The Shifters: Katrina

Rain soaked my hair, dripping down my face in ways that were more annoying than I could describe. Other students shivered as they walked through the downpour, most of them climbing into buses or cars. There were maybe three other students who sighed and began walking in the direction of their home, all of them looking sullen as their clothes grew transparent from the rain. We all wore uniforms, the mark of being a student of Hill Preparatory. The town of Greenhill was quiet and peaceful, but filled with snobs who had houses bigger than most stores. I lived on the other side of the town from the school, where the large mansions gave way to aesthetic, but small, homey bungalows and two-story houses built into the forest. Despite having one of the smaller properties, I couldn't have loved it more. It brought me back down to earth after my anger would build up all day. I had never had any level of tolerance for the people in Greenhill. The adults would purposely get me into trouble, and their rotten children were worse.

To put it simply, I hated it here. My entire family of six did.

Two parents, both working Moms who'd adopted four children after they found success working as accountants. Since they were unable to have their own kids, they were able to decide the gender of their children and got an even two and two of each, though they would accept if one of us felt like a change would come. Our household was filled with undying support, and while sometimes we would get on each other's nerves, I knew it was safe at home.

For a girl who was an orphan from basically the day she was born, I had lucked out. Beside constantly being in trouble and hating where I lived, I didn't have much to bitch about.

My family, the Roberts, actually had some interesting traditions. Mondays, we all went out and did something together. Wednesdays were when we had a family dicussion about anything that was annoying us about another family member, but usually they were just petty arguments that were resolved quickly. Other than that, every Thursday, we would have our dinner and then gather in the living room to talk about gossip going on in our lives. Those three nights had been happening for my entire life, and my siblings'.

Speaking of whom, my siblings were their own brand of crazy and annoying, most of the time.

Out of the four of us, Raymond, or Ray, was the oldest. He was assumed to be born around November, and was a year older than I was. Ray was usually the smartest one out of us four, and often led us on controlled adventures. Controlled as in we had to listen to him if we wanted our fun to last. While all four of us would go crazy, Ray would shut it down if we broke a rule, no questions asked.

After Ray, I was the second oldest. My birthday was guessed to be during February, and I was seventeen. I was constantly in trouble, and hot-headed, but Ray's smarts had rubbed off on me, and I worked well under pressure. Most of the time. The people I trusted were my family -- everyone else wasn't worth it.

After Ray and I was Mia, and her birthday was a little more accurate than ours. She was born somewhere from the fifth to the twenty-first of July, and she constantly mocked us for having to say that our birthdays were at some point. Mia was the fastest of the four of us, and spent a lot of time with our mothers to learn about the real world. One day, she'd be on top of it all. However, she had one flaw. She was deathly afraid of anyone attractive, no matter what they identified as. Whenever she spotted someone, she instantly turned red and acted weirdly.

After those two, my youngest sibling was Felix. He was probably my favourite, being born in January the year following Mia and I. He kept his hair dyed unnatural colours, and loved patterned contacts. Felix had a flair for the dramatic, and was extremely talented at art. One of our moms, Abagail Roberts, would always use him for creativity boosts.

I smiled to myself as I walked by the large houses of the pampered. My family was able to distract me from my hatred for the snobs of Greenhill.

Abagail and Marie Roberts were kind women who took all four of us in and loved us deeply. Raymond, with his strange yet effective leadership skills, Felix with his astounding creativity, Mia with her cool-headed smarts, and me, with all my troublesome glory.

Katrina Roberts. I had never felt out of place, even amongst them.

But that all changed when I opened the door, throwing my bad onto the ground without a second thought. I brushed out my wet hair, curls forming as it began to air dry. My uniform stuck to my skin as I shrugged off my jacket and kicked my shoes into the wall, shutting the door behind me.

Where are the others? I thought, glancing around the quiet front room. My siblings were probably at school doing club things, but I didn't know their schedules and couldn't prove that. Normally, at least one mother would be home before us, but I brushed it off as overtime work and strolled into the living room.

And promptly screamed.