The rain dripped down the window as my body involuntarily jerked, thunder and lighting struck. The windshield wipers swiping away the little droplets. I felt nothing. I was on my way to the orphanage, but I didn't really care. I was alone. I could feel the bandage rub against the wound on my stomach, it was where the warmth had pooled on that day. I liked having it there, it was a reminder. A reminder of how nice it felt. I wanted it back, I can't tell you how long I had ripped at my stomach while laying in that hospital bed. That was the only thing that could make me feel, but it wouldn't come back. Lighting cracked the sky as we pulled up, the once cheery place shadowed in gloom from the rain. I hope the rain never goes away.
"Okay. This is where I drop you off. Your bag is in the trunk and they already have all of your papers! I bet you'll get adopted in no time!" That annoying bitch that was my social worker chirped at me.
I said nothing in response, there was nothing to say, nobody would adopt a broken 17 year old. Nobody would ever want me.
I went to the trunk and grabbed my backpack it being the only bag I had. As soon as I closed the trunk the bitch sped off, like everyone else she didn't care about me. The rain soaked me down to the core, soaking through my backpack and probably everything in it. I was cold and my hair was stuck on my face but I didn't want to move. I didn't want to go in there.
"Oh my god! What are you doing just standing there? Get inside! You'll catch a cold." The shrill voice that was meant to be caring disgusted me. She didn't care, I knew she didn't so why did she pretend?
The next thing I knew I was in the building, which by the way was just as disgustingly "cheerful" as the outside. Children of varying ages were staring at me, confused by my zoning out.
"Hi Vita, my name is Kelsey and I run this place. These are the rest of the kids that we have here. You will have your own room though so don't worry about that. This is Peter, Samantha, Levi, Eric, Kyle, Izzy, Summer, Sarah, Micheal, Shelby, Ethan, and Gabriel."
I zoned out the rest, it was just her blabbering anyway, they won't really have to worry about me.
"Vita? Are you listening?" Fingers snapped in front of my face making my lip curl up into a snarl and glare at Kelsey.
She looked momentarily surprised before she went back to normal. She said something about me following her to my room but I zoned most of it out.
After she dropped me off at my room she left, it was like the room was on fire how quickly she moved. Her dark brown braid pulling a disappearing act around the doorway.
I looked around the room I was in. Other than two beds and two desks there wasn't much. On one of the desks though I saw a sketch book and drawing supplies.
Walking over I decided to waste time I would draw. Why not? Quickly I got absorbed in the way the pencil scratched over the surface of the paper creating lines that would form a picture. The drawings kept coming, some colorful and bright others dark, dull, and almost numb. I was about to start another when my door squeaked open.
My head whipped lips forming a slight snarl, standing in the doorway was Peter. He looked about my age, orange hair fell in his face and black glasses outlined his shockingly blue eyes.
"Whatcha' doing?" The words were quite and shy, no matter how numb I felt I would never let that effect others.
My reply was short and simple, there was no point in going into detail. "Drawing." One word held no emotion, my voice soaked in the numbness for so long. I flinched at my own voice, it didn't sound right, it didn't sound like me.
"C-can I s-see?" This kid.
I looked down and sighed nodding slightly I stood up and walked over to him. I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the half-filled sketchbook, he looked through every drawing, inspecting it like it was the last thing he would ever see. He didn't let go of my hand, no matter how intently he was looking at my scribbles.
I wanted to burn the drawings. They were terrible. The way the eyes tilted only slightly. The numbness that soaked through from my fingertips into the paper. But Peter, Peter seemed enthralled by them. His eyes shining with promise and love, his mouth was in a constant smile, no matter how small it was.
"T-these are really good!" It had seemed like hours had passed before he spoke. And for once I felt the need to respond with more than a motion, more than just a word.
"I don't like them, but if you want you can have them, only if you let me fill this sketchbook first." His head whipped around eyes wide, jaw dropped so far it seemed that it would hit the ground at any given moment.
"I-I can h-have them?!" A short nod was my response, I just wanted to soak in his happiness. I was not expecting him to attack me with a hug.
His arms wrapped around my neck squeezing tight, his body laid on top of mine.
I was shocked at first but slowly adjusted to the warmth. I wrapped my arms around him and nuzzled my face into his neck.
This was the most I've felt since the accident, the most comfortable I've been. I felt my eyes drift closed and Peter start to relax. His breathing evened out and light snoring started. I pulled him closer to me moving over to my bed and laying down. Snuggled up to each other I had no thoughts running through my head.
I slowly drifted off, no dreams, no nightmares. Just sleep. The best one I've had since the accident.
