Saturday, 21/10/1994

 The wake-up call came at 6:30. It had been a while since Amelia had got up so early. Though she’d slept through the night without interruption, she didn’t feel rested at all. Despite that, she thought it’d be best if she arranged her things properly, sparse as they were.

 Amelia set out to empty her luggage into the closet and changed back into her day clothes. She was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door, and before she could react, it opened up. It was Miss Ursula.

 “Good morning, Amelia. Sorry, I should’ve checked in on you at bedtime, but something came up.” Her gaze swept the room. “But it seems you’ve settled in already. What a dutiful girl you are.” She smiled. “Well, breakfast is at seven. The bathrooms are towards the hall and then to the left. Do you have everything you need?”

 “Yes, Miss Ursula.” Amelia’s voice was almost a whisper. For some reason, her throat felt rough.

 “Very well. I’ll leave you to it then. You can ask the other children or come look for me if you need help with something.” With that, she disappeared back into the hallway.

 Amelia retrieved her toiletry bag from the closet. Mr McDonnell had helped her pack it. It included a toothbrush, toothpaste, nail clippers, a comb, a brush, a face towel, soap... most things she usually needed at home. Mr McDonnell had explained that her new home would provide any necessities going forward, but it was good to be prepared. She’d mostly taken essentials like clothing and some personal items. He had also explained that more of her things would be brought over for her later, or possibly sent overseas to her relatives. As to when, exactly, he couldn’t say.

 Bag in hand, Amelia cautiously opened the door and peered out. No one was in the hallway just then, so she stepped out of her room and closed the door. But just as she did so, the door of room E opened, and two boys emerged. They look quite alike, so Amelia’s immediate thought was that they were probably brothers. So, there we boys here, too. They also spotted Amelia.

 “Hi!” said the slightly taller one. She thought he might be perhaps a few years older than her. “You’re new, huh?” She nodded. “Miss Ursula said someone new was coming. What’s your name?” The boy seemed friendly, but Amelia was slightly taken aback by his immediate liveliness. “Oh, my name’s Noah. And this is my brother, Brody.” He jerked his thumb toward the other boy, who seemed to be almost hiding behind him. They might’ve looked much the same, but apparently behaved quite differently.

 “Amelia,” she managed to say, barely audible. She wrung the bag in her hands.

 “Nice to meet you! Well, see you at breakfast!” And just like that, Noah ran off, dragging his brother behind her. After a moment to recover from her surprise, Amelia headed for the bathroom she’d spotted the previous evening.

 When she got back into the hall, she noticed the wall clock was already past seven. She’d taken some time to give her face a good scrub too, since for some reason she’d felt a bit... crusty. But now she was late. She hoped Miss Ursula and the others wouldn’t be angry. She quickly returned her toiletry bag to her room, and then headed downstairs. Yesterday she’d had her supper in the kitchen itself, but normally the meals took place in the dining room next to it. She could already hear quite a bit of noise emanating from that direction.

 As she entered the room, she saw it was indeed quite busy. There were Noah and Brody, and two other boys, one of which seemed to be a teenager. Looking around, she also counted three girls. Two of them looked to be teenagers as well, while one she suspected might be Noah’s age. She wondered idly if someone was still missing since Miss Ursula had said they had an uneven number.

 And just as she thought of Miss Ursula, the woman appeared from the kitchen. She flashed a quick smile towards Amelia, then turned to face the rest of the room and sharply clapped her hands twice.

 “All right, listen now, children. As I told you yesterday, we have someone new staying with us. Everyone, say welcome to Amelia.”

 “Welcome, Amelia,” replied a chorus of voices – some with more and some with less enthusiasm. Noah even gave a thumbs-up with a wide grin. Amelia couldn’t help but feel flustered, being the centre of attention. “You can all introduce yourselves to her later. Don’t be strangers.”

 “You can sit over here!” Noah called out. Not having a better plan and not wanting to be rude, Amelia made her way to where Noah was sitting with her brother and sat on the opposite side of the table. The dining room was arranged to have four dining tables spread symmetrically in the room, with each having four chairs, leaving several unoccupied, and one table empty. Her table was the closest to the doorway she’d entered from. On the far wall opposite the doorway was a long side table that held the food. No one had gone to get any yet, so Amelia stayed in her seat as well. Not that she felt particularly hungry anyway.

 “Where’s Rosalie?” Miss Ursula’s gaze swept the room. “Pauline?” As Amelia turned to take a look, the youngest of the girls raised her gaze from the table in front of her.

 “She didn’t seem to want to come,” the girl said with a shrug of her skinny shoulders.

 “Come now. You know very well that everyone needs to be here before we can begin. You need to look out for each other. As she’s your roommate, go on and tell her we are waiting.” With an exasperated sigh that seemed like it belonged to someone much older, Pauline slid down from her chair and trudged out into the hall and up the stairs.

 As they waited, Noah leaned towards Amelia conspiratorially and whispered. “She’s a weird one, Rosalie. But not a bad sort, I guess. She likes to keep to herself. The adults often get frustrated with her, though.” After a few minutes, Pauline returned and sat back down. Another minute later, another girl appeared. Amelia estimated her to be the youngest, and her short red hair looked like it hadn’t seen a comb for a good long while. Her strongly freckled face was downcast as she made her way to the only unoccupied table, the one closest to where Amelia was sitting. It was next to the entrance to the kitchen, and the girl sat with her back towards it, therefore facing Amelia’s back.

 “How kind of you to join us,” Miss Ursula commented in a slightly reprimanding tone, but her smile was warm. “Now that we’re all here, let’s eat.”