Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I was 14 when I wrote this so it may not be any good.
Upon all my years of living on this earth I have discovered many things, one of them being pain. I tend to notice people my age dwelling on it more than any other emotion, people say it’s part of teenage angst but I think it’s simply because we’re stubborn.
I guess this is the part where I should introduce myself, my name is Rosalie, I’m 16 years old, and I was oh so fortunate enough to be brought into this world considered a disgrace to my “family.” I’ve been in the foster system since I was born, been to a couple families, but I guess they didn’t like the fact that I’m not some preppy princess dressing in pink who aims to please those around her. That’s just my guess though.
So here I am, getting ready for yet ANOTHER family to see if I meet their “requirements” for them to adopt me... This should be good. I brush my hair our and just leave it the way it falls naturally, then I put on some black eyeliner, and nude shade lipstick. Then I threw on some black leggings that had some holes in them from being worn so much, a white t-shirt, a red flannel, and put on my black and white checkered vans which were donated to the orphanage for Christmas. I also added a grey beanie just for good measure.
I make my way over to the interview room, nervous as heck. This can go one of three ways. 1) she sees me and immediately leaves. 2) Sees me, listens to my story, then leaves and never comes back. Or 3) she stays, listens, and decided she wants me. It's almost always the first option.
“Rosalie, so nice to meet you!”
“It’s nice to meet you too ma’am.”
This is already starting off the complete opposite of how I expected this to go. For 1) normally when the mom’s come see me they give me dirty looks because of my appearance (lots of black) and 2) this woman appears to be in her mid thirties, normally someone coming to look for a teenager is in their late forties to fifties in my experience.
The woman stood to shake my hand, standing at around 5′4, me practically hovering over her with my 5′10 frame. She has tired eyes, along with smile lines, and a clear look of sophistication. She wears what can only be described as the “rich folk” clothing, grey blazer along with a grey pencil skirt and black pumps.
“Guess I better introduce myself,” She said with the brightest smile I’ve seen in a while, “My names Sofia Wilson, I’m 38. I have 5 other children, all of which are adopted. I’ve been married to my husband for 14 years. We live in Buffalo, New York, and I’m the CEO of my own fashion company... Oh! And my husbands name is Andrew Wilson, and he’s a lawyer.”
“Wow... What are your kids names?”
“let’s see. For the boys there’s Noah, he’s 18. Then there’s Lucas and Leon, they’re twins, they’re 17. They’re all seniors because of where their birthdays fall. Then for the girls we have Jayla, she’s 14. Then next is Hazel, who’s 11. Jayla just started her freshman year of high school and Hazel is in 6th grade. What about you sweetie? Tell me a bit about yourself.”
“Um, there isn’t really a whole lot to know. I’ve been in here since I was born, I’ve been to a few foster families but none stuck. I’m 1 6, I like singing, and.... That’s about it.”
“Well you seem like a great girl, I can tell we’re gonna get along great.”
“Wait..... You mean?!?!”
“Better pack up sweat heart ’cause we’re goin home!”
“OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!” I couldn’t help myself from crying, I always thought I was gonna be here till I turned 18 then they would kick me out to fend for myself. I brought her into one of the biggest hugs I think I’ve ever given in my entire life.
“Are you sure?? I mean we didn’t even really have that long of an interview, I don’t want you to regret this.” After saying that I don’t really know why I did, I mean what if saying that just screwed up all my chances of her taking me now?!?
“Honey, I’ve been trying to get this interview in order for months. When I read your file I immediately knew you were mine, I just knew that you were gonna be a perfect addition to our family.”
When she said that I couldn’t help the next wave of tears to spill out of my eyes. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I feel like I need to pinch myself just to make sure this is real because it really doesn’t feel like it.
“Go get packed up, Utah isn’t exactly a short drive to get to New Yo-”
Before she could even finish that sentence I bolted out the door and up the creaky stairs to my bedroom. I don’t have much, just the essentials. I got all my clothes packed then moved to the bathroom shared with all the other girls and grabbed my hairbrush, tooth brush, razor, and soaps. Soon as I was done I went looking for Sofia.
Just to my luck, upon looking for her a group of 3 boys walks up to me, rage clear as daylight stuck on their faces. I could already tell this was not gonna turn out well.
“Heard you’re getting outta here, that true?”
“Yeah... I just found out, why?”
“Cause we got you a going away present.” Said one of the other boys, I think I recognize him but I’m not entirely sure.
“Uh, okay??”
As soon as the words left my mouth the first boy that spoke punched my face so hard I literally saw stars. I guess I should have known this is what they meant when they said going away present, they do this to all the kids leaving that are in their teen years. I thinks it’s because they’re jealous that were getting out and they’re stuck here until someone adopts them, or they turn 18 and are no longer aloud to live here.
I guess Sofia was looking for me too because I heard her scream my name and I knew she was rushing over to make sure I was okay. As soon as the boys heard her they ran away faster than mice run to a block of cheese.
“Oh my stars are you alright, honey?!”
“Yeah, yeah I’m good. Man he got me good.”
“Let’s get you out of here before they come back and try something. Actually let them, we’ll see how much they like momma bear protecting her cub. When we get to the car I’ll call the director and let her know what happened here.”
At that I had to laugh, I can already imagine her going all karate on their butts. Also I REALLY want them to get in trouble for this. I knew I was gonna have a shiner before we got to my new home.
We made our way to her car and when I see it I absolutely lose it.
“Is this a 2019 Lamborghini Huracan?!?!?!" I all but yelled as soon as I saw it
"Yup, sure is." She had this look on her face that made it clear this wasn't something she found too impressive. I mean I knew they were rich, but I didn't think it would be to the point where an over $200,000 car wasn't found as something super incredible just to even be able to look at.
