The Mis-Wish

Chapter Two

My eyes raised to the chalkboard in frustration. Ms. Mac has been trying to challenge us lately - I've done the same question twice and it's been wrong each time I raise my hand.

"Three, what is up with you today? You keep switching the negatives and you've misplaced Y1 and Y2. Are you alright?" I squint at my paper before my eyes brighten, Ms. Mac to the rescue! I quickly rearrange my equation and show her my new solution.

"That's great. But tell me sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I think I need glasses, I had no idea I was doing those things wrong," I say with a shrug. I know my vision is fine, but it's better to joke about my flaws than to tell Ms. Mac the real problem.

It isn't Fourteen's fault that she wanted to play with her dolly and tripped over the mess in the hallway. Miss Geeter should know better than to leave her bottles laying around the house where six year olds play around. Poor little Fourteen hadn't meant to break the bottle and splash the foul-smelling liquid over the floor. And she definitely hadn't seen Eight coming up the stairs until she had slipped over the spill and ended up seated on a shard of glass. Her yells of rage and pain could be heard for miles around, which is how we know no one cares about us. If we lived in a nice neighborhood there would have been police fighting police to try and save the poor child screaming upstairs. However our only source of authority was the one and only General Gator.

She flew out of her bedroom, hair wild and lipstick smudged, to pinch Eight and Fourteen by the ears and drag them to the basement. Both girls had tears streaking down their faces; Fourteen was terrified and Eight was furious. I followed behind screaming for Miss Geeter to stop and listen to me. I grabbed Fourteen from Miss Geeter's scaly hands and threw her behind me. The Gator lashed around and grabbed my ear this time, but instead of fighting her, I pushed Fourteen back and tried to keep my balance as I was pushed down another set of stairs into the dark abyss of the basement. Eight fell on top of me and the door slammed shut.

I pushed Eight off me and she yelped in pain as she landed on her backside. As angry as I was for her bringing the Gator into this I knew she couldn't possibly bandage herself up in that particular area. I yanked the curtain off the window knowing a familiar beam of moonlight would guide me to the first aid kit stashed behind the boxes of clothes and bottles strewn about the room. We didn't share a word, an understanding filling the room as I worked on removing the bottle from Eight's behind and spent another sleepless night in the dungeon.

I had spent all night worried about Fourteen's fate and Eight's impending infection that come school time my brain just couldn't focus on the equations Ms. Mac put in front of me. She sent me to the back of the room to rest on the little sofa she keeps for times like this. She'll never know what happens in Miss Geeter's Institution for Girls, but she sure does try to take care of us as best she can.

At break Ms. Mac walks over with a cup of water. She wants me to come back to class because no matter what happens now, when I turn eighteen I need to have had a good education. I dream of the day I can walk out of the orphanage for the last time.

I always thought it would be in the hands of my new parents, a lollipop in hand singing "The Wheels on the Bus" or some silly, happy song. They would take me home and I would have more than one type of food on my plate for dinner, a mattress on my bed, and love in my heart. I would wake up to the smell of pancakes and bacon in the morning and head to school where I would meet my first friend, my best friend.

My only hope of leaving this God-forsaken place now is if I live to become and adult. Chances of being adopted are slim as is when you're a five-year-old cutie pie. No family wants to introduce their new bratty teenage baby to their relatives at the Christmas table. I'm stuck. And I still have three years.

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Sooo I had a totally different plan for this chapter, but here's how it turned out! I don't want to end up rushing things, I think we need to see how life is a little before we get in too deep, which is why hopefully in the next few chapters I'll start to reveal more about the girls' backgrounds, and some more about Miss Geeter and Ms. Mac! Hope you enjoyed reading!! I'm excited about beginning to write on here, I have so many ideas, it's hard to control myself hahaha. Anyway I hope you have a great day :)

             <3 Ashley :