Ch 5. Leaving the Orphanage

Opening his eyes, Kai waited for his vision to adjust to the darkness in the room before carefully rising and stepping out of his bed. Slipping into his sandals, he stood up, got some of his stuff from his cabinet, and walked silently out of the room, mindful to not wake the others up.

He headed towards the bathroom that was shared with three other rooms. After having done his business, he stood in front of one of the sinks to brush his teeth and then began to wash his face with a soap bar and water. Lathering up the soap on his face, Kai picked up his single blade razor and began to shave his face. The last time he had bought a shaving foam, it had quickly run out once the other guys had caught sight of it and since it was a little too costly in the area, he had to make do with soap.

Rinsing his face and patting it dry, he observed himself in the mirror to make sure that he looked clean. Satisfied, Kai went to take a quick shower before dressing into a simple shirt and shorts. As he was exiting the bathroom, he noticed one of the other guys in the dormitory had woken and was walking to the bathroom. The sky had begun to lighten up and the window was curtainless which allowed for the light to brighten the hallway.

"Good morning, Kai," he greeted.

"Morning, Kevin," Kai responded to the guy that lived in one of the other rooms. Hearing noise, they saw two other guys that had woken up and stepped out of their rooms, one of them was Tyler. They walked to where Kai and Kevin stood as they greeted each other and after having done that, Kevin asked,

"You guys are leaving today, right?" He glanced at Kai and Tyler.

"Oh, right," the other boy, Wesley, said as he stretched his limbs, "you guys are moving to Angel Falls today."

"Yeah," Kai and Tyler responded.

Wesley sighed, "We're going to miss you guys. We still have another year left before we get to choose what to do." Kevin and Wesley were still seventeen and had to wait to turn eighteen before they could have the option of moving out of the orphanage.

Tyler ruffled Wesley's hair. "We'll miss you, too. But we'll make sure to come visit often."

"I still don't know if I'm going to be living here in Maples, though," Wesley thought before waving it off, "Oh well, we can figure something out later."

"Speaking off you guys leaving," Kevin pointed out, "isn't Angel Falls like three hours away? And with traffic, it should be more." He glanced in the direction of Kai and Tyler's room. "Shouldn't you wake them up now?"

Tyler was about to take a step to head to their room but Kai stopped him, saying, "I'll wake them up. You should hurry in washing up."

Walking to the room that he shared with them, he first looked at Owen who slept on the bottom bunk bed he shared with Tyler. Then, Kai glanced up at Jake who slept on the top of the bunk bed they shared. Hearing the loud snores that were coming from Jake, he decided to wake him up first as his snores meant that it would take him a while to wake up.

Kai turned to Owen, speaking in a loud voice, "Owen, wake up!" But as he expected, the guy didn't respond at all, instead continuing to peacefully sleep. Stepping on the frame of his bed, Kai stepped on it in order to reach Jake easier.

"Wake the fuck up, Jake!" He extended his arm out to start shaking Jake who opened his eyes abruptly going "Huh?" before closing them again and continuing to sleep. Kai tried once more to shake him awake but seeing that it wasn't working, he began to lightly slap his face and continued to increase the strength he used after each slap that didn't work. He made sure that it was enough to not hurt him, though.

Thankfully, after almost ten minutes of him doing that, Jake finally woke up and Kai had to make sure he got out of bed in order for him to not be tempted to continue to sleep before proceeding to wake Owen up.

Owen was much easier to wake up by tapping him continuously on the arm and shoulder. As he had made sure to have gone to bed earlier last night, Owen had slept sufficiently that he didn't have trouble rising up at once after having been awoken. Owen went to the bathroom where the others were, while Kai, now alone, began to pack his things from his cabinet.

In his ragged backpack that he had used all throughout high school, he began to shove his things inside. He had gotten out most of the things in the cabinet which had left uncovered the books where his secret was hidden.

The day that Kai had found out that he had been transported inside of Jade's book, he had returned to the orphanage in shock. Despite being shocked, Kai was still processing what he had found out and what to do going forward the whole rest of the day. That same night, he had sneaked out of the room to get materials in one of the classrooms.

He had avoided being caught, and after having entered a classroom, he used a pen to write down on paper what he could remember from the story. Without stopping, he had written down every single thing he could remember about the characters, the plot, and the events. He had filled four pages before he had returned back to the room, making sure to carry extra paper with him in case he would remember anything else.

Kai was glad that he had been rereading the book up until the day of his death allowing him to still remember clearly a bunch of the things in the book.

In his cabinet, two books were stacked neatly together which had been hidden behind some of his clothes and larger objects. Picking up one of the hard copy books, he saw how the tape he had used to stick the paper cover to the book hadn't peeled off.

He ran his fingers on top of the cover and once he felt the difference in elevation in one area, he flipped the book before doing the same thing again. He repeated this with the other book and then packed them safely in his backpack.

Kai had finished packing up his stuff and ended up having to use a plastic bag to hold his two pairs of shoes. He had decided to clean the cabinet and while he did that, the rest of the guys had entered lively before proceeding to pack their own stuff.

Almost two hours later, they were done with cleaning up the room. Heading downstairs, they ate breakfast for the last time with the other kids. Although it was normal to see the now legal adults leave the orphanage, many kids and adults alike cried while tearfully saying goodbye.

It would be a lie to say that Kai didn't feel anything for them. For about eight years, he had lived in the orphanage and had developed some affection towards others. Especially for the kids who he had seen grow up and cared for.

Heading towards the door, Kai could feel a lump forming in his throat when he saw Mrs. Emma waiting at the door.

He could hear Owen sniffling and the other two tried their best to not tear up. Kai let his friends speak with her first as he wanted to go last.

Once it was his turn, he looked at the face of the woman that he had grown to regard as the closest thing to a mother figure. Mrs. Emma looked up at Kai with a proud yet forced smile, tear drops rolled down her cheeks. She warmly held his hands in hers.

Mrs. Emma sighed, "No matter how many times I have gone through this, it seems like I still can't get used to it." She chuckled before pulling him into a hug. "It is never easy to let a child go out to live in the real world. But I am proud of the man that you have become Kai, and I know that you will continue to become someone great in the future."

"Thank you, Mrs. Emma," Kai tried his best to not sound like he was about to burst into tears at any moment.

Pulling away from each other, she glanced at his friends that were waiting for him a few feet away. "You take care of those three, ok. I know that you're the most mature out of all them and make sure to continue to be healthy. Health comes first. Whenever you want to visit, I'll always be right here in this place. Ok?"

Kai nodded, "Ok." Content with his response, Mrs. Emma signaled for him to go but after taking a few steps, he turned around and enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank you for everything. I'll make sure to come visit repeatedly and make you proud." He hesitated before asking, "Next time I visit, will you allow me to call you Auntie?"

He saw how her eyes widened before she let out a sob and nodded firmly while wiping away her tears. "You have been like a dear son to me, Kai. You can call me whatever you want."

"Thank you, Auntie," Kai smiled before pulling away and this time, he walked all the way out to the entrance outside.

Hearing the kids yelling their goodbyes from the courtyard behind them, the four friends waved once more before walking away from the orphanage's sight.

Walking to the bus stop that was further in the town, the friends began to play sight games and joke around while waiting for the bus that would be taking them to their new home- and towards Kai's new goal.