Halos

New beginning

It's my 18th birthday, most girls my age would throw a party with their friends or go out and celebrate the "freedom" they've been waiting for. In my case, that "freedom" means I won't have a place to live anymore, I'm coming of age which means I can't stay at the orphanage anymore. Mrs. Bells

She called me a few days earlier to give me the contact of a friend of hers who could help me with a maid job at a hotel, starting from today, and I can't really complain most of the kids who leave here have nothing. Mrs. Bells did a lot for me, like the other people who work here, she was the one who found me on a bench near the orphanage when I was one year old, I didn't have any identification just a little bracelet with the name Alice W engraving and my date of birth on the back.

I don't have any memories about my childhood but I have had several times a dream where I hear someone playing a melody on a piano, but I can't identify the song, when I feel that the tune becomes clearer, it is replaced by the voices of some men arguing, I always wake up before understanding what they are arguing about, but it gives me the feeling that it is about me. I got up from my bed trying not to make too much noise so as not to wake up the other girls, although the springs of my old mattress could wake up the whole orphanage. I took the blue dress that one of the cooks, Mrs. Mass, the kitchen manager gave me the night before, She told me it was a gift from everyone who works here, it was her idea and Mr. Brunett, the janitor, who helped her collect the money, this is the first time I will wear something new, all the clothes I wear are donated and we have to share them with others. When I go out into the hallway it is completely empty, judging by the little light coming in through one of the windows, it is at least an hour to sunrise, which will give me time to pack my things, it shouldn't take long, but I didn't want to be late on the first day of work so I headed for the big oak door at the end of the corridor, I tried to open it as slowly as possible to keep the noise down but the old beams corroded by time and the humidity caused a loud squeak, I could hear the groan coming from the nearest room. I debated if I should wash my hair, it was too cold, but I didn't know until when I could wash it again so I took off the rubber that was holding it, I tried to untangle it a little bit without much success, I always had very wavy hair which makes it easy to get tangled, I took a quick shower, as I guessed it the water was extremely cold, I went out and rushed to put on my dress, my teeth didn't stop shaking until I got to the room again.

Emily one of the girls I share the room with, was sitting on the bed waiting for me with a brush in her hand, she is the only one I could call my friend, not that I was not social, I was relating to almost everyone, I just would rather not get attached to anyone. And that's how it was almost always until about seven months ago when Emily arrived, her parents and older sister died in a car accident and she didn't have any family members to take responsibility for her, she didn't talk to anyone for a month until one day she heard me playing the old piano in the basement.

It had been brought in years before I arrived but no one had been interested in taking lessons so it had been left in the basement, it was missing some keys ,but I had insisted for months to Miss Priest, one of the teachers, to repair it and teach me to play, I was seven years old by then, over the years I had become quite good.

Emily came down to listen to me almost every day, I had offered to teach her but she had told me that she only liked to listen, that her older sister did it and reminded her of her, she only came down to listen to me play and at night she loved to practice her hairstyles on me, I felt a little guilty for leaving her but Emily just turned twelve and there is no way I can take care of her outside of this place.

I took the towel out of my hair and sat down on the wooden floor, Emily started to untangle it with a lot of patience.

-I don't understand why you have to leave- -Emily spoke suddlenly surprising me by her tone of voice , she never raised her voice.