Always

one

LUNA

I frowned, my eyes flitting up to the clock for the tenth time in the past five minutes. According to Ms. Elizabeth, who was sitting across from me with an irritated expression on her wrinkled face, the Hudson family should have been here about half an hour ago. But as the clock ticked away, there was no sign of them anywhere. No call. No message. Nothing.

My heart was racing and with each passing second, my head managed to come up with a new horrible possibility as to why they hadn't arrived by now. And each and every one of those thoughts revolved around one painfully comforting statement which had been filling my head ever since I stepped into the four walls of the office: Maybe they didn't want me anymore.

As much as I was desperate to leave this excuse of an orphanage, something in me just wasn't willing to greet the concept of a new beginning with open arms. The thought of moving in with a family who I knew nothing about, who were nothing but mere strangers to me, wasn't the most appealing and comforting thought.

"Well, I guess they aren't going to show up." Elizabeth croaked, voicing what I had been dreading—yet hoping—to hear and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.

It didn't matter that I wasn't very open to the idea of change, of being part of a new family. As much as I would have loved to run and hide from all of this, the thought of being rejected was like a slash to my heart.

Being in an orphanage meant you had to either get used to the idea of getting constantly pushed away and rejected or let those emotions consume both your heart and sanity. But it didn't mean that either one of those were easy, no matter how common it got.

I frowned, staring down at my hands in my lap and noticed the blood pooling in them. I had absentmindedly dug my nails into my palms. Wiping my hands on my jeans to get rid of the blood, I looked back up to see the head caretaker stand up from the chair she was seated in, the legs screeching against the wooden floor and I cringed at the sound.

I licked my lips nervously as she stared at me with a pitiful look. "I'm sorry, Luna."

But she wasn't. She was not sorry that I hadn't gotten a home. She was sorry that she would have to spare another bed under her roof for me again.

I nodded,nonetheless and opened my mouth to respond with a well-taught 'it's okay' but the words died in my throat. The white door of the office swung open, crashing against the wall behind it just as a frantic pair rushed in.

I immediately stood up from my chair—a little too fast. My hand shot out to balance it back into place so it didn't crash against the floor. Slowly, the frown on my face disappeared, replaced with a surprised expression as I stared at the couple before us.

"I am so sorry, Elizabeth. We ran into a little issue on our way here. We didn't mean to be this late." The lady spoke up quickly, running a hand over her dress to smooth the already perfect material.

"It's completely fine, Mrs. Hudson. No need to worry." A wide smile was plastered onto Elizabeth's face as she turned to me. "Luna, this is-"

"Jane." The lady politely cut Elizabeth off, a beautiful smile etched onto her red lips as her warm brown eyes met mine. "And this is my husband, Andrew."

She pointed next to her where a guy with dark blond hair stood, a wide, yet nervous grin on his face. "Hello, Luna."

"Hello." I spoke up, forcing a small smile of my own. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gave them a nod. "It's nice to meet you."

"Well I'll go fetch a couple last minute papers you both need to sign. Meanwhile you can get to know our Luna a little more." And with that Elizabeth made her way out of the office, shutting the door behind her.