Thorne Valley, NV

Chapter 1: And So It Begins

{Neo}

"Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...," we all collectively hold out the note, albeit incredibly out of tune.

Jax, per usual, beats out the rest of us at lung capacity by far. He's still singing for so long Bea has to shoot him a look and remark, "I would like to get a birthday wish in before the candles are mere puddles of wax, but that's just me."

He smiles and the, "You," turns into, "Yee," and then he cuts himself off with a laugh. She rolls her eyes and smirks, then closes them and takes a deep breath in preparation for the massive amount of air she'll need to blow out two candles. She opens her eyes and blows the already flickering flames out. We all clap.

"So, how's it feel to be a day older than you were yesterday?" I snarkily ask.

Bea smacks her hands to the sides of her face in mock shock. "It's. Magical. It feels like just yesterday I was 15, and now I'm already 16."

"Craaaaaaazy, man," Ravyn hops in with a grin.

Robyn rolls over on the grass and rests his chin on his hand. "So," he started with raised eyebrows, "whadja wish for, birthday b*tch?"

We all collectively groan.

"Robyn!" Ravyn berates her twin, "We've been over this!"

Ria clicks her tongue in a 'tsk tsk' manner. "Everyone knows if you tell someone your wish, it doesn't come true."

I gesture to the boulders surrounding the grassy clearing we currently sit in. "Which of these rocks have you been living under?"

A chorus of chuckles, eye rolls, and groans follows my joke, which is a little more than normal, so I would say I'm proud of that one.

Robyn makes an attempt to save himself with, "I was just wondering what more she has to wish for, since she already has everything she could ever need right here." He spreads his arms as if to air-hug us. He receives a tossed pebble to the chest, courtesy of Ravyn.

Bea retorts light-heartedly, "Yeah, I couldn't wish for a dad who doesn't hate me, or to not be bullied at school, nah. I have everything I need riiiiiight here." 

A collective, "Oooo," rises up from the group and Jax laughs, "Dang, Bea, way to lighten the mood."

She sits up on her knees and does a mock bow. "My pleasure."

The seven of us continue to joke and laugh amongst ourselves as we dig into Bea's cake. Her usual favorite, red velvet, wasn't in stock, but we enjoy the carrot cake anyway. At one point, I thought I saw something in the trees, but I'm pretty sure it was just my mind playing tricks on me. It also might've been hair in my eyes. As much as I try to ignore my foster mom, Helen, when she talks about getting me a haircut, my long black mop does get in the way more than I'll admit.

All too soon it's time to go home or risk breaking curfew. Another day lost to the slowly slipping summer and the ever sooner school year, as Ria puts it. I don't know how she can come up with things like that so effortlessly. I can't write poetry for jack-squat, but her words dance on the page like nothing you've ever seen.

Bea and Ria are the first to leave, as the orphanage is much stricter than any of our foster parents. After that, the rest of us drift off with casual waves and, "See you tomorrow"s until Kiya and I are left to walk home together. We didn't used to be very close, she just kind of showed up one day and joined the group. I think she might have been friends with one of Robyn's exes? Wait, she might have been brought in by Ria. Who knows, it was forever ago. Anyway, I'm glad she was adopted by my neighbors, or I probably never would have gotten to know her.

"Hey, you can see Cygnus tonight," Kiya marvels. Her gaze is locked to the sky.

"...Which one is that again?"

She sighs in mock exasperation. "The swan, Neo. Cccygnus is the ssswan."

"Right. I'll remember next time."

"No you won't." She rolls her eyes and gives me a half-smile of amusement. She's been trying to teach me the constellations for two to three months now, and none of it has stuck. "Is Ally going to give me another lecture about the ethics of doll-playing soon?"

Kiya laughs, fondly remembering her adopted sister's half hour monologue, too. "Well, she's been learning about the phases of the moon in school, so you might get one about that."

"Oh, delightful, because I enjoyed the last one sooo much. I was just itching for Round Two." I can practically hear Alena's little voice echoing in my head. "Has she ever shown interest in being a college professor? Or maybe a politician?"

"Currently, I believe ballerina and astronaut are at the top of the list, but I'll see what I can do."

We reach her house first, and as she walks in the door, her dad calls to me, "Thirteen seconds until curfew, Neo, better run!"

I grin and wave, then break into an exaggerated slo-mo jog through their yard and enter my own door half a minute after 9:00. 

Helen yells from the dining room, "You're cutting it closer every day, hon!" as I slip off my high-tops.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I grab a plate off the island and start loading it with food. I almost forgot it's taco night. As I join them at the table, their conversation ceases as Helen looks at me with a weird expression on her face. It confuses me until I realize she's looking at my hair. "Dude, I'm not getting my hair cut."

She sighs, "I know..."

Pete cuts in, "So, what we were talking about before you got here..." He looks to Helen, but she gestures for him to continue. "How would you feel about us being more than a foster family?"

The gears start whirring in my head, but it isn't clicking yet. "What do you mean?" I ask with a mouth full of chicken and taco.

"What would you think about adoption?"

I choke and Pete pats my back as I cough. Once I get my lungs back in working condition, I reply, "Are you for real?"

They share a glance, and Helen says slightly hesitantly, "Well, we've been fostering you for what, five years now? We think it'd be appropriate." Then she continues more rapidly, "And even though at first, you were maybe a slight bit a way to cope with our loss of Jace, you've grown to be so much more. You're a second son to us now. And, we'd like to make it official, if that's alright with you."

Pete puts his hands over Helen's and adds with a gentle smile, "You certainly wouldn't have to, kiddo, but we wouldn't stop you if you wanted to call us Mom and Dad."

I feel tears come to my eyes, and I do my best to blink them away. "This isn't a joke, right?"

"Of course not." Helen reaches for my hand and I let her grab it. "We'll give you time to think over it."

I look at them and a grin forms on my lips. "I don't have anything to think about."

Helen's eyes get all squinty like they normally do when she's trying not to cry. "Are you absolutely sure? This is a big deal."

"I'm sure."

She claps her hands excitedly, then gets up and pulls me into a hug. "I'll text the case worker!" she exclaims and hurries upstairs.

I sit down to finish my tacos and Pete ruffles my hair, then follows Helen out, saying "I'll help her. Night, kiddo."

Once I'm done, I finish my chores and head to my room. I flop down on my bed and put in the group chat to meet at the spot after breakfast tomorrow. After turning the fan on and the lights off, I plug my phone in to charge overnight and tuck myself in. A few minutes later, I see the door open and pretend to be asleep. Helen comes in, sits down next to me, combs her fingers through my hair for a little bit, and then leaves. I've never been tucked in, except maybe from before I could remember at the orphanage, and I've never felt the need to be, but it seems like a nice thing now. Imagine that, at seventeen, I'd be wanting the same things every six year old claims they're "too old" for. I fall asleep with that thought and a smile on my face.