Changing the Future

Chapter 1

I found myself running home from school that day, my bullies chasing after me until I reached Hibiscus Road, deciding to magically disappear as I neared the crossing guards. I slowed my run to a walk, cringing in disgust as I pulled pieces of gum and spit balls from my dark curls, thrown there no doubt by Holly and Carol, the biggest tormentors in my life.

I ignored the signs that were taped onto my backpack, ripping them off and throwing them into a nearby trash can as I walked by the village bakery without reading any of the nasty comments on them. Mrs. Silva, the nice old lady who owned the bakery, waved as I passed by, and I couldn't help but return the gesture as she was the closest thing I had to a grandma.

You see, I was an orphan, abandoned in a cardboard box on the steps of the Stetson Orphanage for Girls. From Mrs. Stetson's guess, I was left when I was around six months old, but luckily for me, the hospital bracelet that had been attached to my ankle was still there, and she was able to find out more information about me.

Apparently, my father had died from a drug overdose, and my mom was incarcerated for being caught drug dealing. I guess she thought leaving me in an orphanage would give me a better life than living on the run with her.

But, come on, she didn't leave me so much as a token to remember her by, unlike the other girls I lived with. They all had something they came in with, whether it be their childhood blanket or stuffed animal, a photograph, a letter, or even a family heirloom like their favorite Christmas ornament. And then there was me, the outcast even amongst a group of orphans.

Everything I owned came to me through Mrs. Stetson, who treated me like her own daughter as she had raised me. According to her, I was the only girl in the orphanage who had been abandoned as a baby, the rest of the girls ending up in the home through the death or the incapability of their parents.

Of course, this opened me up to a whole new wave of attacks, especially from the new girl, Kathleen, who gave me one look and decided I was the scum of the earth. I'd constantly find the remains of her pranks in my stuff: bugs in my bedsheets, superglue in my conditioner, marker lines defacing the paint on my walls, and the like.

Kathleen had ended up in the orphanage after her parents had died in a plane crash. Although they were super rich, something had gone wrong with their private jet's engines, and it went down in the middle of the Pacific. A month later, a sailor off the coast of Hawaii said he found some remains of a plane, causing a police investigation. Within a week, the plane was deemed to be the same one that had been destined to take Mr. and Mrs. Fredrickson to their getaway in Japan, leaving Kathleen an orphan. None of her relatives wanted to take her in; I understood why.

I eventually reached my home, punching in the four digit passcode that opened the black iron gates leading into the garden in front of the building.

The orphanage wasn't brand new, but it wasn't falling apart at the seams either. The building itself was four stories high and painted dark green with white trim around the windows and doors, giving it a welcoming appearance. In front of the house, we had a garden that Rebecca, Jade, and I took care of. Each of us had a different plot of land, in where we were allowed to grow anything we wanted with the exception that the plants closest to the iron gates had to be some type of flower.

Rebecca decided to grow hydrangeas, Jade chose peonies, and I chose zinnias, giving the garden a very asymmetrical vibe. Behind our prized flowers, we grew the fruits and vegetables that we ate, cutting back on the costs of running an orphanage greatly. That meant that Mrs. Stetson could take us out into the city every once in a while and have enough money for the thirty of us to go watch a movie or to order in pizza from Mr. Diaz's pizzeria from down the street. It also meant she gave each one of us an allowance of five dollars a week.