~Chapter 3~
"So. Tired," I mumbled.
So far I had mopped the floor, done the laundry, made beds, done the dishes, and what time is it you ask? 8:30 AM! At the orphanage the older kids always get the most chores.
The younger kids like Taylor have to go to daycare. We didn't have to go to daycare because we were older, so I haven't got a chance to give Taylor her files yet.
So far Ms. Olga hasn't noticed I'm out of the outhouse. Then again, I guess she doesn't notice anything unless you break her rules.
I sat down on the cold tile floor I just cleaned, and leaned on the mop. My foot fell asleep and I closed my eyes. I felt my whole body kind of relax. Then I felt someone kick me. "Ow!" I screamed, "Who did that?"
I looked up and saw Stacie. Ms. Olga's favorite, and my least favorite.
She was unfairly pretty and perfect. She had blond curls, bright red bee stung lips, eyes that were more blue than the sky, a dainty nose, and size negative-two skinny jeans. But the thing that bothered me the most was not that she was prettier than me, I honestly didn't care, it was that she had never broken a single one of Ms Olga's rules in front of her.
It was like she never had single drop of rebellion in her.
"Someone's tired this morning," she said in her prissy high pitched voice, "did you stay up all night trying to be popular?"
I glared at her, "Oh, hey Stacie. Girl, those skinny jeans must be cutting off your circulation. Your feet are the color of an eggplant."
"It's called nail polish twerp, you should try it some time," Twerp? Really? Wow she must have not even been trying.
"Sorry, I don't want anything that would make my feet look like," I Looked her up and down "that." I loved insulting her, it was so fun.
"Whatever, have fun mopping the floor loser." She kicked the bucket of dirty water in my direction, but her hot pink high heels didn't kick it hard enough, making it splash all over her.
"Ahh!" she screamed in the most high pitched voice I had ever heard.
"Well, the water certainly is an improvement from before! It brings out your dishwater hair." I said grinning.
I was so awesome. She snarled at me with hatred in her perfectly blue eyes. "I'll get back at you for this Amy, just wait."
"Hey, I didn't do anything! You're the one who was trying to kick a bucket of dirty water at me, I simply sat down." I put on my best innocent face, and threw my hands up.
She stormed away angrily. Mission accomplished.
At the end of the day, I could barely hold my eyes open. How do some people stay up all night, and then act perfectly normal when it's time to work? I just didn't understand that.
Taylor came to the room later than usual. She appeared to be happy, she had a big smile on her face and her pigtails were hopping up and down along with her.
"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" I asked casually as I always do.
"Pretty good," she said, "I made a new friend... but I forgot her name. I'll ask her again tomorrow."
Her eyes opened wide, she remembered last night. "Amy! Oh my gosh I forgot to ask. Did you get your files?"
"No," I said, trying my best to fake a sad face, and not crack up in the process of doing so. Her face changed and she looked down.
"I'm sorry Amy." She said.
"I didn't get mine, but I got yours!" Her face lit up again and she started jumping up and down.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She screamed happily, "Let me see!"
I unfolded the packet while laughing and showed it to her. We flipped through it and stopped at a letter.
"Wait," she said. I looked up at her. "What if they gave me up because they didn't love me?"
This broke my heart beyond words. I searched my mind for some comforting, infinite knowledge that would blow her mind but all that came out was:
"There's only one way to find out". Then I began reading the letter.
Dear Ms. Olga,
Please take care of Taylor for us. She is a perfect, smart, beautiful girl however we do not have enough money to take care of her. Please give her the pictures and her papers when she turns 5 year old. We want her to know that we love her and still do. We would appreciate it if you brought her to visit us, you have our address.
Sincerely and solemnly, Mr. and Mrs. Green.
Ps. Our address is 12, Park Place, San Francisco.
I stopped reading and looked up at Taylor. Her eyes we misty, and she was smiling a sad smile. Her parents haven't given her up because they didn't love her, they wanted to keep her, they just couldn't.
How could Ms. Olga do this? She was 7 she was supposed to receive her files 2 years ago! But that, that witch... ugh! I was so mad! When was I supposed to receive my files?
"Amy, your face is red are you okay?" Said Taylor looking up at me with a concerned look on her face. That made me more mad. She was such a sweet girl, I couldn't leave her here alone while I ran to who knows where. Then I got an idea.
"Yeah I'm okay, do you want to go on an adventure with me and a friend? It would be fun and we'd get to go far far away from this place," I paused for a second, "I bet we could even find your parents."
"Oh my gosh YES! When do we leave?" She screamed happily.
"Right after I get my files."
She smiled and jumped up and down so much that one of her pigtails fell out. It took me a while to get her to go to sleep after that, but when she did, I fell into bed and slept like a rock.
