Zayn
"We have news from the parents of Lisa sumner..." The news reporter says. He leads the camera over to Maria and James. Shit, shit, shit. No they can't have hope. They can't do this.
"Maria, here, thinks she saw her the other day. She says she looked exactly like she used to. Exactly like Maria." James said. Of course they think they have hope. She's delusional. Who knows how many meds she's been on since that day.
"I saw her, I saw her. I'm not delusional. She's so beautiful, and I know some other people have seen her too. If you think you see her, please contact me." She pleads. I huff and turn off the t.v. I prop my elbows on my knees and check the time. Three o'clock it reads. Time to go get Alyssa.
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Alyssa
"And then the fetus grows." The sex Ed teacher explains. Dad would've never taught me any of this. He wants me to be "innocent forever" but he knows that's not going to happen. "What makes the child look like the parent?" One student asks. His question made me think. Why don't I look like my dad? How come I don't look like my mom?
"You get a gene from each parent, you may have your mothers curly hair trait or your fathers blue eye trait. Now the dominant trait is brown eyes so therefore you have the recessive trait." He explains. The last bell of the day rings and I grab my things and head to the pick up line. "Alyssa wait!" Jack yells from down the hall. I wait for him at the doors and we walk out together.
"Did you hear about Mrs. S this morning?" He asks me and catches his breath. "No what happened?" I asks sand walk out as he holds the door open for me.
"She was on the news. You didn't see it?"
"My dad doesn't let me watch the news. He says he doesn't want me to witness the 'horrible world' we live in."
"I didn't know Mrs. S had a missing child." He shrugs his shoulders. Missing child? Oh the poor thing. Maybe that's why she was so worried about Mine and jack's safety.
"I didn't know she had a missing kid. Oh I feel so bad for her, maybe we should go visit her." I suggest. A nice visit might brighten her day. I see my dad pull up into the line and I wave to jack. "Bye, Alyssa." He says.
"How was your day?" Dad asks as always. I still give him the same answer. "Good." "Did you learn anything new?" He asks me. Then that little lightbulb in my head lit up. "Why don't I look like you or mom?" I ask. He stay silent for a minute and says "because you look like your grandparents."
"But I saw the pictures of them, I don't look like them." I argue. "Alyssa, I don't feel like arguing with you-" he tries to say but I interject. "Then what is it?" I ask. "I'll talk to you about it before I go out tonight." He sighs.
~~
"So tell me about it." I say and sit next to dad on the couch. He looks at me as if he'd never want to tell me what I was about to receive. Pain and panic spread across his face. "I just want you to know that no matter what, I still love you. And you are MY daughter." He starts off. Dad grabs my hands and rubs his thumb over my knuckles. "Uh.." He pauses.
"You're... Uh." He bites his lip. "You're adopted?" The pitch in his voice heightens. I raise my eyebrows not believing him, but then again it makes soooooo much sense. "Well, what adoption agency did I come from? I just want to know what my birth parents were like." I say and he stops me abruptly. "Your birth parents didn't want you. That's why you're here. With me. You're mine. Not theirs." His voice shakes.
"Dad," I say and grab his shoulder. "You are my dad, you always will be, but I need to know what my parents were like. Who they are. If they're even alive." I explain and sigh. "Please dad?" I plead. Maybe getting to know my real parents might help me get to know their background. "No Alyssa, they didn't want you. They gave you up, and I found you on my doorstep, right there." He points to the door.
"I-I'm sorry." I stutter. He sighs and hugs me. "It's fine, you didn't know, but now you do. And now you know how bad some people are out there. Just leaving their children out on doorsteps in the cold." He rubs my head. A ring of his cell phone broke our small silence. He hold up one finger to tell me to wait.
I pull out my phone and tell the news to Jack.
Me: guess what?
Jack: what?
Me: my dad just broke the news to me that I was adopted.
Jack: no way?
Me: I'm not lying
Jack: that's so cool, do you know who your real parents are?
Me: no, my dad said they left me on his door step and that they were bad people.
Jack: I'm sorry, wanna come over? My mom is going on a date tonight but she won't tell me who it's with
Me: sure my dad won't care
"Alyssa," my dad ends the call and calls for me. "Yeah dad?" I say and look at him. "I'm going on a date tonight with Jack's mother, Melissa. I'm going to drop you off at his house, don't go anywhere, don't talk to strangers, and be careful." He says. Wait? He's going out with Jack's mom. That's so cool. What if Jack and I become siblings?
"Alright, I hope you have fun." I smile and giggle. "What's that about." He smirks. "Nothing, I'm just happy for you. Now let's go." I say and hurry him to the car. We quicken our journey to Jack's house and arrive in less than ten minutes. I hop out of the car and run up the front door and bang on the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Jack's mom yells and opens the door. "Hey, Alyssa." She smiles.
"Hi, Mrs. Melissa. My dad is waiting for you in the car-" my dad interrupts me. "Actually, I was coming to get you." He says and stands behind me. "Hello, Melissa." He winks at her. "Zayn." She smiles. Jack walks down the hall and to the door. "You're going out with her dad?!" He asks in shock. "I didn't want you to think it was too weird, or soon." She says.
"No, that's so awesome. Oh my god." He smiles. "Go mom!" He says and pushes her out the door and pulls me in. "Have fun," she yells. "Don't do anything stupid."
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