Megan POV- 9 Years Old
Once the bus had dropped us off outside the Bachelor's house, we went inside. As Bella said, there was only one man there, who I think was on the next floor, which I guessed was her father, but there were traces of other people there. "Nice house" I said.
"Thanks" Bella smiled. "Want to go up to my room?"
Mortimer and I both shrugged out shoulders at the same time. Bella found this really funny. "Well, I've got to put my bags in there anyway" she said. "So, are you two going to come with me?"
We followed Bella as she made her way up the stairs up to her room. Her room was on the second floor, left to the stairs. One half was where her room was, and the other half a sort of playroom. As Bella dumped her bag in her room, she indicated me and Mortimer into her room. "I've got a really cool idea we could do in the Summer Holidays. How about we go and camp out for one night?"
"That would be really cool" I said, as Mortimer nodded. From what I'd seen of him apart from the other day, he was quite a strong, silent type, and apparently, quite a grump.
Bella nodded then. "Unfortunately, my tent broke on a rock as Michael forgot to put it in the shed, so I haven't got one…" she said quietly.
"Here comes Mortimer to save the day then" Mortimer sighed. "Yes, I will get my tent then" he sarcastically to Bella.
"OK, Mort-i-ma" she said in a playful tone.
"Oh, shut up, he muttered.
I giggled then. "So, we should think of a place to camp out then" Bella said. "We could go somewhere else instead of one of our back yards for a change"
"That's a good idea" Mortimer said. "But can we go to my house before we start looking for somewhere to camp out first? I need to get something"
"Sure!" Bella and I said at the same time, and we got our coats on and Bella quickly shouted to her Father. "Dad, were going out for a bit. I'll be back before dinner!"
"OK sweetie!" he called.
Going outside, Bella, Mortimer and I took a turn, leading us to a gentle slope upwards. We passed the cemetery on the way, which was really creepy, especially due to the dark, looming black building in the middle, I always forget what they're called. "Here's my house" Mortimer said, outside a rather impressive building, I'd call it a Manor rather than a House though, it was HUGE!! "Be right back" he said, running inside the property.
"Mortimer's house is huge!" I said.
"Goth Manor was the first building in Sunset Valley" Bella said. "Mortimer's Dad's Dad built it. The Goth's founded Sunset Valley while the Landgraab's, who live in the fancy Summer Hill Court, built it up. If you didn't know, that's Malcolm's family"
"Yeah, I knew" I said, as Mortimer came out of the front door and shut it, running over a little bridge over a pond and back up to us.
"I thought this might come in handy for Megan" Mortimer winked, passing me a rolled up of paper. Unrolling it, it was actually a map of Sunset Valley, showing all the places names, right down to who lived in each household, including my own house. "I just thought that giving you this might help you so when we call somewhere by its name you won't be like huh?" he said.
"Thanks" I smiled, rolling it back up and putting it in one of my jacket pockets that was large enough for it to fit.
"So, were not really going to be going to town, Central Park is the only ideal place but that's too busy really, and I don't class Maywood Glen as a 'Park', even though it is, as it's really just a pathway, just like the one between my house and the Sekemento's that you can get to the Landgraab Industries Science Facility and the graveyard" Bella said. "We need to go somewhere more rural"
I looked at the map then. "How about the empty plot of land by 'Stoney Falls'?" I asked.
"I think I know which one you mean, want to see if it would be alright for a tent to go on?" Bella asked.
"Fine by me" I said, as we raced through a little forest that was between Mortimer's house and a road on the other side. Once we reached the road, Mortimer indicated to turn left, and once we reached the end of that road, I saw water plummeting into a lake below, and a large plot of grass.
"You were talking about just here, Megan" Bella said, pointing to the grassy area. "It looks perfect, what do you two think?"
I smiled and Mortimer nodded. "So, what day are we actually going to go and camp out?" Mortimer asked.
"How about Saturday?" Bella asked. "It's just after we break up, so we all should still be here, and the Weather Forecast says it's going to be perfect sunshine both Saturday and Sunday, so we could go early Saturday and leave late Sunday, so near enough two days together!"
"Sounds great!" I said, while Mortimer just nodded again.
Mortimer looked at his watch, a plain one with a black strap. "Oops, I was meant to be back for half four, and I've got to be back in five minutes, so I kinda need to go. See you two" he said, running through the forest we came through.
Bella looked at me then. "Want to go back to mine and work on that Science homework together?"
"OK!" I said, as we went the slightly longer way back to the Bachelor household.

Mortimer POV- 9 Years Old

As I opened the door back into Goth Household, I saw Mother and Father were both standing together by one of the kitchen counters. "Are you staying this time?" Father asked.
"Yes, you asked me to be back for half four, and here I am" I said.
"Well, we really need to talk to Megan, and we'd though you'd be the best way to get her to us. We need you to force Megan to come here so we can talk to her" Mother said.
"What?" I asked. "Megan and I have just become friends, if I force her to do something and she doesn't like it, she'll just go back to hating me again!" I protested.
"We need Megan to understand she's part of the Crumplebottom family" Father said simply. "Otherwise, she'll just be curious about her real family all her life when we could just tell her exactly who they are. Doing this will help her a lot, Mortimer. You just need to think of the long term version"
"I don't want to think of the long term version! She's my relative too, you know!" I said, storming out of the kitchen and slamming myself in my room.

