Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 2

As far back as I can remember, I have been an outcast. Not once have I ever come near a ray of spotlight. It was always the girls with the most money or best bodies or the ones lacking brain function. Typical stereotypes of high school. I made my peace with it though. I discovered a long time ago that society and I aren't exactly compatible with each other, and my thoughts were better left kept inside the barriers of my skull.

It was always hard growing up an orphan. Orphanage directors never had the motivation to make the orphans do extracurriculars, so it was rare anyone was ever adopted.

But I never cared.

I was always the weird one who didn't have the time to worry about being adopted. It wasn't like anyone special was going to give me the best life imaginable. That is until it happened.

A young widower whom never had kids came to the orphanage one day. I was doing the normal chores one did at such a place, while the other kids stood in the normal eldest-to-youngest-single-file line. As to be expected, the man had concluded none of them were what he was looking for, and asked if these were all the orphans they had. Hesitantly, the director answered no and led the widower into the kitchen, where I was having a Cinderella moment, scrubbing the floors. I looked up to see him studying me. I shrugged and continued on with my chores. And then the unthinkable happened.

"I will take her," the man announced with the largest smile I had ever seen. I didn't know what to do. I just sat on the kitchen tile, covered in cleaning supplies, and stared.

The director asked if he was certain, with me being so far into my teenage years. The man sized me up once more and kept his original decision. The eldest had been adopted. That never happened in orphanages. The eldest would always remain here until the clock struck midnight on the day prior to their 18th birthday. They would pack up their stuff and go, free forevermore. I was actually disappointed this wasn't the case for me. That disappointment didn't last long.

Once we arrived at the home I would spend the next two years inhabiting, I already knew that the disappointment would shortly end. As one may have thought it would be some large estate with acres of property and everything I've dreamed of, they would be wrong, at least in their perspective. The house was indeed fairly normal. It did have two stories, but the second floor was more of a glorified attic. I did not care: this attic was a library. I went from Cinderella to Belle in a matter of a few hours. This widower was a bookworm just as I. This had always been one of my many fantasies. I never thought it would become anything else.

"Is something wrong?" He asked noticing my sudden change in attitude.