Friends... Or more?

Chapter 15

I was restless that night and when the morning came I was almost relieved to be able to get up. I spent most of the night finishing my paler cranes and when I finally had 999 paper cranes, all with their own message inside, Levi's alarm went off and we both got up and silently got dressed. Before I could walk out the door Levi grabbed my arms and pulled me back into a tight hug. "I love you, never forget that..." Levi said in a low but strong voice and pulled away only enough to kiss me. Thoughts of yesterday filtered back into my head and I did my best to push them away. I kissed him back and took his hand as we walked downstairs to the doorway. Marco was at the door with Mrs.A and another man in a suit that was slightly taller than Marco. He had dark brown hair that was shaved up the back of his head and a mop of light brown hair on the top of his head. He stood close to Marco and clearly didn't want to be here. Mrs.A hands me my bag and reassures me that they will get me out of there as soon as possible before letting go of me. I look back at Levi and I almost burst out laughing at the glaring match going on between him and the new guy. He turns his attention to me and his expression softens so quickly it's like he is bipolar. He pulls me in for a hug and places a quick kiss on my temple before saying the same thing Mrs.A had. He slowly lets go of me and I say my goodbyes before I walk out of Levi's house and into the car.

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The drive to the orphanage was silent except for the occasional awkward cough or someone shifting in their seat. When we arrived I immediately regretted not running away. The building was old and gray with a bunch of kids in worn out or torn up cloths playing outside of it. They all stopped and stared at me when I got out of the car and when Marco and the new guy led me up to the entrance of the building there was complete silence. It was completely unsettling, even Marco looked very confused by the whole thing. The inside was just as drab as the outside and I soon found out that I was gonna be sharing a room with two other boys. "Well, this is the place..." The new guy said spreading out his arms as if showing off a luxurious room. "My name is Jean and I'll be showing you the ropes" he said in a disinterested voice. When Marco started walking away his eyes followed him and he leaned back as if he was gonna follow him, but stayed put. I found out from Jean that breakfast is 9:00 sharp, lunch is 2:00, and dinner is 6:00. If I missed a meal than too bad for me, and I could do whatever I wanted in the time between then. Visiting days are every Thursday and there is only one TV here and it's crappy. "Great" I thought, can this place get any worse? As soon as I thought that Jean left and two boys about my age walked in. One was shorter than me with a shaved head and crazed eyes, the other was a lot taller than me and was ripped. His hair was bright blond like Irvin's and there were muscles bulging out clearly through the thin shirt he was wearing.

"So, you're our new roommate?" The taller one asked in a really deep voice and I nodded hesitantly. They exchanged a look and grinned at me like maniacs. "Welcome to the orphanage!!" He said with a laugh and a slap on the back. I jolted forward from the force behind it which only made them laugh harder. My face flushed in embarrassment and I have the shorter one a nasty look. He rose an eyebrow at me as if to show I didn't intimidate him and I turned away annoyed to unpack my stuff. I froze up and hand to cover my mouth with my hand to hide my stupid smile when I saw a picture of Levi and I in the hospital. Mrs.A must have taken that when I wasn't looking. I didn't notice when they leaned over my shoulder to see what I was looking at until the short blond started cackling like a witch.

"Who is he?!?! Your boyfriend?!?" He said with a snicker. I turned around and stood up as tall as i could and put on an expression that would make Levi proud.

"Yeah, so what?" I said in a bored, uncaring voice that brought both of them up short. They exchanged a confused look before starting to walk towards the door.

"Better not tell Nick that..." The short boy mutters before they walk out of the room and close the door quietly behind them. "Yeah, this will be great..." I think to myself before flopping down on my bed and putting an arm over my face. The stress of it all consumes me and I turn over and put a pillow over my face to block out the sound of little kid laughing and playing. It didn't fit the scenario and it gave me chills to the extreme. The darkness calms me and I almost fall asleep but a loud bell stares me awake and I realize that it's time for lunch. My stomach clenches and a wave of nausea tells me lunch isn't a good idea, so I just lay on the bed and wonder what I can do. I realize with a start that I still have one paper crane to make and my heart leaps with excitement when I find that Mrs.S had packed my bag with a ton of origami paper and a few mechanical pencils. I carefully fold out the last paper crane and think long and hard about what I want my wish to be. After about ten minutes I write down my wish on the cranes wing and sigh at the stupidity of it. "I wish that I can make Levi happy" my one wish. All I can think of now that I'm alone is of him. How I react to him. How I need him. I feel like I'm going crazy and then suddenly another bell rings and it's dinner time. I frown at the noise and decide with a sigh that I should eat something. I walk down the hallway and try and ignore all the kids that are staring at me. Suddenly I realize that my bandages had come undone on my left arm and so some of my scars were peaking through. I saw a bathroom and walked towards it with a determined feeling. I got in and wasted no time in unraveling all of my bandages and throwing them away. I gave a quick look over of my arms and saw that they had all healed and now there are only thin white lines that stand out like a match in darkness against my tan skin. I smile briefly before stepping out of the bathroom and putting my hands in my pockets to show off my arms more. A little kid came up to me when I walked out of the bathroom and looked at my arms curiously.

"Why do you have these lines on your arms?" The boy asked in a small voice, as if he was nervous I would lash out at him. I knelt down on one knee and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Because I wasn't strong enough to fight my own monsters" I said with as much power as I could muster and his eyes widened with amazement. I stood up and walked into the dining area and grabbed the first thing I saw. I scarfed it down and quickly returned to my room. I felt tiredness pulling at me as soon as my head hit the pillow and I soon fell asleep.

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A week had gone by at the orphanage. It seemed like every day was the same thing, wake up, eat breakfast, lay in bed till dinner, eat dinner, go to sleep, and repeat. The only eventful things that had happened during this week is that Levi came and told me that they convinced Irvin's parents to adopt me and let them take care of me. The paper work is going through and I should be out of here within a few days. That happened, and the start of getting sick in the morning. It first happened a couple days ago. I woke up in the morning and new I felt off, it wasn't until the nausea hit me and I was sprinting to the bathroom that I realized the problem. I stayed in the bathroom until I stopped vomiting and dry heaving. I shakily got up and returned to the room cursing the food at this place. I later down in bed and slept until it was about dinner time. I woke up surprised that I had slept that long but went up to dinner and ate none the less. That was the pattern for the next few days and when Irvin's mother came and picked me up I thanked all of my lucky stars that I didn't have to stay in that hell hole anymore. She dropped me off at Mrs.A's house and she pulled me into a tight hug. I recounted all that had happened at the orphanage and she checked my temperature, concerned that I had been getting sick. When she saw that my temperature was normal she agreed with me that it must have been the food and left Levi and I to ourselves. It had only been a little while but it felt like an eternity to me. Levi held me in his arms and we just stayed like that for a while. Levi with his arms around my waist and me with my head in the nape of his neck. I couldn't imagine anything more perfect than this moment, but I later find out there definitely is...