Cornelia POV- 44 Years Old

Gunther huffed then. "Gunther, you need to think of how your son feels about this. He's just made friends with his cousin he never knew about and you're just trying to break that relationship" I said, even though I knew there would most likely be an argument as a result of me saying that.
"I know, Cornelia, but you know exactly why I'm doing it. It'll take a few years for it to fully break out, but it will eventually"
"I know, Gunther. I know"

10 YEARS LATER

Mortimer Goth's POV- Aged 9

It was a Saturday morning. Breakfast on a Saturday morning in the Goth household consisted of me eating my cereal in silence, no milk, because I hated milk, mother reading a book, this week was Murder in Pleasantview, and Father going through papers from work, or reading on a rare occasion.
"A new family's moving into the Tudor house near your sisters, Cornelia. William and Vivian Johnson with their adopted daughter Megan, she's three days younger than Mortimer, actually, born in Sunset Valley but given up as soon as she was born"
I heard mother gasp then quietly said "What's Megan's surname?"
"Darling, I'm guessing that's her old family's surname and they just kept it"
"Uh oh" Mother breathed. "If her surname's Darling then it must be Ag-"
Mother then looked at me. "Mortimer, do you promise you won't tell anything we say to your Aunt Agnes or anyone who might tell her"
"I promise" I said, still quite confused with what was going on.
"If her surnames Daring then it must be Agnes' daughter she gave up because she couldn't cope being a single mother to a child so young" Mother said.
"So the new girl who just moved in's Aunt Agnes' daughter?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm guessing she knows she's adopted but doesn't know who her adoptive mother is" Father said. "And I don't think her adoptive mother and father will like it if you just go up to her and acting like you both know you're cousins and have been close all your life"
"I won't" I said. "Can I go and play with Bella, I've finished breakfast, and she's usually finished about 10 minutes before me"
"Fine" Mother sighed. "But be back at 6, and don't tell Megan or your Aunt Agnes"
"OK!" I said, getting one pair of my shoes on, blue wellies, and ran out to go and find Bella. As I guessed, she was in her garden, on the swings.
"Hey Bella!" I shouted from my side of the fence.
Getting off the swing, she came over and opened the gate. "Hi Mortimer!" she smiled.
"Want to go to Central Park?" I said.
"Sure! Let me just tell Mum or Dad I'm going out" she said, running inside, then coming back out a couple of minutes later. "I can come, as long as I'm back for half six"
"I've got to be back by six, so that doesn't matter" I said.
"Let's go!" Bella said, racing off, me quickly following her.
*
Once we got to the park, we noticed no-one was there, apart from a single girl, sitting alone on the swings hunched up. Once I had a good look at her, I could tell it was Megan, because I couldn't recognise her, but she looked very much like Aunt Agnes. She noticed us and started walking to one of the exits at a fast pace, she obviously didn't want any contact with anyone, especially someone her own age.
"Isn't that the girl who just moved into Sunset Valley?" Bella whispered, loud enough for me to here without her mouth to my ear.
"Megan Darling" I said. "Yeah, she is" Megan was about three paces from the exit when I decided to be a bit rebellious "Megan!"
Slowly stopping and looking over her shoulder, she glared at us both, especially me, as it was a bit obvious I was the one who called her. "What"
"You don't have to go; we just want to be friends!" Bella said.
"The person who bullied me for being adopted said the exact same thing when they first met me, I don't find that believable" she said.
"Megan, I know your birth mother, she lives here in Sunset Valley!" I shouted.
"Yeah, true story" she muttered, and stormed straight off, not even glancing over her shoulder.
"Her birth mothers here in Sunset Valley?" Bella said. "Mortimer how do you-"
I sighed. Bella wouldn't tell Aunt Agnes, she didn't like her much anyway. "Megan is my Aunt Agnes' daughter, but she adopted her off at birth as she couldn't cope being a single parent after what happened to Uncle Erik. So, that makes Megan my cousin"
Bella stayed silent. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to stay that"
"I thought it was a bit weird when my mother told me" I said truthfully.
"So you want to act like proper cousins with Megan then?" Bella asked.
"I'd like to, I mean, other than Megan I have no other siblings as my father was an only child and Aunt Agnes is my mother's only sibling, so I really haven't thought about having a cousin as Uncle Erik's dead and Aunt Agnes isn't planning on making a romantic advance for a while unless she meets the perfect man for her"
"Ah" Bella said. "Well, want to go on the swings?"
"You bet!" I smiled

NINE AND A HALF HOURS LATER

Dinner was nothing special, just the usual Sunday roast most people would have. "So, Mortimer, have you met Megan or either of the Johnson's while you were out with Bella?" Father said.
"We saw Megan and had a quick conversation, but it didn't end up that well, I don't think she really wants to make friends with anyone really"
"She'll settle in eventually, she's probably just nervous because she just moved into a new town full of new people" Mother concluded.
"Yeah" I said, but I though No, I think she may not be trying to make friends because of something that happened to her where she used to live, like that person who bullied her for being adopted.
While Mother and Father were having a conversation about groan Politics, I finished my meal and decided to go and relax on my bed after getting ready for bed. Eventually finding out I had fallen asleep relaxing, I had woken up really early at 2AM to find one of the ghosts, Lolita Goth, looking through my things. She was about my age, but I had never heard anything about her, or how we were related, but she was always the best person to talk to because she was my age and forgot everything that happened once she went back to the grave, so wouldn't tell anyone. "Why are you going through my stuff at 2 in the morning?!" I hissed.
"Oh sorry, did I wake you?" she whispered.
"No, I fell asleep really early" I said quietly.
"Do you want to go talk outside?" Lolita asked.
"Probably be best" I said, quietly getting out of bed, putting on my dressing gown and slippers, as it was November, and sneaking outside. "Are there any other ghosts out?"
"Since they died of old age, none of them come out now until March, because it's too cold for them, but I don't feel anything" she said.
"Ah"
"So, get whatever's troubling you off your chest then" Lolita said.
"Well, there's this new girl, called Megan, who just moved into town, and apparently her actual parents, because she's adopted, are my Uncle Erik and my Aunt Agnes, so she's my cousin, and I want to get to know her, but we had a bit of a bad start, so I don't think she wants to talk to me"
"She'd be in your grade, right?"
"Yeah"
"So why don't you try and get into a group with her in a school project and try and get some answers without pressuring her?" Lolita suggested.
"That might work" I said.
"Try it and then tell me once you have then" she said, winking, and then quickly going back to her grave, realising the time, dawn. It didn't seem like this late already!
I quickly poured a small bowl of cereal, so mother and father guessed I had eaten what wasn't there, followed by a shower, teeth and all the random stuff you do before going to school. As soon as the school bus arrived, I said "Time to put this plan into action" before sitting down and getting driven to school.

