CHAPTER TWELVE:

"Kyle's Turn"

I wake up to a loud alarm clock going off; it's 7:00 already? I instinctively turn around to face the bed next to mine; Jason never wakes up at the alarm. But the bed is empty. That's right, Jason got to leave yesterday. He went to his foster home, and I'm stuck here in the middle. The 'half-way' mark, they say. Because you're out of the terrible place you were before -for me, the last foster home that "didn't want us any more"- they just haven't found somewhere else to put you yet.

I've never been here alone, though. Everywhere I went, I had my brother with me. "They never split up siblings," we were told at the beginning. "You're too old now, most people won't take even one that's close to that age, let alone two," we were told yesterday. "That age". They call it that a lot. They say it like you have some kind of disease. Maybe in their eyes you do. You turn 13, and suddenly you have a disease that makes you act out and be terrible, and thus be un-adoptable. Because apparently teenagers aren't as important to most people.

So that's why, when people came yesterday to look at us, they took Jason and left me here. But it's okay, I'm happy for him. At least one of us is somewhere better.

I get out of bed and dress quietly, then go for breakfast. It's kind of like a boarding school, the way we operate here. Some people say hi to me as I pass by them, but only out of politeness.

I don't think they know what to tell me. Any day before today, I would eat lunch with these people, talk to them. They would stick around me because they like my brother, and that's where he always was. Jason's the kind of person people would describe as the 'life of the party'. He's energetic, outgoing, and the exact opposite of me. Maybe if we didn't grow up together, go through the system together, we wouldn't even like each other. But we did, ten years and I've never been apart from my older brother, until now. He's older than I am, but not even by a year. It was supposed to be a year, we were told, but I came early. We even look pretty similar, so most people think of us as twins.

But we're not twins, and that's why I'm alone today, why we were separated. They keep twins together, even if it means they both have to live in the group home their whole lives. I know, because there is a set of mixed gender twins here- a boy and a girl. Whenever someone comes to adopt, they always want one and not the other. I think that's similar to my situation with Jason. See, no one ever wants the boy- his name is Dustin- because he's what they'd call a "problem child". That really just means that he doesn't want them, either. His sister Destiny thinks the same way, but she's better-behaved than he is. In other words, she doesn't make a scene out of anything when he would.

They're similar to me and Jason because they're opposites, too. One is the type people want to adopt, and the other isn't. They don't seem to mind it, though, because either way they get to stay together. They operate similar to me and Jason, too. Destiny and Dustin, they have the same friends. Mostly just people Dustin hangs out with that Destiny has grown to accept as well. Jason was one of those friends, so by default so was I. I don't really expect any of Jason's friends to approach me any more, not now that he's gone and they don't need to. Destiny is the exception. She always is the exception, no matter what the rule is. I think she exists solely to break stereotypes. So when she and Dustin come and sit on either side of me at breakfast, I'm not surprised.

"Hey Kyle,"

"How you doing today?"

I always wonder if they plan out their conversations beforehand.

"Yeah, I mean with Jason gone and-"

I hear Whack.

"OW! What was that for?"

"You are so insensitive!"

They must plan it, because they always seem to find a way to make people laugh.

"I'm sorry," Dustin begins, turning towards me. "Kyle, I'm not going to address the fact that your brother is gone because that might be a trigger that will leave you bawling on the floor in the fetal position-because I don't think you're strong enough to handle it correctly." When he finishes, he leans around me to address his sister, "That sensitive enough for you?"

Destiny huffs and puts on the best indignant face she can muster, but I can tell she's holding back laughter. And I'd have to agree with her, Dustin has a knack for making people laugh, especially with pranks and jokes.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know that." Destiny replies, sounding defensive now. She was just trying not to offend me, and I'm actually kind of grateful to her for that. Most people wouldn't care if they were offensive. Destiny turns back to face me, "How are you, though?"

I sigh. I knew this was coming. "How are you doing, Kyle? You must be upset." But I really don't know. How am I? She'd know better than I would, probably. I miss my brother, I do, but I'm not broken. I can still function properly. I'm not depressed. Maybe I should tell her that, it's what she wants to hear. She hopes I don't feel the way she did. She was really depressed when I first met them, she never said it, but I could tell. Dustin told me it had to do with their father- whom had abused the twins and is the reason they're here- trying to contact her again. If I put myself in her shoes, I understand why that upset her so much. It upset Dustin too, I'm sure, but he was mostly worried about his sister. He seems to be really protective of her, even though she doesn't like it.

