ADOPTED.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

It's been a week since the visit of the Marshalls, Walker, and Blacks. still attend school and as promised by our adoptive parents, the men in black are always driving us to school and waiting to pick us up, but that doesn't make the bullying reduces, it only increased if only we know what May told other students, the beating increased and we have no one to report to, we all walk in school with our heads down to prevent more than the previous day.

Our parents contact us every day to ask about our day in school and Mr. Bright pretends to care about our well-being, he tells the staffs to serve us our meals in our room and do our laundries, maybe he's following orders because I know he won't want to lose his benefactors. The sky is still trying to sound brave and scary, but so far it's only getting him more a***e, I and Nia keep praying the days remaining should just run along.

We know nothing about what the future holds, all we hope for is a future better than what we go through here, my anxiety grows every day today and my friends try to keep me calm all time, but they can't do anything to stop the tormentors.

Today, my adoptive parents request my presence in their home, they want to get my approval for my room and the new house. I will be staying over for the weekend, my friends are also leaving for the weekend with different reasons respectively, this will be the first weekend we will be spending apart and in different cities, I will be visiting Silicon Valley, I heard it's a place for the wealthy and famous just like my parents, Nia will be visiting New York, the city that never sleeps and Sky will be visiting Miami, it's famous for its beaches and cute guys(says Sky), although it will be a great experience for every one of us, it will be the first time we will be out of Texas and also the first time we won't have each other, I should be able to make it if there are no crowds and people screaming or elevators.

The sound of cars pulling up in front of the school pulled me off my train of thought, we are standing in front of the school with few men in black forming a shield surrounding us, we are waiting for our ride to the airport. The first car is a black SUV, the couple I recognize has the Walkers gets out of the car with smiles on their faces, some men in black alights from the next SUV to guard them, they approach us thanking the guards with us, they hugged us while asking Nia to say her goodbyes to us, "I will miss you guys this weekend", She says in tears, "We will make video calls every day", Sky tells her, "We will be fine", I add, "Alright, goodbye guys", Nia walks towards the still opened car and gets in, she waves at us "don't be scared Haz", She shouts towards me looking anxious, I nod back at her with a weak smile on my face, the cars zooms off.

Sky pulls me to him in a side hug pecking the side of my head,"You will be fine babe",He says weakly, the sight of some suvs and a limo pulling in makes my heart drop,it's either my ride or Sky's ride and I will be leaving my friends and the state I call home for the weekend,the Blacks highlights from a limo and some men in black follows them,they also thanked the men in black,Mrs Blacks pulls Sky into a hug showering his face with kisses while Mr Black hugs me,"How are you doing",He asks me,"Am fine,thank you sir",I respond, he leaves me to join his family,"Hazel,hope you are good baby?",Mrs Black asks,"Yes mam",I reply, "Say goodbye to Hazel honey,we are leaving and we don't want to be late",She says to Sky pulling me into a hug and a peck on the head,she walks with her husband towards the already opened limo, "I don't want to leave you standing here alone",Sky states, "I will be fine and am not alone",I reply gesturing to the men in black surrounding me, "Do you think your parents will get here quickly?",He asks, "I guess so",I respond,"Don't worry about me Sky,we will always talk on phone and I will call you if I ever feel sad",I say to him, he smiles and pulls me into a hug placing a kiss on my hair,"You don't want to keep them waiting",I tell him noticing he's trying to stall,"They are waiting for you",I say, he pulls away with a weak smile on his face and walks towards the limo, "Don't forget to call me babe,Bye", He calls out to me with a wave. He gets into the limo and they drive out of the empty school.

