her brain to stop her from worrying. Basically, she zones out a lot because it puts her mind into a neutral state, where she isn't super anxious.
Love,
EJ