Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 16

 I sit across from Caleb, who is looking at me. I look back. It is like we are daring each other. I smile, and he looks away, a grin making its way across his face.

We sit in silence, not saying a word. I am afraid that I will say something to ruin this moment, so I say nothing. Whistling wind fills my ears, and the quiet chirp-chirp-chirp of the chickadee soothes my brain. Warm air from the open window engulfs me. It's turning spring already. The warm breeze fills my lungs and rustles my hair ever so slightly.

One sound breaks the silence.

One sound that will ruin our lives.

Just one sound.

And we are torn apart.

The creak of the opening door. The low voice of a police officer saying, "Emma. You'll have to come with us." The feeling of being jerked to my feet. My strangled screams of agony piercing the air. Caleb yelling, "What happened? What are you doing to her? Get your hands off her!"

I wonder what I deserve to feel this pain. Not the physical pain of my arm, chest, and leg though that hurts, too. The emotional pain of hurting Caleb even more than I already have. I can't stop screaming and struggling against the strong arms of the policemen. Their fingernails cut into my flesh, making blood ooze. Am I going to jail?

They jerk me into a police car. The car roars to life, and a booming siren cuts through what was once peaceful silence.

After minutes of terrible waiting, we pull into a parking lot. A building at the front of the lot has a sign that reads:

Adoption center

Adoption Center? Why am I going there?

I remember something that feels like a dream.

My parents are dead, and I'm only sixteen.

The policemen park and wrench me out of the car. They drag me into the monstrous building and walk up to a lady behind a desk. The lady has blondish hair that is becoming white and gray glasses at the tip of her nose. She has a sign at the edge of the desk saying:

Mrs. Frances Jupe

"We've got another one, Frances. Fourteen, it looks like. Lost both parents. Unlucky one," one of the policemen says.

"Thank you. I'll take her from here," Mrs. Jupe says.

"I'm sixteen!" I protest.

"Shut up," Mrs Jupe snaps. She smacks my face. My cheek stings from the impact.

"But-" I start.

"I said shut up," she snaps. "First lesson you learn from me is to do what I tell you to right away." She holds me by my ear as she pulls me into a room. She throws me to the ground. There are about ten girls already in this room, most of them working, some of them napping. Their ages range from seven to seventeen. About four of them are seventeen, and those seventeen-year-olds are all clustered in a corner whispering and sweeping. Mrs. Jupe walks away. No one offers to help me up. After a few seconds of staring at the other kids, one girl of about eleven walks over to me and kneels by me.

"Hi!" she says in a high, perky voice. "I'm Kayla! If you need some help around here, I'm your right-hand man! Oops! I meant girl!" She giggles. Then, all of a sudden, a serious look replaces her happy one as she leans in close to my face. "Just so you know, that group of seventeen-year-olds over there," she points to the girls I saw earlier, "are really mean. They are big bullies!" I look at them, and they look at me. They have a certain look that shouts, "I am the boss, and I know that I am amazing!" All of them are amazingly beautiful. What looks like the "leader" has big, beautiful blue eyes that look so innocent. She has bronze hair that flows halfway down her back. She looks exactly like a model. I am jealous for just a second, but then I realize that I have Caleb, and she doesn't. I smile and get up.