Meet Jasmine, a thirteen year old girl abandoned by her own parents and left to fight for her life on the streets. Everyday, the only sun she sees is inky black. The good news? Her Ipod. The only thing her parents gave her. And Fight Song by Rachel...
Rachel just asked me to live with her. Oh. My. God. I really want to accept her offer but what about Nora and Steph? Why is life so hard?
"I agree Jazz, life's not easy, but sometimes, you just have to show it who's boss." I look at Rachel in surprise.
"Did I just say that out loud?" She laughs.
"Yup." I mentally smack myself.
"Well, now that you know my dilemma, what do you suggest I do?" Rachel ponders for a second before looking at me.
"How about we talk to Mel and the others?" I nod. The two of us walk into the kitchen to see a feast laid out on the table, waiting to be eaten.
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I see Nora walking towards me from my left. She laughs at mine and Rachel's expressions.
"Right on time!" She says.
"Thanks, lets sit down." I reply. We take our seats at the the table with Nora on my left and Rachel on my right. Melanie sat on Rachel's right and Matt's left. Steph sat between Matt and Nora. As we dig in to our meals, Rachel clears her throat.
"Jasmine and I were discussing the possibility of her moving in with me earlier, and we were wondering if Nora and Stephanie would be alright with it." The table became silent almost immediately after her spiel. Everyone was looking down uncomfortably at their plates. Then, Stephanie broke the silence.
"Um, I guess we're okay with it as long as Jazz is."
"That's the problem, I don't want to leave you guys." I say honestly. Once again, everyone resumes playing with their food.
"Uh, Nora? Would you like to come live with me?" Melanie asks, taking everybody by surprise.
"U-uh, sorry?" Nora stutters. Melanie smiles sweetly before asking again.
"Would you like to come live with me?"
"What about Stephanie?" No answer. I notice Rachel and Matt whispering something to each other but soft enough that nobody else could hear or eavesdrop.
"Rachel's planning to head back to Boston. I presume Melanie is as well?", Matt pauses, waiting for a confirmation from Mel. She nods. "I have decided to move to Boston as well. Aaannndd, I'll take care of Stephanie, that way you three girls stay together. Sound good?" Our eyes lit up.
"Are you serious Matt?!?" We yell.
"Yes!" As the tensions from earlier disperse, the mood becomes more cheerful, even hilarious at times. The clock on the wall behind read 9:00 by the time we finished dinner. Rachel and Melanie left to go back to their hotel but they would meet us here the next morning. We had smiles plastered on our faces as we finished putting the last dishes away before going to bed. I awoke to a ticklish jab in the hip.
"NORA!!! What was that for?" I yelled.
"To get you up, sleepyhead. It's like nine thirty." I rubbed my eyes as I got out of bed. After going to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater with daisies on it.
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I exit my room and head over to the kitchen where Nora and Steph are already hard at work eating their bowl of Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops respectively. I stick with the Fruit Loops and pour myself a bowl before adding milk to it and sitting down to join them.
"So, you ready for today?" Nora asks.
"Yup." Fifteen minutes later, our bowls were put away and we were in the living room, waiting for Rachel and Melanie. As if on cue, there came a knock at the door. I jumped up and quickly opened it letting Rachel and Melanie in. We had cheerful reunion before heading out towards the child adoption agency. It was quite busy when we arrived to my surprise. Finally, it was our turn to meet with a social security worker. As she ushered us into her office, she simultaneously produced three sets of paperwork. She gave one to Matt, Melanie and Rachel. Rachel, Melanie and Matt all signed their respective forms one last time and I became Jasmine Platten, Nora became Nora Platten and Stephanie became Stephanie Hudson. I gave Rachel a tight hug as we left the adoption agency in Matt's car towards a restaurant named Cora's.
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I turned to look at Rachel beside me in the backseat.
"So, mom, when are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow at ten, sweetie."
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