Chapter Seven: Transferred

Sky stared at the ceiling of her room, the moonlight coming through her window cast across her face. Her hair hung loose from its usual braids, splayed all over her pillow. She didn't feel the least bit tired, Skipper's words echoing in her head. Most of all, the last things he said to her.

Who what? Who doesn't know when she's not wanted? News flash: that's kind of my everyday life!

Oh enough with the sob story!

It's not a sob story! It's just how my life is! We established that already!

And it's never going to change with your attitude!

It wasn't a sob story. Sky knew when her parents abandoned her that nobody could ever want her. She was a psyche human; a freak of nature. Nobody would be willing to put up with that. That's the truth of the matter.

Right?

Being a psyche human wasn't exactly rare, but to be born a psyche human from a couple without such powers was certainly an anomaly. But did that really mean all psyche human children like herself were doomed to be unloved and unwanted by those around her? She used to hate that she was a psych-man because she felt that alone was the reason she was given up and nobody ever adopted her. That didn't seem to be the case anymore. Sparky liked her; heck, he was her best friend for three years straight. He even said he loved her. Chug took an instant liking to her, and that fondness never left when he found out she was a psych-man. The entire town of Propwash Junction seemed fascinated by the idea of the young girl's powers. It just didn't make sense in Sky's brain. How could her parents, people who were supposed to love her, abandon their flesh and blood because of these powers when an entire town accepted them without question? Parents love and care for their children; hers gave her up because they saw her abilities as a disease. Sparky accepted her. Chug accepted her. Rosa and Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Getty and even all the orphans in the orphanage accepted her.

It's never going to change with your attitude!

How could it all be about my attitude? Sky wondered. I always thought being a psych-man was bad, plain and simple. Only now, Sky began to think it wasn't as black-and-white as she previously assumed.

Realizing sleep was not coming without a little help, the ten-year-old rose from her bed and began tiptoeing down towards the kitchen. She stepped carefully, not wanting to wake anyone and also trying to not trip in the darkness. But she blinked in surprise to find the kitchen lights on, even though it was almost 10 p.m. Not only that, voices came from the cooking area: one clearly Rosa's and the other two Sky didn't recognize. She crouched down on the stairs, staring through the bars of the railing.

"It is my job as a social worker to look out for the wellbeing of the children in the state of Minnesota." A woman with piercing blue eyes and bright blonde hair said, beginning to lose her patience with Rosa. Her business suit was clean-pressed and spotless, a stark comparison to Rosa's floral print dress and apron.

"If you really cared about Skylar's wellbeing, Angelica, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Rosa argued.

"Ms. Lopez, you have done a pretty good job caring for the girl." Angelica said. "But she's turning eleven soon, and policy dictates she needs to be moved where she'll grow up adequately like any normal eleven-year-old."

"Please understand, Ms. Lopez." A young woman standing beside Angelica said. She also wore a business suit, only a little more casual than her partner. Her mocha hair was pulled into a bun and a pair of wireframe glasses rested over her dark hazel eyes. "She needs to understand the social constructs of a typical preteenager in order to better understand the constructs when she reaches thirteen."

"I can understand that, Jessa. But she's happy here." Rosa protested.

"Really?" Angelica scoffed. "Last I heard, she's actually quite an irritable child. Ever heard of counseling?"

"She's been going to the school counselor for the past year." Rosa said. "And recently she's shown significant improvement. Give me a year and you'll see a whole new Skylar. She could be adopted within a few months."

"Should a couple come by." Jessa pointed out gently.

"We've had quite a few couples come by over the past two months." Rosa said. "Some of them were even homosexual partners who took in a child. And we have a waiting list for couples who previously called in requesting time for interviews."

Jessa looked to her superior. "That is rather promising, Angelica."

"Ms. Lopez, you're lucky the state allowed you to keep her this long." Angelica reminded the Hispanic woman, mostly ignoring her partner. "She's three years older than your oldest children. She is the oldest child here, and the only one over ten. If the girl isn't given the chance to live with children her own age, she won't develop properly."

"Being around the younger children is teaching her responsibility." Rosa reasoned. "I often look to her for help with the other children."

"Which is only going to confuse her." Angelica said. "She'll be thirteen and still in the foster system because she acts like a five-year-old." Jessa opened her mouth to protest, but Rosa beat her to the punch.

"Have you ever even met her?" Rosa snapped. "And she has a name which you have yet to use!"

"Skylar Amelia Doe." Angelica sassed. "Ten years old, soon to be eleven. Getting to the age where her chances of being adopted are growing unlikely." She stepped a little closer to Rosa, who stood firm with a glare in her eyes. "Your attachment to the girl only further proves she is too comfortable here. If she gets comfortable in this setting, it will decrease her chances of adoption even more."

"You cannot do this." Rosa growled.

