Seven Days

"It's time to go," screamed Ms. Terry from downstairs.

That woman never talks at a normal volume I thought agitated. I rolled my eyes and took one final look in the mirror. For the first time in months, I had really tried to look nice. I don't know why I had put so much effort in my appearance; no one would pay attention to me anyway. I pushed my curled long red hair out of the way, so that my face was visible. My creamy skin was blemish-less and my brown eyes stood out brightly against my pale skin tone. I was very skinny and looked frail which wasn't a good thing to look like where I lived.

Being weak-looking made others feel that they had more power over me. They proved this point when they regularly hit, tripped, and touched me inappropriately. Sighing in defeat because my appearance was nothing special, I walked out of the room I shared with five other kids. I was seventeen, I didn't want to share a room with a bunch of kids. I wanted privacy, however I had no choice. I never did. Orphans don't have many choices.

"Watch out bitch," sneered a particularly hostile boy named Dallin.

He was always picking on me, but I was helpless because I couldn't defend myself against him. I had to take all of his harsh treatment. Dallin was large because he was constantly lifting weights at the gym. His tan body looked like it was one of a mans, but it actually belonged to a fifteen year old boy. He was about twice as wide as me, and he made me feel intimidated. I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw an annoyed look cross his face. I cringed and moved silently to the side, so that he could pass. Dallin shoved me roughly into the wall. My arm connected to the hard surface and my body followed after it. My arm bent at an awkward angle as my weight pressed against it. A small whimper escaped my lips.

I held my injured arm protectively into my chest. The same arm had already endured some harsh treatment from the week before, and the added pain was almost too much to bare. I willed myself not to cry. People never cried here. Everyone had to be tough unless they would end up being picked on for the rest of their stay in the orphanage. I bit down into my bottom lip drawing blood. Slowly, the pain receded, and I began to make my way downstairs.

Bounding down the last step, I moved to the corner of the large living room. Children of all ages were bouncing around excitedly. The kids were all wearing their best attire, and I glanced down at my own clothes. My eyebrows furrowed down in worry. I rarely got new clothes. Almost all of the money goes to the younger kids, which I don't usually mind, but now I was wishing for at least a nice shirt. I sighed while looking down at my outfit. My dark wash skinny jeans with large holes and plain gray T-shirt, was not a very presentable outfit. At least my white vans looked relatively new, but only because I took really good care of them. Oh well, I thought glumly, you're used to being invisible anyway.

"Alright kids, lets go! Get into the cars," commanded Ms. Terry, the main worker at the orphanage.

The younger kids were squealing with excitement. I had to roll my eyes because the poor kids were so naive. A local NBA basketball team was having the orphans go down to the stadium to meet and play basketball with the players. We were a charity case. The orphans and I were being used as publicity. I could just see it. The large men teaching the small, cute, boys and girls how to play basketball while the paparazzi were busy taking pictures. The next day all of the kids would be displayed across many of the magazines, newspapers, and websites. People would be commending the players on having such great hearts and staying down to earth. It made me sick.

I didn't like the older kids at the orphanage, but it wasn't fair to the younger ones. They didn't understand that in reality they were just being used. I saw a sweet little girl whispering to her friend, not far from me, about how she was going to find her a daddy today. I turned away from the crowd of kids with tears in my eyes. This wasn't fair to get their hopes up like this. The little girl had her brown hair in pigtails, and she was in a bright pink and yellow sundress. She was gushing on and on about finding a basketball playing Dad. However, I knew that no matter how adorable this little girl was, there was no way she would be adopted by one of those men. A tear escaped my eye, and I hastily wiped it away. I held my breath hoping no one had seen, because I would be taken advantage of.