Tyson is your average 14 year old kid living in a Florida orphanage. He doesn't have many hobbies, but he does love to paint -- it's the only thing he can do to take his mind off his depressing situation.
Until one day, a tall, dark haired guitaris...
I followed Zach out to his car, still slightly in shock. How did this all happen so quickly? And what were the odds that I got adopted by a celebrity?!
"Zach... or should I call you 'Dad'?" I started to ask.
"Call me whatever," Zach shrugged. He paused, then added, "Actually, I'm not sure I'm ready to be called 'Dad' yet. Just Zach will do."
"Alright," I replied. "So, Zach, where are we going?"
"Where do you think? Home!" Zach answered. He continued driving on for a while, until about 45 minutes later, we arrived at a small apartment complex.
"I, um, take it you live alone? Well, did before I came along?" I asked.
"Not exactly," Zach replied. "You know those friends I told you about? The immature ones? Well..." He fished his keys from out of his pocket and unlocked his apartment's door.
"SURPRIIIISE!!" three adult men shouted.
"I live with them," Zach sighed. I stood there, petrified. I had NOT been expecting that. One of the males, a guy with medium length blonde hair and green eyes, said, "So this is your new kid?"
"Yep. Meet Tyson, everyone!" Zach grinned. I smiled shyly and stared down at my feet, embarrassed despite Zach's obvious pride in me -- or perhaps because of it. I'd never really been this admired before. "And Tyson, meet my children -- er, friends! Cody, the blue haired one, Maxx, the blonde, and Dan, the black guy!"
"'The black guy'?!" Dan echoed, feigning offense and putting a hand to his chest. Zach just shrugged.
"Nice to meet you, Tyson," the blue haired guy -- Cody. Oh shoot, HE was the singer of Set It Off! -- greeted me. I shook his hand, even more embarrassed. At least he didn't know what I said about him earlier.
"Zach, did you seriously call us your 'children'?" Maxx asked, arching an eyebrow at Zach, who nodded, replying, "It's an accurate description, especially for you."
Cody laughed, and Maxx lunged forward, nearly tackling Zach to the floor. However, instead of doing that, all the blonde succeeded in was a headlock. "ACK! MAXX!" Zach groaned. "Get off, man!"
"Do they... do this often?" I asked Cody and Dan, who had done nothing to stop the incident. "All the f**king time," Cody grinned, placing a hand to his forehead as if exasperated.
"They can't even agree on Twitter, much less in real life," Dan added.
Eventually, however, we watched as Zach and Maxx disentangled themselves. "Don't think I didn't hear what you said, Mister Carson!" Zach scolded, glaring at Cody. "New rule of this household: Don't swear around Tyson!"
"Awww!" Cody, Maxx, and Dan pouted, but Zach crossed his arms. I was starting to see why he called the others his 'children' -- no wonder he'd adopted me. He had a fatherly streak inside him.
"Why don't I show you your room?" Zach suggested, looking over at me. I nodded, wondering what he had prepared for me. He led me to a room in between what was apparently Maxx and Cody's rooms -- it was their guest room. It wasn't decorated very much, probably because they didn't use it, but to someone like me who'd never had a room to myself, it was great.
"We can decorate it a little more if you'd like," Zach offered, as if reading my mind. "I was just trying to keep it simple."
"It's great for now," I said. "We don't have to decorate it immediately." So far, my only belongings were my sketchpad, easel, and the few clothes that I owned -- or rather, was given by Ms. Lazaro.
"Of course we do!" Zach replied enthusiastically. "It's still light out; I could take you shopping."
"Alright," I shrugged. "I'll brainstorm ideas on the way there."
Zach took me out to several different stores -- Target, Wal-Mart, and other places with pillows, blankets, and other decorations. I picked out a comforter set with red and white stripes on one side of the pillowcases and quilt, and plain dark blue on the other. They were interchangeable, but I planned to display the red and white side of the pillows, and the dark blue of the quilt. We also bought a can of light yellow paint in order to paint my walls.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Is that all?" Zach asked me once we loaded the paint and a few rollers and brushes into his car.
"I think so," I replied. Since they had already placed a wooden dresser and a nightstand in the guest room, I didn't need those, and I didn't have any books to require a bookshelf.
"Alright! I'm sure Cody, Maxx, and Dan won't mind helping us paint," Zach said.
Once we arrived home, most of the afternoon was spent painting the walls and decorating my bed with the new bedspread -- the former took the most time. However, once it was all done, we all stood back and admired the room. It was really satisfying to see something, a full room, all to myself, decorated just how I liked it.
(Don't attack me for making SIO live together, I don't remember when they said that they all moved out, lol. Besides, it's plot convenience. It's still "Adopted By Zach", not "Adopted by Set It Off". Dang it, now I'm mad about that XD)
