Walking Down A New Path- One Direction Short Story

Just A Dreary Day

The pitter patter of the immense rain is an all too familiar sound floating through my ears, traveling through my mind, and paining my already stitched heart. Looking around the rooms, and areas in the orphanage brings back too many painful memories of my former life, or lives. Do you know the myth of 'a cat lives approximately nine lives'? Well, it feels as though I have lived 22. I have gone from one home to another, and I always end back up at this dreary and dreadful hell. The previous families took a glance at me, my folder, my history, and they instantly felt an immense amount of remorse. They felt as though I needed to feel love, have those short, but meaningful and tight hugs, but the sad thing is, none of those families provided it. Not even my biological parents. My mum was always too high to care for me. My father? He left when I popped out, not daring to give a damn about anyone but himself. I guess he couldn't handle the stress of having a daughter, and living with a stoned whore. You see, when I was 2, my mum left me on the door step of the New Beginnings Orphanage here in West London. 11 years, 3 months, 1 week, and 2 days have passed since that day. I have left my mark on 21 homes, and each one has left it's mark on me. Now, my life is a waiting game. Essentially waiting for that one, or multiple special people to come around and recognize my trials and tribulations, but one that will still find a way to show me love and give me the life that I have always wanted and deserved. I just want someone that will provide unconditional love that a family is supposed to and permitted to provide. However, to be honest, dreams don't always come true. Some are nightmares, that you want to be reversed or changed so they fit your specifications of perfection that also fit into the ones that reality make and follow. But, I guess people just can't realize or don't want to admit that perfection does not exist in the reality that exists; life.

"Arabella!" the voice of my roommate Elizabeth standing in the doorway of our bunk, woke me from my writing session in my diary. "Yes Elizabeth?" I yelled, clearly frustrated from the disruption. "Mrs. Higgin's wants you downstairs." Elizabeth responded cheerfully as she ran, more like skipped down the wooden staircase. I closed my diary and climbed out of bed, squatting down on the cherry oak floor and stuffing it under my bunk to it's original hiding place. The only person that has ever known of my diary is Elizabeth. No, she hasn't read anything in it, but she is aware of it's necessary existence. After pushing it back farther into the dusty corner, I continued to push myself out of the doorway, and down the stairs, careful not too make too much noise from the constant creaking. When I reached the last step, I peeked around the corner and noticed Mrs. Higgins sitting in her office with her wire glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. Her wrinkles have become more defined from stress, and her gray hair becoming more shiny from age. Mrs. Higgins was the first person that ever showed me love, and showed me how a child was expected to live their life. Through all of the homes, and the constant moving, she is the only person that has kept me grounded. Through my worst times, and also my best, Mrs. Higgins was the only person there to pick me up on my feet and teach me right from wrong, and I have yet to thank her. "Good afternoon Mrs. Higgins, you wanted me?" I said politely as I sat down in the chair across from her frail, nimble body. "Yes dear, I have some exciting news for you." She responded as she closed my nilla folder stacked high with paperwork, most likely from my other families. My name was printed at the very top, with a yellow sticky note also placed crisply next to my lengthy name. "I have found a perfect fit for you! They would really like to meet you, and have been awaiting this day for a very long time!" Mrs. Higgins added, exaggerating a hint of excitement to convince me of the bright side in the situation. My face sunk towards my lap, and my thumbs found each other underneath the table. "Mrs. Higgins, I do not mean this in any way as disrespect, but Everytime you find a new family that is interested in me, you always use the term 'perfect fit', when in reality, they were nowhere near perfect. More like the exact opposite. I am perfectly happy here, and I can't see myself anywhere else. So please, quit trying to find the 'perfect fit' for me; they aren't anywhere near here." I said, still keeping my head dangled towards the brown, wood floor. By the end of my speech, Mrs. Higgins was by my side, with her index finger under my chin. "Arabelle, please give this a chance. I promise you, this time you will find joy and happiness in the situation. They will love you unconditionally, and I know that's your dream. Just please, I think I have found the right people, you just have to let your guard down and open up, because if you don't, you will never find the right family." Mrs. Higgins' speech officially had the tears streaming out of my ocean blue eyes, and down my defined cheek bones. Every tear marked the different emotions floating through my mind, and all of the questions that I pondered in my brain. I turned away from Mrs. Higgins so she couldn't see my tears, even though she has seen and wiped them thousands of times before. "Please Arabelle, let's go meet them" Mrs. Higgin's stated, pulling my chair out from the table. She grabbed my hand and led me out of the white doorway, and into the formal sitting room. I trudged my feet and counted the exact number of steps. I reached 31 before I was pulled to an abrupt stop. There before my eyes were 5 tall figures with their back to my face, laughing at an apparent joke, while some were sipping lightly on a glass of tea. Mrs. Higgins cleared her throat to catch the attention of the gathered guests. I could feel 6 pairs of eyes fixed on my head. With my head still facing the carpeted floor, it felt as though 6 people were staring into my soul, trying to figure my emotions, and my exact feelings of the moment, frozen, surrounding me. I finally looked up and saw 5 boys sitting on the raggety couch, taking in my features with smiles agape along their face. My mouth stayed in a perfectly straight line, trying to analyze the given situation in front of my face.

"Hello love, what is your name?" The curly haired boy spoke first, putting all of his attention on me and my answer. My invisible guard came up and officially protected me from the 5 strangers. I turned my head to face in the direction of where Mrs. Higgins' figure once stood, but I was disappointed to find her not standing next to me. I turned back around and faced the five figures once again. I stood tall and confidently as I answered the question thrown at me. "My name is Arabella. Arabella Dawn." The boys smiled once more and ushered me to sit in front of them. An action that felt confusing considering I was the person that has lived here. After taking a seat on the old, ripped couch, I was again dodging the never ending questions. My guard still remained alarmed, just waiting for the wrong question to pop out of one of the boys mouth. But, it never did. They were all genuine people that accepted me, even though things weren't even official, I just felt for the first time in my life that I was wanted. Before, I wouldn't know the feeling of being wanted, of even the feeling of love if it hit me right between my very own eyes like a big yellow school bus. But this... This was new, and a feeling I could get most definitely get used to.