Adopted by Scarlett Johansson

chapter thirty five - willow

Maddie was awoken at 7:30 by the sound of a very loud ringing bell. Her eyes slowly opened, squinting to adjust to the light. She felt Loki next to her so carefully sat up and walked over to the door. Peeking outside and over the banister, Maddie saw Jenny ringing a massive bell at the bottom of the stairs. What the hell, Maddie laughed at the ridiculous morning wake up but assumed it was time to get up so she walked back into her bedroom and got changed.
Maddie hadn't unpacked from last night so just pulled out the first thing she could find and threw on Scarletts jumper over the top. Once she had changed, Maddie made her way over to the window and peered outside. Down below, there was a massive garden with a pond in the middle. She spotted a few ducks in the pond but apart from the she couldn't see any other form of life. The whole neighbourhood beyond the garden seemed lifeless, colourless and eerie, nothing like the LA neighbourhoods that were bursting with colour and life. Maddie was almost hypnotised by the view outside. She didn't like the vibe of this place at all. After staring mesmerised out the window, she thought it was probably time to go downstairs and meet the rest of the family.

Maddie left her room after giving Loki food and water (she didn't really want to let him out her room yet) and made her way down the stair case. She didn't see anyone on the way down and almost wondered if this was the correct time to get up at all. Seeing as last night had been dark, Maddie didn't notice that on the first floor there was actually a massive family room as well as a row of doors leading off to bedrooms. The family must really have a lot of kids if the family room downstairs wasn't enough. Maddie descended the last flight of stairs and finally reached the ground floor. The ground floor was all open plan so the minute Maddie had reached the bottom of the stairs she saw about 15 other kids sitting on a large sofa watching her. She stood at the bottom of the stairs in shock. She had seen this many kids before in one house but they were all wearing white and all the girls had pin straight hair falling down their backs. There were about 9 girls and 6 boys plus Jenny and Benji. It literally looked like a cult.
"Maddie! You're finally up! Please come down and have a seat!" Jenny jumped up off her chair seeing the arrival of Maddie. "Come down. Meet the rest of the family!"
Maddie thought she had left the jam packed busy foster houses behind but it seemed like she had found herself in another! Obviously just this time she wasn't fostered, she was adopted and she was here to stay. Jenny made her way over to Maddie and ushered her towards a chair seated in front of the 15 children. It seemed like an interrogation.
After being seated in the chair, Jenny introduced her and explained the family.
"Right then Maddie! Welcome to the Fredrickson household! You've met us two before but this is the rest of the kids! Kids this is Maddie and she's our new addition to the family! Please can you all go ahead and introduce yourselves!"
"Hi I'm Rowan and I'm 20"
"I'm Heather and I'm 22"
"Indigo. 18"
"Arlo 16"
"Faith and I'm 14"
"Hey. I'm Iris and I'm 12"
"I'm Willow and I'm 13"
"Luke and I'm 9"
"Benjamin and I'm 8"
"Hello I'm Paislee and I'm 6"
"Serenity and I'm 7"
"River and I'm 5"
"Riley and I'm 5 as well!"
"And the last two are Ziggy who's 12 months and Summer who's 3!" Maddie sat stunned at the amount of information she had received. "I can see the fear in your face Maddie! Don't worry about names, you'll get there eventually! The spirit can help you!" The spirit?...
"Umm yeah aha there's a lot of you! Well I'm Maddie and I'm 15....Hiya"
Nobody said anything so Maddie awkwardly glanced at Jenny who just smiled at her. What was she supposed to do? Did she need to say anything else? Had she said something wrong? There were 15 kids staring at her and all Maddie did was just sit there and awkwardly smiled. Luckily though one of the kids (maybe Faith or Willow?) sensed her awkwardness and drew the attention away from her.
"Lovely meeting you Maddie but mom when's breakfast?"
"Willow! Don't be so rude!"
Maddie giggled under her breath and smiled at Willow who smirked back.
"What?! I'm hungry?" This got a few agreement from the younger kids. "And we've got school in like an hour!"
"Fine! I'm very sorry Maddie that this introduction had been cut short, but it seems like some people are hungry. So to answer your question Willow, breakfast is now"
Most of the kids all scrambled up off the sofa and walked into the kitchen. Willow stayed behind though and walked with Maddie.
"Hey" Maddie whispered, getting the feeling that they shouldn't really speak to each other "thanks for back there"
"Oh it's nothing don't worry" Willow whispered back "I've been there before and it's awkward as hell"
"You've been there before?"
"Yeah, half the kids here are adopted. We get a new person each year, it's like Jenny and Benji are building a mini army. Your name will be different in a few days and they almost strip you of all your identity. I'm grateful for having a roof over my head and food and stuff just be warned it's-"
"It's what?"
However, before Willow could finish her sentence, Heather whisked Maddie away and sat her in a seat, handing her a small portion of porridge and fruit before demanding eat and then leaving to go and sort some others out. Maddie found herself seated between two of the younger kids so she didn't really speak much, just ate her food and got lost in thought.

Later that day, all the kids had gotten changed out of their white outfits and gone off to school, Maddie was left with Jenny, Ziggy and Summer.
"Hey honey! How are you settling in?"
"Really well thanks!" Maddie forced a smile "Ive unpacked and I've spoken to a few of the other kids. They all seem lovely!"
"Really!? I'm happy to hear! I did notice today you weren't wearing white for breakfast but I'll let you off the hook this time! Just next time remember!" Jenny smiles sweetly "And a word of advise, stay away from Willow. She's a bad influence on the younger kids and isn't very pure"
I'm sorry what? She was being let off the hook for not wearing white? She hadn't been told to wear white?! And Willow seemed the most normal out of them all! If Maddie ever got out of here, she was for sure bringing Willow with her.
"Oh okay, sorry I didn't realise about wearing white."
"It's fine don't worry. Just it's nice to start the day with purity and spirit"
"Okay...."
Maddie was a bit weirded out but luckily before Jenny could say anything else, Summer started doing something she shouldn't and Jenny rushed away to deal with her, allowing Maddie to quickly escape up to her bedroom and avoid any more questions. Maddie really needed to get out of here. Literally by the hour, things were getting worse and Maddie didn't know what to do.