The next morning, Britney and Sara were getting themselves ready for their classes. As they gathered their books and pencils and textbooks, Sara looked at Britney with a sigh.
"I had that dream again last night." She said, as she waited for Britney to pick up the last of her belongings. Britney turned and looked at her, confused.
"What dream?" She asked.
"The one where I get adopted." Sara said with a frown. Britney shook her head, not understanding why these things bothered Sara so much.
"You're making it sound like it's a bad dream." Britney commented, as the two girls headed downstairs.
"Britney, it's more than just a bad dream. It's a nightmare! You know I don't want to be adopted. I can't understand why I keep dreaming about it." Sara replied.
"Maybe somewhere deep down inside, you really do want a family." Britney said, automatically regretting it, because she knew Sara would overreact. She was right.
"Britney! I can't believe you would say that. I thought you knew me well enough to know that I don't want a family." She yelled out.
"But Sara, I don't understand why. I think having a family would be the best feeling in the world. Why can't you see that?" Britney asked.
"Because, I-" She stopped when she arrived at her classroom, said goodbye to Britney and disappeared. Britney sighed. I hope one day, Sara will have a family and know that just because her parents walked out on her, it doesn't mean all families are like that. Britney thought as she walked to her own classroom.
Meanwhile, Jesse and Becky had arrived at Jacobson Group Home and were waiting in a bright office for a social worker to arrive. The office was covered in paintings and drawings made for her by the girls. Becky smiled.
"Oh Jesse, look at all of these drawings. Aren't they adorable?" She asked with a smile. Jesse knew Becky was really getting into this, and getting excited. Jesse had to admit, being in this office, staring at these walls of paintings, drawings and portraits of all of these teenage girls was making him eager to learn more as well.
Just then, a tall woman entered the room with a smile, and sat at her desk across from the couple.
"Hi, I'm Ms. Morrison. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Katsoppolus." Ms. Morrison greeted, as she shook both of their hands.
"Yes, that's us." Jesse replied. Ms. Morrison nodded.
"Well, you told me on the phone that you might be interested in adoption." She started. Becky nodded.
"Yes, well, we're looking into it. We haven't made a decision yet, but we thought if we came to get some information, or even meet somebody, it might be easier to make a decision." She explained.
"That's a great idea. Many couples come here with questions and usually after meeting one of our girls, it's much easier to make a decision, since it's so hands on." Ms. Morrison pointed out.
"How would we go about meeting one of the girls?" Jesse asked, surprising Becky. He's really excited about this now. She felt so happy.
"Well, we could set up an interview. Many couples who aren't sure do that so they can meet a young girl, talk to her, and get to know her. An interview is not a permanent commitment. It's simply a meeting between the couple and the teenager. Usually after the first interview, couples know whether or not they're interested in adoption and there have been cases where after the first interview, that child has been adopted. It varies with each couple, but if you're interested, we can set up an interview for you." Ms. Morrison explained. Jesse and Becky looked at each other, and Jesse nodded slightly, showing Becky he was interested, and he already knew she was all for it.
"Sure! That sounds like a great idea." Becky said. Ms. Morrison nodded, pulling out a stack of files.
"What sort of age group were you looking at?" She asked, scanning some of the files.
"Oh well, it doesn't really matter. What's your youngest?" Jesse asked.
"Our youngest is 13 years old." Ms. Morrison replied.
"That sounds good to me." Becky said.
"Me too." Jesse added.
"Okay, well that's great. The younger they are, the easier it is for them to adapt to a new environment. Okay, let's see what we've got here." Ms. Morrison took out about ten folders, scanning the names on each folder. She paused at one of them, as if considering it, and she nodded to herself.
"Well, we can set up an interview between you and Sara Stevenson. I suggested her because, well, I've grown somewhat fond of her, and she's been through a lot in her life, and I truly believe all she needs is to feel loved. Her parents abandoned her when she was 9 years old. They just picked up and left. Last we heard, they moved to Florida and had a baby together. We know the small details about the day it happened, but Sara has never talked about it. We have her in counselling, and we're hopeful she will express her feelings one day." Ms. Morrison explained, not even sure the couple would be interested, especially after Sara's past.
"Oh dear, the poor girl." Becky said sadly.
"Well, we can see who else we have here." Ms. Morrison started looking through her files again, not sure the couple was interested in Sara.
"No, we'd like to meet her." Jesse interrupted quickly. Becky was surprised, but she felt the same way.
"Yes Ms. Morrison, we don't care about her past. When can we set up an interview?" She asked. Ms. Morrison also looked surprised, but she looked through her date book.
"Well, the only available time I have available this week is tomorrow at 3:00p.m. Unless you would rather wait until next week." She explained. Jesse and Becky looked at each other, nodding to each other.
"No tomorrow is fine. We'll be ready for you." Becky said with a large smile. Ms. Morrison smiled back.
"Great, then Sara and I will be at your house at 3:00p.m. Sharp." She stood and shook both of their hands.
"Thank you Ms. Morrison. We'll see you tomorrow." Jesse said, and Ms. Morrison left the office. Jesse and Becky were about to do the same, but Becky turned and looked at Ms. Morrison's wall of portraits.
"Which one do you think is Sara?" Becky said with a smile on her face. Jesse smiled back.
