FORTY
She's not sure how adoption works.
None of the books in the library, as far as knows, talk about it. Well, the law encyclopedia probably does—but that's, like, forty volumes of tiny letters and Latin words that are way above her understanding.
But, she's had plenty of time to observe. Sometimes, for example, she hears the staff talk about home inspections and interviews and snobbish people. So, she knows the adults have to pass a bunch of tests before they're allowed to move on to the next step; she's not sure how long that takes, but it's probably like a month? Maybe more? Maybe less?
The kid part—now that she knows a lot more about, because it's the most exciting thing that ever happens around here, besides class field trips. Sometimes the adults already have someone in mind, or they really want a baby, but most of the time they're unsure. That's when they come to recess.
Honestly, she feels a little like a zoo animal whenever the adults watch, but she mostly escapes their notice, so it doesn't matter.
Some adoptions happen pretty fast, like Ken's. He only knew his potential parents for a week before he left with them. Others, though, take a while. That's when the matron and the board give the adults "permission to interact with Schnee Orphanage wards in a more private setting." Or, in other words, the kids and adults get to hang out basically whenever they want so that they can get to know each other.
Anyway, that's pretty much where her life is.
Right now, though, she's really bored. Detention is boring. She actually finished her book half an hour ago, and now she's stuck staring out the window at the darkening sky.
There's only one other kid in detention—Cocoa, and that's because she fell asleep in class again.
She's getting adopted. There's no way around it. She kind of wishes they'd get it over with already so that she can move on from this weird in-between phase.
But, on the other hand… she's kind of terrified.
There's a whole big world out there—she knows that really, really well. But here, she's safe, sheltered from all the evils and tragedies and everything that would upset her stable equilibrium.
However… she can't stay here forever. She's already getting tired of this remote little island.
"Oi, brats!" Mr. Levi barks. "Detention's over."
a/n: Can you believe we're at #40 already? I want to get Elfnein adopted by... say... #60. Roughly twenty more days, possibly less if I do double chapters every now and then. We'll see.
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