I Am None

Chapter 2

      As I sit in my bed, writing in an empty journal I had found in my old room, a bell went off. Grace sprung out of her bed and looked frightened at June's voice.
      "Good morning, children!" She yelled from downstairs. I closed my journal and hid it in my dresser, under my clothes. In that book was Simon's story. I started writing it down, wondering if there were reasons his mother did what she did. "Time for breakfast!" June yelled. I got off my bed and grabbed clothes. Grace trudged over, still exhausted. She grabbed clothes and got dressed, same as me. I change in one corner of the room, Grace changed in another. We walked down the stairs to find more than half of the kids already there.
     "James!" Brayden smiled as he saw me, a gave back a grin and sat next to him. Grace decided to sit next to Gavin. Something about him made me uneasy. But he made my sister happy, so I had to let it go. Brayden's brother, Peter, was looking at me like he was studying me.
      "Hi Peter." I said, hoping he might stop looking at me the way he was. He instantly looked away, and at his plate, afraid of me. I was so confused why. "Is everything ok?" I asked him. He moved his eyes from his plate to me.
"No." He answered. I raised my eyebrows to imply that I wanted to know what was wrong, "You."
"What?" I asked.
"You're what's wrong." He simply answered, then walked over to the corner of kids reading.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea what's gotten into him." Brayden said to me, watching his brother nervously. Peter walked back to the table with a book. The title read: "Fairy Tales".
"What's happening?" I asked Brayden, he shrugged, I looked at Peter. He flipped through the pages. He flipped to a group of pages that was empty, like it was waiting to be written in. He kept flipping pages, until he got to a page that had one word on it in the corner: "Captain".
"You're the Captain." Peter said like it was supposed to be obvious. I grabbed the book and looked at the page. I turned the page because I was so confused. I found one more word. When I combined these words, it would create the name I would go by for centuries.
"Like of an airplane? I still don't get it." I said, Peter grabbed the book and walked it back to the shelves.
"Me neither." Brayden looked scared for his little brother.
"Breakfast is served." June put pancakes and bacon on everyone's plate. I started eating, I was starving for some reason. Peter returned and started eating soon.
"What's that?" I asked as I noticed Peter's necklace. Peter shoved it under his shirt, acting like I was trying to steal it.
"It's a necklace our mother gave him before she gave us up. She said that is was extremely important that he got it." Brayden explained. I nodded, I looked at Simon, he was staring out the same window, leaning the same way.
"Simon!" I called for him. He looked my way then slightly grinned. He walked over and sat next to me. "Why do you keep looking through that window?" I asked him, his grin faded. He walked back over to the window and pointed to something. I walked over to the window and saw what he was pointing at. It was a restaurant that was called "The Mighty Pirate" and was shaped like a pirate ship. A woman walked out of the door. Simon gasped.
"How..?" He asked himself. I looked at the woman, she looked like she was looking for someone.
"Who is that?" I asked Simon. He just stared at the woman. He mumbled something I didn't understand.
"What?" I asked, he shook his head and looked at me like he had just seen a ghost.
"My mother. That woman is my mother." He said, then ran up the stairs and slammed his door. I looked out the window, the woman was still looking for someone. Then out of nowhere, a man showed up and they hugged.
"Simon!" I yelled. He peeked out of his room, "You need to see this." I said without looking away from the window. He walked down the stairs and came over to me. He looked out the window, and turned pale. "Is that your father?" I asked. He nodded slowly, like he had to let it sink in. We turned away from the window to find everyone staring at us.
"Is everything ok?" June asked us while walking over to us. I whispered to Simon and he ran out the front door. "Where is he going?!" June yelled. I shrugged. June fast-walked out the door, after Simon. I looked back out the window. I saw Simon's parents standing there, looking at the restaurant. I opened the window a crack and could hear what they were saying:
     "I made this for you. All the money I didn't need for Simon, I made this." The woman said. I couldn't believe how rude she is, she talked about Simon like he's an object, not her son. Speaking of which, Simon showed up.
     "Simon... is- is that you?" His mother asks. She looked like she didn't want him to be there.
     "Yes. I can't believe you. You opened a restaurant when you said you didn't have the money to take are of me. And you made it for him!" Simon yelled at his mother.
    "Hey, I didn't have money for you. That was until your father came back. He had enough money for you to go to college." She said, sternly.
"Then why didn't you try to find me? If he had that money, you could've found me. We could've been a family again. And don't you dare say that it was for my own good." He said, staring at his mother intently. June came from around the corner,
"Simon! Come inside now-." June said, Simon turned around and June noticed a tear had run down his cheek. "Hey, are you alright, darling?" She walked over and hugged him. He cried into her shoulder a little. Then turned back to his parents.
