Transitions

Ch.2 Be Yourself

We walked through the snowy grounds down the gymnasium and filed in with the rest of our group. Spirit House and Walker House were the two groups hopefully to be placed today. I led my girls into the front row and sat them by age. Mackenzie is the youngest, and I'm the oldest. I stood at the end of the row, making sure the boys from Walker were being on their best behavior since their leader was off talking to our director. After about 20 minutes our director got up on the stage and tapped the microphone.

"Boys and girls please sit down and remain quiet. We have guests and we know very well by now how to act when they are around."

The stage was filled with potential families for us. There were a lot of older couples, but there were two particular people who caught my eye. Two young men, one with a beaming smile on his face and another with spikey, multi colored hair. The taller of the two boys looked very familiar. The boy with the colored hair had tattoos on his arms. The taller boy with blonde curly hair was dressed in a button down shirt, black skinny jeans, and shiny black boots. I turned to one of the older girls from my track team at the high school.

"Brooklyn, is that Michael and Ashton from 5 Seconds of Summer?" I asked her.

Her green eyes widened, "Oh my god, it is. Girl, maybe you and Kenzie will get adopted by them!"

Melinda, our foster program director called a few names and one by one a child went up on stage and was greeted with open arms by a new family. I smiled wide as one of the little girls from Spirit house was called up on stage. I watched her blonde pigtails bounce as she ran up the stairs. She hugged the woman that she was paired with. Shortly after, Ashton and Michael were the only ones left without kids by their side.

"Will Riley and Mackenzie Conway please make their way to the stage and stand with these two young men right here," the director spoke, pointing towards the boys.

I felt blood rush through my veins. Mackenzie stood up and walked towards me. I intertwined our hands as we made our way down the walkway and up the stairs. We stood in front of Michael and Ashton, our hands still nearly glued together with excitement.

"Mr. Irwin, and Mr. Clifford, this is Mackenzie and Riley. They are two of our longest residents. They are 12 and 17. Riley is an athlete. She has won 2 state championships in track and field, as well as regional champion for soccer. Mackenzie is a dancer at Broadway Kids and she has won twelve overall Junior Elite solo awards. We are sad to see them go, but I know that they have many opportunities in Los Angeles, and Sydney with these two young men. Alright everyone, give a round of applause for the new families. We will have the next round of placements this evening. Please, head back to your cottages and gather your belongings and meet at the front office in 3 hours."

I squeezed my sister's hand as we hugged our idols. I seriously cannot believe this is happening. Once the gymnasium started emptying, we made our way into the crowd and followed the snowy pathway back to our room.

"Mack, do you know what just happened back there?"

"I think I just got adopted, and you're coming with me!" she screeched.

We paraded back into the Spirit building, being greeted by Abbi who had tears in her eyes, "I am so sad to see you two go, I love you like you're my own daughters, but I know those boys will take great care of you. I know Ashton's mom personally, and she raised a very wise young man."

Mack and I walked into our room and pulled the duffel bags we came with, out of our closets. I pulled all my belongings from the closet and stuffed them in my bags. I tore the bedding off my bed and threw it in the laundry basket. I was still in shock.

While my sister was still packing, I went down to see some of the other girls that were being adopted.

"Congratulations guys, I'm so happy for you. I promise to stay in touch as much as possible. Here's to bigger and better things! I guess my passport that I got for the school trip to Australia helped."

We said our goodbyes and I went back to my room to grab my duffel bag and see if Mackenzie was ready. I found her staring out the window watching the snowflakes fall from the sky, with her bags next to the door.

"What's wrong Mack?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just sad to be leaving, but happy at the same time that they kept us together. Does this mean we will be going on tour with the boys?" she asked, while walking over to the small futon couch we had in the corner.

I sat down next to my sister and we talked about our new life for a few minutes. The alarm on my phone went off, signaling us that it was time to go down to the front building and prepare for what is next to come. I stood up, helped my sister off the bed, and we grabbed our bags and walked out the door, saying goodbye to our old life and hello to our new one. As we walked down to the front office, there were a lot of people outside ready to say goodbye.

As we entered the front office, the boys were waiting there with Abbi.

"It's great to finally meet you girls. Abbi has told us a lot about you two. I know the transition will be difficult, but it's going to be fun. Mackenzie, you're a brilliant dancer, there's an excellent dance academy in Sydney that you can attend if you'd like. As for Ms. Riley, I know you're almost 18, but this will be a fresh start for you, especially since you've spent nearly your whole life in the system."

I grinned from ear to ear, while grabbing Mackenzie's hand, squeezing it tightly. We hugged Abbi goodbye while the boys signed all the legal paperwork and obtained our records.

"You girls will be off to bigger and better things. I had this up my sleeve for a while. Off you go. Riley, you have my number if you need anything."

Walking out the door, I noticed a black van sitting in the lot. There were two bulkier men putting our bags in the van. Ashton wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and led us over to the van. We climbed in the backseat and buckled up.

"Ashton?" I asked.

"Yes dear? What's up?"

"Are you guys on tour? Like, do you have a tour date tonight?"

"No, we aren't on tour right now. We're on break. Calum and Luke are in Sydney. We're going to spend the rest of the week here in Connecticut, and then we're going to fly back to Sydney, and get you guys ready to go to school. You're going to be going to the same school that Luke, Mikey and Calum went to. Norwest Christian College. Tonight, we will be living like kings and queens. Ever been to Mohegan Sun?"

I smiled, "Yes, I've taken Mack there to see the Nutcracker. Before you get any inappropriate thoughts, it's a ballet performance that comes there nearly every year around Christmas."