Agnes Crumplebottom's (Darling's) POV

I smiled at him while we watched the waves lap against the shore. Today had been the most perfect day of my life. He, who I had loved for all those years, was now my husband and soul mate. He was Erik Darling, my true love. We had a young marriage, I was 18 and he was 19, but everyone knew it was going to happen as we reached young adulthood.
"I have a gift for you" Erik said, smiling to me and passing me a small square box.
I opened it right then to see a locket, with a picture of us just hours ago inside it, at our wedding.
"I love it" I breathed. "And I have a gift for you aswell"
"Oh yes?" he said.
"Well-" I said.
"Yes?" Erik said, looking my straight in the eyes, but in a kind way.
"I'm-"
"I'm waiting"
"I'm pregnant with our child" I blurted out.
"Oh, Agnes, that's just wonderful. When's he or she due?"
"Late July or Early August
"That's going to be just amazing" Erik said, kissing me. "Isn't that around the time that your sister's having a baby aswell?"
"Cornelia? Yes, hers is due about the same time aswell, she obviously could tell quicker than I could"
"Have you told her yet?"
"Not yet, you're the first to know other than me and the ones who suspected I was. I'll probably tell her once we get back to Sunset Valley"
"That's a good idea" Erik smiled. "It's getting dark, we should be getting inside"
"Yes, we should" I said, getting up just as Erik did.
Walking back inside the hotel, hand in hand, we smiled at each other. But as we were walking to the front entrance to get to one of the two staircases to get to our room, someone came from a dark corner and slammed Erik into the wall, their hand round his throat. "Give me all your money. Now!" he said, pointing a gun at Erik's chest, aiming for his heart.
Erik stayed there and did nothing. "I see you aint gonna do it, so you're gonna pay the punishment. Say bye to your wifey"
"Agnes" he gasped, as the man's hand was still tight round his throat, affecting his speech. "I love yo-" he started, before he was cut by the gun shot.
"Erik! No!"
Seeing his limp body, and the man taking his money made me make one decision. Our child would not grow up a Sunset Valley child.

I yawned as I walked into the clock shop. My first day of work had tired me out, but I'd found some really interesting information. As my Father used to say, little things can strike a gold mine. Dropping my bag by my bed, I watched Spring read yesterday's paper. "Are you going out, Master Clive?" she asked once she noticed me.
"Yes. I'll be back by around ten by the latest"
"Do you want me to get you something to eat for later?"
"I'll eat while I'm out" I said, opening the flat door. "Bye Spring"
"Goodbye, Master Clive"
As I walked up Midland Road, I sensed someone was shadowing me. I realised who it was before seeing them, despite it being almost six years since our last encounter. Jackson Samson. "Someone's grown up, haven't they?" he said softly. Too quiet for my liking. I remained silent.
"Someone not talking, eh?" he asked, still in his same quiet tone. I stayed silent until something made me squeal in pain. Jackson's fist had gone straight into my chest, at such force I wouldn't be surprised if there was a broken a rib or two. He then went for my jaw, and I knew it was time to fight back. I wasn't someone who'd let them get away with this. Back when I was a child, I was too young to know what to do, but I knew what to do now. I forced my knee into somewhere I don't really want to think, which ended in him doubling over, but he could still fight. He managed to trip me over, and as I hit the floor, I managed to trip him up, as he had just got back up to kick me. This ended in a grab the shirt was, a wild frenzy on the floor. It was so mad, that I didn't know what he or I was doing. We ended up separating one another from each other's grasp, and as soon as Jackson got up, he pointed at me, and hissed "Oh, Clive. You're not gonna live much longer, and I'll be the one who finishes it off for you"
"Yeah, right" I snorted. "Go get a life Jackson"
"Why you!" he said, before calming down, and walking away.
As I got up, sorted my clothes out and checked the scars for any possible infection, I carried on my journey, and entered the office. Dimitri was waiting by the door; I was half an hour later than I'd said I'd be. That was when he noticed a few scars on my cheeks, arms and legs. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't verbally ask what had happened. "I got in a fight" I said. "The other persons been bullying me since I became an orphan"
"Ah" Dimitri said. "Are you sure that you're alright with those marks there, you look like you've broken something aswell"
"I think it's my rib" I said. It was the only thing that actually still hurt, and it was throbbing with pain.
"Do you want me to take you to a doctor?" Dimitri asked.
"I'll be fine" I said, sitting down in my chair. My ribs were still really painful, but I didn't really care as of now. I'd suffered greater pain than this, grief. The death of my parents and Constance hurt, but one thing I'd learnt over the years was how to hide it from anyone watching me. One of the best things I'd ever learnt.
Dimitri sat in his chair next to me, still concerned over my health, but I did a fake smile to back it up. Dimitri thought it was real though, and just carried on with what he was doing. He then looked at me. "So, Clive. Did you find anything interesting at work today?"
I gave Dimitri the folder I managed to get. It was stuffed with useful information, on Bill Hawks, the explosion, everything we needed. As Dimitri scanned through the contents, he took some sheets out and left them until last, and he studied these ones very closely. I noticed these were mostly about Bill as a scientist, instead of the Prime Minister. Apart from his clothes, he didn't look much different. There was pictures aswell as writing, and most was handwritten by a man names W.Blakely, whoever he was. He looked like a reporter of some sort, but not someone very close to Bill. Probably just a writer for a newspaper, and these were just clippings in it. Dimitri handed me a piece of paper then, and I smiled as I read it. The Prime Minister Bill Hawks is still fascinated by Time Travel, even after quitting his job as a scientist to climb the political ladder was the only sentence I needed to read to know what to do. "We should make a future London underground to trick Bill he's gone into the future. Ten years should be enough"
"How can we get from the 'future' London and the London in the present?" Dimitri asked.
I thought, before the perfect place came into my head. "The clock shop on Midland Road!"