I guess it's a good thing I don't have many belonging since there wasn't a whole lot of storage room.
"Come now my child, we're going on a road trip!"
After about 10 hours of driving we decided to stop at a hotel, we're only part of the way there, we've probably got another 18 hours of driving tomorrow so we decided to rest up. Lucky I got my license while living in the orphanage, we traded off driving. A good portion of my driving was just learning how to drive the darn thing.
"So how exactly is this gonna work? Do you want me to call you by your first name or mom? and what about Andrew? Is he just Andrew or do I call him dad?"
"It's whatever you're comfortable with. The other kids call us mom and dad but we understand if you're not ready for that."
I thought it over for a few seconds before making a decision.
"I like the sound of mom and dad, I've never had that before."
"Well you do now, honey. And were not going anywhere, you're stuck with us for life!" She and I laughed at that last part, thinking about it more I really liked the idea of having them for life. After our talk we said goodnight and went to sleep.
When I got up the next morning I checked myself out in the mirror, sure enough I had a black eye. I thought about covering it up before we got home but they were bound to see it eventually so there's really no point in hiding it. After showering, brushing my hair and teeth, and getting dressed we were off to New York.
When we finally got there it was close to 3 in the morning the next day. We pulled up to a large, grey, 2 story Victorian house with plants leading up to the porch. I was expecting to see everyone in their rooms sleeping but surprisingly everyone was awake.
The first person I saw was a man who stood around 5'6, he had brown hair with bits of grey, he had fair skin that looked like it had just gotten to the wrinkling stage. He looked to be around early to mid forties. I knew this had to be Andrew seeing as how he's the oldest looking male in this house. Next I saw two boys with ivory skin, brown hair and brown eyes, standing at around 6'1. They both clearly had a lot of muscle on them so I could tell if there was ever a fight I would want them on my side. They looked the exact same except one had a beauty mark on his left cheek. I already came to the conclusion that these are the twins, Lucas and Leon.
As I looked around more I noticed a little girl with beige skin and blonde hair with light blue eyes. this is probably Hazel. The next person my eyes drift to is a girl with black hair, brown eyes, lots of dark makeup, and was wearing black ripped skinny jeans, converse, and a grey hoodie. We're definitely going to get along if her appearance is any indication for her personality. Jayla.
Then lastly I saw a man-boy standing at what I'm guessing is 6'3, he had curly dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and skin that can best be compared to honey.He had a super buff build, making it clear that he goes to the gym often. He gave off a look of dominance and I could impatiently tell he was the eldest child, so that made figuring out he was Noah was pretty easy.
To say I was intimidated by all these people would be an understatement, they all looked like supermodels while I'm just... Me.
"Well hello there! You must be Rosalie!" Andrew reached out and shook my hand
"Yup," I said popping the p, "I'm gonna make and educated guess and say you're Andrew."
"Indeed I am, but you can call me dad. The other kids do."
"Cool."
The little blonde walked up to my new dad and said, "This is her?"
"Yes it is, this is your new big sister."
After hearing this she ran up to me and hugged my waist, she's probably 4'5ish. Her action alone made my heart swell, I've never had a sister but so far it's going great.
After she backed away I was suddenly pulled into a 3 man group hug, they were squeezing the life outta me.
"Welcome home little sister, I'm Leon." Said the twin with the beauty mark, at least now I know how to tell them apart.
"I'm Lucas, the older and better twin." He winked at me making me laugh and Leon to playfully slap his brothers arm.
"I'm Noah, the older and wiser sibling out of all of us." The others weren't too amused hearing this but said nothing of it, deep down I knew 1) it was probably true and 2) the others probably knew it too.
"It's nice to meet you guys, I've never had brothers before."
"Really? Not even at your other homes?" Both Leon and Noah asked
"Nope, never. All the home's I went to never had any other kids."
"Jayla, come say hi to Rosalie." Mom waved her over.
She walked over hesitantly, as if she was testing the waters of the situation.
"H-hi." She said, giving me a half hug.
"Hey."
After introductions were made the boys took me on a tour of the house. It had a kitchen, 2 living room's (one upstairs, one downstairs), a dining room, an office, a laundry room, 8 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, and game room. We each had our own rooms, mine was painted a dark purple and had a queen size bed with purple and black bedding, a desk and chair, a full body mirror, a black leather love seat, and a dresser. There's also a walk-in closet and an attached bathroom. This is already better than any place I've ever even looked at.
When the boys dropped me off outside my room Noah stayed behind to talk to me.
"Hey sis, uh not to sound rude but what happened to your face?" Not sure why but this made me laugh
"It was my "going away" present from some of the boys at the orphanage."
"I would kick their butts if I was you."
"Trust me I wanted to, I know how to defend myself but I didn't want to fight in front of mom, especially since I had just met her."
"Did that happen often?"
"What?"
"Fights. At the orphanage I mean."
"Oooooh yeah, I got in a fight like every week, It was kinda like a past time for us."
"You any good?" This had me laughing one of those big, hunched over laughs.
"To put it simply, I've been in at least 50 fights and I'm undefeated."
"Dang, remind me to never mess with you!"
"Will do, goodnight big bro."
"Night lil' sis."
I made me way into my room, and I closed the door with the biggest grin on my face. This truly feels like a family, a place where I can finally fit in for once.
Mom told me she already had me enrolled in school and since it's Friday today she said she's going to take me shopping for new clothes tomorrow, I've only gone shopping twice in my entire life and only got 2 shirts and a few pair of jeans out of both trips, the rest of my clothes are hand me downs from other kids at the orphanage after they leave.
All in all, this is turning out to be a VERY good placement.
