11;

The morning sun lit up the bedroom and all of its inhabitants as well as bringing with it an air of change in the orphanage. There was a new man sitting behind Edgar's desk, where Edgar himself was sitting only just yesterday and for the previous twenty three years.

The children slowly woke on their own terms as usual, some choosing to ready themselves for the day, others to lounge around with no particular goals. Most had chosen to drag themselves out of bed and slowly head out into the eating area, forced to pass by Edgar's office door along the way.

The new man at the desk would occasionally look up and give a smile to those he made eye contact with then quickly put his head down to keep working. His words had yet to make themselves heard.

"Well he's interesting." Tino put his plate on the table and took a seat where the girls were already eating. He woke up shortly after them and far before Sam.

"He didn't say anything to you, did he?" Tino shook his head. "Us neither. We walked by and said hi. He just… smiled, sort of." She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess we'll see what he says once everybody is up."

Sam, and a handful of others, were still sleeping when the man who was sitting behind the desk decided to emerge. He walked over to the dining area and stood in the same spot Edgar stood the day before when announcing his leaving.

"Hello everyone!" His accent was mild but instantly recognizable as southern. "I apologize for my rather terse greetings to you as you passed my office, that's if I said anything to you at all." He clapped his hands together. "So! Let's start with the introductions."

The man standing before them was above average in height, at least six feet, and was somewhat lanky considering his lesser weight. His head was full of grayish hair, with a few strands of black scattered throughout. His face was slightly gaunt, perhaps purely due to his age. He was very well dressed for such a job, likely trying to make a good first impression.

"My name is David Murphy, but feel free to call me David. Or should you prefer formality, Mr. M. will do fine." He gestured over to the office. "As you no doubt know, Mr. Halwell is no longer serving as the caretaker of this establishment. That responsibility falls to me now, and I must say I am excited to do so!"

A single voice rose out of the room, its location indiscernible to him. "Why did Edgar leave?"

"Good question! Unfortunately, I am currently unable to answer it. The reasons into his departure are not of open knowledge to myself, but I will inquire into the circumstances after I have settled in should you still wish at that time." He scanned the room, still unable to find who spoke up. "I hope this is sufficient for you."

He cleared his throat and continued on where he left off. "I'm not sure what Mr. Halwell said to you before he left, but I just want to assure you all that the operations of the orphanage will remain largely intact and unchanged. However, that's not to say that you won't see some changes over time. I am very interested in getting this place to be running as efficiently as possible and, from what I've found in the short time I've spent in the office looking over records, the financial situation here is rather…" He swirled a hand in the air while searching for the right word. "Restricted. I will see what I can do in that regard. I am also looking into the adoption and fostering rate. There's been a trend of gradual decline in the numbers for both, and I hope to rectify that to the best of my capabilities."

A grin from ear to ear spread across his face. "So, with that, I'd like to thank all of you for your attention! I will be in my office for most of the day, most days. Feel free to come by and introduce yourself or ask any questions you may have, I'll always have time for you." As he said this last word he tried to make his gaze as general as possible for the room. "Enjoy your day."

He spun in place without faltering and walked back to his office. In his absence the children slowly resumed what they were doing and the room took on its normal energy level.

"He seems fake." Riley commented without hesitation.

An look of confusion and obvious frustration instantly appeared on Tino's face. " Wait, what? Why?"

"I don't know. Something about the way he would said one thing but his face said something different. It seemed off."

"You can't judge someone after just a minute of listening to them. He just seems like an enthusiastic guy. Not sure why that would make you uncomfortable."

She half scowled at him for the subtle attack. "That doesn't make me uncomfortable, Tino. Just in general he did."

"Well he didn't for me. He seemed sincere." He turned his head slightly. "Ellie, what about you?"

"I really don't want to get in between you two."

"Come on, it's a simple question."

Ellie wasn't as confident in picking a side as the two of them had, but she did half a slight bias towards one. "Fine. Tino, you're right, you can't judge someone that quickly." Riley was about to object when Ellie cut her off. "But, with that said… I agree with Riley. Something about the way he spoke seemed odd."

"Of course you're siding with her."

"The hell does that mean?"

"It… nothing. But you're both still wrong."

"Chill the hell out Tino. You don't even know the guy and you're already taking his side."

"You don't either and you're still taking the opposite side."

"It's different."

"Sure." He exhaled and regained his composure. "Let's go talk to him then. He said he wanted us to introduce ourselves. I say we go do it."

She looked over at Ellie for approval and then back at Tino. "Fine. If it'll shut you up, then let's go talk."

Riley rolled her eyes in annoyance at Ellie after Tino had turned his back to them while heading toward the office. They walked through the doorway and positioned themselves in a line in front of the old wooden desk that's been there as long as Edgar had.

The room looked the same as before, right down to the pictures that hung from the wall and the several vases scattered throughout. One thing was different however, the nameplate on the desk was swapped out and now read 'Dr. David Murphy.'

