Hidden little secrets

1.1

"I still can't believe that this is going to be the last time I'll see you." A cleaner, Margaret said, while Lucy was already waiting by the door for her adoptive parents.

"I know, what can I do about it?" Lucy said as her shoulders fell. "Maybe it's time for that after all and I don't know-" Margaret caught her off guard as she interrupted her. "Lu, think of this as a new beginning, you are not a confused child who won't be able to experience what a parent's love is." She said and soon after that, she sighed.

Lucy then started to remember how Margaret, even though she was a cleaner, had always taken care of other children in many ways, by buying milk for them, bringing them various clothes and toys, by telling them random stories that were based on her experience and, yes, telling fictional stories counts. She was the parent not only for Lucy but for other children, it wasn't the caretaker who reminded them when it was time to eat and just simply let them be all by themselves, even the newborn babies who did need some kind of care in the first place.

She was thankful to her for that, but in this orphanage that she spent almost ten years living in, she never thought to say thank you, but maybe it was her fault as well. After all, she chose to be a rebellious child.

"Take care, Lucy." The woman smiled at her, while Lucy tried her best not to cry, but she did feel sad and scared at the same time.

She did manage to smile at her as she dragged the old luggage that was probably already ready to be thrown in the trash of how old and used it was.

They probably have many of those.

But, she will miss it here. She would miss being forcibly woken up by caretakers who were constantly getting fired and replaced, and all the drama that was happening there, but only that poor children, including Lucy, knew about it. She would probably miss the food that was pretty tasty and playing with other kids as well.

And that was how she ended up in a red car in the back seat while the music was playing. She did notice that Miss Harrington had glanced at her a few times and that her so-called father in the papers was only paying attention to the road as he should.

"So, do you have any food allergies?" The miss asked while Lucy glanced down for a second before she answered with a small "no" and glanced at the big houses that were located around the woods.

At least I'll be able to take hikes...

"Okay, we are having tomato soup for lunch and after that fish since Elena was craving it." She said while she glanced in Mr. Harington's direction as he nodded in response. "Yeah, she likes seafood a lot." He confirmed.

"Victor doesn't like it though, he prefers junk food." She laughed, while Lucy didn't know how to act.

Will I have siblings!?

That was the only thing on her mind until she asked her another question. "What is your favorite food?" And of course, Lucy replied, after all, she didn't have any choice whatsoever. "Pizza."

"That's great, I like anything with potatoes while James likes chicken and all that." She chuckled. "Stop it, Sally protein is good." He fought back while Lucy let out a laugh. James and Sally smiled in response to that.

That was until James stopped driving and he parked next to a pink house. That was Lucy's new home. She had a feeling after all.

The house was nice, it had a big TV, blue couches, a coffee table, and a weird zebra rug under it, but Lucy didn't ask it that much. That was until she saw a girl who seemed younger than her walking into the living room.

She was shorter than her, had a light blue floral dress on, blue eyes, and light brown hair that was tied into a messy bun, she even carried a phone, something that Lucy had always wished to have, but never had.

"Who are you?" The girl asked with a somewhat squeaky voice as she raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, Lucy nice to meet you," Lucy replied as she forced a smile on her face, while the other girl was even more confused.

"Okay...?" She said as she heard another voice coming from somewhere else. "Elena, Lucy come join us!?" It was Sally, her adoptive mother.

"Coming mum!?" Elena muttered as she glanced in Lucy's direction. "Follow me..." She said as she rolled her eyes at her while Lucy nodded in response.

Rude, but then again, who am I to call someone else rude, huh?

She sighed as she followed Elena to the so-called dining room.

"Victor, Elena, meet your new sister." Miss Harrington said while her son stood silent, on that, while Elena had the opposite response. "WHAT!?" Elena let out. "Why weren't we informed about it?" Elena asked, while Victor sighed in response.

Why didn't they know about it?

Lucy glanced at Victor, who was about her age, and soon after that, she looked away. He was taller than her, that was for sure. He had a similar hair color to Elena, though that did make sense to her, since they were both related, he did have brown eyes though, just like his father, and a not ironed t-shirt which was out of all of the colors brown and well Lucy didn't like brown that much.

"Would you like some more soup?" Sally asked as Lucy widened her eyes in response. Nobody had ever asked her that except Margaret when she had once forgotten to eat lunch in the canteen and she wasn't allowed to enter anymore, since the cooking ladies didn't believe her that she wasn't eating.

"Uh, yeah thank you," Lucy said as she smiled at her. "At least she has manners," Elena commented, and soon after that, she rolled her eyes in Lucy's direction. "Elena, enough." James glared at her and Elena went silent.

"Sure, honey please just hand the plate closer to me." She replied and soon after that, she took the plate that Lucy handed to her and poured some soup, and handed it back to her. "Thank you," Lucy said before she started to sip on her soup, while her adoptive mother smiled at her. "No problem."

"Ugh, Victor, we can play games when you finish eating," Elena said as she glanced at him. Victor didn't respond for a few seconds, since he was busy eating. "Uh, sorry Lena, but I have soccer practice ya know?" Victor said, as he glanced at her and Elena nodded in response to that.

"Mum, can I go to Meggie for a sleepover?" Elena asked as she glanced at her. "Again?"

"Come on, let her go after all it's summer." Her husband glanced at her while she sighed in defeat. "Okay, but then Lucy would be alone..." Sally sighed out loud as Lucy gave her a questioning look.

"Oh, yeah how come I have forgotten about it?" He glanced in Sally's direction while Lucy sighed in response. "It is fine, after all, I am not scared to be home alone." She shrugged as all the attention was on her. "I'll probably be here or-" Lucy was interrupted by Sally. "No, honey you have your bedroom, we bought you a mobile phone already for you to contact us if something happens, Victor is good with this stuff so he can easily teach you everything."

Lucy was indeed surprised to hear that coming from another person's mouth, since she didn't know her that well nor did she know her that much, but she felt like they truly did care for her.

She could not believe that a stranger had offered her food, a roof over her head, a bedroom, and a phone that she wanted for a long time now, she felt like she was stuck in a dream and was ready to wake up from it.

Yes, she was kind of awkward with her so-called siblings and with her adoptive parents, but she could get used to it. Maybe having a family wasn't that bad after all.