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Naire Carter New York City, New York
Many years ago...
Naire was a 12 year old girl with no friends. Naire had no loved ones. Naire had no one.
Having been in the system since she'd been born, Naire was pretty used to everything. She was used to making friends, only to say goodbye a couple months later when they got adopted. She was used to liking one of her carers, then saying goodbye when they were transferred to a different orphanage. Most of all, she was used to being alone.
She knew that as the years went up, the likelihood of being adopted went down. It was a vicious cycle of her struggling to enjoy making it to another year, only to realise that her growing up ruined the chances of her being truly happy. At times she felt as if she was drowning, it was a constant feeling of hurting.
Nothing was consistent in her life but her aloneness.
As she sat colouring her giraffe, 'Dreams' by Fleetwood played in the background. It was Ms Lolin's favourite song as of late. She listened to it constantly to the point where Naire would mouth the lyrics too, pushing her curly hair out of her face. It was dry, damaged and nearly falling off because no one knew how to care for texturised hair.
The door of the orphanage opened but Naire knew that it had nothing to do with her, just like it had been for years. She let herself be overcome with focus on the colouring, ignoring the conversation going on behind her.
"That's really pretty, Naire." A voice said from behind her, making her snap out of her daze and turn around with a frown.
Naire was now facing a middle aged white man who was smiling at her, his eyes were a soft blue while his brown hair was a floppy mess on his head. She stared at him blankly, not even bothering to flash a smile at him. Most people would interact with all the kids, even though they knew the one they wanted to adopt. Naire didn't let herself talk to anyone anymore, she couldn't handle the heartbreak or risk of attachment.
"How do you know my name, sir?" She asked softly, placing her orange colouring pencil down.
Continuing to stare at him blankly, his smile never wavering, she struggled to tell whether or not it was genuine. Naire watched as he pulled out one of the tiny chairs out of the table and sat down beside her, crouching which made her laugh because of how silly he looked. After all, she was still only a 12 year old girl.
"I know your name because I'm here to adopt you." He said softly, never breaking eye contact with her while Naire sat there silently.