By now, the rest of our acquaintances from Science had returned to class. The rest of the lesson was writing up the results, so we had to get the results off some of the fellow members of our class. Haven and I were sat on the same table, and I had some scrap paper at hand, so I discreetly sent a note to her using some of it. Haven was a quick writer, so we managed to get quite a few notes sent. I think the teacher thought that we were sending notes about the work, when they were nothing of the sort.
Once the bell went, Haven and I, hand in hand, walked over to the school field, which we were allowed to go on now due summer rapidly approaching. We finally had joined a 'friendship group' eventually over the years, which was a mix of quite a lot of different people, including some of the smartest, and least academic, in the year. It was a rather average group in total. Well, while we were walking past, we saw a girl of about our age sitting on her own. She looked lonely, so, after looking at Haven, we walked over to her. She looked up at us, clearly nervous over our presence. She had light purple hair, and I couldn't quite see her eyes, but it looked like they were dark blue. "Hello" I said.
"Hello" she said quietly, but now looking up at Haven and me, especially me. "You're Constance Dove's adoptive son, aren't you?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, why?"
"The blast that killed your birth parents, it killed my parents aswell" she said quietly, hiding her face, which I expected was from tears. I still cried about my parent's death sometimes.
"Look-" I said, but I realised that I didn't know her name.
"Kalia"
"Look, Kalia" I said. "I know how you must feel, but you should know that we all have to move on. The past has already happened, and we can't change it", but inside, I thought different. We can change this, we can get revenge on the person who killed our parents, and they will pay…but on the outside I had a completely neutral expression.
Kalia looked up at me. "Well, Kalia, see you around" I said, walking up to the field. "Clive, wait!" she called.
Turning around to Kalia, I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"I knew you were lying" she said quietly. "You want revenge, don't you?"
I sighed. "Of course I do"
Kalia looked at me straight in the eyes then. That was when the bell went for next lesson…
*
I was walking down the streets that lead to town. Constance lived around five miles away from where I lived before the explosion, her house was one of those you used to play you had all the money in the world and lived in that house. But I've learnt my lesson, life is stupid, and hardly anyone gets everything they want in their lives. Suddenly, something, or someone, came flying into me. I landed on my back, and getting up, I recognised him instantly. He was one of the scientists who worked in the lab next to our old flat. He was one of the people who caused the explosion…
"Oh sorry, young man. I was in a bit of a rush, but it's nothing important. Are you alright?" he said, brushing himself down.
He had wavy grey hair, which drooped over one of his eyes, but from just the one eye, he looked slightly nervous. "I'm fine" I said, which I was, apart from a slight pain in my back, but that wasn't anything overly bad.
As the man studies me, he gasped. "I remember you. You were that child that lost his parents in the blast and was trying to go back in"
"Yes, I was" I said, unsure of what he was going to do or say next.
"Well, I'm sure you probably haven't heard the story of what actually happened, so would you like me to tell you"
This could change everything… "If you want to tell it, then yes"
"OK then" The Man said, taking us to a small restaurant a few doors down from where we were standing. After getting him and me a drink, he started to talk. "My name is Dimitri Allen, and I used to work in the lab next to where you lived. We were currently investigating time travel, and were trying to build a time machine. But the other scientist, a male, was given an offer of a large sum of money for the time machine, but he never told me this. We hadn't tried the time machine of a living person yet, so the other scientist tried it on our assistant, Claire. But we hadn't fully finished all the tiny features we needed to do, and it ended up exploding. The other scientist survived the blast, and received the cash sum, and quickly moved onto a higher paying job. Claire died, as well as your parents"
"Why are you saying 'the other scientist'? Surely you knew his name" I asked.
"You will aswell, my boy. But I don't want you too…go mad over it"
"Who was it?"
"Bill Hawks"
"The prime minister killed my parents?!"
"Hush. I warned you. Well, you see, I loved Claire, and once Bill had killed her, I grew to hate him. I probably want revenge just as much as you do"
"Then why don't you get revenge?"
"He's such a high rank, it would be almost impossible to get to him"
"But why don't you backfire on him?! Make another time machine, get him to test it, since he used to be a scientist and was so interested in time travel, and purposely make it fail!"
"That, is a good idea, my boy" Dimitri said. "But not so soon. If we do it too soon, then he may get suspicious, it's only been three years"
I noticed he was saying we. Did he want me in the plan? Surely, he knew I wanted revenge, but I was still just a child, an eleven year old couldn't do anything special!
"What's your name, boy?"
"Clive Dove, sir"
"You were adopted by Constance Dove?"
"Yes" I said.
"Well" Dimitri said. "I think you and I are going to get on pretty well"

