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If you didn't catch the first part, here it is:
]http://www.gaiaonline.com/journal/index.php?mode=viewarchive&p=8517928&u=6685991
Eliana poked at her scrambled eggs with her fork. They slid across the plate and crashed into her uneaten pancakes. She wasn’t one of those girls who never ate anything, although there was a girl who was adopted last week did. As far as Eliana knew, she was now getting a bit fat since a rich couple had adopted her.
But at the moment, she was too far into her thoughts to eat. She couldn’t stop thinking about that dream. But why? Did it mean anything? And what did it have to do with her? That man though…he seemed so familiar…
“Eliana! What are you still doing here?”
Eliana twisted her head around to see a one of the nuns march towards her. Like a lot of orphanages, St. Carol’s was owned by the church across the street, so the building was funded and run by the nuns. Nanny, who happened to be striding to Eliana, was in charge.
“Eliana, the cafeteria is closed! And look, you didn’t even finish you’re breakfast!” she motioned to the untouched plate furiously. “No, no time now. We need to get to A.R now,” Nanny grabbed her arm and stormed out with Eliana desperately trying not to fall over.
As the pair abandoned the cafeteria along with Eliana’s breakfast, Eliana couldn’t help but groan mentally. A.R stood for “Adoption Room.” She’d completely forgotten that today was Saturday, which was Open House for adoption. Every week adults swooped in like hungry hawks and grab any stray orphan, then fly off as quickly as they came. Many would-be parents took pity on Eliana and tried to strike a conversation with her, all miserably failing. But she had to go. All kids were supposed to be adopted, whether they liked it or not.
“Here we are,” Nanny declared, opening the door to a rather small gymnasium. A small clique of chatting girls populated the bleachers, but most of the kids were playing basketball on the court. Two tables had been set up in the back. A group of serious gamers crowded around the first table, playing what Eliana could only guess to be Monopoly.
“Now, for once could you try and corporate with the parents?” she said wearily. “They only want to help.”
That’s the problem… she thought, but said nothing as Nanny closed the door behind her. She sighed. Another 4 hours wasted on trying to avoid catching an adult’s eye. Sometimes she wished she could just not come, but that wasn’t an option.
Eliana shuffled past the basketball game without getting hit in the head and headed for the tables. As she neared the gamers she could tell that they were not playing Monopoly, but more of a version of Dungeons of Dragons. She’d always thought that it was a silly game, but the gaggle of boys that always played would scold anyone who called it stupid. So she passed by the gamers without even a wrinkle of the brow, and sat down on the second table. She nestled her head into her arms and got ready for another uneventful Adoption Day.
“There you are, Eli! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Eliana sighed. It seemed as if the entire world was trying to get her attention when all she wanted was to be left alone. Nonetheless, she turned just as Julie saddled up next to her at the table.
“Hey, well, I was just thinking,” Julie started after a deep breath. “Well, I was talking to one of the nuns, and they said you came here, about 5 years ago, right?” she paused to allow a confirmation from Eliana. She debated for a second on whether or not to show any sign that she was actually listening. Once she realized Julie wasn’t going to leave until she got her point across, Eliana slowly nodded, then returned to staring out into space.
“Well, you’re 13, so that leaves about 8 years that you weren’t here. So I was wondering,” she paused for a breath. “What was your life like before you came here?"
Eliana willed herself to tell Julie to shut up. She’d hit a soft spot with a sharpened knife. Her brain told her mouth to form the words, but her lips remained stationary. She turned to Julie to send her off, but ended up getting a face full of blonde hair. Eliana spat out the stray hairs and turned back to Julie. She began to try and scoot the annoying girl away, but stopped as she looked at Julie’s face. Her face was a mix of both curiosity, and a small bit of fear.
“Look at that guy over there,” she whispered. Julie always had the habit of answering the questions that Eliana thought, but never said out loud.
Eliana followed Julie’s gaze to a man standing in the doorway, looking as if he had just came off the streets after mugging someone. He was tall and lanky, and sported a black leather jacket over a black and gray shirt. His eyes were covered by a pair of black sunglasses, the type that were actually built to block out light instead of looking fashionable. All in all, he looked very out of place.
“I wonder what he’s doing here,” Julie thought out loud. The man almost seemed to hear the question, for he glanced at the pair before starting the short trek towards them.
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