That was what made me like them, especially Dustin. They just seemed too genuine to me. It was more than just "we just want to be your friend because you're Jason's brother and he's popular". These are the kind of people that when they say they're your friend, they mean it. Especially Dustin, I've learned that he's very loyal.

"Well, how ya' been, Ky?" Dustin asks, using the nick name only my brother and him ever use.

I decide not to go digging up the past, and don't say what I was going to.

"I'm coping."

Destiny seems content with this answer, and starts to eat. Dustin nods as well. "Maybe he'll come on visiting day." He suggests, and I hope he's right. After breakfast, we go to our school portion of the day. This is only separated by age, and my class contains the 11 t 13 year-olds. Even with the 3 year gap, our class only has about 22 people. The twins are two of them. I sit towards the front of the class, in the second row. Destiny sits a couple seats down, right next to the door. Dustin sits two seats behind her in the corner, most of his friends surrounding him. The seat right next to his is empty today.

A couple hours into the class during maths, someone comes in. They give a note to the teacher and everyone watches intently. We know what this means: someone is in trouble. The teacher takes the small note and walks down the aisles of desks, making everyone nervous. He stops in front of a terrified looking Destiny, but it can't be her, he doesn't get in trouble. He whispers something to her and she promptly snickers. I was right, it's not her. Our teacher likes to be evil that way sometimes. Destiny then comes over to my desk. "Sorry Kyle, but the headmaster needs to see you."

Me? What did I do? I think she's messing with me, but when I take the note that's what it says. I get up and take my things with me to the headmaster's office. I walk in dread, worried about what I did to deserve this. I've only been there once before- when I first got here- but I remember where it is well. When I get to the main office, I stop in front of the door to the headmaster's office. I take in a breath, and knock. "Come in."

I hear the stern voice of headmaster Andrews, but I also hear someone take in a breath, sounding rather excited. I open the door to find three people, two of them sitting across the desk from the headmaster. They seem to be a couple, the woman has light brown hair and the man has red hair, nearly the same shade as Dustin's. My thoughts drift back to the twins now. Did their father have ginger hair, too? Maybe it was their mother. My thoughts are quickly interrupted when the woman jumps out of her seat to come to me. She has a willowy stature, and she looks like some kind of artist to me.

"Is this him?" She asks Professor Andrews, who nods. She speaks with a strange accent. It sounds mostly French, but with a bit of something else. "Of course it is!" The man exclaims. "It's nice to meet you, Kyle, I'm Ardon." He looks very business-like, so the Irish accent that comes from his mouth surprises me. I just nod and shake his hand when he extends it. I look at Professor Andrews, pleading for answers.

"Kyle, Mr. and Mrs. Reid have been watching you for some time. After a lot of careful consideration, they've decided they want to go further." I stare at her blankly, does she mean what I think she means? "They want to go to the next step and trial you for a few weeks. If all goes well, they'd like to proceed with adoption." She does.

~•~•~•

I don't really know what happened, it happened so fast. One minute the lady –turns out her name is Gabrielle –is telling me about her daughter and the next I'm on a plane to Japan. I didn't even get to say goodbye to everyone. They'll find out tomorrow, though. The teacher will announce it to the class.

The lady –my new foster mom, I guess –is going on and on about how she loves to travel the world. She's very eccentric. I'm listening, but not too intently. I do have a general idea of her family now, though. She's from France, and loves to design and travel; her husband is a business man form Ireland. They live in Japan with their daughter, who also loves to travel.

The plane ride continues this way, with her telling me about their lives, and me making mental notes. Apparently the man –or, foster dad now –left early to tell their daughter and staff (not sure if I heard that part right, though) about us coming. We keep talking; foster mom is really nice and says she donates to charity sometimes. Before I know it we're landing in Tokyo, I think.

There are a whole lot of things happening at the same time, and I get really confused. I try to stay as close to foster mom as possible so I don't get lost. We get into a car –it doesn't look like a taxi –and foster mom talks to the driver. I try to listen to find out what's going on, but they're talking in Japanese and I can't understand them. So I sit back and accept that I don't know a thing about what's going on. Foster mom squeezes my hand comfortingly, though also slightly awkwardly.