I'm living with Constance full time now. I can see why she barely goes out; she has everyone to do things for her all the time, so she doesn't need to go out to do shopping or anything, as she has servants who will do it for her instantly. She let me go to the same school, so I didn't lose all my friends on the move, but some of the people who purposely bully whoever they can all the time are starting to bully me because of the wealth I have now, I'm the heir to the Dove fortune. I hadn't let anyone come over yet, just like I had at the orphanage, but I may start inviting people over soon. Anyway, I was acting like I'd lived her three years, let alone three days! I had also found out that Spring and Cogg fixed all the clocks around the manor, as there were hundreds over the whole area that Dove Manor occupied.
I'd just arrived at school for another day there. I had started Oakenlodge Secondary just months ago but was settling in well. Most of Oakenlodge Primary went to the same school, but some had moved to other schools or children from other local Primary Schools had moved here. It was a lot more crowded, but it felt similar to when all the servants were talking to Constance.
Climbing out of the car, I walked through the school gates to find that there was a large crowd in a circular formation around something I couldn't see. Walking over to see what on earth was going on, I managed to see something, and I hated the sight of it. Haven was on the floor, covered in scars and breathing heavily. It was horrible to see, and I couldn't bear looking. That's when one of the teachers came to see what was going on. "What's happened here? All of you leave! Haven Franks? Oh, you look horrible. We need to take you to first aid"
"Can-Clive-come?" she managed to say in-between coughing.
The teacher who came up, who I'd not yet had but knew as Miss McAshen, looked up at me then. "Is that you?"
"Yes" I replied.
"OK then, you look the nice sort of boy" she said, smiling lightly.
As we walked into the first aid room, Haven limping, we all sat down to examine Haven's wounds. "What exactly happened, my dear?" Miss McAshen asked.
"Well, one of the boys tripped me up, then they all came, and I can't remember!" Haven cried.
"It'll be alright" Miss McAshen said calmly. "We can sort out those fairly quickly, and it'll hardly hurt"
"Hardly!" Haven said.
"Let me just go and get some disinfectant and some bandage" Miss McAshen said.
Once she was gone, Haven looked at me. "What happened?" I breathed.
Haven looked at me with big, innocent eyes, she looked like she was going to burst out crying at any moment. "I don't know" she said faintly. "Oh Clive" she whined, it looked like she had got a sudden cramp, because she moaned after saying that.
"Look Haven, you'll be fine. I promise" I said.
Then Haven did something I really didn't expect. She pulled closer to me, and kissed me on the lips. It took me quite a while to realise that I was kissing her back, and I was actually enjoying it. Once we pulled out of it, Haven smirked. "What's with the smirk?" I asked.
Haven laughed then. That was when Miss McAshen walked in, disinfectant and bandage at hand. Once she had sorted out Havens wounds, we were free to go. Looking at the time, we saw we were going to be walking in halfway through Science. When we were outside the door, which was shut, we saw we were the only ones around. They must have gone outside to do an experiment. Haven looked at me with big, innocent eyes, and pushed up a thick lock of my hair that had grown like that over the years. "I love you, Clive"
"I love you too"

I was not enjoying this.
"No Clive! When you hold your glass, your little finger is meant to stick out!" Kiki commanded.
Putting the glass down, I sighed. "Kiki, if Constance Dove was going to go to an orphanage like this one, I don't think she'd expect the child she'd chosen to be posh"
"Well, you want to put a good impression on her right?"
I sighed again. "Fine" I said, picking up the empty glass and sticking my little finger out further than normal just to prove my point.
"Yes Clive!"
"You're making me feel like a dog"
"Sorry" Kiki said, putting her bottom lip out. That was how she pouted.
"It's OK" I sighed.
Kiki looked up and smiled then. "Now, let's get your accent to sound all posh"
Today is going to be a long, long day.

