Just Give Me One More Chance

“Miss Morgan!” Miss Hadley, the supervisor of the orphanage that I lived at, called me. I’d been here since I was six years old and my foster parents decided they couldn’t handle me anymore. I’m twelve now and I wish she would just stop trying to push me into a new foster parents arms. No one wants to adopt a teenage girl who’s seen things that normal children could ever imagine.

I unwillingly trudged out of my room and down the stairs. Two boys, in their early twenties, were standing near Miss Hadley.

Both had unruly hair that screamed ‘I just had sex’ and one was taller and much more built than the other. I studied the two of them.

“Please don’t tell me that you’re trying to send me home with another gay couple?”

The two boys burst out laughing while Miss Hadley slapped my hand like you would do to a toddler and chastised me for my ‘rudeness’.

The more built of the two boys stepped closer to me. His hair was a soft brown, the same color as mine, and was outrageously curly. I could just make out the top of a tattoo peeking out from his tight v-neck shirt. He and his friend both had on skinny jeans and converse.

He placed his hand on my cheek and pushed my bangs out of my face, staring right into my sea green and yellow eyes.

“God, she looks just like Maysilee, doesn’t she, Alex?”

“How do you know my mom’s name?” I snapped, pushing his hand away from me.

“He’s your daddy, Carissa.” The second boy- Alex -said.

“Y- you know my name?”

They both nodded.

“I’ll leave you three alone to talk.” Miss Hadley stated, slipping out of the main room that we were in.

I plopped down on one of the couches and motioned for them to sit as well. They sat next to each other on the couch across from the one I was sitting on.

“Explain yourselves.” I ordered, pulling my long perfectly straight hair back into a sloppily done bun.

“She acts just like you. She knows what she wants.” Alex commented.

“Well, when I was your age and your mom was a year younger we did some stuff-”

“You fucked my mom when she was twelve?!”

“Well, no. I was twelve and she was eleven.” Zack corrected me. Alex scoffed. He knew like I did that this was not a suitable topic of discussion.

I shook my head. “That doesn’t matter to me. Why didn’t you ever come after me? Where’s my mom now? Why isn‘t she here? Why is this Alex guy with you? How come you know so much about me and I know absolutely nothing about you?”

“I couldn’t find you. You’re old foster parents ignored my calls and once they gave you up no one would tell me what happened to you. You’re mom’s dead. She killed herself because we couldn’t find you. Alex is here because he’s my best friend and I couldn’t come here by myself. I know about you because whether you like it or not, I am your father. And I do love you.” He blurted everything out so fast that I could barely wrap my mind around it.

“Mom’s dead?” I whispered, shaking my head again. “No. She’s not. You’re lying. Why are you lying?”

“We’re not lying, Carissa.” Alex added quietly, reaching over the gap between us, softly patting my knee. I choked on a sob, tears spilling onto my cheeks.

“I’m so stupid! I kept thinking that you two would come and get me and everything would be perfect.” I tried to keep my voice steady but it came out high pitched and cracked.

“I know. I miss her, too.” He reached across the distanced just as Alex had done and hugged me. I cuddled up to him, letting the tears stain his shirt with my mascara.

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Zack. Zack Merrick.”

I froze. Pulling away from him. Sitting up straighter. I held him at arms length, carefully, very carefully studying him.

How could I not recognize the two of them. I’d listened to All Time Low ever since they first came out. And they were still going strong.

“Wait. You want me to believe that you, Zack fucking Merrick…” I trailed off, not able to finish the sentence.

“I really am your dad.” He insisted. I scooted away from him, not wanting to cry anymore.

“Well, you’re not really supposed to be able to visit for long. It’s parents Saturday. No doubt I’ll be stuck through mindless interviews with couples who don’t really want me all day long.” I muttered, beginning to stand up.

“You see, that’s why we’re here. Now that I’ve found you, I’d like you to come live with me.”

My jaw dropped and I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head if they got any wider.

“Live with you? Fuck yes. I hate this damn place.”

“Language.” Zack, well, Dad, protested, lightly placing his hand on my shoulder.

“You say dirty things.”

Alex chuckled, smirking. He’d been dead right when he said I acted just like Zack. I always knew what I wanted and the best way to get it. And, not to toot my own horn, but I can talk my way out of almost anything.

“But I’m older then you.”

“But I’m still a virgin.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but shut it again. He couldn’t really talk. When he was my age, he’d gotten a girl, Maysilee Morgan, to be exact, pregnant.

“Miss Hadley?” I called. She seemed to appear out of no where. “Do I need to pack my sh-stuff now, or is there still paperwork to be finalized?”

“No, ma’am. You’ll be heading off with Mr. Merrick and Mr. Gaskarth today.” She replied, shooing me off to my room to pack everything up.

***

I stepped shyly into the large house, looking everything over.

“Carissa’s here!” Zack shouted and I heard footsteps eagerly making their way down the flight of stairs to my immediate left.

A lanky figure scooped me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and hurried back up the stairs. I squealed, not expecting this type of welcome.

I landed softly on a bed and stared at the black haired boy in front of me.

“Jackass Barakat don’t you dare do that ever again!” I preached, pointing a delicate finger at him.

“I’m sorry Miss Merrick, but I wanted you to see your room. Rian and I fixed it up for you.” I looked around the room I was in. It was beautiful. Everything was so bright and blue with accents of yellow and green around the place, a Chinese looking paper-lamp hanging from the ceiling as the only light source in the room besides the small lamp on the bedside table. There were two twin size beds with the bedside table in between them. There was a mirror right above one of the beds and a corkboard on the next wall over. The closet was on the other side of the room and it was enormous and completely filled with adorable clothes.

“It’s amazing.” I whispered, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him into a hug. I laughed to myself.

“What?”

“Well, I used to be an orphan stuck in some shit hole excuse of an orphanage. I never really saw myself thanking Jack Barakat for designing the room that I’ll be living in at my new house with my father Zack Merrick.”

He gave me a questioning look as Zack and Alex entered the room with my few belongings. “How old are you again? Ten?”

“Twelve.” I corrected him, a smile lighting my face. I paused, lightly touching my cheek. “I’m smiling.” I whispered to myself, thinking how strange it felt to be doing so.

“Is there something wrong with smiling?” Alex asked.

“No. It’s just been a really long time since I smiled.”