At The Adoption Center.

I walked into the room to stare into a pair of reluctant eyes. There were two chairs placed in opposite directions. The one closer to the door had a pile of paperwork on top. The other one sat a teenage boy, whose stare quickly darted away as the boy drooped his head, looking at the floor instead.

The door shut behind me, making a loud bang. I didn't care much, as I specifically asked for a private room in this hall. I picked up the papers and sat down.

"Wasn't expecting somebody like me, huh?" The boy muttered. "I know you probably don't want me, the infant and toddler section is on the right, down the hall."

I squinted my eyes. "Down the hall to the right is the toilet section, Mister. "

His face flushed, but he didn't say anything else.

"Plus," I added, "I am expecting someone like you. I asked for teens specifically."

"Why?" He head propped up. "You're gonna use us to flex how kind you are or something like that. We don't need your pity and sympathy." He finally took a good look at me and huffed. "You literally look younger than me."

"And I literally have a PhD, smartass." I retorted. He recoiled in shock. I mean, I know I do look like another teenager with my makeup and hair. The frontdesk lady took her time with my ID.

He went silent.

"I noticed you said us and we." I leaned back in my chair. "You got friends here? I thought skinny boys got bullied in orphanages."

A glare shot in my direction, yet I continued, "You know, this attitude of yours is probably what's keeping you here.." I checked the papers. "..Timothy. 16 years, eh?"

His eyes seemed like they were going to water, before another girl bursted through the door I came through. She panted, with fiery red hair and redder cheeks, she looked pissed off.

"Fuck off!" She shouted at me. "He doesn't need you to insult him! He's happy here with us!" Timothy visibly relaxed as she entered, yet his feet began shaking as soon as she raised her voice.

I didn't reply, but simply looked at her curiously instead. The silence seemed to shake her as she quickly realized what she had done. Her lips trembled.

"...I'm sorry." She whispered. "Please don't be mad at Timmy."

I remained silent. The girl interpreted the silence as fury, as she continued to ramble.

"..He's been here the longest, it's almost 10 years. We heard someone was looking to adopt a teenager, we all decided Timmy deserved it the most. But we were worried-" She took a deep breath and continued, while Timothy sat stunned. He probably didn't know about this, I noted.

"-worried whoever was coming would be looking to do charity or do bad things. I'm sorry for eavesdropping and shouting, please. I'm sorry. He had nothing to do with it." She pleaded, her previously flushed face now looking closer to pale. "Please give him a home. I know you can afford it. You have a PhD and you work for--" She shut up, her face now free of colour.

I listened as she talked, barely reacting. As she finally let loose of what she knew, I smiled. She looked terrified, and Timothy was looking near tears.

"You've went through my information." I stated it as a fact. She stuttered out a yes. I smiled again. "You said "we", like little Timmy, hm? The rest of you, come on in." I gestured towards the door.

A minute later, I was sitting opposite from 5 teenagers. They either fidgeted with their fingers or hoodie string, whispering quickly to one another. Timothy stood out as the only seated one, but his legs bounced faster and faster. I sighed.

"So." I began, as their faces all turned towards me. "The four of you," I pointed to those standing, "all wanted to get out, but gave the chance to Timmy." Before they could finish their nod, I continued, "and you four also went through my information, along with evesdropping on us."

Out of the four, some looked meekly to the side, some looked at me unapologetically, while others stood, nonchalant.

I asked. "At any point, did any of you have any doubts about this? You breached my privacy. There might be consequences." I looked dead in their eyes and continued. "Tell me now, were any of you hesitant about helping your friend, Timmy?"

Noises of groans and snickers scattered through the room. I glanced at the kid who previously looked as if she was near tears, and another who avoided any eye contact.

Neither said anything.

I nodded, satisfied. "Good. Good." I may have come off as sarcastic, as the tears held back by some of them came close to rolling down. The others stared at me angrily as they comforted their friend. The red hair girl finally spoke again, even more furious this time.

"If you didn't want him, why did you come? None of us would ever find parents now, you asshole!" I noticed that her freckles were more obvious with an angry flush. This time, she took my silence as submission. "Sue us for all I care! We ain't got nothing anyways! We got each other!" She got a few nods, and she looked satisfied.

I remained my silence and stood up with the papers.

"Get out of here!" The same girl sneered.

"Not yet, Ms. Kelsie." The meanness almost shrunk immediately as I called her name. "And you, Mr. Xin. Ms. Andesia, Mr. Ken." I looked at the kids, their demeanors all different. "Plus Timmy."

I shrugged under their doubting gaze. "Hey, you researched me. I can do a little digging too." They either shifted their feet or averted my eye contact. "I've seen exactly what I came to see."

"Our humiliation?" One of the taller, stone-faced boys broke their silence.

"Maybe." I replied teasingly, seeing his expression turn from detached to anger. Satisfied with what I've done, I turn towards the door. Before I left, I turned to the group of now collectively furious teenagers.

"I came here to see the group of kids I was adopting." I left without another word, knowing that was enough to make the impact I wanted.

The frontdesk lady went into the room shortly after I left. She gave them their first set of new laundry in years, and told them to all behave at their new home. "Dr. R is a kind woman, taking you problem children out of the system so late. Waste of her money, is what I think." She sighed loudly, her large body shuffling around the waiting room speedily. "Tomorrow you gotta go to her house. She gave some bus money. Should've made you guys walk with that attitude y'all got! You can just stay with her until the papers are done, we don't want you no more." The woman poked. "If she doesn't want you yet, to the motels you go."

Used to her harshness, they didn't reply. Instead, they cherished the fresh smell of new clothes and looked to each other, anxious. They were about to be all adopted into a home by someone with a heavy attitude and a decent wealth. What would become of them? They didn't have a clue. That night, Kelsie and Andesia flipped back and forth, moving their pillow around and picked on loose threads in their bedding. The room next door had Xin, who slept as soundly as ever, while Timmy lay in a bunker bed above Ken. The pair whispered to each other past midnight, wondering what tomorrow would be.

Rest assured, no motels were involved.