The Girl Who Was Adopted

Chapter 1 - I'm the Queen and You're the Peasant

It'd been a long time since I'd had my own room, but there was something missing from it; there was no 'homey' feeling to it. The room was plain white with nothing but a double bed in the centre, some empty cupboards and an empty desk that sat in front of the large window, looking out onto the garden and the swimming pool below.

The bed had white linen on it, with a few white cushions thrown over the pillows. The pillows were puffed and set neatly alongside each other, their corners touching perfectly; the duvet had been pulled straight, flattened so that there were no creases of any kind. Absently, I wondered if it had been done to make the room look neat, or if it was just someone's OCD.

I closed my eyes as I listened to the noises of the house. I could hear Sarah, my new 'sister', talking on the phone in her room, down the hall. Just outside of my room, I could hear Clare and Phil, my adoptive parents, talking in hushed voices behind the door.

Beside me, the small collection of things I owned lay in a small pile on the floor, exactly where I'd left them. My old, hand-me-down-from-my-great-grandmother trunk sat on the floor, with my father's old guitar case leaning against it; the guitar case was tattered around the edges, with old travel stickers that had been collected by my father when he'd been travelling as a young adult. On top of the trunk sat a giant, chocolate-brown teddy bear, and through the years I'd managed to look after it as well as I could; but it had somehow lost an eye and the left ear had a small tear.

I knew that I shouldn't have just been sitting there, after all the weeks of preparation, of meeting with Clare and Phil and getting to know them, I should have been happy to be there. They'd taken me for lunch dates and bought me coffee and ice cream; they'd spent hours paying attention to every word that came out of my mouth – but somehow it didn't feel real. I drew in a deep breath, trying to accept that it was all happening.

Perhaps it was the idea that they were a tight knit family, or the idea that I was going to have an older sister who I had never met; but it was only for the next couple years, and if I didn't like it after that, I could always call it quits.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts and I pulled the dark blue sleeves of my hoodie over my hands before drawing in another breath. "Come in." I sounded doubtful, even to myself; although I wasn't sure if I wanted them in my room; in the space I was slowly coming to terms with occupying. Phil opened the door with a smile, he had thinning, brown hair with hazel eyes that seemed to always sparkle. I felt small in the chair, as Clare stepped into the room, her bright blue eyes scanned the space for a moment as she brushed back a loose strand of her short, black hair. I rose from my seat and watched as Sarah stepped into the room, she had the same dark hair as her mother, but she had her father's eyes.

Sarah didn't wear the same smile that her parents did, she stood to the left of them, leaving a slight space between her and her family, as though she wanted to make sure I knew that she wasn't on the same level of excitement as them with my existence; or maybe I was just reading far too much into everything. When Sarah's gaze caught mine, her mouth twisted between a sneer and a smirk.

"Ada, this is Sarah," Phil's voice was obviously over-enthusiastic as he gestured in Sarah's direction; it was tone that I'd associated as Phil and Clare's 'this is a good thing' voice.

"It's absolutely lovely to meet you," Sarah smiled sweetly as her parents' gaze set on her, but as soon as they turned back to me, the smile disappeared faster than a penny dropping. "Welcome to the family," Her hazel eyes were narrowed, her lips pulled back slightly.

"Thank you," I answered, forcing as much of a smile as I could muster. I felt more than just out of place – a fish out of water couldn't compare, a fish in outer space would be more accurate. "I hope that we get along well," I tried to sound hopeful, but I felt like that opportunity had already left out of the window.