Soraya's POV
"Shitting f*ck." I swore to myself.
"What was that?" I heard from Daniella. The one who was taking care of me here.
"Shivers." I said sweetly, adding a smile onto the end of it.
"It didn't sound like 'shivers'." Daniella told me, her blonde hair in a tight hairdo and her brown eyes sparkling like they always do. Always so happy looking, I have no idea how she does it.
"Maybe you're just a little deaf." I kept my sweet tone on. "Um, I need to re-dye my hair, I'm getting regrowth again." I stated, pointing to the bright red hair coming from my scalp. "It clashes with the purple." I added, seeing the faded pastel purple hair with also faded pastel blue tips.
"Okay, but just this once, since you have an interview today-"
"I have an interview! I wonder how much these ones will absolutely hate me. I wonder if it'll be the same amount or more than the last ones?" I questioned sarcastically.
"Do you know how hard it is to get an interview for you? You know that after you become a teenager it becomes harder, a lot harder, to get you out of here. Especially since-"
"I'm seventeen, I get the point." I cut her off. "They all think I'm going to be a prissy girl, who likes wearing dresses and loves pink in all shades and high heels and fluffy kittens. I'm not like that." I reminded her.
"You know that if we can't get you out of here soon, the only other option you have is to go off to the Defence Force." She stated. God damn it, She had to bring that little fact up, didn't she? "Now, about your hair dye, I think there's some left in one of my cupboards. Make sure you're careful, we don't want any of the kids finding it and turning themselves purple and blue."
"When's my interview with these people?" I asked with disgust clear in my voice.
"It's at three this afternoon. Please be here, I have a feeling these ones will be the right people to be your adoptive parents." Daniella explained.
"What makes you think that?" I asked bitterly, but before she could answer we both heard kids screaming. There was probably some teasing going on again. She left without responding to me, so I sighed before I turned to go find this hair dye and get rid of my horrid red hair.
I got the bottles of dye, and looked in the mirror. I saw a girl with dark blue, near black eyes, looking back at me. My very pale skin was lightly freckled, another downer about having red hair. I could never manage to tan, no matter how much time I spend outside, and with the amount I run, I should be very tan.
I applied the dye, and after waiting for a shit long time I rinsed my hair out, the colours going down the drain. My hair now had strong colours, the pastel purple turning into pastel blue halfway down the length of my strands. My hair went to about the middle of my back, practically the perfect length for me, the colours popping out more than usual against my black shirt. I went back out after drying my hair, putting my hair in a ponytail.
It was only eleven in the morning, meaning I had four hours to kill until these new people got here. Judging from how many people had thought they could change me into what they want for a child, but realised they hadn't, I took a guess that I was probably going to the army soon.
There was one family when I was fourteen, they were pretty cool. The dad was a karate instructor, he's the one who got me into running and keeping fit. He also taught me self-defence, well as much as you can fit into two weeks anyway. The mum didn't want a daughter who liked doing guy stuff, but I should have been with that family a year earlier...
Before the incident.
But I don't want to think about that at the moment, right now I need to be preparing myself to be a blank canvas for these people. I need them to like me. Or maybe I should be myself around them. Who knows what they're looking for, but I know that I should go for a run so I can kill some time.
I went to my room that hadn't been shared with anyone since I was fifteen, and changed into my leggings and a sports bra, probably blinding some bitches with my paper white abs. Okay, maybe I'm not that pale, but I'll be damned if I wasn't close.
I put my running shoes on, spent about ten minutes trying to find my phone so I could listen to music while I ran. Well, I had to find my earphones too. So... I looked everywhere again, knowing I had seen them while I was trying to find my phone. Where had I seen them though? Under the bed? Probably...
I looked under the bed, and sure enough, they were there next to my art pad and pencils. Most people usually kept a written journal or diary, mine was drawn. I find it easier to draw things than write them down. It just seems more... natural.
I got up from my sprawled out position on the ground and plugged my earphones into my phone, and got up. "Daniella!" I shouted as I walked out to find her. I found her dealing with two of the children having another disagreement. She looked over at me, I lifted a leg and gestured to my shoes.
She nodded in response, knowing I needed to run. I gave her a thankful look before turning to walk calmly out the door. I put my earphones into my ears and started playing my music while I stretched, before I started with a slow jog. As time went by I sped up, but kept a stable pace.
I stopped near an alleyway to catch my breath, but saw movement out the corner of my eye. Instantly my 'fight' mode was on, but as I looked at it, I realised that it was just a cat. My eye twitched, I despise cats. I hissed and jumped at it, making it run away. I continued my run and got back quickly.
"Soraya!" Daniella screamed at me.
"What?!" I screamed back.