"This is the orphanage owner. She's not my mother, but she's the best mother I'll ever have." He said, then turned to walk back to the orphanage.
"You do not have to right to turn your back on your parents!" Yelled his father. Grace walked over to me,
"What's happening? Where's Simon?" She asked and looked out the window with me.
"Shh." I pointed down to where he was. Simon stopped and walked back to his father,
"The right? The right! You turned your back on me five years ago! You left me to be sitting here, waiting for a great family to come and want me. No one has ever wanted me! Not even my own parents! So you don't get to talk to me about turning my back on family!" He yelled and ran back around the corner. Everyone in the orphanage looked at the door, waiting for Simon to come through. He came in, he was crying but trying to hold it in.
Grace walked over to him and hugged his stomach. Simon isn't the tallest seventeen year-old. He hugged her back and cried. I walked over and hugged him too. Eventually, everyone hugged Simon.
"Are you alright?" Grace asked him after everyone let go. He wiped his tears and nodded,
"I am now. I've never felt like I've had a home. I've never felt like anyone cared about me." He said, staring at the ground.
"We care." Brayden noted, "We're all here for you. We all got put in here for a reason no one likes. And we're all here to help each other." He said, looking around. Everyone nodded.
"Thank you. I know that now. And I have more than just this weird family." He laughed and everyone let out a giggle, "I have a friend." He punched my arm lightly and I smiled. Everyone heard a crash and ran to the window to see what was happening. No one realized but June was still down there.
"I can't believe you did that to me! I told you I never wanted to see him again. Why didn't you tell me this restaurant was next to the orphanage? I trusted you to keep him away. You know I was a horrible mother on purpose! I didn't want him to meet Peter!" Everyone looked for Peter, we realized he wasn't there.
"Peter!" Brayden shouted for him. He came walking down the stairs,
"Yes?" He asked with a blank expression.
"Come see this." He said and made a place for Peter to stand and watch.
"Why not? He was going to sooner or later?" June fought back.
"Because I thought he would be chosen by a different family, one that would take him far from here." She said.
"Darling, it's not worth the fight." Simons father added.
"Yes it is. This is the future of our child we're talking about. Please don't tell me he's met James yet?" She asked. Everyone looked at me, I looked at Simon.
"How does your mother know who I am?" I asked. He shrugged, he was just as confused as I was. We looked back out at them.
"No. No, this can't be the way he lives. What about Grace? Brayden? The Darling kid?" Simons mother just kept naming the kids in the orphanage, "Hazel? Ava?"
"You just named almost all the kids in the orphanage."June said, looking a bit scared. Simons mother grabbed a rock and through it at the wall of the orphanage.
"You have got to be kidding me! Are James and Simon friends yet?" She asked. June nodded, "We can't stop it now. James is going to drag our Simon into a horrible life!" She said to Simon's father. He put his hand on his head and paced.
"You need to get rid of James." The father said strictly. The mother nodded.
"Or, you could get Simon back." June insisted.
"He would get suspicious, all he knows is that I am the worst mother in the world. I love Simon. He's smart, and kind. He would never hurt a soul even though we hurt him. He is a great kid. Please, cousin, protect him." She begged, then walked into the restaurant.
"Don't tell anyone I said this, but I hated having to be away from him. I wanted to watch him grow up. But I had no other way of getting money. And just so we're clear, I never hurt anyone while I was a pirate. Now, go take care of my son." Then he walked into the restaurant too. June took a deep breath, then started walking back here.
"What just happened?" Simon asked.
"All I know, is that we shouldn't let June know that we overheard her. Act normal, go back to playing and reading. Simon, I think we should talk upstairs." I said, everyone nodded.
"Aye aye captain." Brayden smiled then went back to playing. Me and Simon ran up the stairs, we heard June walk in the door,
"Hello kids. I'm sorry I was a while, dealing with family issues are difficult." She laughed and walked over to the kitchen and started to clean. We couldn't see anything but we heard the footsteps of someone walking over to her.
"What do you mean, family issues? Your family?" It was a voice I didn't recognize.
"Why is Peter asking her that?" Simon said. I tilted my head, trying to see if could see the kitchen. Which I found a way to.
"No, Simon's family. His parents are... let's just say troubled." She said, then went back to cleaning. Me and Simon climbed the rest of the stairs and went into my room.
"So... let me get this straight. June is the cousin of your mother, who knows about almost everyone in the orphanage and claims that because of me you will go down this horrible path and have a bad life? And along there that includes Peter, Brayden, Grace, Gavin, Hazel, Ava and me?" I asked. All he did was nod.
I had no idea, at the time, that everyone in this group of names were the best friend, the worst enemy, the future brother, and the woman I would grow to love, I had talked about in the first chapter. In the next, you'll find out who's who. And it's not who you expect, trust me.