The man looked up from his paperwork when he saw his three visitors. He laid his pencil down and shuffled his papers off to the side of his desk into a messy pile. The same grin as before spread across his face.

"Hello there! What can I do for you?"

Tino, as confident and stubborn as before, spoke first. "You said to come by if we wanted to introduce ourselves."

"Indeed I did."

"Well, my name is Tino." He gestured toward the girl closest to him, then the farthest. "This is Riley, and that's Ellie."

"Nice to meet you Tino." He glanced over at the other two. "You as well girls. Like I said before, my name is David Murphy, but I like to keep things on a personal level, so please just call me David."

Tino flashed a look at the girls, his intention obvious. "You said you were you going to try and improve things. Any chance we can recommend something?"

"Of course. You're the ones who know what can be improved around here since I only just arrived. What is it?"

"To be blunt, breakfast is bland. Any chance on adding some different food to the menu?"

David picked up the pencil again and scribbled something on his notepad. "Getting tired of the same old food, eh? Well, I'll do what I can, but managing finances is difficult. Especially here. I need to distribute it to the areas that I deem have the highest priorities first, but I'll definitely look into adding variety. But don't expect changes of that sort for a while. Just how it goes." His grin didn't change. "Anything else?"

Riley was observing the room while he spoke, disinterested in his breathy manner of speaking. She focused in on the plaque and found it odd. "Your nameplate says doctor. What kind, and why not mention it?"

"Riley right? Well, Riley, I don't enjoy formalities. It feels as if though I'm differentiating myself from my subordinates or those I look after, which includes you and everyone in this building. And as for your first question, I have a Ph.D. in education. I received my doctorate in a time long since forgotten, but the title stays with you for life I suppose." He let out a hearty chuckle. "Anything else?"

Tino looked over to the other two and spoke for the three of them. "I don't think so. We just wanted to introduce ourselves."

"Wonderful! Well I'm glad you came in. I like to know the people I'm working for on a personal level. And again, should you ever need anything, my door is always open."

The three made their way out of the office and back to the great room, taking one of the couches as their own. The two girls sat down while Tino stayed standing in front of them.

"So, what did I tell you? He's nice and he clearly wants to help." An arrogant tone was overpowering each of his words.

"Cut that shit out, Tino. Seriously. Yeah, he seems fine, but I'm still not convinced."

"Ellie, you didn't say anything in there. What do you think?"

Ellie's eyebrows turned upwards in an apologetic expression. "Sorry Riley, but I'm kind of leaning towards Tino with this one. I wasn't sure before, but for now at least he seems fine and he just wants to make this place better."

Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes at being the minority. She pushed herself off the couch and headed for the front door while keeping her sight straight ahead as she passed David's office.

Tino let out an exasperated groan. "What is her deal?"

"She's stubborn. That's just how she is. Once she has an idea in her head it's there for good." She looked over at the door. "I'll go talk to her."

She followed Riley's path through the hallway and out the front door of the building. The sun was still rising in the sky, the time not long since dawn, and the clouds were thin and high with a slight tinge of orange to them. She spotted Riley sitting on a curb with her knees up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them.

Ellie took a spot next to her and copied her pose. "You alright?"

Riley's voice was louder than normal, forced by her frustration. "Tino just pisses me off sometimes. He's so damn arrogant."

"Tino says stupid stuff you don't like all the time. Why is this getting to you?"

Riley stayed quiet and stared off into the distance, incessantly tapping her feet. Ellie draped an arm around Riley's far shoulder to get her to ease up.

"Come on. Tell me."

Riley sighed and relaxed her voice. "I've dealt with false promises a lot in my life, okay? First it was my mom, then every one of my foster families. As soon as I was inconvenient for them, as soon as they realized that I was broken, they'd kick me out and give me back to the orphanage. Every fucking one of them."

She looked back at Ellie, now only inches away. "So that's why Tino is 'getting to me'. He's trusting this David guy too quickly, and he's too damn stubborn to listen."

"You're pretty stubborn too, you know?" Riley grunted at the accusation but didn't refute it. "Anyway, it's clear that you've been really hurt, but you can't live your life distrusting everyone." She looked away and back out over the street. "I'm not asking that you trust him, but at least don't treat everything he says as a lie. Besides not everybody does. You trust me right?"

"Of course… but you're not one of them."

"Them?"

Riley let her head fall back and closed her eyes. "Adults. Look, I don't expect you to understand. Just know that until he follows through on his word I'm going to assume he's lying to us."

Ellie let her arm around Riley fall off and used it to push herself up. "Fine. Just don't get me involved between you and Tino. You coming in?"

"In a bit."

Ellie walked back up the path and through the door. She looked inside David's office as she passed where he was still scribbling on his stack of papers, unaware of anything around him. She found Tino on the couch where she left him earlier, zoned out watching TV, and sat down against him.

"Well?"

"It's no use. Just… please don't go after each other."

"As long as she doesn't."

"Can't promise anything."