"It doesn't matter Becky. I'm sure whoever she is, she will be absolutely amazing." He said, and he kissed her. "I'm really glad we came here."
"Me too Jesse. I can't wait to meet her." Becky said, as she took her husband's hand, and they walked out to their car.
It was 3:30p.m. and Ms. Morrison was walking through the halls, looking for Sara. She needed to find Sara to tell her about her interview for the next day. Ms. Morrison worried about how Sara would react. She knew that Sara would not be happy about it, and knew she would react harshly. Sara had a bit of a temper, and Ms. Morrison knew this more than anybody else. She had dealt with Sara's temper many times, and dreaded telling the young girl about the interview, knowing it would spark some more anger out of the young girl. As Ms. Morrison walked the halls, she couldn't understand how a girl of only 13 years old could hold so much anger and pain. She wanted so desperately for Sara to let that go, and she felt deep within her heart that if she only had a family to love her, she would be able to deal with that pain and open herself up to love.
Ms. Morrison opened the door to the girl's dormitory to find Sara and Britney sitting on their beds, doing their homework. She heard bits of their conversation as she approached the girls.
"Honestly, why would we ever have to know about trigonometry? What good will that kind of math do us in the real world?" Britney complained. Sara laughed.
"Just as much as knowing the anatomy of a firefly." She giggled. Ms. Morrison laughed too and the girls looked up.
"Oh, hi Ms. Morrison." Britney greeted. Ms. Morrison smiled.
"Hello girls, I'm glad to see you're doing your homework, despite the fact you think it's useless." She said. The girls exchanged glances with a smirk.
"Britney, would you mind if I had a moment with Sara?" Ms. Morrison asked. Sara felt her stomach drop. Am I in trouble? She thought. What did I do this time? She watched as Britney dropped her homework on her bed and walk out of the dormitory, looking back at Sara with confused eyes.
"Sara, I need to talk to you." Ms. Morrison started. Sara looked at her.
"What did I do?" She asked, worriedly. Ms. Morrison had to laugh.
"You don't have to think you're in trouble every time I want to talk to you." She pointed out. Sara shrugged.
"Well, I usually am." She muttered.
"Sara, I have something important to tell you." Ms. Morrison said, ignoring Sara's last comment. Sara puckered her brow, now knowing this was really serious.
"What? What's going on?" She asked, growing more and more suspicious. Ms. Morrison sighed, knowing it was now or never. She really didn't want to hurt Sara, or make her angry, but she had to tell her.
"Sara, I've set up an interview for you. I know you're not happy about it, but it's just a meeting." Ms. Morrison said quickly, and the reaction she had expected from Sara surely came.
"What?" Sara yelled out, as her eyes widened and she stood up quickly.
"Sara, just relax, don't get upset. I told you, this is just a meeting. You've had interviews before."
"And I've hated every one of them!" Sara snapped.
"Sara, I don't want you to give me a hard time about this. These people are very nice and they really want to meet you. They're interested in adoption, and I thought it would be good for you to meet them as well, because Sara, I think what you really need is a family." Ms. Morrison said calmly. Sara shook her head vigorously.
"How many times do I have to tell everybody? I don't want a family! I don't want to be adopted and I don't want to go to this interview!" She yelled.
"Sara! I don't appreciate you taking that tone with me, young lady. Now please, don't make this hard on me, I only want what's best for you. We're going to go to this interview tomorrow and I want you to be on your best behavior, do you understand?" Ms. Morrison's tone was serious and stern, but not angry. She could never use anger on these kids, not after all of the pain most of them had suffered. Sara sighed angrily and turned away, refusing to look at her social worker.
"Fine Sara, I don't care if you're angry at me. I don't care if you won't speak to me, but we're leaving tomorrow around 3:00p.m. and I expect you to be good." Ms. Morrison watched as Sara crossed her arms rebelliously. Ms. Morrison only shook her head and left the dormitory, feeling guilty, but feeling like she really had done the right thing.
Moments later, Britney arrived back in the dormitory to find Sara sitting on her bed, arms crossed, staring out the window.
"What happened?" Britney asked as she joined her best friend. Sara sighed.
"Ms. Morrison set up an interview for me for tomorrow." She replied under her breath, through clenched teeth. Britney wanted to congratulate her, but knew Sara wasn't happy about it, so she didn't.
"It's not fair; Ms. Morrison knows I hate interviews. She knows I hate families. She knows I don't want to be adopted, so I don't understand why she keeps doing this to me!" Sara blurted out angrily. Britney sighed.
"You know Ms. Morrison would never hurt you. She probably just thinks she is doing what's right for you." She explained, siding with Ms. Morrison.
"She hasn't a clue what's right for me. Why can't she just listen to me? A family is not what's best for me!"
"How do you know that Sara? How do you know?" Britney asked, desperate for an answer, but once again, Sara turned her face away. Britney sighed.
"It's just an interview. You don't know what could happen. For all you know, the couple might not even be interested in you." She said, humoring her best friend, even though deep inside, she secretly hoped that the couple would be interested and adopt Sara, because even Britney knew that somewhere deep down inside of Sara Stevenson lied a desperate longing for a family and a sense of belonging and love.
"It'll be okay. Whatever happens, everything will be okay." Britney said as she gave her best friend a hug. Sara was glad she had her best friend with her, but she wasn't so sure she believed her.