Discovering Me

I follow Dani on the road that leads to my temporary home. I see a sign that says, "Adoption Center-Next Left." I swallow nervously. Should I make a break for it? I mean, there's still time to do a U-Turn... Oops, too late. I look ahead and see a place that is similar to a prison. I start to panic. Damn it! Shoulda run when I had the chance! But whats this? She didn't go in the turn lane! Then... where are we going? I pull over onto the shoulder of the road. Dani notices immediately and stops a few yards away from me. She gets out of her car and walks over to my car, a confused look on her face. I roll down my window and lean out a little. "Aren't we supposed to go... there?" I ask my voice wavering slightly. I'm sure I look terrified. I point toward the evil place of torture. She turns and looks to where I'm pointing. Suddenly, a flash of realization darts across her face, and she starts laughing. Hard. She places a hand on my car and leans over, laughter shaking her body. Now it's my turn to be confused. Is this some type of sick joke? I wait until her laughter subsides and her breathing is somewhat normal before I ask warily, "Whats so funny?"
She looks at me with a huge grin on her face. "Well, first, the absolutely scared shitless look on your face." I scowl at her. "And second, that's the adoption center for pets!" She starts cracking up again. I feel my cheeks start to burn.
"I-I-I... I totaly knew that! Psh. I was just... messing with you! Psh. Psh. Ha. Psh. I mean, come on, everyone knows that!" I stutter. I feel like my heads about to explode from all the blood rushing to my face. My little... speech... did not help. Dani is laughing even harder now. Sheesh, if I get any redder, I'll be giving fire trucks a run for their money. "Allright, well, lets get going!" I kinda sorta yell. I roll up my window and wait for Dani to pull onto the road before I do. We finally pull up to a building that resembles an... adoption center. I mentally face palm myself. Cause it is, dumbass! I mean dumb... butt. 'Okay, stop insulting yourself and get out of the car,' I tell myself sternly. Awww, but its so much fun! Arrgh! I shake my head, dislodging my weird convo-with-self thing. I open my door and get out, smiling akwardly at Dani.
She raises an eyebrow at me. "Took you long enough," she sniffs, a humerous gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, I was giving myself a... pep talk," I say. Some pep talk.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, staller," she teases.
"Staller? Psh, I'm not a staller, I'm a stalker," I tease back, putting a mock-creepy look on my face.
"Allright, stalker, lets get you inside." She snickers, grabbing my wrist and starting to drag me through the doors.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" I howl as she drags me through the doors. "You can't make me! I'm too pure!"
She stops and collapses into me, both of us giggling like mad. I hear other people chuckling, but I'm laughing too hard to see who else is in the room. Finally, Dani and I compose ourselves and I look around. There are a couple of adults and a butt load of kids ranging from about the ages of 2 to 18. I smile a shy little smile and give a small wave. "Um, Hi?"
Suddenly, a little girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, no older than six, runs up to me and hugs my legs, grinning up at me. I smile back down at her and pick her up, propping her on my hip. She smiles even wider, revealing that her two front teeth are missing. "Hi! I Isabel. I four," she says, holding up four fingers.
Shtill smiling, I say, "Hi. I'm Ronnie. I'm sixteen." She giggles and hugs me around my neck, hiding her face in it. I rub her back and look at everyone else. Everyone about seven and up are looking at me in shock, including Dani. I suddenly feel really self consious. "What?" I ask. "Is my shirt tucked into my underwear or somethin?" That kinda breaks up the staring contest and gets a few laughs. A girl about fifteen and, putting it nicely, is dressed like a hooker, slides up to me and grins flirtatiously.
"Your shirt isn't in your underwear," she tries to pur, but fails epically. "She doesn't normally like people." Isabel pulls her face out of my neck and glares at the blonde bimbo.
"No talk to her," Isabel whispers in my ear. "She no nice." I resist the urge to giggle. Isabel is so cute!
I turn to Dani. "What time is it?" I ask.
She pulls up her sleeve and checks her watch. "About six."
"Really?" I ask in disbelief.
"Yep," she says. "Now, lets get your room number so you can meet your roomie and get set up."
I nod and follow her, bringing Isabel with us. We walk up to the front desk to see a grandma-ish lady sitting there typing away at her computer. Dani clears her throat and says, "Mrs. Rose? Can we get the room number for Ronnie Woolf?"
Mrs. Rose looks up and smiles at us. "Of course! Just give me a second, dearie." She types something and leans forward, squinting at the screen. Then she sits back and smiles at us. "Ronnie, dear, you are in room 203. Second floor, door number three." I smile my thanks and walk back to my car, using the hand that isn't holding Isabel to grab my keys from my pocket and unlock the trunk.
"Isabel, honey, I gotta put you down now, okay?" I say, lowering her to the ground. She nods and lets go of my neck, watching calmly as I open my trunk. I pull all my bags out and set them down on the sidewalk, then close the lid and re-lock it. Isabel grabs my small bag and Dani grabs the big one, leaving me with the other small one and the medium one. We roll them in through the doors and to the elevator. I let go of the handle to the medium suitcase and push the button for floor two, then replace my grip on the handle of my bag. The elevator moves up smoothly then dings and the doors slide open. We stride out of the elevator and I look around, immediately spotting door number three. Dani hands me a key. I unlock the door and turn the nob, sticking my head in. First thing I see is a boy wearing absolutely nothing standing in the middle of the room with water droplets all over his body. My eyes widen and I stutter out an appology. I jerk my head out of the opening, bang my head on the door jamb, and slam the door shut. I hold the side of my head where I hit it, blushing like a tomatoe.
Dani looks at me like I'm crazy and asks incredulously, "Um, what just happened?"
"I-he-uh-clothes-gone-water-naked," I stutter.
"Your rommie was naked?" she asks. I nod. She laughs. "Well no wonder! Geez, you've had me cracking up all day!"
The door opens and a very red-faced boy stands there, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He is now decent in a pair of shorts. "Hi, I'm Jake. Umm, sorry. Wasn't expecting anyone."
I stick out my hand. "Um, Hi. Ronnie. Shoulda knocked, huh?" I chuckle nervously as he shakes my hand awkwardly. My hand drops, only to be recaptured bu Isabel.
Dani steps forward. "Alright, ladies. Ronnie." She points at me. "Unpack. And Jake." She points at him and pauses. "Use a towel. Now, I have some work I have to do, so see you later." She dissapears down the hallway.
I look at Isabel and crouch down. "I need to unpack. But if you need anything, just come to me, okay?" She nods and hugs me, kissing my cheeck.
She skips into the elevator and turns around, yelling"Byebye, Ronnie!"
I chuckle and drag my bags into my room. As I set up my half of my room, I talk to jake and get to know him. I end up falling asleep with a huge grin on my face. I already have a great new friend.