"You need to be clean when your possible new parents arrive!" she exclaimed.
"Shi-" can't swear in front of children, can't swear in front of children. "-vers." I finished it off easily, running to the bathroom and having a half-decent shower, well as decent as you can get with only cold water. Apparently everyone else had already had their hygiene time. I came out, drying my hair as quickly as possible and walking back to my room in my sweaty running clothes, since I had forgotten to get clean clothes for after my shower.
Great, now what? What is my first impression going to be like? I brushed my hair and braided it to the side, going for something like a... professional badass look. Right, all that's missing is eyeliner and mascara. Okay, how about my black skinny jeans and a plain jumper that once belonged to one of the guys here when I was still fifteen. The jumper still fits, so may as well still wear it.
Also, putting into consideration that I don't actually have many clothes, this was one of my few options. Okay, definitely more of a casual look with dark eye make-up. Great, that changed the look quickly. I suppose it will show more of my personality though. You know what? Screw it, I'll leave my hair out. I took my hair out even though it was so well done, and let it fall down in natural waves.
I still love the decision I made two years ago about starting to dye my hair, sure it wasn't very healthy, but it looked good. It definitely looked better than my natural hair, and I could say that again. I walked out into the hall as Daniella was coming towards my dorm.
"They're here. Please make a good impression, be nice, be polite-"she started, but I cut her off.
"I'm going to be me. I am not going to live a lie as a nice little girl." I stated.
"Well, if you're going to be yourself, be a nice version of you, for me?" she asked. I sighed heavily, I could tell she was stressing about this.
"Fine." I responded as I walked towards the interview room. I put on a happy face before I walked into the room. Be nice, be nice. "Hey." I said quietly.
"You must be Soraya, right?" I looked at the woman who had asked. I nodded in response. "I love you hair." She stated, going to reach for it. I moved away from the hand.
"Don't touch me, please..." I trailed off, saying it softly so I wouldn't scare them. I noticed that the woman's hair was a deep shade of red, with black underneath.
"Okay, fair enough." She responded. I finally got to sit down at the table, and she finally introduced herself and her partner, who I'm guessing is her husband judging from the rings on their left hands. "Well, I'm Kelley, and this is Dave. Don't mind him, he's very quiet. I balance us out though. Um, I own a club and he does office work. We live about two hours away, in a town called 'Emeraldville'. Yeah, that just about sums us up. Oh, and we have a son called Ezekiel. He's moving out soon though, he was also adopted when he was ten."
"Cool." I half sounded interested in what they were talking about.
"So, enough about us, what should we know about you?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the table.
"Well, um, I'm an orphan. Never known my parents, don't really want to know them. I don't have a last name... or a middle name. my nickname is 'Queen', please don't call me 'Ray'. I really don't like it. Uh, I love video games, not really into sports but I do like to keep fit and run, kind of a habit since I was at a house a couple of years ago. I learnt self-defence there too, which was kind of cool. I love Marvel, DC and 'the Lion King'. No other Disney movies, just that one. That's about it really..." I trailed off.
"Any awards or anything like that?" Dave, I think, asked.
"Uh, no not really, I haven't been at the same place long enough to get anything." I explained.
"No sports awards then?" he asked.
"N. O." I responded bluntly. Soon they had asked all the questions they wanted to ask, and they still liked me. They left to talk to Daniella, and when she came in she had a sad look on her face. "Oh no... they don't want me, do they?" I asked in a disappointed tone.
"Um, they do!" she shouted at me. I laughed in response.
"You're not kidding?!" I screamed, standing up abruptly from my seat. "I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!! AGAIN!!" I shouted, jumping up and down. I ran up to Daniella and hugged her, which is way out of character for me. Way out of character. But I did anyway, she was shocked at first but she hugged me back.
"Are you packed?" she asked me.
"No, I didn't think I was actually going to leave." I responded. "I'm not packed." I realised, letting go of her, and running out of the interview room to mine. What should I pack? I mean, I know im going to pack everything, but how am I gonna pack it? Oh my god, what will the town be like? Kelley said it was two hours away. What's the school going to be like? Am I going to go to the school or be home schooled? Oh my god, what if I meet a hot guy? Oh my god, what if I stay there? What if they want to keep me forever and ever and ever? Oh my god, what if they don't, what if they send me back?
At that last thought, I sat down on my bed slowly. If they do, I'll have to go to the army. I have to make a good effort for them to like me. They'll want to keep me.
The next thing I knew, I was in Kelley and Dave's car, on the two hour drive back to their house. After that, I was unpacking my stuff into a room, I met my new brother and was apparently already enrolled in school where I was starting tomorrow. Everything was moving so quickly...
I finally had a fresh start.