A week later

Today, I was meeting Constance.
If I liked her, and she liked me, I would be moving in with her in four days, if not, I'd be stuck at the orphanage again. I hoped I liked her, and she liked me, because I was NOT staying at the orphanage until I was sixteen. I was getting driven there in at the moment. Seems she lived out in the country. We were going down a country lane, when there was a main road slightly to our left. Once we turned a corner, I saw at the end of the road was a huge manor house, and there was no other houses in sight. Drawing closer, I saw there was a sign. 'Dove Manor'. Constance Dove. This was her house. Wow, she must have a lot of money. Gardeners were tending to her garden, which was perfect condition, and there were numerous fountains, things people my class would only dream of.  Once the car had stopped, I got out and climbed up a few steps to get to the door. Ringing the doorbell, it was only a few seconds before someone opened the door. Spring. "Oh, hello Master Clive, how's your last week been?"
Spring and Cogg had only come the one day after they first came, so they hadn't seen me for nearly a week. "It's been hard" I admitted.
"Hard Master Clive? Whatever for?"
"My friend automatically thought that if I was going to be living with someone like Constance Dove, I'd have to start acting all posh"
"Oh no, not in the slightest. All Mistress Constance requested for was a kind, caring child who had manners, she never said anything about them having to be posh" Spring said.
"So the last week was a waste of time then"
"If that's what you were doing all week, then yes"
Thanks a lot Kiki Anderson. "Well, we'd probably be best off getting you to go and see the Mistress now; she's been dying to see you ever since we told her about you"
As we walked up a very long, grand corridor, I looked at all the pictures on the walls. They were all paintings or photographs of people, with a little plaque with their name on, and their year of birth and death. All these people were dead. "These are the Mistress' family. She was an only child with no children, so if she hadn't adopted a child, all the Dove fortune would go to the government, who would just waste it, she would much rather give it to a child she adopted" Spring said.
Looking at the plaques, Spring was right. All these people had the surname Dove. The further down the corridor, the more recent they were. "Is there a picture of Constance?"
"Not yet, these are all just for remembrance. As you can still see the Mistress in her blood and flesh, we do not wish to have her remembered on paper aswell, its see the Mistress alive how she is or not see her at all"
"Oh" I said.
"You'll get used to it eventually, my boy" she said, walking to a door on the left. "Wait here a second" she said, opening it slightly ajar and going through it, and shutting it again. I could hear her talking on the other side, so there was no point, really. "The boy's here, Mistress"
"Let him in, then"
Spring came out then, and indicated me to go into the room. Once I stepped through, I saw the room was a lot higher than the corridor, the pale yellow walls made it look much brighter in there aswell. A single woman of around 75 was sat quietly in her wheelchair, quite content. "Hello, young lad. Your name's Klaus, correct?"
Why did everyone think I was called Klaus?! "It's Clive, Miss Dove" I said sympathetically.
"Ah yes, it was Clive, now you mention it" she said. "So, Clive, I would like to hear your story"
So I told her my whole story, from the day I had lost my parents, right up until now. She seemed interested in all of it, and never looked bored. "It seems you've had an adventurous, but hard life" she said.
"That's one way to put it" I said.
Then she started explaining her life story. It seemed she was orphaned aged 16, and had been living with just the servants for company ever since, and had never even gone outside. "Why don't you want to go outside?" I asked. "It's really sunny and you have beautiful gardens and there's birds and-"
"My boy, as I've just said, I haven't been outside for sixty odd years"
"But why not? There's so much out there you're missing. Come on, I'll take you"
Constance sighed. "You seem like a very determined young boy. You'll go far with that trait, so don't lose it. If you wish to take me outside, I'm fine with that, but unless I'm enjoying myself, not too far"
"OK" I said, getting the handles on the back of her wheelchair, and, with some directions, I managed to get out easily.
"I see what I have been missing" she breathed quietly. "Clive, do you mind taking me into the forest, just back there?"
"Fine by me" I said, opening the back gate and taking Constance to the forest.
*
Jenny came to pick me up at around 6 P.M. She had gotten me and Constance to sit down and talk to her. "So Constance, did you enjoy having Clive for the day?"
"Yes, he's a wonderful lad" she said.
"Clive, did you enjoy being with Constance for the day?"
"Yes Jenny"
"So, now the most important question. Would you want to adopt Clive, Constance?"
Constance stayed silent for a moment, but it felt like a decade. Will I be living with Constance or staying at the orphanage?? Kept flowing through my mind. She finally answered. "Yes, I would like to adopt Clive"

3 Years Later

It had been three years since I moved to the orphanage. Three long years.
I had been treated slightly nicer than when I was new to the orphanage now. More people had moved in a moved out, and Kiki was finishing school and moving out from the orphanage in July!
At school, Haven and I had become inseparable. Most people suspected we were romantically interested in eachother, but we were just good friends. My grades were improving at a good pace, and I was moving from Oakenlodge Primary to Oakenlodge Secondary this coming September.
Most of Jackson & Co. had left the orphanage, only the ones to scared to say no to them remained, and they were fine alone.
The doorbell had just rung.
All of the children, especially the younger ones, still fascinated by doorbells piled up against the door, trying to see who it was. They obviously didn't notice that the door couldn't open with them there. Jenny gently got them to move back, and opened the door. Outside stood a man and a woman. The man had brown hair, and the main facial feature was his moustache, while the woman had big, glass-like eyes and purple hair. "Could you please come into my office, please, so no-one else can hear the conversation" she said, even though we all full well knew it was Duke's office, not hers.
The man and woman walked into the office, Jenny shutting the door behind her, so only the vibrations of their voices could be heard. I decided to do some homework, as they had given us a lot more to get us used to how much we'd receive once we went to the Secondary, and I would do it in my room as the bottom floor had got crowded since the doorbell went, I was originally there before the bell had gone, reading a book. Going upstairs into my room and finding my maths book, I started to solve the problems given. "If that's 11, and that's 42, that means this is…"
"CLIVE!!"
Jenny.
Putting my homework away and going down to her office, I asked her what she wanted. "This is Spring and this is Cogg" she said, introducing me to the man and woman from the door. "They work for an elderly woman named 'Constance Dove' who wishes to adopt a child, and after listening to what she wishes from the child, you sound like a perfect match together"
I looked at the 'Spring and Cogg' people then. "We just need to sort a few things out and if you like eachother, you'll be living with her" Jenny smiled, before looking at Spring and Cogg. "Clive came to the orphanage when he was 8, and has wanted to get out ever since" she said. "He's not had the best of times either. Bullies seem to think he's an easy target…"
"Oh dear" Spring said, ruffling my hair. "Well, if you do come and live with Constance, we'll try and make your time living with her much more enjoyable" she said, while Cogg nodded in agreement.
I stayed silent. I had never been one to new people. Once I got to know them, I usually wouldn't stop talking, but I became really shy when I was near people I didn't know. Especially since the explosion, I had gotten a lot worse. The only person I spoke to automatically was the man who dragged me away from my parents. After maturing, I could tell he was doing it for my own sake. He stopped me from committing suicide that day. He had saved my life by doing that, of which I'm grateful. If I met him again, I would thank him for doing that, I mentally noted it. "He's a little shy around new people, sorry" Jenny said, just to stop the silence.
"Oh, that doesn't matter" Spring said. (She looked the more talkative of the two) "I'm used to shy people. I have a younger sister, but I rarely see her now, she was really shy. She lives in Yorkshire"
No offense, but I hoped that Constance wasn't like Spring. Spring spoke too much, on my opinion, and Cogg looked like he though the same, by the expression on his face. "Wow, look at the time. We'd better be going" Spring said. "Would you like us to come back tomorrow?"
"If you have anything else to ask us about anything, then come tomorrow, if you wish" Jenny said.
"Bye then" Spring said, walking to the door, followed by Cogg.
Once they shut the door, I looked expectedly at Jenny. "That went well, don't you think?" she smiled. "Well, go and play then, dinner won't be on the table for a good hour or so"
I nodded and went upstairs, and ran to the room I wanted to go to. Knocking on the door, Kiki opened the door after about thirty seconds. "Hi Clive!" she said. "I heard Jenny call you, what was that about?"
"I may finally be getting adopted!" I smiled.
"Congratulations Clive!" she smiled. "Who might your adoptive parent or parents be?"
"Constance Dove"
"What?!" Kiki said. "You lucky thing!"
"Why am I so lucky? Who is she exactly?"
"You haven't heard of Constance Dove?! She is one of the richest people in London! I can't believe my little Clive is getting adopted off to one of the richest women in Britain!" (She called me 'Her Little Clive' as a nickname since I was 9)
"I'm not little anymore Kiki, I'm five foot"
"You'll always be Little to me, Clive. But were going to have to be doing a lot of work with you before you go and live with someone like Constance Dove"
"What kind of work?"
"Clive, were going to make you act like you've been rich all your life. We're going to make you posh"

