There are about seven girls in the orphanage (except Nana) and they are: Aria, Caroline, Ester and Ember (they’re sisters), Harriett, Nicola, and Yuki (wow I just did that in alphabetical order on accident).

First off is Yuki.

    As I had said before Yuki is 17 and Japanese and that we’re not exactly friends anymore (I think we’re starting become more than just friends so that why).  Well she’s 2 and a half inches shorter than (5 ft 6 in to be precise), weighs at 84 lbs, and is one hell of a firebrand (and I mean that in a very good way).
She also has been declared the hottest girl in New York by some popular teen magazine (and I seriously agree with them about that). But there are complications with that and I’ll tell you what those are: at school, dozens of guys will go to her and ask her out on a date but (oddly enough) she’ll throw insults in her own language at them, which (here’s what bugs me) they will then turn to me and ask what she had just said. So far she, has rejected every guy in New York, and when I ask her why, she just answers with :  ”I already have someone. “

I still haven’t figured that out yet. (Women are so confusing)

   She’s also incredibly smart; she speaks all kinds of Asian languages. She’s also teaching me how to speak Japanese and martial arts. (Shell yeah)

   I could go on forever about her, but I would cause then it would be embarrassing for me and it’ll give Luca more ammunition.

   Now its time to give you her history. She was actually born in Japan and I’m guessing she had a happy life with her parents but when she was three…something happened. Whatever it was, her parents…they didn’t make it and she was left alone in this world. Because of economic trouble, the Japanese government couldn’t send her to a decent place, so Nana called them up and told them that she would take her in. (Because of that well if that didn’t happen , I wouldn’t be here)

    Obviously there would be a hole in her heart from her parents’ death and sometimes it shows. Whenever someone talks about parents,    she gets a heartbroken look on her face and if its really bad, she’ll shut out almost everyone and go to this abandoned park and try in those things on the top of slides and hide there for hours and cry. There have been times when I’ve followed her and hide somewhere, waiting for her to come out, while listening to her crying. I wish I could help her mend that hole.

    I found this all out from experience and by reading her file in Nana’s room (but don’t tell her that I did that).

   I guess, in a melancholy way, we have a special connection there, you see I lost my family as well at an early age like she did. We’ve also come from different places and we’re different from others in a special way. (Though I really don’t know where I come from and how I’m special) So now that I think about it, we both have a lot in common with each other. (Never really thought I would have things in common with a girl before, I’m really starting to like that)

   Though I must issue a warning: Yuki is nowhere near helpless, she can and will kick anyone’s ass (including mine every time we spar after my lessons) so never ever call her a damsel in distress. She is one of kind, one in a million, an angel, and irreplaceable.

But I’m going to move on and talk about the other angel in this orphanage.

And that would be Aria.

    Aria Rose is a year older than me and…well she’s not exactly in the best physical shape. She has this problem with her legs that came from some accident in which she got beaten up. So she has to take this pills that help her walk but since almost all the doctors are either dead and or working for the rich people in the Light District we don’t know how they work exactly, but in case we have actually got her a electric wheelchair (she lets me uses it sometimes for fun).  She really kind and gentle but she can be very scary when she’s mad. She’s always pulling through with a smile, even when she got a very bad case of the flu, she was really sick and we didn’t know what to do, but she was always smiling. Though I think that’s because that was the first time she met Luca and he fixed her up.

  She's like an older sister to me, so I like to bug her alot, and even tease her about her feelings towards Luca.

   She’s also a song writer but maybe that’s because she’s French. But there is one thing that she can do that baffles me; she can tell what’s in a person’s heart by looking at their eyes (no lie!)

Maybe one day I can figure those two out.

But now let move on to the slightly crazy girls of the orphanages.

   Meet Ester and Ember Emerald (aka the double E sisters). They’re Brazilian, very energetic, identical twins, 90 lbs and both 5ft, and are both 13 years old. They’re also a couple of motor mouths and they just won’t shut up! Sometimes I feel like throwing them into a closet and locking the door, just to shut them up (though duck tape works just as well).

   But they are wicked soccer players. Even we have a game against Wasatch, we just let them play and we win the whole game. They are also incredibly excitable by every little thing. So that’s them.

   Caroline Sky is 19 and used to be a nun in Rome before an attack on Rome and she was sent to come here. She’s a bit on the average side of the spectrum.  She’s a bit cautious bout things due to her upbringing and she’s constantly talking about religion. She’s paranoid of teachers and is an excellent electric guitar player. (That’s funny)

   Nicola South is Felix’s opposite.  She’s also eight years old, and she came from Africa but her parents were both German and we’re tourist guides on the savanna.  She’s bipolar and very persuasive with people. But she’s afraid of sharp objects and she’s a dumb blonde. The funny thing is she and Felix like each other but as everyone says “opposites attract”.  Right then lets just move on.

