Life at the orphanage

Chapter 4 Aged up shenanigans

Time has flown; it seems like yesterday I came in teary-eyed and messy-haired as Zere put them in a bun, and I ran around scared as all heck. Honestly, it makes me giggle since then we befriended many people. A girl with a love for frogs, her name is Eri. I think she's as playful as I am, a girl with a rose pin. She is a bit stubborn but very fun when you get to know her name, Rosetta! There's one girl I call Blueberry because she's blue! I don't know her name, but I will one day! Truth be told, Zere made it my daily goal to speak with them today.

We had fun falling into schedule-causing shenanigans, weather sliding down the halls sponge on feet as if we were skating, annoying Pom, who's now a custodian, with our singing during cleaning, busting the best moves during a performance, or breaking curfew, giggling too loud, then screaming as the maids find us. Times were the best. Now we're a year older, but not much has changed.

As our birthday came and left, we ran the halls sliding on sponges cleaning the halls; however, we ran into a problem... 3 Palias were walking by, and unfortunately...sponges don't have breaks. We crashed full force. Honestly looking back, it was glorious, like knocking down a bunch of bowling pins...but those bowling pins were higher-ups and less than impressed. I will never forget it; one intern, Dio, was hanging off the balcony holding on, and another flew out of control like she just lost steering. I was in our fern dizzy. Zere was on top of the third Palias, who looked less than pleased with our antics. Eventually, his face went from wet with anger to just a disappointed look as he cleared his throat, "And why are you scatting on sponges?" He pulled Zere to her feet.

Meanwhile I got yanked by the second Palias, who flew back in after helping Dio, placing me down by my arms. I reply, "Because it's cleaning, and we wanted to speed round it!" I beam with pride, which seems to only make him more disappointed...yet I do see a brief look of...was he impressed?

He clears his throat. "Regardless of you shouldn't do that... do you know the story of Larry?"

Zere and I lean in in unison. "No, what story?"

"Well, I shouldn't say this, but Larry was once an orphan too in this very home! much like you, he wanted to find entertaining ways to handle things like cleaning. One day, though, he slid a little too hard, crashing into one of Clayyuhs Potions!" We gasp as he continues realizing he has us hooked: "Larry became into a plant and placed within the staff room! Now all the staff frown Larry for his carelessness!"

We both cry out in fear as the intern, looking proud of himself, saunters off. "I'd be careful; I don't know if her potion effects remain." We check to ensure we had no leaves before sighing as we were not plants yet. Suddenly we start laughing at the whole thing, vowing to get revenge for that prank.

After slipping upstairs and standing near the couch, we start laughing, falling onto the floor as the two ponytails holding my buns snap. Zere looks sad before I take the ribbon I wore and use it to make a ponytail. She seems sad suddenly. "Man, I'm going to miss this." I seem confused. "What do you mean?"

She smiles sadly, "I have one month left! Then I'm an adult," she fixes her sad smile with a funny one, wrinkling her nose. "Then I have to pay taxes eeeeeew."

I blink, confused about the aspect of taxes for foreigners: "Why not...not pay taxes?"

She fakes shock. "I'D GO TO JAIL! I'VE BEEN TO ISO TOO MUCH AS IS." This causes us to start laughing as we approach the little room covered with boxes. "What do you think is in there?"
I pause, mulling it over: "the staff's hopes and dreams."

Ari, an educator, was passing by and stopped listening to our conversation. "OH, YOU'RE CLOSE!" She smiled, chuckling, "It's the Palais's Despairs and Tears." She then walked on, leaving us to ponder that brand new information.

Eventually, we head downstairs, and I see Blueberry talking with her friend group. Eventually, I approach her, and she poses unintentionally punching me in the eye, causing me to fall several apologies later, and a healer tending to the injury, we were all sitting at dinner. I find out her name is Gaba, which some people call her Gaga. She fakes anger and says, "I'm not Lady Gaga, to which I reply, But you dance so well! Come on, let's see those moves!" I clap to a beat as Gala leaps on the table dancing as we all cheer, unaware of the eyes on us.

Eventually, 5 Palias walk over as I get pulled up dancing with them, laughing; however, I trip, and the next thing I know, I'm lying on top of 4 Palias of different ranks with one advisor flying above me, staring at me intently, unsure what to do: laugh, scold me, or something else. Eventually, the other Palias get up and pick me up. "I swear, child, I cannot with your antiques," he glares at me, walking off the other 4, all chill, as the one flying quickly yells, "Ah, sorry, Clayyuh needs me," and flies off, creating a hole in the roof. I pause. "Uh, is that—" They quickly fix the hole, "shh," and they then start laughing with me as I and Gala begin dancing on the floor, singing songs. Despite the initial slip-up, we all end up goofing off and having fun.

That day, during daily activity, as we sat there waiting, the announcement came.

[performance 🎉] Adorations, children! Following your most recent dance battle during our mealtimes, we have decided to put those skills to the test! I shall be around to pick two of you, and you two will dance against each other in a battle against orphans. Who wins? Well, your fellow peers decide with us! Now for our first victim...

The Palais sending that ominous message stands in front of me, paddle in hand. She whacks me as I crumple to the floor. She picks me up and sets me down on stage, and splashing cold water on my face, I turn to wait to see who she picks. Sure enough, Gaba's up there as well; we stare at each other. Gaba considers calling it in as I smile and state, "Seriously though, I won that last one."
She rolls her eyes playfully. "No, I did."

"Then how about we settle this? The winner of this wins it all!" They nod, grinning, as we shake on it.
The dance battle begins, and like promised, it's the battle of a lifetime. Gaba starts dancing, singing a song as she grooves to the beat. Turning it to me, I continue the song, giving a different set of moves. Our voices join as we dance off. "If I'm left with just a toy piano, I start to play around. Focus on the sound I hear outside, then what I can hear in my mind. As we keep singing, our moves matching the feeling of frantic dancing to the beat and twirling gracefully, the audience stares in awe. "Hey, add the baseline; now let's try writing lyrics. How about there's fire in the sky..." We keep dancing, the orphans cheering us on as we sing the song, no thought beyond dancing till the end. As we finish the song, we both pose in our way, stopping as the adrenaline wears off and we collapse breathless. I fist bump her.

The Palias preceptor stands up. "Alright, those for Gaba cheer!" Cheers erupt for Gaba. Applauding, however, to everyone's surprise, Equal amounts cheered for me. The Palias members, realizing they would be the deciding factor, huddle up on top of the desk, all floating as we watch. Eventually, they stop floating and file out. "After careful deliberation, we have decided the winner of this dance is... FRAY! She holds my hand up as we all cheer; I get pride cakes as we are taken off stage in time for evening showers.

Gaba saunters up, flips her fluffy short hair, and holds out her hand. "Good job."

I smile sheepishly. "Hey, I know what I said, but can we agree this was a tie?"

Gaba laughs and shakes her head. "A tie? Nah, you won that even if barely, but mark my words, my sick moves are going to beat you one day!" At that moment a friendship was formed, one that created far more shenanigans than anyone cared to handle. Time flies when you are having fun. I never knew that saying until recently; it seems so far back now, but the worst Was about to come, Zara was about to turn 18.