•Counting on Nobody•

Chapter 1- What A Life

   Of course, I am always here. I am always here every day and I am so sick of it. Nobody is going to pick me. It's always been like that since I was born. That's why I am here. In an orphanage with nowhere to go. I don't know what happened to me before I was at the orphanage. The caretakers just said I had no family and that my parents just vanished out of nowhere.

   "Wake up girl! Don't think you can do whatever you want to do here. Do something that won't make you look useless like going to school." Said Ms. Tanjiroku, one of the caretakers of the girls in the orphanage.

   I woke up on my bed in a rather small plain room. 1 or 2 maybe even 3 people sleep in a room of other kids they choose that are all the same gender and age. The rooms are separated into sections and each section has several rooms in them of the same gender age groups. I only sleep by myself since nobody wants to be my roommate so I get the smaller room. I looked out of my room and saw that everybody was ready to go to school and out the door. I slept in again and I have about 15 minutes left before school starts. I quickly got out of my old pajamas and changed into my appropriate school clothes. In our school, we don't have to wear school uniforms. I just wore a plain white tee and some pretty baggy jeans and a jacket. Then, I headed straight out of the door. It's pretty warm outside and sunny but I still wear my jacket because it makes me feel comfortable. I don't use the bus because it's obnoxious and the kids are not that nice to me. The buses are packed full of people and kids get mad when I get to have a seat all to myself because nobody wants to sit by me.

   To be honest, I feel like I got the short end of the stick. I feel like they put more pressure on me than the other kids. They seem like they always scold me for everything I did and I didn't do. The other kids in the orphanage just seem to ignore me. But every step I take in a room with kids in it in the orphanage everyone sees me like I am a plague or something. Even though they ignore me, they make sure to point out and laugh at me for every little mistake I make. Why am I always having to be the target and the weird girl nobody wants to be friends with? I just want to get out but nobody wants to take a 17-year-old peculiar useless girl. They always want to take the babies. All I see for the rest of my life is counting on nobody.

   I arrived at school with a rip on my shabby jeans where my knee is. I am late again. My teacher, who was a stern lady with black hair always tied in a neat bun with streaks of white hair, looked at the rip on my jean with a little bit of blood on it and shot one fiery glance at me and said, "If you weren't such a klutz you would have arrived here earlier. Ms. Marlowe Lediyear"

   I hate it when somebody says my full name. Especially if they say my last name. I think my last name is useless. I don't have other families that are in documents that I know of. My last name won't even help me find my parents. I doubt they are alive at this point. I don't even want to see my parents, they seem like jerks anyway. My last name is just useless. It should be just Marlowe since nobody else has the same name as me for miles on. Nobody would name their child after me and everyone thinks that my name is stupid. I will have to change my last name anyway if I get married which is never. Nobody would want to marry me and marriage would be such a drag. I would never get married ever because love was never a priority to me ever since I was born. I don't give or receive love from anything or anyone.

   Everyone looked up at me and snickered. Yeah, they giggled like there was a clown in a room. And of course, it was me. All they get from me is their entertainment. Nobody makes me do their homework because I am not smart. I am just plain and average.

   My face turned red. I looked down at the dirty tennis shoes that were too tight for me. All covered in dirt and mud. My toes feel like they're in a cramped cage. I cupped my hand on my knee and pulled up my jeans a little so I wouldn't trip then I went to my desk with no more traces of laughter but only the pain stinging from my knee. The only reason I am a "klutz" today is that these girls "accidentally" kicked me. Every day is like wearing an invisible poster on my back that says "kick me" and a dunce hat on my head.