I sat in the bay window with my knees against my chest. Never again, I breathed. Today had been horrible. All the obvious new boy problems occurred, getting called 'New Boy' instead of my actual name being an example, but much worse happened aswell. So bad I can't bear to think about it. I really wanted my parents then, I really did. Then I realised that my eyes were getting watery, and I was about to cry. I was wearing some clothes that were now 'mine', even though they were hand-me-downs from the older children at the orphanage, but I didn't care about that. I just sobbed into the shirt and tried to drown the outside world…
After about what must have been ten or fifteen minutes, the door opened. I was still watery eyed, but not crying, and I guessed I had red rings around my eyes. Once the door opened enough, I could see it was Kiki, who probably came in to say something about earlier, but once she saw I'd been crying, she came over and gave me a big hug. I usually would have pulled away, but this made me feel, better, somehow. "Oh, Clive" she said quietly. "You're not having the best of times here, are you?"
"Not really" I said. "I want to go back home"
Kiki gave me a sympathetic look then. "Clive, I feel really horrible saying this, but you're never going to be able to go home"
I shut my eyes then and sighed, before opening them again. "I know, but I still do"
Kiki sighed. "We all do, Clive, but none of us can, except for the ones who just got adopted off, but they have very little chance of that happening"
I sighed. "I'm getting really insane here, Kiki, like REALLY insane. I'm doing stupid things I wouldn't even dream of doing at home. I'm turning dark" I said quietly.
"What do you mean, turning dark?" Kiki asked.
"It doesn't matter" I said, realising I shouldn't have said it to someone like Kiki.
"Clive, it's bothering you, you just need to let it out"
"No offense or anything, but I don't want to tell anyone. I'll just write it down on paper and keep it somewhere hidden" I sighed again. "I just don't like people knowing my business"
"Quite secretive are we?" Kiki said softly. "Well, I'll go and let you write then. See you" she said, leaving the room.
Getting some more paper, I began writing again:
Dear the person that killed my parents,
Just to inform you, that letter I wrote this morning wasn't just a one off. I've thought the whole thing through and I am going to go through with this. You have been warned. I am going through unimaginable pain because of you, while you're probably going off drinking litres and litres of alcohol, because that's what most cold-hearted people do. Want to step in my shoes? Feel free, but believe me, you won't enjoy it, and that's a fact.
Signed,
Clive.
Putting the letter where I had put the other one I wrote early in the hours of this morning, I went and lied face down on my bed. I was exhausted, but I had to have dinner. Going down really early, so early only some of the people who purposely avoided Jackson & Co. were there, eating quietly. Getting my own meal and sitting down to eat, I thought the whole thing through. I would find out who worked at the science facility next door to us, find out who caused the explosion (as I knew it was from there), and make them wish they'd never been born…

