Stella Skye Swift!

Stella Skye...

I wake up to my Welcome To New York alarm ringtone, which plays the whole song before turning off. I can't believe that Taylor Swift is coming to the orphanage today! I am so excited! I am bouncing off the walls for her to get here! I know she will probably get here around 11 or later since she had a concert last night, and she's probably exhausted. I look at my clock, and it's 7:00. I shower, put on my jumpsuit, and make my bed. Then I look at my clock again. It's 7:30. I go downstairs and make myself a bowl of cereal and devour it. I wash out my dish and put it away since I sterilized it. Then I check out the chore board. No mail on Sundays. We always buy school lunch. The floor was mopped yesterday. The laundry was done yesterday. The dishwasher is not ready to be turned on. Which means...no chores! I facepalm myself. How could I forget? No chores on Sundays! Yay! Then I run upstairs and close my door quietly and turn on my Taylor Swift playlist, and dance and sing to it. I'm glad that the walls are semi-thick. So the other kids and Ms. Wilson can't hear me.

My playlist ends, and I put Welcome To New York on again. It's my favorite Taylor Swift song, as you probably noticed. I dance to it again before looking at my clock again. It's 8:15. That's an hour till Eli walks downstairs and a lot longer till Grayson walks downstairs.

I put my headphones on and restart my playlist, then leave my room and walk downstairs. I do a lap around the orphanage to make sure everything is presentable. I have to tidy up a few things, but other than that, I think everything looks good! I get even more excited for Taylor to come with every lyric of hers that plays.

I run upstairs and put away my headphones and pause my playlist. Then I wait in the living room for people to wake up. I occupy myself by playing some games on my phone. I hear footsteps, and I look up to see Eli walking downstairs, and I look at my phone to check the time. He's right on time. I exit my game and walk to the kitchen and sit down at the table.

15 minutes later, Lauren walks downstairs. We say good morning to each other. Rose comes down 15 minutes later. We say good morning to each other as well. Eli, Lauren, and Rose are downstairs, and Ms. Wilson is walking downstairs right now.

This means Grayson, aka my doom, will be down in 15 minutes. Time flies by too quickly when you are not looking forward to something. Grayson is now walking downstairs. He sits at the table and eats his cereal with everyone else. Shortly after finishing, everyone cleans their bowls and spoons and puts them away in their proper cabinet and drawer.

Eli bolts upstairs, and I try to go upstairs, but Grayson stops me. "Where are you going so fast, brat? No one's looking for you. No one is dying to talk to you. So what's the rush? I, unlike you, have someone waiting for me to call them," says Grayson. Undisclosed to him, I do have someone who cares about me and who's coming to see me in a matter of at least an hour. "Aww, baby can't find any words cause they know it's true," says Grayson in a mock baby voice. "Leave me alone," I say. "Why should I?" says Grayson in a snarky tone. "Because it's wrong to bully, and you know it. Besides, what did I ever do to you besides exist?" I say. "Whatever. You're a useless brat. No one cares about you, so it really doesn't matter how I treat you. You're too scared to stand up for yourself, and no one is going to stand up for you," says Grayson. Okay, now those words hurt.

"Grayson! Leave her alone. Now!" says Rose. When did she get here? I wonder. Grayson rolls his eyes and says, "You're lucky you're protector got here." Then he gives me a dirty look and walks upstairs, and slams the door to his room.

Rose turns to me and says, "You okay?" "I'm used to it by now. But, that doesn't mean that it hurts any less when he says it," I say. Rose hugs me, and I run upstairs to my room.

I play games on my phone for a while. "Stella! Someone is here to see you!" yells Ms. Wilson from downstairs. "Coming!" I yell as I jump off of my bed and run out of my room and downstairs.

Someone grabs my arm, and I turn and see Grayson. "Let me go!" I say. "No," says Grayson. "Let me go!" I say a little louder. "Why should I? The person who's here to see you probably doesn't care. It's most likely going to be another foster home that won't work out. So what am I delaying you from?" says Grayson with venom dripping from each word. My body is shaking with anxiety. "Taylor Swift is waiting for me. She's the one who's here to see me," I say. "Yeah, right. Like Taylor Swift cares that you exist. She probably doesn't know that you exist, and she probably never will," says Grayson, and he grips my wrist tighter. His words sting a little even though Taylor is down the hallway. Before Friday, his words used to be true. "I'm t-telling the t-truth! I met h-her on Friday n-night!" I stutter. Grayson always makes my anxiety worse. "Liar. Why would Taylor meet you? You're a little brat," says Grayson in a snarky tone. "Leave me alone!" I say. "No. If anything you should thank me because I'm saving you from misery," says Grayson. I try to break free from his grip. He slaps my arm and says "You should listen to me. I'm trying to help you." "No, you're not. You're hurting me," I say.

"Ms. Wilson! Grayson's hurting me and saying mean things again!" I yell. "You're going to regret that," says Grayson and he gives me one of his famous death stares as Ms. Wilson comes into the hallway with Taylor right behind her.

I'm saved! I think to myself. The look on Grayson's face is priceless. He lets go of my wrist, and I run over to Taylor, and she hugs me. I rub my wrist a little. Geez, Grayson has a strong grip. My wrist is red. Where he slapped me on my arm is a little red too. "I'll leave you two," says Ms. Wilson in a sweet tone. "Grayson. Come with me now," says Ms. Wilson sternly. The two of them leave the room.

"Hi, Stella!" says Taylor. "Hi, Taylor! Sorry that you had to see that," I say. "No worries, Stella. Are you okay?" says Taylor. "Yeah, I guess. Grayson is mean to me like that all the time, so I'm used to it now," I say.

"Stella, I have a question to ask you," says Taylor. "What is it?" I ask.