The man looked nice, but after many years in the system you learn looks can be extremely deceiving. He looked like he was in his 40s too, but he was in good shape. I decided to keep my opinions quiet till I had actually met the man though. I liked to play the guessing game but I could tell now was not the time.
"Hey, Riley! My name's Tuc, and I hope to see if we'd be a good fit!" He sounded like he had experience around kids but not my age. I'm 13 and he's talking to me like I'm in 4th grade.
"Well, let's get to it then?" Ms. Hanson said realizing I wouldn't reply.
"That'd be great!" He gave her a sleek smile and she went out of the room leaving me with this stranger.
"So," I said trying to get the ball rolling. I had become pretty good at conversations because of these adoption auditions. "Why do you want to adopt?"
"Well, I have two kids but my boyfriend and I have been wanting a kid together and with our weird schedules we decided that adopting young might not work for us."
Damn he was good. Most of the time when ms. Hanson leaves they start talking about how they need to adopt because they need a maid or because they wanted their family to stop bugging them about having kids. But it was a rare occurrence that they would keep up the act. He was also gay which lead me to believe he wasn't lying.
"Weird schedules? How so?" I needed to keep the focus off of me before I had made my decision on how much I believed him.
"Well my boyfriend and I are actors and there is no exactness to that, Is there?"
"I wouldn't know."
Shit.
That was impulsive. Normally that's what starts the orphan sob story but I didn't have the energy, so I had to let him question me as a diversion.
"Oh, I guess not."
Silence.
"What about you? What do you do all day?" He asked trying to get any grasp of me other that 'sad, cocky orphan.'
"Well, I wake up early for breakfast then we start on chores, lunch, free time, dinner, then more chores, then bed," I answer probably too easily for such a pre determine agenda. " I personally, usually spend my free time of the house tablet, which I convinced everyone else was broken, watching musical bootlegs and listening to the soundtracks. But sometimes I read."
That was painful. I guess I'll tell him anything, It's not like I'll see him again.
"Really? What's your favorite musical?"
"Well I really like a lot of them; heathers, company, a new brain, spring awakening, hairspray, Jesus Christ superstar (even though I'm atheist,) jagged little pill, pippin, next to normal, rocky horror," he looked off to space giving me little nods with ever one I listed, a smile growing slowly across his face. "But I think my favorite either has to be hedwig and the angry inch," he looked at me showing teeth, "or falsettos." I answer slightly perturbed at his devilish grin.
"Those are some of my favorites too!" He was beaming.
We both sat there reminiscing on the magic of Broadway when ms. Hanson walked in catching both of us by surprise.
"So, how did it go?" She looked at me but Tuc answered.
"I think it went really well!"
"Wonderful!" This time giving him the grin. "Well?" She gave me a 'forgetting something' kind of look and I took it as a signal to get out and go back out side. I walked to the swings where I had sat only an hour and a half ago with Elijah and sure enough they were there waiting for me.
"How'd it go?" They asked sounding worried.
"We'll I skipped the sob story and was really forward and then we connected over musicals. Couldn't be better," I answered sarcastically. "What about you?"
"He tried to start conversation but I kept shooting him down giving quick answers," they sounded dejected. "Trouble is, now we gotta wait for ms. Hanson to determine what's best for all of us."
~
Hey guys!! This is just for fun because I didn't really like the others. You may have noticed we had a name change Emmett is now Riley and once she gets adopted it will just be like one-shots about life as a Rannells. For instance if he posts something on Instagram there might be one about that or just little adventures like first day of school or something like that. Anyway if you have any ideas let me know and don't forget to comment and vote! Thanks for reading!
