Chapter Text
The golden haze of sunlight on Mizi’s eyelids is what woke her up. She bounced out of bed, a grin on her face.
“Good morning Sua!” Mizi exclaimed, placing a kiss on the other girl’s forehead.
“Hi Mizi!..” Sua yawned, pushing her bangs up.
“Good morning Ivan!” Mizi shouted, just to find Ivan’s bed already neatly made.
“Ivan’s already gone. Don’t you know? He leaves early every day.” Sua observed, then turned to Till. “Him on the other hand…”
“Good morning Till!”
Till woke with a start, staring at Mizi’s bright expression before stuttering out, “G-good morning Mizi!”
“Now come on you guys, we gotta have breakfast! We can’t miss Marty’s send off.”
The trio made their way over to the cafeteria, where they found Ivan already seated with a book. The dawn light flooding in through the windows made him look almost ethereal sitting there.
Mizi ran over to Ivan, wrapping him in a hug. Ivan froze in shock for a half second, before hugging her back with a warm smile.
Sua just glared at the two, rolling her eyes.
Oh my God, how come this ugly roach is hugging my girlfriend, I think he should literally go die.
Till, on the other hand, blushed. Although he would never express it, he wanted a hug from Mizi as well.
“Hi guys!” Ivan chirped, putting his book aside.
“I’m so sad Marty’s getting adopted,” Mizi said, “but it’s for the best. Hopefully his family is kind to him!”
“Mhm, I hope that Marty is happy with his expeditions.” Ivan agreed, leaning on the table.
“Remind me what an expedition is?” Till interjected.
“Dummy.” Ivan smirked, and Till just hit him on the arm, scowling. “Okay, okay! An expedition is like a journey, in simpler terms.”
As the four continued their chatter, the cafeteria filled up with more people.
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of breakfast time. Everyone shuffled before finally settling down with a plate.
Acorn, Marty, Ivan, Mizi, Sua, and Till all sat down at a table. Being some of the oldest of Anakt, it meant being able to sit wherever you wanted without some older kids telling you that they should sit here because it was their “last few years here”.
“So Marty, what do you think it’s going to be like to be adopted? Do you think the people will be nice?” Ivan asked.
“I don’t know, but I hope they have a car. That way I can drive like a racer. Those toy cars in the field are so slow.”
They all laughed except Sua, who just smiled at Marty and asked,
“Well, have you actually met your adoptive family?”
“No, but that’s probably normal… right?”
A sense of unease quietly cloaked the table like a thick fog.
“Eh, yeah, it’s fine.” Mizi waved it off, and Acorn just smiled weakly.
“Wait a sec, who’s getting adopted next?” Acorn asked, and all the heads turned to Sua.
“My beautiful Sua! Although I will miss her dearly, I understand that she will live a happy life onwards.”
Sua’s smile tightened ever so slightly, and Acorn looked oddly sad.
The loud bell rang again, and all the children made a neat line towards the exam room.
Everyday, they were made to do exams.
But they were usually quick and easy, and afterwards you could play!
“Toppers Ivan and Sua!” Isabella announced. “And following afterwards is Mizi and Till!”
The four celebrated their accomplishments, while Acorn and Marty stood in the corner, Marty looking at his bad grade.
“Dude, I totally failed at this.”
He sighed, and Acorn patted him on the back. “It’s okay, me too.” Acorn said, knowing damn well he got ninety percent. “After all, it’s your last test.”
To this, Marty smiled, and Acorn felt a weird feeling, like warmth spreading through him. He usually only felt like this with Sua.
What’s wrong with me?
— — —
In the evening, it was Marty’s send-off time.
Through Acorn’s eyes, Marty looked nearly radiant in his new suit, and all he wanted to do was give him some sort of affection.
But instead he felt like he was glued to the floor, watching helplessly as Marty left. They made eye contact, and that jolted Acorn out of his stupor.
He ran through the crowd, through his friends that tried to hold him back. Running outside into the field, it felt as though the wet grass was trying to pull him back.
When he reached Isabella and Marty, Acorn put his hands on his knees and panted, trying to get some semblance of breath.
Isabella cast Acorn a mildly annoyed look, mumbling under her breath about protocol. Yet she still cast him a smile, asking through clenched teeth what he was doing here.
Without answering, Acorn hugged Marty so tightly he dropped his briefcase. He was trying to memorize the way the other boy's heart beat against him, how Marty’s breath was hot against his ear.
It was never, ever Sua, was it? It was always Marty. Always has been, always will be. But now there’s no chance, I messed it up. And now Marty will just forget about me—I’ll become just another boy from the orphanage.
“I-I’ll miss you, my dear Marty.” Acorn choked out, his sobs wrecking him. He felt as though his knees were buckling under him, and the world’s oxygen turned to poison. His snot stained Marty’s suit jacket, and he could feel Marty starting to shake with tears.
“I’ll miss you too.” Marty said, holding Acorn in a warm embrace.
Their last embrace.
“Ahem. Boys, you can always send mail, but right now Marty will be very late.”
“Oh, okay.” Acorn wiped tears from his eyes. “Bye-bye, Marty.”
“Bye, Acorn.” Marty reached out to wipe a tear from Acorn’s face before turning to Isabella and holding her hand.
“Go back now Acorn, Marty will probably send you a letter when he reaches his new home.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Acorn walked back to the orphanage building, which seemed to tower over him and block the moon. His stomach twisted and turned like it was doing gymnastics, and his heart was tearing.
At night, Acorn tossed and turned in his bed, mumbling incoherently.
“Acorn? You alright?” Till asked him, getting up and walking across the room to the other boy’s bed.
“Y-yeah.” Acorn sniffled, rubbing his already red eyes.
“We’re all so sad he left, but think of it on the positive side! Marty will send us letters and maybe he’ll send us photos of the outside world. ”
Till said it with such awe that Acorn couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s true. I hope he comes to visit, maybe he can take me with him.”
“Yeah, that’s the mindset!” Till whisper-shouted as to not wake anyone else up.
He walked back to his own bed, and Acorn turned his head over to Sua, peacefully sleeping.
But Acorn didn’t feel butterflies in his stomach anymore. He just felt a pit, a dark, empty pit forming inside of him.
And the only one that could fill that gaping hole was Marty.
But Marty wasn’t here, was he?
So Acorn just had to live like this, hollow and empty, a shell of the boy he used to be.