Miracle

Chapter 3: Adoption

If only it were that easy, I sighed, I too had an issue with trust. In fact, I had a lot of issues. I threw in a final sweatshirt and zipped up the duffel.

“That was fast,”

I twirled around to see Rain walk in my room. “Get out,” I growled, from my experience I knew that every time Rain came into my room he would make fun of everything I had.

“Rain!”

“Okay!” he held up his hands. “Clair told me to tell you that dinner is ready.” He turned to walk out of the room. I blinked, he wasn’t going to make fun of me. Well, I had packed everything up. “Oh yeah Mer?”

“What?”

“Nice bra,” he said staring at a solitary bra hanging from the closet handle.

I turned bright red “Get out!” I roared and he dodged with a laugh when I threw my duffel straight at his head.

Dinner was interesting as always. Scotty clung to me so that I could barely eat. Alexis ignored everyone while listening to her model 67 iPod. Gretel cast star struck dopey eyes at Rain. Rain and Jack cracked jokes. Clair furiously typed on her laptop while occasionally shoveling food in her mouth. Yep, all was normal in orphan land.

After that we dissipated to do whatever we wanted. Some of the younger children went to watch cartoons while the older kids withdrew to their rooms.

I decided to retire early and hiked up the stairs to collapse on my bed. From the corner of my eye I saw my old checkered backpack which I dragged up onto my bed. I made sure the door was locked and seeing the irritating bra I stuffed it into the duffel next to the door.

I unzipped it and pulled the antique out of my backpack. The dusty cover said Pride and Prejudice, I had stolen it just today and the faded pink cover seemed to shimmer with magic. Books were illegal to all but the elite. They were dangerous because the upper crust thought that they held knowledge. I eagarly turned the first page:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife…

“Wake up you idot!” Clair roughly jostled me out of my pleasant dreams.

“Wha-?” I groaned, I had ended up reading till after one.

“They are down stairs, right now!” she fussed over my hair and I grinned.

“Let them wait, I don’t care.”

“I care!” she exclaimed, pushing me out of bed. There was a thump and the book fell out of my blankets. Before I could hide it she picked up the book like it was infectious “Oh, Miracle,” she cried “Not again.”

I gritted my teeth “I like them.”

She looked like she was about to start yelling but she just gave me a sad, tired look. “Mer,” she said sitting down next to me “I just want you to have a good life.”

“I do have a good life,” I shot back and she sighed.

“I mean a good one, one where you can have a future,” she pulled me towards her in a hug “one where you can read without fear.”

My eyes widened “Legally?” I whispered and she nodded.

“Your new parents are very wealthy,” she smiled.

“Elite.”

“Yes,”

“But, I like it here,” I mumbled.

“There is no future here.” She replied sadly, it seemed to pain her to say this for she looked like she was on the verge of tears. As a result I started crying and she held me close.

“Oh, honey” she kissed my forehead like I had when comforting Scotty.

I sucked a deep breath and gave her a watery smile. “I’m going to make them miserable.”

She flicked my forehead “You’re going to make me proud.”

I roughly wiped away my tears and she handed me a small black book.

“Whahs dis?” my nose started to run.

“Your mother’s diary, she was one of my closest friends.”

“Huh?” I had never heard of this.

“Yeah.” She pushed it towards me and I stuffed both the black and pink book in the bottom of my duffel.

“Thanks, Miss Clair,” I sniffed “I’ll never forget you”

“Neither will I,” she whispered.

When I walked down the stairs I bumped into Rain. He turned around with a smartass remark on the tip of his tongue but when he saw me his expression faltered. “Someone’s a hot mess…” was what he managed after a few seconds.

“Shuddup,”

He took my hand in a rare act of, kindness? And led me to the front door. A man and woman stood in what I could only call expensive clothes “Oh, honey were you crying?” the woman gave me an expression of fake concern, the way she said “honey” had no comfort behind it unlike when Clair said it.

“Such a tender heart,” she gave me a wide smile full of glaring white teeth.

“What a handsome young man!” she exclaimed and gave him a lingering glance “Your photograph does no justice.”

“Thanks” Rain responded with a strained smile.

The husband was silent, his large frame filling up the entrance. “Thanks dear” the woman said dismissingly towards Clair and grabbed Rain and my wrists.

“Come on my honeys, we must get home in time for dinner.”

I reached out towards Clair but she just gave me a warm smile. That smile was imprinted on my memory for a long time because it was so full of pure love and sadness that my heart almost broke into a million pieces.

The woman pulled us into a fancy hover vehicle and the man started to drive. “Oh, since we live in a different sector, we need to give you guys HV shots.”

“HV?”

“Hover vehicle shots” she smiled, her red lips stretching “for motion sickness.”

She pulled out two needles and inserted the first in Rain. His eyelids started to droop.

“What’s happening?” my eyes widened as Rain lost consciousness and collapsed into the seat.

I looked at the women as she advanced towards me, “Don’t worry honey, it’s just a shot.”

“Wait,” I reached for the hover vehicle’s handle “Let me out!”

“Sleep tight,” she said calmly and stabbed me with the needle.

“No!” I yelled, darkness began to grip at the edges of my vision. “No-” I whispered as the darkness consumed me.