Adopted by Liza Koshy

.Love.

 "Uh... I don't think so." I say in a bratty tone. Just because I'm living under Liza's roof doesn't mean she can import and export me in and out of countries like lost goods!

I expect a negative reaction from Liza but she just smiles eerily and heads towards my wardrobe. 

"What are y-" I start to ask, before I am rudely interrupted by a certain someone. 

"Hush, child."

****

"Liza, would you please tell me what you're doing. It's 1 AM and you haven't sent me to bed yet. Somethings up." 

I'm so confused because she normally screams at me to go to bed at half past 10 because according to her, "Little girls like me shouldn't stay up past 9 pm and my case is an exception. "

"Oh! Yeah! About that! Don't go to bed. Infact, we're heading to the airport in the next 2 hours. We have a 5 am flight to catch."

"What? Are you serious? What?!"

"I told you we were going to India. You may have protested but that doesn't change the fact that we're going to India. I call the shots here." Liza states all-knowingly while turning her phone on to check the statistics of her last video on her second channel "Are my parents smarter than a 6th grader?"

"Well,  Ms. I-Call-The-Shots, you can't exactly ship me off to India against my will." I say wittily.

"Um.... I think I can."

I'm just about to start my rant when Liza grabs hold of my two hands and sits me down next to her.

"Aurelie, talk to me. What's going on?"

"W-what do you mean?" I say, trying to think of ways to avoid the question. Because deep down, I know something is really going on. 

"I mean, what's going on? Why are you acting like this?" she responds, trying to search for answers deep within my eyes.

"It-it's my parents. I miss them. I love it so much here with you, but I miss my real parents. All I want right now is to be snuggled in my Papa's hands and have my hair stroked by my mama's hardworked hands and have my brother looking for attention in the background. I know I sound like a big baby right now but I want my mama." I blurt out as tears stream down my face. 

"Oh.. Aurelie I understa-" 

"No you don't Liza! You don't! You don't understand having your childhood stolen away from you! You don't understand having been stripped of your loved ones! You don't understand! All I want right now is to feel loved again!"

"Y-you don't feel loved around me? You don't feel that I love you?" Liza asks sadly as her big eyes fill with water.

"I-" I start to say until Liza interrupts." Be honest."

"No."

With that, Liza grabs her phone and runs straight into the bathroom, tears streaming down her face. 

****

"David! She doesn't think I love her even though I really do! I love her so much and I tried so hard to fill in the shoes of her mother but I'm pretty sure she hates me." I hear Liza cry into her phone to her boyfriend, David.

I hear some muffled sounds then I hear Liza say a quick bye and love you. 

"Aurelie! It's time for us to head to the airport!" I hear her say in a forced tone. Like she's about to breakdown at any minute. Like she hasn't just been crying. But she's trying to be strong. Strong for me.