The Children's Home

Chapter 7: Adjusting

Leah shook her head. "That's not good."

A door slammed nearby. The kids jumped.

No, no, no! Please don't let it be one of the adults!

When we were positive no one was coming, I continued my story. "Yeah, that was definitely not good. When I was eleven, I was caught again. This time, I was placed in a foster home that really felt like home."

"Well, at least something good came out of that," Hallie noted.

"It ended up impacting my life in a positive way. I'm grateful for that," I replied. "The Bartholomew family cared for me as if I were their own daughter. Teegan—the daughter—and I became best friends. But I wanted answers about the fate of my parents, so I regretfully ran away.

"Three years later, Thomas and Harry discovered me, mistaking me for a certain Nadia Blair. After being teleported, I ended up here. That's my entire story."

"Arwen, you are officially my hero," Aidan decided. "You need to have the gumption to live alone on the streets and survive. I lived a few years as a street rat. It wasn't the best experience. Trust me."

I nodded. "Thanks, Aidan."

Hallie was bursting with questions. "Why weren't you caught more than once? When did you realize you were blossoming? How old were you when you blossomed? How did you learn to control your powers?"

"Hallie, you're awesome, but could you go easy on the questions?" I begged. "Well, I was (and still am) petite, so I could squeeze myself into some pretty weird hiding spots. No one even realized I was there. I'm not sure what blossoming means, but I'm assuming you'd like to know how I got my powers. So, one day, I started feeling inexplicably hot, and then boom! I'd set a cardboard box I was holding on fire. When I looked at my hands, I realized they were in flames too. I was twelve at the time."

Hallie beamed. "You're right about blossoming. It's our euphuism for getting your powers. We're kind of a secret, you know. Back on topic. So, you're a bit of a late bloomer?"

"Again, I don't understand half your lingo, but I think it means I got my pyrokinesis kinda late. So then, yes. Now, enough with the questions."

I was going to warn them about my mistrust of Lady Folman when eight o'clock struck.

Hallie grabbed Leah's hand. "Come on, Leah. Let's go to our rooms. I'm sure our roommates are worried." They tip-toed down the hall to their rooms.

Aidan waved. "Night, girls!

Well, I did it. But what are the costs? If Lady Folman finds out, we're goners for sure.

Once everyone had cleared out of our room, Winnie whispered, "Arwen, I will keep your secret safe, no matter what."

"Thanks," I whispered back before falling asleep.

~~~

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. I'd become best friends with Winnie in a way I could never imagine. She was my confidante and the person I could go to after another nightmare about my past.

However, I wish I could say my life at Lady Folman's was as wonderful as my relationship with Winnie. Every morning, we were woken up early (five in the morning or earlier) by blaring sirens and a threat of missing out on breakfast.

I think I would have actually preferred skipping breakfast in the mornings. Breakfast had gradually transformed from a hearty meal to a teensy bowl of watery gruel. I'd barely been able to keep it down the first time I'd tasted it. Our other meals devolved as well. I was lucky if I was able to eat three full meals a day. The worst part? We were expected to exercise our powers or weapon skills in intense training exercises with the same stamina as if we were eating three large meals. I honestly believe that that woman had purposely fed us orphans more the first couple of days to lure me into a false sense of home and welcome. Thankfully, I wasn't that dumb and saw through it within a couple of weeks. I guess that's one perk of naturally mistrusting everyone.