Grandfather's Clock Chapter 3

"What?" Laynie stands up so quickly that her chair wobbles. "WHAT?!"
"Um...Laine, we're adopting Kiela." Tawn says, almost uncertanly.
"It's Laynie!! And why are you adopting Kiela?? No one wants her! NO ONE!" Laynie screams.
"Well..." Mr. Pillet tilts his head. "Maybe we could adopt you instead of Kiela..."
"NO!" Laynie screeches. "Adopt Gabby, not Kiela!" Then she runs up the stairs.
I'm still frozen in place from shock. How can they want me, the unruly mean one, to go live with them, Gabby, and Mousin? How?
"Um... Mrs. Pillet... Can you tell us why you're adopting Kiela?" Tayla asks shyly.
"To teach her good, and to get her away from you two bad influences." Mrs Pillet gestures up the stairs and towards Tayla.
Tayla gasps and runs up the stairs, too. I stare at the Pillets. "Just so you know, I'm never going to be your daughter." Then I race after my real friends.

. . . . . . .

I lay awake in bed that night. There's too much to think about. I can't believe I'm going to live with the Pillets, Mousin, and... Ack, Gabby. And based on what I saw at Gloria's Café, I'll be tortured and forced to work like a slave for these people. Why? Why do they do that? Why do they want me? Just... Why me, in general?
"Kiela? You awake?" Laynie whispers from the cot next to me.
"Yeah." I whisper back.
"Do you want to go downstairs?" she asks.
"Sure." We tiptoe out of the sleeping quarters, careful not to wake up any other girls.
We step down the stairs and I plop down on the ratty sofa Quinn keeps in the 'living room'. Laynie sits down beside me.
"Why do I have to be leaving?" I moan, finally letting the emotions from the day come out. I sob, and snort a little, too, and Laynie tries to shush me.
"Quinn will wake up!" she reminds me. Oops.
"Oh yeah." I stop crying and manage to collect myself. "So... I'll try to visit you when I'm with the Pillets."
"Please." Laynie says, glancing down the hall. "You do remember that they're staying here for as long as they want, don't you?"
"Yeah." I reply. "It's a little weird, isn't it?"
"Uh huh. They could just stay in a motel down the road." we look at each other, and break out in a fit of muffled giggles. The motels in town are not a place you want to stay in!
Sudently, I hear the old, creaky grandfather's clock tick a beat off. "Did you hear that...?" I ask.
"Hear what?" Laynie asks. We're silent for a second. The grandfather's clock returns to it's normal ticking pattern.
"What was that about?" Laynie asks.
"Oh, nothing..."
"No it wasn't." a voice says from the hallway. I jump, and so does Laynie.
"Tayla, don't scare us like that!" I scold, laughing a little. Tayla shrugs and sits down in between me and Laynie.
"No, seriously. What was nothing?" Tayla hammers me.
"Oh, I just thought I heard the grandfather's clock do a weird tick, that's all." I say casually.
"Oh. Okay." Tayla says.
We sit in an awkward silence for a while. "So, am I the only one who thinks the Pillets are weird?" I break it.
"I agree. The Pillets are weird." Laynie agrees.
"Yeah. Adopting Gabby, then not letting her give them a hug? Seriously!" Tayla exclaims.
"I wouldn't let Gabby give me a hug!" I laugh. "But yeah. Not letting Macin eat dounuts, but give us all dounuts? Weird."
"And why would they make Macin like a slave? Will they do that to you, too?"
"I hope not." I gulp. "I would run away if I have to."
"You might have to." a tiny voice says from the hallway. I jump again. Who is that?
"Who are you?" Laynie asks, squinting in the darkness.
"Maicy." she squeeks. Maicy comes closer, and I recognize her as Mousin.
"Wait... You're Macin." I look at her.
"I go by Maicy. My 'parents' won't call me that, though."
"Oh." There's another awkward silence. "So... Do the Pillets treat you bad, or something?"
Maicy nods. "Yeah, they do. Tawn yells at me for everything I do, and Vynn makes me do things, even if i don't want to. They punish me by starving me."
"Oh, wow." Tayla says. "Who's Vynn...?"
"Mr. Pillet."
"Oh. Well..."
"We should probably go back to bed." Tayla suggests.
"Yeah." Laynie agrees.
"Okay." Maicy steps away. "Um... See you around."
"Bye."
Maicy dissappears into the seemingly endless hallway.
"Well. Now we know a bit about the Pillets. And Maicy." Lainey says.
"Yep." I agree. "We really should get to bed. I'm tired now."
Lainey nods. "Yeah, me too."
Me, Lainey, and Tayla all climb up the wooden stairs, avoiding the creeky ones, and slide into our beds.
I drift off into a dreamless sleep.

. . . . . . .

The next morning, I'm so tired. Luckily, I get downstairs before 7:00. Quinn goes off on us if we don't.
"Hey there." Laynie says, mixing her gruel around her bowl.
"Hi." I sit down in the stool next to her, trying not to think that that this might be the last time I ever get to eat breakfast here.
"Do you know when you're... Leaving?" Tayla asks.
"No." I answer. Call me crazy, but even though I hate Quinn and hate this place, I don't want to leave. I've sort of grown on it.
"Hello!" Gabby slides into the stool next to me. I close my eyes. Not now.
"Hi, Gabby." I say through gritted teeth.
Gabby bounces in her seat. "I'm so excited to be your sister!"
"Guess what? I'm not!" I turn to Gabby. "Go away."
Gabby's face falls and she slowly gets up. "Well... Fine then!" she runs away to her friend, Sofee
"You should take it easier on Gabby." Tayla tells me.
"Whatever." I roll my eyes.
I look around and spot Gabby and Sofee annoying Maicy. "Let's go over there." I suggest.
"Why do you like Maicy?" Lainey asks. "I don't think she's any better than Gabby."
I shrug. "I dunno. Come on." I avoid the question and walk over to the three. Sofee is laughing at something Gabby said. How can Gabby be funny?
Maicy's face is twisted and looks miserable. "Heh." she forces.
"Hey, Gabby, Nycole over there was looking for you. Why don't you go see what she wants?" I lie. Gabby smiles.
"Okay! Goodbye, future step sister!" then Gabby frolics away, Sofee skipping behind her.
"Thanks." she whispers.
"Oh, don't worry. No one really likes Gabby anyway, so don't get to friendly with her." I say.
"But I'm going to have to live with her." Maicy looks up at me with her big eyes.
"Good point. Me, too. Just ingnore her a lot. Let her know that she's annoying."
"Wouldn't that be mean?" Maicy asks. Tayla looks at me. I think about what she asked me yesterday, about why I'm mean to Gabby.
I shrug. "Yeah, who cares."
Quinn claps her hands together, startling us. I turn to her.
"Girls, go up to your room now. I'm going to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Pillet in private. So go- Now." Lainey, Tayla and I run to our bowls and rinse them out. We run up the stairs with all the other girls, and I fall down onto my bed. Lainey comes and sots beside me.
"Should you start packing?" she asks.
I shake my head. "I want it to stay normal for as long as it can."
That's the only thing I know for certain. That, and my life is seriously messed up right now.