The recruit

Settling in

After having a boring lunch of soggy wraps and juice boxes, we head back to our rooms to wait for the school kids to come back. Sarah is silent, her eyes red and puffy. Ben and I exchange a quiet 'see you soon' before we shut the door behind us in our separate rooms. I collapse onto my bed and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to forget what happened that night. Outside I can hear the rumble of a bus and the loud sound of screeching voices. Groaning, I sit up and pull back the curtain. A faded yellow school bus sits just outside the apartment, bursting with kids of all ages. They stream out and run to the front door, clearly hungry and tired after a long day at school. Not bothered to go downstairs and greet a bunch of total strangers, I collapse onto the desk chair and stretch out my legs, watching Sarah play unenthusiastically with a toy doll. Suddenly the door bursts open and a tall, well built girl stumbles in, grinning widely. Amelia surveys the girl closely. She's really pretty, with long brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail and dark blue eyes. She has a straight row of white teeth and tanned skin. Liking the look of her, Amelia smiles back.

'Well, you two must be my new roommates! It's awesome to finally have people to share my room with. Your Amelia right? And whose this cute little thing? I'm Olivia, by the way, but you can call me Liv', said the girl, dumping her school bag in the closest and kicking off her shoes. Sarah looks up at Liv in awe and says her own name loudly, with a strong lisp. 

 'She's five' I laugh with Liv, swivelling around in my chair.

'We got here today and we are starting at school tomorrow. How long have you been at this orphanage for?', I question her. 

'Oh I got here about 6 weeks ago. My dad passed away from cancer when I was little and my mum died from a drug overdose' She said quietly, bowing her head. 

'My mummy and daddy went to heaven a few days ago. Our house was in the flames and mummy and daddy got trapped', Sarah spurts out suddenly, her eyes filling with tears. Liv looks at me sympathetically and I cough to stop the tears. 

'That must've been horrible, I'm so sorry for you. So, umm do you want to head down for some afternoon tea? I'm starving and I'm sure you are too'. Liv speaks quickly, heading to the door. I nod and pick Sarah up off the floor, placing her on my hip and following Liv out. 

'Hey Lochie, who have you got there?', I hear her say in the hallway. Reaching her, I see her speaking to a good looking boy of our age, with messy brown hair and cheeky brown eyes. With him I see Ben, looking relaxed in Lochie's company.

'Oh that's Ben, I forgot to tell you about him - he's my twin. Hey Lochie, I'm Amelia' I say calmly, laughing at Olivia's surprised face. Lochie greets Liv and I, while Liv greets Ben. We head down to the chill room together and talk as we snack on biscuits, juice and muesli bars. After endless talking about our backgrounds, we all started yawning and I had to carry sleeping Sarah up to bed. What a day it had been! But Amelia had no idea what was coming next.