Belonging

II

I studied the landscape around me. Green trees, green grass, flowers. I hadn't been to this part of town before. Philza Minecraft and I walked in silence. I studied him. He had blond hair that reached his shoulders, covered by a green bucket hat with white stripes. He wore japanese robes and wooden sandals. Most of all, I studied the black cloak with white rhombi at the brim. It seemed unnatural, covered with something I didn't know the name of.

I carried a small backpack filled with my belongings. Not much, just some clothes, a journal, and a folder filled with paperwork. The man slowed as he reached a two story house with a willow tree on the green lawn. "We're here."

I said nothing, studying the property. It was a cream-colored house with two stories; two windows on the top and two on the bottom. I couldn't tell how far the lot ran at the back. The door was wooden; painted a blue color. Philza Minecraft unlocked the stainless steel handle and held it open for me as I walked in.

There, three boys stumbled back from the door as it opened. One of them had pink hair. One of them held a guitar and had a beanie sitting loosely on his brown hair. The last had curly blond hair and a red T-shirt. I stared at them, reading them.

The first one, who had pink hair, looked awfully like he had part-piglin parents. Chestnut brown eyes that suspiciously scanned me, reading me like I did him. They darted around the room, searching for weapons and exit strategies. Probably held some sort of trauma that had to do with fighting.

The second one, who held a guitar, tilted his head and stared at me. He had curly brown hair that created bangs on his face. Light brown eyes noted my feelings, the look of neutrality on my face. His hands tapped anxiously on the handle of his guitar.

The third one, and probably the youngest, wide-eyed approached me. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhhhhh... I do not know..." I stammered.

"Then get out of our house, Woman!" He started to push me toward the door. The other boys watched in shock, embarrassment, and a hint of amusement.

"That's enough, Tommy," Philza Minecraft intervened. "y/n's here to stay with us. This is the new child I adopted. She's part of the family now."

"But whyyyyy?" He whined. "We already have Wilbur and Technooooo. Why do we need mooooore?"

"Because this one is special. Show them, Y/n."

"Oh... I apologize, Mr. Minecraft. I would rather not. I hypothesize that they will react in ways of disgust, shock, and fear."

"Oh. Um, okay. Wilbur, please show y/n to her room."

Wilbur nodded and placed his guitar in a case that he slung behind his back. "You'll get the second room to the right. Just follow me."

He stood up and I followed him as he walked up the stairs and opened a door to a hallway. It was dimly lit and each side held three doors. I stopped when I heard voices echoing from the stairway, loud. One of them was a monotone, the other Tommy's whining voice, and the third a stern voice.

Wilbur shrugged apologetically. "Sorry about that. They're not pleased Phil adopted you. They thought they'd get another brother."

"What about you?"

Wilbur looked down and said nothing, walking to the right and opening the second door. "This is your room. I should go... summer reading..."

He slipped away, closing the door behind him.

The whole room was white. The bed was white, the desk was white, everything was white. I did not like this. White made me feel like a crow among the swans. White made me think about memories I'd rather hide away.

There was a closet adjacent to the foot of my bed, so I opened it. Nothing in it, but there were shelves meant to store folded clothes. That was nice, but it was white. Luckily, I found some paint on the bottom of the closet and chose my favorite shades and a brush.

I got to work.

I heard Phil open the door. He gasped. "Y/n... what did you do to your room?"

"What? I just renovated it." I sat up from the bed. It looked pretty good; shades of red, blue, purple, and green. The base color was a sky blue, and I painted flowers "sprouting" from the bottom of the walls. The ceiling was white; I couldn't change that. My feet thudded against the dark oak wood floor as I got out from bed. "It is time for gathering? I will come."

I opened my backpack and unpacked all of my stuff first. Just some T-shirts, one skirt, and a couple of black pants. I took out my journal and placed it on top of a desk facing the wall adjacent to the door.

Walking down the stairs, I could feel the tension in the air. As I reached the dining room, the pink-haired boy recoiled from me, glaring at me suspiciously. Wilbur faintly smiled at me, while Tommy frowned at me. Philza Minecraft smiled at me. In front of them was a table filled with food I had never eaten before.

In the adoption center, we had the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast- toast and sardines. Lunch- Pb&j. Dinner- oatmeal. In front of them was a soup, I think, along with salt and pepper. I recognized spinach and bittermelon from the books I read.

"Come sit," Mr. Minecraft said. I humored him, pulling a chair next to Wilbur and sitting in it, perched on the edge. Mr. Minecraft handed me a bowl of soup, and I picked up a spoon and examined its ingredients. Water, broth, chicken, pasta, rosemary, a bay leaf, and some carrots.

"No potatoes?" The pink haired boy complained in a monotone voice.

"Sorry Techno. The potatoes in the back aren't ready yet," Phil replied.

The pink haired boy known as Techno gloomily stared at the soup. He looked around my age, maybe fourteen? Wilbur was also fourteen, like me. I did not like this, since that meant I had to deal with them if we went to the same school.

I took a sip of my soup and my eyes widened, surprised. It tasted surprising unlike the oatmeal we had for dinner. Savory and satisfactory, I ate it.

When I was almost done, Philza Minecraft said suddenly, "Why don't you introduce yourselves? Techno, you can go first."

"Uhhh... My name is Technoblade." The boy stared back down at his soup.

"You have to say more than that, Techno. Tell her about yourself."

"Uhhh... I don't like orphans."

"Wilbur, your turn."

The brunette mixed his soup anxiously. "M-my name is Wilbur. I can play guitar."

"... Okay. Tommy, your turn."

He pouted and stared back down at his soup. "I'm Tommy."

"Y/n, introduce yourself."

"My name is y/n."

"Any special talents?" Philza Minecraft asked.

I shook my head.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, drinking the rest of my soup and placing the bowl in the kitchen beside the sink.

Walking back to the room that was now mine, I opened the door and entered. The door didn't have a lock, one thing in common with the foster care. I threw off the sweater and plopped down on the bean bag chairs next to the window. It was moonlit outside, bathing the garden outside in the backyard silver. I wondered if I could just open the window and escape. I tried it. Unlocked!

I quickly shut it and locked it, then thought of the possibilities. My new house was pretty okay, though the boys would be a problem. However, if they became insufferable, I would run away and go back to the foster care, or maybe create a life for myself in the streets.

I tucked myself in the soft bed and closed my eyes, thoughts running through my mind mournfully.