w00t, chapter 2! It actually got betaed this time. This is where it starts to get interesting. evil grin
Thanks Allie for the beta!
Disclaimer: I don't really own anyone but the random Overlanders and the roaches. I don't own Boots.
"Wake up, girls! Get to work! Breakfast is in an hour!" Goat Face shouted angrily, slamming the door. The combination of shouting, slamming and flicking on the lights when you least expect it would send most people tumbling off the bed in surprise. All of us just automatically jumped out of bed, wide awake, knowing that if we weren't we would get a bucket of ice water in the face. Despite the unceremonious wake-up call, we were all bursting with excitement for the day to come. We all had packed our bags in case we were picked (or not, some of the girls are just going to run away if they aren't picked). Now everyone was brushing their teeth and putting on their "nice clothes" that Goat Lady supplied.
I doubled checked my bag. Clothes and toiletry- check. I rummaged through my personal belongings one by one. My cheap MP3 player I got for Christmas from a local charity with a few songs I liked- check. My nearly indestructible shake-and-go flashlights that Lola swiped from Goat Lady- check. Riley (my teddy bear) - check. It looked like everything was in place. I went off to get clean.
We spent the whole time cleaning, as usual. But it wasn't hard back-breaking work; that had all been done yesterday. We just did little things like polishing, dusting, sweeping. Things that would give us the appearance of being happy little angles, for he could walk in at any time.
One or two times I thought I heard something clicking Come, princess, come, but against my better judgment I decided it was my imagination and to ignore it. Soon that would become impossible.
Ding dong, The doorbell rang. Goat Lady glared at us and mouthed "Be happy or else." We didn't have to be told twice.
Jenna skipped to the door joyfully and opened it. Outside was a tall, handsome man in a blue polo shirt and black slacks. He had neat brown hair, beardless face, and a winning smile that had "important business man" written all over it. Next to him was a slim blonde lady who looked like she could easily get a job as a supermodel. Zoey nearly swooned at the sight of them. Then again, she always seems to be on the brink of loosing consciousness.
"Hello, Mister," she greeted politely in the most innocent voice she could muster. "Come on in." The man and his wife sat down on the old stained couch that should have belonged in the dump. (They say that that's where Goat Lady gets most of her stuff.) We all stood in front of it in a single file line, ready for the interview that we always got when someone came for adoption.
I was close to the end of the line between Zoey and Kayla. Jenna had first dibs.
Waiting in line for your interview is probably one of the worst parts about adoption, next to the fact that you may never see your best friend again if either of you are adopted. No one ever even thinks of adopting me or Zoey, so we're safe. Kayla wasn't so lucky. A few years ago, Alexis was taken, and she was crushed. What would happen if one of my close friends gets adopted? I started to have second thoughts about how excited I should be about this.
Come, the click shot through my thoughts like an arrow. I shook my head a few times.
"What's wrong?" Zoey asked, concerned.
"Nothing," I assured her.
Come. There it was again.
Come. I could sense a small difference in this click from the first two, like it was coming from someone else.
"Did you hear that?" Kayla whispered.
"Hear what?" I tried to sound like nothing weird was going on.
Come, princess, come.
"There it was again. I think they're roaches." So she was talking about the clicks.
"Oh, yeah, that. I heard that."
I looked at the wall, which was the place where the clicking was coming from. There it was, a little black insect coming out from under a table. It clicked, I heard Come. Another one came out. It started clicking too. Soon the two bugs were in a chorus of clicks, asking their "Princess" to come back.
Another one crawled out and joined them. And another. And another. By the time the line moved, there were at least ten roaches clicking their abdomens off next to the table. Others were starting to take notice. I was beginning to become desperate. If only these bugs would just shut up…
The clicking stopped abruptly. Thank goodness, I thought. The silence only lasted a few seconds. One of them began to screech. Everyone's heads turned. Roaches began to spill out everywhere- under the door, from cracks in the wall, even through the open windows.
The perfect little angels were rallied into a frenzy. Everyone was reaching for a high place. The man helped his wife (who had started screaming her head off the second the first bug came out from under the door) up on top of the couch. The twins were on the table, hugging each other and screaming, and Kayla, who's face was looking a bit green, was holding onto the coat hanger for dear life. I jumped and managed the grab hold of the low-hanging chandelier.
The cockroaches gathered at the center of the room where I was hanging, leaving a small circle in case I decided to come down. Not like that would ever happen.
Come down, Princess, Come down, They pleaded. My sweaty hands were beginning to make holding on the chandelier nearly impossible. I tightened my grip. They clicked like mad, trying to convince me. This couldn't go on much longer. I had no choice.
"Alright already!" I screamed. The clicks faded. "I'm coming down!" My feet would have slipped and hit the ground anyway, even if I didn't want to come down. I wanted to kill whoever polished that. I let go of the bars, and I felt the tension coming off the roaches fall dramatically. Some of them began to part, leaving a path to the door. One cockroach was left in the gap. Come, it clicked, and headed for outside.
Oddly enough, I followed it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Goat Lady shouted at me. "Get away from that thing!" The roaches turned on her and started hissing. She tried to climb onto the bookshelf in fear. She gulped. "Go ahead."
And with that, I walked out the door and into the streets of New York City.