Chapter 2
It had been 2 weeks since the day I meet Rachel, Cassie, Jake and Marco, and everything was going well. I invited them all over one day while my parents were over and we got on the subject of baby photos…and that's when my world turned up side down…
"Oh my God, I have the cutest picture of me from when I was little. I'm sitting in my high-chair with my dads 'cow boy' hat on and a beer can in my hand. Come with me and I'll see if I can find it." I said and we ran upstairs to my parent's bed room.
I laid on the floor and pulled out a box from under the bed filled with photo albums. I grabbed one from the bottom of the box and flipped through for a while I stopped when I found a piece of paper between two pages.
I opened it up and looked at it. 'Certificate of Adoption' it read.
"What?" I said completely confused.
"What is it Rhi?" Rachel asked.
I read it out loud "Certificate of Adoption. This is to certify that Robyn Ann Smith and Jack Lee Smith are now the official guardian of Arianna Rochelle (Insert name here) as they wish to adopt her and take her as their own child." By the end of the end of this my voice had dropped to a whisper, everyone was looking at me.
"There's more," I whispered "Both my parent are dead and this 'siblings- older brother Tobias (Insert name here), living with relatives.'"
Rachel, Cassie, Jake and Marco glanced at each other before looking at me. There was silence for awhile.
"Umm…why don't we put this all back now Arianna, then we can think of something to do?" Jake suggested lamely breaking the silence.
I nodded and muttered under my breath "I'm going to kill them, they lied to me for so many years, my whole life has been a lie. I'm going to fucking kill them." I shoved everything back under the bed and went back down stairs, sat on the couch and did something I don't do very often. I cried.
Cassie sat next to me and put her hand on my arm "It's okay Arianna, lots of people are adopted."
"That's not the point" I sniffed "They could have told me."
"Maybe they were waiting for the right time" Rachel suggested.
"The right time would have been from the day they adopted me."
"You were a baby and wouldn't have understood it. I mean, you're smart considering you're supposed be a year below us but I don't think you would have been smart enough to figure out what they meant when you were like 2 months old." Marco said.
"Yeah but they could have told me from then onwards." I said.
By now I had more or less stoped crying so I went and got a drink from the kitchen and flopped back on the couch beside Cassie and Marco.
"You know what else is really stupid and totally not fair?" I asked "My brother gets to go and live with family and I get stuck with whoever decides they want me. I don't see why they couldn't take me as well, maybe I'm just not good enough for them." I started to cry again, so much for not crying often.
This time it was Marco who comforted me, he put his arms around me and said "Maybe you were too good for them."
I managed to smile "I was a baby, how could they figure I was too good for them?"
"Maybe they just had a feeling. Besides, you obviously don't need them anyway 'because you're doing fine without them." He brushes away my tears with his hand and let go of me.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" Rachel suggested.
"Yeah, we could go through the woods at Cassie's place." Jake added.
We all agreed and 15 minutes later, trampling through the woods Jake said "Arianna, there's something up here I want to show you. Close your eyes."
"That's really smart Jake, then I'll run into something."
"Marco and I will lead you, so close your eyes."
I did as Jake said and felt him and Marco take my hands and we continued walking, with me stumbling every so often.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Jake?" Cassie asked.
"More or less." He answered.
"But don't you think maybe we should talk to them separately about it first?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked a little confused and nervous.
"It's nothing really, you'll find out soon." Jake said "Okay, we're here, sit down and open your eyes."
I did as he said and found my self in what kinda looked like a one bedroom apartment. "Okay, where are we and why are we here?"
"Well, this is kinda like our little cubby house but a bit more advanced, and basically we're here for you to meet people." Marco explained.
As soon as he finished talking and in walked two guys.
"I found him-mmm Prince Jake. Jay-kuh."
"Don't call me prince" Jake said almost automatically.
"Who's this?" the other new comer asked
"Well, this is Arianna, she moved here a few weeks ago." Jake answered.
"And you brang her because?"
"Because about an hour ago she found out that she's adopted." Rachel said.
"And?"
"The adoption certificate said she had and older brother," Marco explained "And you're the only Tobias (Insert name here) we know who's living with relatives, without parents. So we figured you might want to meet your baby sister."
"What?" Tobias and I said.
"Arianna this is Tobias your brother, Tobias this is your sister Arianna. Ax, this is your niece Arianna. Arianna this is your uncle Ax" Cassie said. "Unless we are really wrong which I doubt under the circumstances."