  Last but least in our group is… (Drum roll please)…Harriett Buckingham. She’s an orphan out of Russia and is 14. By the way she acts, she thinks like she’s a princess and if she is a princess then I’m the next pope. Wait you guys probably didn’t get that. She is a spoiled brat 24/7! But she’s nice and has a crush on Alec (which is so creepy on so many levels in my opinion) and does track.

Now that’s over with since with that I’ve finished telling you about everyone here in the orphanage.

And with that, let’s get back to the story.

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    I was heading downstairs on the stairs when Felix ran past me, laughing his head off. At first I was confused as to why he was running but I heard the toilet explode and Alec swearing and screaming. Inwardly I congratulated the little guy as a smile crept on my face. Today was going to be like every other day when I felt a nudge on my side and turned around to see who it was.

   “Luca?” I asked in surprise. “How…when did you get here?” I asked as my silver haired of colored eyed best friend stood next to me on the stairwell.

  “Surprised?” He asked me with some laughter. He lightly punched me in my right shoulder.

   “Well yeah, I am actually kinda surprised by your appearance.” I answered truthfully with some laughter in my voice as well. “I was expecting that you were coming tomorrow, why are you here a day early?” I asked, pointing out the obvious to him as we both continued down stairs.

  Luca scoffed and turned to face me with a mocking hurtful look on his face. “You mean I can’t visit my best friend a week before his very super special birthday?” He asked with big puppy eyes and his bottom lip quivering, his voice filled with exaggerated innocence and hurt.

  It looked really hilarious but I knew better, he was just trying to bug me. But it wasn’t working so I continued down the stairs, ignoring him and his little attempt.

Then came the whining.

  At first I thought some pipe was broken, so I shook my head and continued on. But then it came again this time louder and closer, so with curiosity I turned around. I was faced with Luca kneeling on the stairs (somewhat) looking at me with that same pathetic look that he had before.

  We both stared at each other and after a few minutes, I started cracking up and started falling backwards down the stairs. He caught me and started laughing as well.

“You son of a…” I said but couldn’t finish due to laughing hard.

  “Got you again, buddy, that trick always works on you.”  Luca said, flashing a victorious smile.

   I nodded in agreement at what he said, stopped laughing and wiped a tear from my eye as Luca gave me another light punch in the shoulder. We then continued down and got to the bottom in the doorway. We had some small talk and laughed at things for a bit.

  Since we’re best friends, we often do stuff like this, with him usually winning. So he had won this round today, but I was determined to win this time. This day was not over…not by a long shot.

  “So how long are you staying this time?” I asked him while he was laughing as we headed towards the entertainment/ living room.

  Luca is a drifter at times and will often come here for at least a few weeks. Nana welcomed him in and even made a three bunk bed in the room I share with the guys for times like this.

He stopped laughing, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This is what he does whenever he’s seriously thinking of something.

  I waited for him to answer for not too long as he stopped thinking and smiled at me.

I started to smile as well, knowing that he was about to answer.

“I’ve thought about it…” He began to answer.

  “And?”  I asked him, hoping for him to continue as the smile on my face slowly grew wider.

  “…and after much consideration to your question, I have come to the conclusion that…” He continued saying but pausing at the end, much to my annoyance.

“That?” I asked, gesturing with my hands for him to continue.

He gestured me to come closer with a serious expression on his face.

I leaned in closer to hear what he had to say.

He grinned deviously and opened his mouth. “…that…”

   I stood there listening intensely with excitement as my smile couldn’t have possibly could have gotten any wider. ‘Come on, just spit it out already. You know I hate cliffhangers.’ I impatiently thought.

  He grinned like the Cheshire cat. “I’ve decided that…” he paused. “…I’m not going to tell you.”

  Like a rubber band, my expression changed as I gawked at him pointing an accusing finger at him, as he was laughing, not able to say anything.

  Finally I was able to talk, but I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth. “You…you…you tricked me?!”  I said, still pointing at him.

  “Don’t you know that pointing is rude? And I technically I did nothing of the sort, I’m just not going to tell you…yet.” He said wearing an expression that said: “I won again, dumbass.”