When we reach their house –more like a mansion, honestly –foster mom goes in first. Foster dad got home before we did, since he left earlier. I walk inside and see three new people. They only have a daughter, right? Two of them, they're twins, seem really awkward. Foster dad comes in and talks to them and the girl –who's most likely their daughter –in Japanese for a minute before turning back to me. I wonder what they're talking about, but I think I hear my name in there somewhere.

"Kyle, this is our daughter Aislin." He gestures to the girl standing between the twins, I was right. She looks a lot like someone else I know, and I know exactly who it is. She has wavy ginger hair and bright green eyes, and for a minute I think I'm looking at Destiny. I suddenly realize I won't get to see her –or any of my friends from before –anymore. Even with all the time I've had today, I didn't think of that.

"Hey, buddy, are you hungry?" Foster dad asks, bending down to my height. Does he know that I'm not five years old? I just nod, suddenly realizing that I am really hungry. That wasn't what I was thinking about the entire time, either. We go to the dining room and sit down, and it's terribly awkward. The silence seems to be emphasized by the huge size of the room. Seriously, why would a family of three need a room this big anyway?

Foster mom is the first one to speak up, asking about Aislin's friends that she apparently has never met before. Good, she can see them too. Nobody has even acknowledged their presence until now, probably because they've been staying silent. I put that down to them only speaking Japanese, probably.

Aislin explains that they're friends from school. I guess I was wrong about the language thing since they introduced themselves in English, which makes their silence less awkward I guess. Is everyone here bilingual? I want to join the conversation, and I have several questions I'd like to ask all of them. Especially the twins, they make me think of Destiny and Dustin again, are these two close like they were? Do they do everything together, too? Can Aislin tell them apart? Out of my confusing whirl of thoughts and desperation to say something, all that comes out is "So, you're …twins?"

Well spotted, Kyle, I mentally kick myself for asking such a stupid question, but it's all that I could think to say. They just nod in unison, probably confused by the stupid question. I always thought it was cool how Destiny and Dustin would do something at the same time, or finish each other's sentences. These two –Hikaru and Kaoru, they said –also do that, so I wonder if it's just a twin thing. Maybe all twins do that. "That's nice." I say.

My best friends were twins, I want to say, and they were awesome. That's what's on my mind right now. But I don't say it. "I had an older brother." Is what I actually say. I can almost feel the room tense up. "What happened to him?" One of the twins asks, as if he is unaware of the change in atmosphere. I notice his brother give him a really nasty look and I can almost hear the 'You are so insensitive.' It seems like that's what he wants to say, too, which I find hilarious.

I almost want to laugh out loud, but I stop myself. I don't like these thoughts, these comparisons. It's only going to make me miss my friends more, right? If I keep thinking ways that everyone I meet is like them, I'll never get over it. These people aren't Destiny and Dustin, I don't even know them, and I need to remind myself of that. Why did I bring up Jason? How do I talk to them about that?

I decide to pretend they are Destiny and Dustin, and answer honestly. Why not, I mean it's not like I have any secrets or reasons to hide anything. "He got adopted out." I sigh, not really wanting to talk about it. "I miss him." I say, but why did I say it out loud? I didn't mean to. I prepare myself for the pity-party that's sure to come, but that doesn't happen.

"Well, at least he's okay. I mean, I'm sure it would be nice to see him, but isn't it equally as nice to know that he's safe where he is?" And somehow Aislin is able to summarize exactly how I feel right now.

"That is the best way to look at it." I say, smiling at her. She is like Destiny.

"So, what is your brother like?" The other twin –he hasn't talked yet –asks.

I explain to them how Jason was always very outgoing and popular, how we were very close even though we were different. It's really easy for me to talk to them, for some reason.

I really think I'm going to like it here, like the people here.

So, yeah, I chapter in Kyle's POV. It has been done. Yaay. Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter. If you do, you should leave a review, it'll make me update sooner. Also, if you like this fanfiction you might want to check out my DeviantART, because I update it there faster (and I also put art and journals related to this and I put when I'm going to update usually) which is on my profile. So yeah, you should watch me.
~Desime