"I'm only following protocol." Angelica said with a small sneer. "I will allow her to stay through her eleventh birthday, but after that she will be transferred to a foster home in Colorado where there are other children her age."

"What?"

Rosa, Jessa, and Angelica whipped around to stare at Sky, currently standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Based on the look on the girl's face, she more or less heard their entire conversation. "Skylar, dear, what are you doing up?" Rosa asked.

"I-I couldn't sleep." Sky explained, staring at the women. "I came down for some water. What do you mean I'm going to be transferred?"

Rosa looked down, sighing. "Skylar, sweetheart—"

"I don't want to leave!" Sky protested, an almost fearful look coming to her eyes. "I want to stay with you and the other kids!"

"This is precisely what I was talking about." Angelica droned. "The longer she stays here, the more comfortable she'll get. She needs to face the reality of being adopted into a family who might take her across the country." She lowered her voice to a mutter. "Although with her attitude she'll be in the system for a while."

"Angelica, that's not necessary." Jessa scolded softly, growing a little irritated with the blonde woman's attitude.

Sky glared. "I'm not leaving Sterling. I have friends here. What about Sparky and Chug and Mayday and Max?"

"Who are they?" Angelica demanded.

"My friends." Sky said firmly.

Angelica knelt down to be at Sky's eye level. "And are any of them your age? Or species?"

"No, but why should that matter?" Sky demanded.

"Indeed, why does that matter?" Jessa half-asked curiously, half-demanded.

"Because if you want to grow up normal and get adopted, you need to be around other human children your age." Angelica said, staring at Sky. She cast a look to Rosa. "It's a miracle the state hasn't reclaimed her already."

"I will get adopted soon enough!" Sky snapped. "And it'll happen while I'm still here!"

"What family in their right mind would want someone like you if you've been here so long?" Angelica suddenly growled.

"Angelica!" Jessa gasped, horrified.

Sky's glare deepened and she even bared her teeth a little. She gave Angelica a hard shove, sending the woman to the ground before turning and running back up to her room. Rosa called for her, but she ignored the woman as she slammed her bedroom door shut.

Rosa glared at Angelica as the woman stood and dusted off her skirt. "Happy now?"

Angelica scoffed. "Please. She's not the only problem child I've met in my time working. I'll be back in a few weeks to pick her up." She glared at Rosa. "Don't try anything funny, Rosa, or I'll have you shut down in a single phone call."

"You think you can scare me?" Rosa growled. "Contrary to your beliefs, the state actually likes me. I'm one of the most highly recommended foster mothers for young orphans. I've always taken care of my children until they could be adopted, and I will continue to do so. Especially for Skylar." She pointed towards the door. "Now get out of my house, mujer del diablo."

Sky listened at her bedroom door until she heard the front door to the house slam shut, indicating Angelica listened to Rosa for once and left with Jessa. The raven-haired girl ran to her bed and jumped onto it, burying her face into her pillow and letting out her sobs. She was getting transferred. To Colorado. That was hundreds, maybe thousands of miles from Minnesota. She would never see Sparky again. Or Chug or Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Getty or any of the Propwash residents.

I knew it. Sky thought sorrowfully. I'm not wanted by anyone. I'm going to be an orphan forever.

The door to her room opened, and Rosa stepped inside and sat on the edge of Sky's bed. "Chica, don't worry. Everything's—"

"Don't tell me everything will be all right." Sky said, her voice muffled by her pillow. "It won't, okay? I was right all along. I'm a freak. Nobody wants me and nobody loves me. Even if someone did want me, what difference would it make?" She curled up in a ball, keeping her face buried. "I don't know how to be loved. How can I know how to love someone else?"

Rosa stared in shock, sighing sadly. She tried to pull Sky into a hug, but the girl jerked away from her. Her sorrow growing, Rosa regretfully rose from the bed and walked out the door. She stopped at the doorway. "We'll talk tomorrow after school." She said with a weak smile before shutting the door. Sky resumed her sobbing, biting into her pillow in an attempt to make her stop crying. Talk? About what? There was nothing Sky or Rosa or anyone could do to prevent her from leaving Sterling. Who was to say it would stop when she got to Colorado? What if she just kept moving from place to place for the rest of her life?

Suddenly, a horrifying thought struck Sky. What if she never got adopted at all? What if she was still living in a foster home when she was an old lady, still waiting for someone to adopt her? What if she lived her entire life in an orphanage, only to die without ever being adopted? It terrified the girl to no end, imagining herself as a withered elderly woman still waiting for a family to take her in.

Sky sat up, her breathing erratic. No. No I can't let that happen! I just can't! She looked around her room, as though searching for an answer. Then, one came to her. It was incredibly stupid, but if it meant she could start over and increase her chances of being adopted, maybe it was her only option.

It only took a few minutes for Sky to settle into her decision.