All Summer Long

Edward

Ari:

It's been two weeks since Alex's prank. We agreed to a truce. Well, I agreed to a truce. Mike, not so much. They seriously will kill each other some day, which I don't get because they both like each other. People are so confusing sometimes. Today is Sunday, 12 more days till my birthday and fourteen more days until Alex's birthday. We are almost the exact same age.

"We are, gonna be seventeen!" We sang while jumping on the beds, "we are gonna be seventeen! Almost eighteen! We're so coooooool! 'Cuz we won't be sixteen anymore because sixteen is laaaaaame! We're gonna be seventeen! Gonna be-" Some interrupted our song.

"You are 'gonna be' late, come on girls!" Joey said. We quickly got ready and rushed to the orphanage.

"Alexandra, Ariana," Mrs. Hanser said, "May I speak with you?"

"Um, yeah, sure," I said. Alex looked worried. Did she find out we had parties whenever she left? Oh, no.

"I just want to know what exactly you do when I leave," she said, "The children have been kind of acting strange."

"Um," I said, "We sometimes clean all the bathrooms, and then, we play um, duck duck goose. Or we do do the weeds."

"Yes, I tell them that they are plucking all sin out of their lives," Alex put in. I nodded.

"Yes," I said, "and every once in a while, we let them watch the Science channel." Mrs. Hanser smiled slightly and we thought we fooled her. She stood up and walked over the window.

"I was a teenager once," she said. Both me and Alex gasped.

"You were?" We asked. Wow.

"Yes," she said, "and I know that what you just said was not, what you do." We looked down at our hands, "but I'm okay with because the children seem so much happier." She smiled sincerely, "Even Edward, you know, I haven't seen him this happy ever. He came when he seven. Found him on the porch step. Sitting crossed legged just staring at the door. Around his neck was a little tag that said, Edward on it." Mrs. Hanser smiled sadly at us.

"He was here for three years and his parents came back for him," she said sighing, "He left with a smile on his face because all he ever wanted was a family. But, six months later, I found on the steps again. Slumped against the pillars all bruised and marked." Alex's mouth fell open and we clutched each other's arms.

"They had mistreated him and he was never the same boy," Mrs. Hanser said wiping tears away, "What I'm trying to say girls is that, he talks. He smiles and he even jokes. You guys are changing his and all the lives of the children here. They have hope now. They keep telling me that if the world is full of people like you guys, they'll have homes and a family." She smiled and walked over to us. We were both surprised when she gave us hugs.

"keep doing whatever you are doing," she said, "Because it's great." She left the room and Alex and I didn't know what to do.

"What do we do?" Alex asked, starting to Hyperventilate, "When I was ten I got candy and iPads he got, abusive parents." She had tears in her eyes.

"Alex, calm down," I said, "I have and idea." We both hugged each other and started to cry.

"Ugh," I said, "I promised myself I'd stop crying when I'm sad."

"Um," Alex said looking at me oddly, "So, what was your plan?"

"We're gonna need to call the squad," I said taking out my phone. I called the squad for an emergency. Five minutes later Addy, Nate, and Mike were standing in front us shoulders back chest forward.

"We, need to find these kids homes before Christmas," I said marching, "Alex started crying about it so it is very important!" Everyone's jaw fell open.