Adopted by Dan and Phil (editing in process)

15

CLARA'S POV:

I stormed into my room and fell onto my bed. How could Dan say no to adopting me? For all I know, my father could be plotting my death and they aren't doing anything to stop it?

I sat on my bed and scrolled through Instagram and Twitter until Dan and Phil finally went to bed.

I lay in my bed, unable to sleep as the hours ticked by. 12:00, 1:00, finally, at about 2:00am, Dan turned of his laptop and went to sleep. 

I stayed on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a long while, before slowly getting out of bed. I got out my backpack that held a bunch of books and carefully emptied it, refilling it with some clothes. I grabbed my phone and charger and my wallet that had about £50 in it, and crept into the kitchen, grabbing an apple. By then it was 3:45.

I went to the front door and opened it as quietly as I could. Closing it slowly, I stepped into the hallway and took the elevator downstairs. 

Even though it was dark, streetlights gave enough light to see where I needed to go. I walked up the street and sat at the bus stop. 

I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I just used my instinct and showed the bus driver my phone where I had written: 'take me to the orphanage.' Why did I want to go to the orphanage? Why didn't I just go to Zoe's house or something? I sat down in an empty seat. There were three other people on the bus. I listened to music as the bus drove down the street.

The orphanage was pretty far away and so I was able to sleep for about an hour until we got there.

I walked up to the huge building. What was I thinking! I hated this place! Dan and Phil's flat was the only place where I had ever felt safe! I wanted to go back, but I knew that there was no way a bus was coming this far from town, so I slowly started walking up the steps. 

I slowly opened the big doors and walked into the dark hall. The front desk was empty, so I walked towards the office, praying that Emily was in there, not Ms. Greene.

"I want to see her, now!" Some man was saying to whoever was at the desk. I decided to wait until he left.

"I know, but you must wait until we can get the adoption papers and the foster parents sign out of the contract. She is due back in a couple of days, so I assure you, Mr. Brown, that you will be able to adopt Clara then."

I nearly screamed when I heard what Ms. Greene had said. My father was in there! The man who had killed my mum, was 5 meters away from me!

I turned around and ran out of the awful building I had once called home. I ran down the stone steps and sprinted along the pavement, the cool, night wind slapping me in the face. The sun was beginning to break through the darkness and a couple cars would occasionally drive by. I checked my phone: 5:52am.

I slowed to a walk and went in the direction of the town. I couldn't go back to the flat just yet, so I decided to go to Marcus's house. He lived close enough, I could probably get to his house in an hour or two.

I walked for about 45 minutes until I finally made it to civilization. I tried to look relatively normal as I passed a cop who was sitting at a window in a cafe. I walked around aimlessly, suddenly forgetting where Marcus lived. 

The sun was well above the trees for the most part and it was 7:20 when I got to a bus stop. I looked at the schedule to find the bus that I assumed was the right one. It took about 20 minutes for it to come and pick me up. I ate my apple on the bus. 

I didn't recognize anything as we passed street after street and after 15 minutes of nervous waiting, I realized I had become undoubtedly lost.

I finally got off the bus and sat down on a bench. It was almost 8:00am. I needed to find Marcus's house. I was starving and exhausted from lack of sleep.

I looked at the remaining ten pounds in my hand and decided to get breakfast. I walk into a cafe and order the cheapest thing I could find: oatmeal and tea. I spend about 30 minutes in there before I start walking to the bus stop. 

It takes me a while before I get to the stop and by then it's well past eight. I get on the first one that comes and hope for the best.

After ten minutes of driving, I finally recognize a street! I get off and fast-walk down the street, taking turns whenever I saw something familiar.

Finally, my feet on fire, my eyes dying, I get to the street Marcus lives on. I walk past building after building trying to find Marcus's apartment, until I eventually see it after 10 minutes of searching.

I nearly run, well try too, but my feet hurt so bad it was more of fast limping, to his door and ring the doorbell.

"Clara?" Marcus exclaimed, "What are you doing here at 9:30 in the morning?" He had obviously just gotten back from the gym. 

"Come here, do you want to take a shower? You kind of stink, no offense." I nodded gratefully and went into his bathroom.

Once I was clean, I came out to find some tea and biscuits on the coffee table.  

I waited patiently as Marcus took a shower as well, eating the delicious baked goods and the hot tea.

"Ok, so what the bloody hell are you doing here?" He asked me as I sat down. 

"I. Ran. Away." I said slowly.

"Why would you run away?" He said, his eyes wide.

Rather than try to explain it to him, I got out my phone and spent a couple minutes writing down what had happened. As I typed, Phil called twice and Dan called once. I was getting tons of messages from them too, but I just declined the phone calls and ignored the texts. I would wait until they came looking for me. If they cared enough they would.

I'm not just some dog that will come bounding up to them when I'm called. 

"I'm so sorry, Clara!" Marcus said when he finished reading what I had written, "But I'm sure Dan and Phil have their reasons for not adopting you. They were probably just shocked and didn't know what to do."

I couldn't believe it. Marcus was taking their side! I glared at him.

"I'm sorry! But I do think you should talk to them. You say you saw your father at the orphanage? Well, you have a few days to come up with a plan, but you need Dan and Phil, they can help you."

I didn't know what to say. Marcus had a very tiny point, but I didn't want to talk to talk to them.

"What if I call them for you? You don't have to do any talking, I'll just let them know your here and how you feel."

I hesitated, debating on whether or not it was worth it. My running away would have been for nothing! But if they really could help me from going with my dad, then I guess it was the best thing to do.

The phone rang for barely a second before someone answered it. After a few seconds, Marcus started speaking, "Yeah I've seen her. She just arrived at my place a few minutes ago." Marcus was silent for a few more seconds, "Yeah, don't worry mate, she's fine! Listen, she isn't really happy with you guys. I think you should come get her and talk to her."

I didn't see the rest of the conversation because I dozed off, dreaming of a really long bus ride....