I Stated at Tobias and Ax in astonishment and the Tobias stared yelling.
"JAKE HOW STUPID ARE YOU? WHAT IF SHE'S…YOU KNOW! YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT FIRST! AND YOU SHOULD HAVE TALKED TO ME ABOUT IT! I MIGHT NOT EVEN WANT TO MEET HER, EVEN IF SHE IS MY SISTER."
I stared at him in different type of astonishment for a moment then picked up a paperweight off the desk and threw it at him. The paperweight hit Tobias on the shoulder and he turned to face me, looking like he might explode.
"Tobias, calm down." Cassie said, moving beside him.
"How am I supposed to be calm?" he asked "What if she's…"
"She's not" Rachel interrupted.
"How do you know?" Jake asked.
"We checked." Marco replied, "Three long days ends today. So she's clear."
"What are you talking about?" I asked really confused. "What do you mean I'm clear and why is he," I indicated Tobias "Such a jerk?"
"Can we tell her Prince Jake?" my uncle asked.
"Of course we can," Marco said "She's not infested."
"And if my sleepless nights go to waste I won't be impressed." Rachel added.
"Can you just explain already?"
"Tobias, Ax, what do you guys think?"
"You are my Prince, I have no say in this matter. It is your decision to make, not mine. My-nuh."
Jake sighed "Tobias?"
"What happens if she does a David?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Jake replied "Now I suppose we had better explain."
"Yeah that would help." I said.
The six of them explained about the yeerks, my alien dad who came to Earth and about morphing.
"So you're telling me that I'm half alien?"
"Not half but definitely part." Jake said "Ax, dimorph and show her, Arianna, try not to scream."
My Uncle began twisting and changing and soon a deer cross human cross scorpion and probably a few other things stood before me.
(Your fathers' natural form was an andalite then he deliberately got himself stuck as a human. So you are only about a quarter 'alien')
I turned to Tobias, "Are you human?"
"I was originally then I got stuck as a hawk but I regained the power to morph." He answered and began demorphing, soon a red tail hawk stood in his place.
"Now it's your turn Arianna, you're going to become an Animorph." Cassie said taking a blue box from a drawer. "Place your hand on a square and relax.
I did and said "Is this when you say 'You're on Candid Camera'?"
Everyone laughed and I felt a tingle in my hand.
"Okay, it's done," Cassie said putting the box away.
"Is it?"
"Yes, now, you need some morphs," Jake replied "We'll go to Cassie's for now and then Cassie can take you to The Garden's for some fire power."
"Do we have to walk all that way?" I asked, an idea formulating in my mind.
(You could fly) Tobias said (If you morph me that is.)
"Can I?"
(Yeah) he replied and instructed me on acquiring and morphing.
I did as Tobias said and felt myself change. My bones and inside and body in general did some really strange things. Soon I was a mirror image of Tobias.
"Is it just me or did she morph clothes?" Rachel asked.
"It's not just you."
(Did I do something wrong?) I asked a bit panicked.
"No," Jake replied "It's just that we haven't been able to morph clothes that aren't skin tight."
(Okay then. Can we fly now?)
I was getting impatient. I had always wanted to fly but had never even been in a plane. I had to move from Australia by boat because my 'parents' have an irrational fear of heights.
"She sounds just like her brother bird boy." Marco commented.
(Shut up Marco or I'll peck you.)
(Chickens peck Arianna. You can dive bomb him when we get in the air.)
"In that case let's go," Rachel said. "I've always wanted to see Marco dive bombed."
She picked up Tobias and took him outside. Jake picked me up and I bit his finger playfully. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me then put me down near Tobias.
(Okay, how do we fly this thing?)
(Let the hawk control the flying and you just kinda direct it.) Tobias instructed, taking off.
I tried to imitate him but ended up beak down in the dirt. Good thing hawks don't blush. I stood up and tried again, this time I managed to make it into the air. Only a few feet but still. I figured out what I was doing and was soon up with Tobias, watching everyone else morph and take off. I flew higher and stopped when I was about 300 meters above Marco. I dived, aiming straight for him, screaming in delight and pulled out at the last second. Marco screamed to, but I think that was because I scared the shit out of him.
(Fucking hell, Arianna, don't do that.)
(Sorry, a little late now)
(I'll get you back, don't say I didn't warn you.)