Ow, my head.
I'd fallen asleep on the desk and had hit my head on the corner of it, waking myself up. I looked at the clock. 6:45AM. At least I wasn't up so early, and it was late enough to stay up. I found the letter, and hid it so no-one would see it unless I wanted them to. Then I realised it was Monday. I groaned. I'm too tired to go to school, mum will-. That's when I realised. I lost both my parents two days ago. I got out of bed and walked out my room. "Hi Clive!" a voice said.
I couldn't recognise the voice; or where it was coming from, I was too tired. I rubbed my left eye and yawned before I could focus on anything. Kiki was smiling as me, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, so she wasn't actually jumping; she was just going up and down. "Someone's tired huh?"
"No, I'm fine" I said sarcastically.
Kiki looked at me "Ready for school?"
"My schools 50 miles away"
"Silly, you'll get moved to one around here"
"Which would be?"
"Oakenlodge Primary, I'd guess"
Just then, Jenny walked up to me. "I guess this would be your size", she said, holding up a dark green jacket, white shirt, red tie and black trousers. "Be a good boy and try them on" she said, passing them to me.
I walked into my room with them in my arms, and quickly put them on. They were a bit big, but the size down would probably be too small for me. I walked out, to see Jenny coming out one of the other children's rooms, who noticed me in about the same three seconds. "Perfect size" she smiled. "You just need to sort yourself out; it looks like you dressed in about three seconds"
"I did" I muttered, walking back into my room to see through the mirror. I managed to sort myself out, except for one strand of hair sticking up. I tried combing it down, but that didn't work, so I just kept it how it was for the time being. I walked out to see Duke this time. "Someone looks smart" he smiled "Go and get some breakfast then"
I walked down to the dining hall. Most of the older boys were still asleep, as their classes didn't start until half 10, so just the nicer ones were there, mostly the girls though, as the breakfast room was shared by both the boys and the girls. Kiki was sat with three other girls at a table when I walked in. She smiled at me, making the other girls look in my direction. They looked away for a second and started muttering, trying not to let me hear, but I could.
"Isn't that the kid who lost his parents in that time machine explosion?"
"Yes it is. Wasn't he the one who got beaten up by Jackson?"
"He had an operation because of the blade"
"You three, don't talk about people behind their backs!" Kiki hissed. "I lost my mother in an explosion; I know how it feels you know!"
The other girls looked away, and then smiled at me. "Mock me then" I said. "I'm just little and can easily get picked on because all the other young kids have either got adopted or have already grown up" I said quietly. Then I realised I was clenching my fists, and my teeth had gritted. "Don't think I have no feelings! All my family are dead! Don't think I don't care either!" I shouted at them. They looked shocked at me; Kiki was the most shocked of them though.  
I went and sat on my own and eat in silence, giving them all dark stares if they looked at me. I left the room and got everything else I needed to do sorted; with about five minutes to spare. I decided to wait outside for the bus, in case it came early. Then I saw a green bus come up the driveway, and pull up by the entrance. The door opened, and I got in, followed by around fifteen others behind me, all older years though. I went and sat down alone by a window seat, as I didn't feel like talking to anyone, and the bus started and drove out the drive and took a left turn. I sighed and just watched out the window until the bus came to a slow stop to another stop. A few other kids sat down next to some kids from the orphanage, I guessed most of them were friends as they were talking loudly to one another, while some sat down in twos together and did the exact same. I looked down to the floor, until I realised someone was standing next to me. "Can I sit here?"
I looked up to see a girl with brown hair and brown eyes around the same age as me looking at me with her head at an angle. "I guess, but I'm not feeling very talkative"
"That doesn't matter" she said. "I'm Haven. Haven Franks"
"I'm Clive" I muttered. "I don't really have a surname as my parents died 2 days ago"
She gasped "I'm so sorry" she said. "I can move somewhere else next stop if you want me to"
"It's doesn't matter" I said. "Talking may stop me from thinking about it"
Haven looked at me then and sighed. "I don't recognise you, are you new to the school?"
"First Day" I muttered. "And I never lived in the area before my parents died"
"That's why then" Haven smiled. "So, what year are you going to be in then?"
"I was in Year 4 at my old school, and it's still the middle of the year"
"That means we'll be in the same Year group then" she said. "Oh look, this is the school stop" she said. "How nervous are you on a scale of one to ten?"
"Nine and a half" I said quietly.
"Why?" she asked, as we waited for everyone furthest from the exit to pile out first.
"A, New Area, New School B, I'm an orphan and C, I've already got beaten up once since I was orphaned and I don't wish to be beaten up again" I sighed. "Now do we wait outside or go straight in and do something until lessons?"
"We wait outside, but the infants used to go in and do their 'Morning Books' where they did stuff like find the words out of one big word and drawing themselves, sometimes it was boring, sometimes fun" she said. "Once the bell goes, we line up here" she said pointing to a line of a football ground that had been marked into the tarmac, at least 5 years ago, most likely more. "And wait until Miss Green comes out, marks us in and takes us into our class and starts our first lesson, Maths. Are you good at Maths?"
"Depends what you class as good"
Haven giggled. "Sounds like you didn't have a good night's sleep last night"
"Not really, I'm exhausted"
Just then, the bell rung and me and Haven walked back to the line as we already were slowly walking away from it. Numerous other children lined up around us, it looked like it was the whole Year Group in Miss Green's class. Out of the building walked out three adults, a man with grey hair in a stripy shirt and cream trousers, a young lively woman who's hair stood out in all directions, she was 25 at the oldest, and a woman with a tied back bun in her blonde hair, and wore a dark ladies suit and heels. "That's Miss Green" Haven hissed to me, pointing at the suited lady. "She looks strict, but she wouldn't hurt a fly"
The three teachers made different directions to their lines, Miss Green standing straight in front of ours. She called out every name, the child going into a door behind her as she called their name, until I was the only one there. "You must be the new boy, correct?" she said in a soft tone. "Your name's Klaus right?"
"Clive, ma'am" I said.
"Such nice manners for a boy your age" she sighed. "Well then Clive, we should better be going to the classroom then" she said. "I'll make sure everyone is nice to you" she said, walking off, but stopping and looking back at me when she said that.
I followed thinking you don't know how people have been treating me. And I KNOW that is has only just begun.