  My finger dropped and expression changed from shock to annoyance as I glared at him. “Why not?” I asked, my voice cracking again. (Apparently that’s been happening a lot lately)

  He laughed. “Because its fun to jerk you around.”  He bluntly answered with a smirk.

  I stood there trying to come up with some awesome smartass comeback to throw at him. Nothing. So I blurted out the first thing that came into my head and hopped for the best. “If you weren’t my best friend, I’d beat the living shit out of you with a burning mailbox right now!” I blurted out without thinking.

Luca raised an eyebrow and looked unsure at me with a tiny smile.

I realized what I had just said and facepalmed.

  “You know that wasn’t a very good comeback.” He stated, trying to hide a smile (though he was doing a lame job hiding it).

  “Yeah I know.” I said hesitantly (hey I didn’t really want to admit that he was right okay). “I just wanted to save my reputation.”

“Reputation? What reputation?”  He asked while snickering.

   I raised a finger and opened my mouth to say something in defense, but nothing came to mind. “You got a point there.”

   He patted my back and we began to head out, when I once again slipped on Alec’s damn magazines. (I forgot to mention this but he leaves them everywhere)

  “Did you hurt yourself again?” He asked, giving me his trademark deviant Cheshire cat smile as he leaned over looking down at me while I was on my back.

  I suddenly got the idea of what he was going to do and I didn’t like it. “Don’t…you…DARE!” I threatened him while I was still on the ground.

  “Oh…I will.” He said, the Cheshire cat smile growing wider on his face. “I’m telling Yuki.” He said taking in a deep breath. “YUKI! YUKI!”

   (See this was the time I calmly tried to stop the situation before it got out of hand) I jumped to my feet and gasped in horror. This was when I panicked and waved my arms wildly, trying to make him quit. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” I quickly said, my voice sounding a little hoarse. By this time my face was red and I was freaking out while at the same time having the incredible urge to sucker punch him right in the kisser. (Okay so I wasn’t calmly handling the situation as well as I should have)

   Luca held the evil smile on his face as he apparently enjoyed my reaction to this little trick (and sometimes I wonder why he was my best friend) and he kept calling.

  My face grew redder with embarrassment and anger and I ran towards him. “LUCA!” I yelled out at him.

  He started running away from me with that little Cheshire cat smile still on his face as he started to laugh. “YUKI, SHEA HURT HIMSELF AGAIN!” He called out, spinning and moving away from me every time I caught up to him. (I should have known that he was going to be in a teasing mood today)

  “NO I DIDN’T, LUCA’S LYING!” I yelled out, taking a swing at him. (I was really pissed off at him alright)

  He dodged it skillfully, putting from flare into it. (Show off) “Getting violent now, aren’t we?” He asked in a coy manner. He started chuckleing and I got the feeling that I was in for the worst, but I totally ignored it as usual.

  Instead I egged him on, which I shouldn’t have done.  “Getting playful now are we?” I asked, smiling defiantly at him. If I was listening to my conscious at all, I would have known that what I had did wasn’t the best action for my present situation.

  He grinned and stopped, which caused me to nearly bump into him. “Now what makes you say that, love?” He asked in a British accent, propping my chin up and leaning close.

  My face became a deep red as I was lost for words as we stayed like that till Yuki came down stairs.

  She then cleared her throat and we both looked at her, Luca looking smug and me in surprise.

  “Yuki!”  We both said (well I yelled it out) at the same time, Luca let go of me and I stumbled and fell on my butt.

  “Did I miss something here? And Luca, I thought you weren’t coming till tomorrow, how did you get in here?” She asked in confusion, looking at us.

  “Nothing happened.” Luca answered, looking away from us with a smile. “I came in through the window in the girl’s wing. And the only that happened that you should know about is that Shea hurt himself again.”

   My face felt incredibly warm as the deep red blush on my face was still there as I stood up. “No I didn’t, Luca’s totally lying, don’t trust a single thing he says, he was teasing me again!” I said in defiance, pointing a finger at him in my hoarse, cracking voice.

   Luca turned to me. “You just confused at what you say because you got some brain damage as you fell. Besides as you already know, I only tease you because its easy to set you off. And your pointing again.”

  “I do not have brain damage!” I denied, getting angry at him and his stupid antics, dropping my finger and looking away from them both.

  “Yes you do, you’re just in permanent denial. Yuki would ever be so kind and give Shea some special attention?” Luca said winking at us.

I looked at Yuki as we both blushed at Luca’s meaning.

   By that time I seriously wanted to punch him, but since he was my best friend I somehow found the strength not to hit him, at least right in front of Yuki.