Adopted By Grayson Dolan

Chapter One: Plus One

It's not often that Miss. Violet lets us go out to events, let alone the kids that are under ten. Luck for me, this year, I will be ten in the next few months. However, today was different. Everyone wanted to go to this event that was being held for the Dolan Twins fans. Almost every girl in the orphanage has heard about them, even those who try not too. Miss. Violet, breaking her normal code, was willing to let us all go. Most of the girls were beyond excited, I was more so nervous. Because of us being with an orphanage, we were allowed to get a group of meet and greet tickets- meaning, I was going to meet the twins in person. I didn't know how that was going to go. I had so many things to tell them and I didn't know if they were going to believe me or not. Part of me hoped that they would, but there was another part of me, saying they wouldn't.

I was dropped off to Miss. Violet when I was four. I was a troublesome four year old, like most four year olds, but for some reason, she never liked me. Some days were worse than others; no food or being verbally abused by her. It was something I had to put up with for five years. I never said anything to the parents, whom had thought about adopting me. It was always made to be a subject that I mentioned later on in first couple weeks at my new house. However, like most of the adoptions, they all fell through. The parents became uninterested in me or they liked one of the other girls better. I was always fine with it. However, I didn't know if I was going to be fine with telling a complete stranger my entire life story. Or just the parts that were important.

When we arrive at the theater, many of the girls are gossiping about their photo ops. My only friends are at home, waiting for me to come back to talk about my experience. Many of the girls ignore me, as if I wasn't there. A girl, I considered a friend of mine, walks over to me. She was a few years older than me, but she was always willing to look out for me when Miss. Violet went on her ranging fits.

"How are you feeling, Willow? Nervous? Excited? I'm feeling both right now. I can't believe that I actually get to hug the Dolan Twins." Tara speaks, fairly fast. She speaks that way when she's really nervous or excited about something.

"I'm not sure. I have a lot I want to say to them, but not enough time to say it."

"You know Miss. Violet's rules. Anything that happens in the orphanage, stays in the orphanage. We all know that. The girls, who have broken it before, got severely punished. It's not worth you getting in unnecessary trouble for." Tara reminds me as the meet and greet line starts to get moved inside.

"Yeah, you're right." I purposefully fall behind and I let myself become the last member of the group we were in. If I was going to get a chance to tell the boys what was going on in the few short seconds I had, I was going have to be last in the line. That way, I had no one to snitch on me when the time came to head back home. I hold the letter that was buried in my pocket. It went more into depth about what was going on and where I was at. I knew that it was risky, but I didn't care. Someone needed to know and someone needed to stop it.

Miss. Violet does a count on us as the last group of girls, who actually bought meet and greet tickets, go through. She stops on me, sighing before walking back up towards the front. I seen Cameron, the Twins' older sister, as well as their mother, Lisa. They both smile and wave at the group of us. Miranda starts off the group, with Irene to follow, and then Amber. I lost track of how many girls we'd gone through, but by the time I came back to reality, I was the last person in the room. Ashley was talking to Ethan, while Grayson's eyes were wandering the room. He looked bored, I could tell. My heart was beginning to race, but the moment that Lisa rested a hand on my back, the silent touch, telling me that I could move forward, halted the steady beating of my heart. I walked up to the boys, making Grayson smile at me. He crouches down, wrapping his arms around my body. I hug him back, the crumpling of paper in my pocket reminding me of what needed to be said.

"Hi, Sweetheart. What's your name?" Ethan asks as he crouches down next to Grayson.

"M-My name is Willow." I glance at the door that the others had left through. I had to say this now.
"Do you have an idea on what you want for your photo?" Grayson asks, his voice soft.

I shake my head which makes both of the boys smile. Together, they lift me up and each kiss one side of my cheek. I smile, making sure my arm is looped around both of their necks. Lisa looks at me, an eyebrow raised. I'm sure the bruise on my forearm is a bit alarming, but I don't want her to worry. When the photo is taken, the boys set me down.

"Grayson?" My mouth moves faster than the rest of me thinks. "I have to tell you something." I reach of the note in my pocket. My heart is beating fast and I can't tell if I should do this. "Miss. Violet, the lady who brought me and the other girls, she's not nice. Nowhere near it. We're restricted in telling you what has been happening to us, but someone has to know. She hurts us." My voice is small.

"Hurts you?" Ethan's all ears now. "How does she hurt you?"

I don't say anything more as I stuff the note in Grayson's hand. My bruise on my arm is showing, making them both frown. Miss. Violet is standing in the doorway, a scowl on her face. I can tell she's mad, but I'm not sure about what. I hope that she didn't hear me tell them.

"Let's go, Willow." She grabs my arm. "Silly little kids. Their bruises that they get from playing outside. Thank you guys again."

Miss. Violet yanks me out of the room. She doesn't say a thing as she leads me to my seat. I can tell by the angriness in her face, that she didn't hear the conversation, but she only seen that they were staring at the bruise that was visible on my forearm. I look over at Tara, who is still excited about her selfie that she got with each of the boys. I can't help but replay the questioning looks that the boys had on their faces.

Grayson

"Gray, you can't possibly believe that." Cameron was being a bit snobby after the last girl left. I can't stop thinking about how truly terrified she sounded as she spoke to me and Ethan, quietly. "She's a little kid. Little kids get things confused all the time."

"Nothing like this. This is abuse we're talking about Cameron. If this little girl is getting abused, what's saying that the rest of them aren't? We have to do something." Ethan protests against our eldest sister.

I don't actively put myself in their conversation. I don't want to in it. I was too busy looking down at the note in front of me. It was a nine year old, hand writing, sure, but I was still able to makeout every word. No one should be put through something like this, especially not a little child like Willow.

"Grayson, both you and Ethan have to promise me that you will let this go. You've heard crazier stories from fans. There is nothing evident that points to abuse. Anything."

"You seen the bruise too, Mom. I could see the horrified look in your face." I snap, not able to hold back my anger. "You're really believing Miss. Violet's story of her "only being a kid"? I find it a bunch of crap. No child should ever have to go through this."

"Grayson, you have a show to put on. You are not doing anything about this, got it? You will put this show on, go home and stay home until tomorrow. We have dinner at eight. Don't forget this time boys." My mother says, simply leaving the room moments later.

The show ends fairly early that night. Ethan and I are beyond exhausted. It was only six-thirty, but it was feeling like midnight. Ethan climbs into his car and leaves the parking lot fairly quickly. I look down at the letter in my hand, smiling.

"Looks like dinner tomorrow night is going to be a plus one."

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Would you look at that? It's Mack's newest book of 2019. I actually wrote Chapter 1 and 2 within an hour of each other. I'm currently working on chapter 3 and I have some things planned for this book. I promise, to any who had read my Adopted By R5 book, it won't be as confusing as that.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and I'm really looking forward to reading the comments and writing more for you guys.

As a side note, I haven't read any of the Adopted By the Dolan twins books. I avoided reading any until after I got some ideas for my own. Lemme know if you have a Dolan book you want me to read and I just might!!

-Mack