Looking around me, I try to keep myself busy, I count the men in black and I counted 8, looking at the sky while I walk still within the circle created for my protection and playing with the edge of my top, I imagine how the city of Silicone Valley will be like, will I be able to survive the weekend without any of my incidents, how will I cope in a new environment? lots of what-ifs? clouds my mind, I just want a place to fit in. "Mam,your chopper is here",A man in black says,I look towards him only to notice the increase in the guards am surrounded by,I try not to be scared to avoid an episode,I see two ladies dressed corporately approach me,"Good evening Miss Marshall,we are very sorry for coming late,my name is Lily Whitmoore and this is Mia Johnson,we are your personal assistant", the lady with the blonde hair says gesturing to the other lady, "Personal assistances?",I ask, "We are very sorry mam,we hope you can forgive us for the inconvenience",the other lady says, a phone ringtone pulls me out of my shock,looking around to figure whose phone it is, "It's yours,Miss Marshall",a man in black says, looking embarrassed i take my phone out of my school bag,hoping it's one of my friends maybe they find themselves in the same dilemma as mine,not looking at the caller before picking up, "Hello",I say, "Hello sweetie",Mom voice responds, "Mom",I call out sounding uncertain,"Princess,where are you?",I hear dad's voice, "Hi dad",I reply with a smile on my face,ever since the Marshalls came to the Orphanage a lot has changed between us,our relationship has grown especially my relationship with Mr Marshall,we talk for almost 12 hours in a day, he calls me after every of his meetings to tell me how it was,we talked about lot of things while with Mrs Marshall we talk about her latest designs and share ideas,have gotten close and comfortable to the both of them that I don't find it difficult to call them "Mom and Dad".

"Where are you princess?", Dad asks, "Am still in school, the chopper just arrived", I reply but the panicked look on the faces of everyone surrounding me, makes me second guess my response, "Sweetheart, what did you mean the chopper just arrived?", Mom asks sounding angry, looking around me to see the fear in everyone's face with pleas buried under it, "Mom, the reception seems bad, let me get back to you", I say to her, "What is happening, Princess?", I hear dad ask, I hang up to avoid more questions knowing they will keep calling me to know about my movement. I look towards the ladies and men in black, "I don't want to tell another lie and I know there must be a good reason for the tardiness,but I don't want to keep them waiting any longer,let's go please",I say to them feeling bad for lying to my parents, we ran towards the chopper, I,the ladies and four men in black board the chopper,while the rest gets into three range rovers,the chopper takes off and I wonder if it will be taking us to Silicon Valley, "the chopper is taking us to the the airport and we will be boarding the private jet from there to our destination mam",the lady introduced to me as Mia Johnson tells me,"Okay",I respond with fear in my voice,this is the first time am flying and my fear of height starts getting to me, I close my eyes and imagine myself on the ground to stop the anxiety from kicking in, I feel a hand squeezing mine in comfort opening my eyes I see Mia smiling at me, "You will be fine",She says to me, I nod in response giving her a little smile,trying to get myself in check but the fear of lying to mom and dad and the consequences keeps playing in my mind.

The chopper lands in a secluded environment, a golden jet with black ink spelling the Marshalls on it elegantly. Four ladies and two men are seen standing opposite each other at the entrance of the jet looking professional, we alight from the chopper and make our way to the waiting jet, "Good evening, Miss Marshall", they greet in unison, I nod my head in response too overwhelmed to make any sound, I walk into the jet to be greeted with a more elegant look, the Marshall logo screams everywhere, the seats, pillows screams wealth and elegancy, I pick a seat and buckle up, the others also seat and buckle up preparing for the takeoff, "Welcome Miss Marshall to flight Marshall 007, my name is Captain Tom and flying with me is Captain Darren as my copilot, the flight is schedule to fly from Texas to California for 1,869 km(1,161 miles) and its for 2.07 hours, the weather is bright and sunny to California but we will be expecting a little rainfall around Arizona but it's not something unexpected, so please buckle up and enjoy your flight, mam", A voice announced from the speakers in the jet. The flight starts taking off and I feel the shaking of the jet before takeoff, all windows are shut to avoid an attack.

An hour and thirty minutes later, the jet starts shaking, I hold on to my seat handle scared of been thrown out by the turbulence, an oxygen mask appears in front of every one of us, "Please, it's your captain again, put on your oxygen mask, due to the bad weather we are experiencing in Arizona the turbulence should be over soon, we will be out of here very soon", He says. After 10 minutes, the vibration and shaking continue I feel a pinch in my arm and I look up to see who it is, I start feeling dizzy and I see Lily Whitmore smiling at me with a syringe in her hand and immediately I stumble into darkness.