I was 11 when I saw the newspaper headline. It read Two Orphans Missing.
Under it were two colour photos. Two kids my age. One scruffy looking boy,
brown hair, brown eyes. That wasn't what caught my attention, though. The
picture next to him was a girl. She looked kinda angry, glaring at whoever
took the photo. Her hair was long and red. And her eyes. they were bright
purple. I was sitting on the end of my bed, looking at it, and I didn't
even bother reading the article. I raced to the lift, pressed the button
for floor one, and waited as it went down about 15 floors. Will - that was
what I called him now, since he wasn't really my dad - was on the phone.
Jasmine was sitting at the table, reading some business magazine. Normal
morning procedure. I walked up to Jasmine, angrily, and put the newspaper
in front of her magazine.
"Who is this???" I demanded, angrily. She blinked, and looked at the paper.
"Just a pair of orphans who ran off from their orphanage, by the looks of it, dear." I never really got angry, not even when they had to go on a business trip during my 8th birthday, but I was furious. "I mean this." I said, pointing to the picture of the girl, Justine. The boy who had run away was called Malcolm. Pretty dumb names, if you ask me. Jasmine looked at the photo, and the caption. "Oh, her. She's your sister. You're twins."
I wondered why she was being so blunt. Perhaps it was too early for her to think of a cover-up story. "I have a twin sister? And you never told me!" I screamed, not really caring how out of control I was becoming. They lied to me. But then again, I didn't ask them if I had a sister.
"We only wanted to adopt you, Cael. Justine was a bit of a trouble-maker, even when she was three years old."
I didn't think it was a good excuse for separating me from my only surviving blood relative, but I was getting too wound up. I had to say something to calm myself down. "So my parents named my sister Justine and named me Cael? Isn't that a bit too different?"
"No, they called you Cameron. William and I didn't like that name, though. We both think Cael is much nicer. Don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess so." I shrugged, despite thinking Cameron was probably the world's worst possible name. Justine was too, come to think of it. My birth parents had pretty bad taste. But I felt kinda cheated, that I didn't keep the only thing they left me with. That sounds so corny. She gave me a hug. "Don't worry Cael, she probably wasn't worth knowing anyway. Look at her, running off with some boy, and so young, too. She's not the sort of sister you should have. You deserve better than some punk like her."
I felt hurt. Even though I didn't know her, she couldn't've been that bad. And she wouldn't've been if Jasmine and Will adopted her.
"Why didn't you adopt her?"
"Well, you remember how we adopted you to put into our advertisement? We expected to put you back there after a while, but we grew attached to you. We didn't adopt her as well because we weren't planning to put her in any." That's shallow. I thought, but I knew that it would've been logical just to adopt me and put me back up for adoption later.
"Why'd you go to all that trouble? Wouldn't the orphanage let you put me in the advertisement?"
"Money, of course. They wanted millions of yen for it. They knew we could afford it. So we adopted you, and that solved the whole problem easily." I felt more than a bit like a product. But I didn't really have anything else to say, or do. The only thing I could do was promise myself that I would find her, one day.
One good thing came out of that day, though; Jasmine and Will bought me a Slowpoke - from a breeder, of course - to cheer me up, because I was pretty sad that day. I named her Vaana. It has a meaning almost impossible to translate into English. It basically means a sacred place that you call home. It had a golden collar too, with Vaana written on it in diamonds.
"Just a pair of orphans who ran off from their orphanage, by the looks of it, dear." I never really got angry, not even when they had to go on a business trip during my 8th birthday, but I was furious. "I mean this." I said, pointing to the picture of the girl, Justine. The boy who had run away was called Malcolm. Pretty dumb names, if you ask me. Jasmine looked at the photo, and the caption. "Oh, her. She's your sister. You're twins."
I wondered why she was being so blunt. Perhaps it was too early for her to think of a cover-up story. "I have a twin sister? And you never told me!" I screamed, not really caring how out of control I was becoming. They lied to me. But then again, I didn't ask them if I had a sister.
"We only wanted to adopt you, Cael. Justine was a bit of a trouble-maker, even when she was three years old."
I didn't think it was a good excuse for separating me from my only surviving blood relative, but I was getting too wound up. I had to say something to calm myself down. "So my parents named my sister Justine and named me Cael? Isn't that a bit too different?"
"No, they called you Cameron. William and I didn't like that name, though. We both think Cael is much nicer. Don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess so." I shrugged, despite thinking Cameron was probably the world's worst possible name. Justine was too, come to think of it. My birth parents had pretty bad taste. But I felt kinda cheated, that I didn't keep the only thing they left me with. That sounds so corny. She gave me a hug. "Don't worry Cael, she probably wasn't worth knowing anyway. Look at her, running off with some boy, and so young, too. She's not the sort of sister you should have. You deserve better than some punk like her."
I felt hurt. Even though I didn't know her, she couldn't've been that bad. And she wouldn't've been if Jasmine and Will adopted her.
"Why didn't you adopt her?"
"Well, you remember how we adopted you to put into our advertisement? We expected to put you back there after a while, but we grew attached to you. We didn't adopt her as well because we weren't planning to put her in any." That's shallow. I thought, but I knew that it would've been logical just to adopt me and put me back up for adoption later.
"Why'd you go to all that trouble? Wouldn't the orphanage let you put me in the advertisement?"
"Money, of course. They wanted millions of yen for it. They knew we could afford it. So we adopted you, and that solved the whole problem easily." I felt more than a bit like a product. But I didn't really have anything else to say, or do. The only thing I could do was promise myself that I would find her, one day.
One good thing came out of that day, though; Jasmine and Will bought me a Slowpoke - from a breeder, of course - to cheer me up, because I was pretty sad that day. I named her Vaana. It has a meaning almost impossible to translate into English. It basically means a sacred place that you call home. It had a golden collar too, with Vaana written on it in diamonds.