But yeah, after the first day the novelty of being the 'celebrity' seemed
to have worn off. I still had friends. Jason, Kenny, and Chris. Chris'
father owned a few pokémarts, Jason's parents were stockbrokers, and
Kenny's parents co-owned the Bullet Train with about 5 other people. We
used to play Tag and stuff. You know, kids things. They went over to my
house sometimes, and other times I went to theirs. We had lots of fun.
Mostly hide-n-seek, and swimming. We have a huge pool. It's actually more
of a lot of artificial rivers. They were good friends. I guess I was lucky.
I could imagine what would happen if I went to a public school. I'd be
teased and used for my money. Sounds like some old cliché, but it's true.
Or could be, anyway. But my school life wasn't really all that interesting.
I got okay marks, slightly above average, but everybody's usually above or
below average, there's no one on the middle ground. But no one would really
care about any of that, would they? My school life wasn't all that
interesting, after all. The real interesting thing happened when I was ten.
By then I'd started getting inquisitive. I wondered why Dad had black hair
and brown eyes, and Mum had blonde hair and blue eyes. And why I looked
nothing like them. And why there weren't any baby pictures of me. There's
one where I'm about four. It's in the hallway that has the advertisements
for the perfume potions. I'm in a cute little angel costume, smiling, with
some of the perfume potions next to me. The ad really plays up my red hair
and purple eyes. I look absolutely adorable. It's sickening, really.
Written over it in black is 'Yetinca Perfumed Potion Fragrance is
Heavenly.' Or something like that. I'm on a few more of them. Until I'm
about 7. That's when little kids seem to be less attractive advertising
material, by what I see on TV these days. I was talking about the lack of
baby pictures and stuff. So yeah, at dinner, I said to Mum.
"Why aren't there any baby pictures of me? At Kenny's house, they're everywhere."
My parents exchanged glances, Dad nodded to Mum. "That's because we adopted you, Cael." She said. Most people would say they were shocked to find that out. I wasn't, though. Everything made sense.
"Oh." Was all I said at first. It was all I really needed to say, though. My parents looked relieved. They must've thought that was the end of it. I had at least another question to ask though. "Why did you want to adopt me?"
There was another brief period of silence and exchanging glances. "I am sure it will be no use lying to you, son. Jasmine and I love you very much, but we adopted you because you were unique. Very few boys have red hair and purple eyes, and you were a very attractive child. You were originally adopted so we could put you in advertisements. But we'd never dream of giving you up again."
I guess it was a pretty shocking revelation. I mean, only being adopted because of my hair and eye colour? Of course it was crazy. Crazy's not the word. Hurtful? Disappointing? Shallow? Shallow's the best word, I guess. I wanted to start crying or something, but I remembered they probably could've put me up for adoption after they shot their ads. And they did love me. I knew that. The only thing was they didn't adopt me because they loved me. But how can you really love a three-year-old? I thought about that for a few minutes. Most parents would've chosen based on looks. I guess I wasn't adopted earlier because I looked too different. Then something came to my mind. "What happened to my real parents? Didn't they want me?"
"No, Cael. They were killed."
I started wondering how. And when. A car crash? Suicide? Lots of things were possible, I guess. "Oh. How'd they die?" "Well, Cael. They were murdered. Probably by Team Rocket. You were about two at the time. It was in the news. You were not, however. We did not know until the Nuns at the orphanage showed us your file." Well, everything made perfect sense now. I'd had the odd nightmare about Team Rocket, but I'd thought it was just my imagination, what with all the media stuff centred on the Team. I didn't ask anything else. I was still kinda taking it all in. That night I tossed and turned in my king-size bed, thinking. I was never really the thinking type, but it was such a revelation, even if I was suspecting it for quite a while. Especially the whole thing about them being murdered. My perfect life continued for another year.
"Why aren't there any baby pictures of me? At Kenny's house, they're everywhere."
My parents exchanged glances, Dad nodded to Mum. "That's because we adopted you, Cael." She said. Most people would say they were shocked to find that out. I wasn't, though. Everything made sense.
"Oh." Was all I said at first. It was all I really needed to say, though. My parents looked relieved. They must've thought that was the end of it. I had at least another question to ask though. "Why did you want to adopt me?"
There was another brief period of silence and exchanging glances. "I am sure it will be no use lying to you, son. Jasmine and I love you very much, but we adopted you because you were unique. Very few boys have red hair and purple eyes, and you were a very attractive child. You were originally adopted so we could put you in advertisements. But we'd never dream of giving you up again."
I guess it was a pretty shocking revelation. I mean, only being adopted because of my hair and eye colour? Of course it was crazy. Crazy's not the word. Hurtful? Disappointing? Shallow? Shallow's the best word, I guess. I wanted to start crying or something, but I remembered they probably could've put me up for adoption after they shot their ads. And they did love me. I knew that. The only thing was they didn't adopt me because they loved me. But how can you really love a three-year-old? I thought about that for a few minutes. Most parents would've chosen based on looks. I guess I wasn't adopted earlier because I looked too different. Then something came to my mind. "What happened to my real parents? Didn't they want me?"
"No, Cael. They were killed."
I started wondering how. And when. A car crash? Suicide? Lots of things were possible, I guess. "Oh. How'd they die?" "Well, Cael. They were murdered. Probably by Team Rocket. You were about two at the time. It was in the news. You were not, however. We did not know until the Nuns at the orphanage showed us your file." Well, everything made perfect sense now. I'd had the odd nightmare about Team Rocket, but I'd thought it was just my imagination, what with all the media stuff centred on the Team. I didn't ask anything else. I was still kinda taking it all in. That night I tossed and turned in my king-size bed, thinking. I was never really the thinking type, but it was such a revelation, even if I was suspecting it for quite a while. Especially the whole thing about them being murdered. My perfect life continued for another year.