In an orphanage somewhere near the city, a 20 year old young lady has her nose buried behind another book. The kids teased her for being a bookworm all the time, but she did not care. This was her last year at the orphanage, and if she wanted to go out on her own, she knew that she needed to be smart. Smart enough to get a job so she can get her own place.
Just like most of the kids at the orphanage, nobody knew why their parents left them there.
It was a very stormy night when the nuns found her wrapped in a soft pink blanket outside their door. The rain had been pouring endlessly all day, so nobody noticed her cries when she was left behind.
They speculated that she had been there for a while because her lips were starting to turn blue from the cold. And when the doctor checked her, she had a very high fever, and he had declared that she had no chance of surviving the night unless there was a miracle. He asked them to watch over her and pray that she would pull through.
It seemed like either the heavens listened to all their prayers, or at that young age, she knew she had to fight if she wanted to live. She was very resilient because that same night, her fever broke, and she was on her way to recovery.
She had been very well behaved since she was young, she never threw any tantrums, using reasoning every time she did not get what she wanted. She was very mature for her age, and she knew how to gauge situations to use to her advantage. She had an aura about her that captivated her audience all the time, whether she wanted to or not.
While children played around the yard, she helped the sisters water the plants or arrange the books in the library. She didn't like being idle.
Being poor made her realize at a young age that if she wanted more, more food, more clothes, and more books, she had to work hard for it.
The orphanage had very good people who took care of the kids but they never seemed to have enough money to provide clothing and food for everybody so they relied on the kindness of strangers and the community to drop off their unused toys, clothes, and any extra food that they might have.
Most of the donated items were usually broken, torn, or in disrepair. It was up to them to fix what they got, and if there were any nice enough things in the donations, the bigger, older, and stronger kids usually got them first. The sisters always tried to be fair to everybody, but they didn't have enough manpower to monitor the kids at all hours of the day, and most of the time, the smaller kids and girls suffered the most.
She had her food and toys snatched so many times that she learned to be cunning and smart. Education was the only thing the nuns could give her for free, and she knew that it was the ticket that would get her out of poverty and being stuck where she was, so she studied day and night to get good grades so she could get out faster.
She always longed for a family of her own, someone to love her and care for her, just like the kids she would often see at the park near the orphanage.
One time there was a girl who was throwing a tantrum because she wanted ice cream but her mom wouldn't give it to her so she screamed at the top of her lungs.
The dad came to the rescue and got her one, which made the mom angry. But when the daughter said I love you and together with the dad kissed her mom's cheek, everything changed. All the mom's anger disappeared as she kissed and hugged both her husband and her daughter back.
Scenes like these made her ask questions like, "Where are my parents?", "Did they leave me at the orphanage or did they just lose me?", "Why did they abandon me?", "Do they love me?", "Are they looking for me?", "Are they coming back?"
When she was younger, she was more optimistic that she would get adopted, they always said that people always took the younger kids, but as she grew older, she learned the painful truth that she would always be an orphan and that she would never get to go home with a new mommy or daddy.
Nobody knew who she was, and the person who left her never left a note so she would never find out who she was.
She had grown up well enough being an orphan, 20 years of working in the sun and doing chores at the orphanage did not mar her beauty, her skin was still fair and soft to touch. She was tall and willowy, lack of food kept her thin, and all the lifting and gardening made her body toned. But what captivated people was her innocence that showed in her heart-shaped face, her dark chocolate colored eyes that drew your soul in, and rosy, red lips that looked very inviting to kiss.
""Aurora! Aurora! Where are you?" shouted a girl.
The girl reading the book finally lifted her head and saw her best friend, Linda walking towards her.
"I'm studying for the exams," Aurora said as she turned the page of the book she was reading.
"But there are still three months before exams, you can study later," Linda complained.
"Linda, we cannot wait till the last minute if we want to top the exams. Daily preparation is required," Aurora said patiently.
Linda and Aurora met and became friends at the orphanage. A big and bulky bully had snatched Aurora's sandwich from her, and instead of fighting to get it back she just accepted her fate and sulked in a corner.
Linda had come to her rescue and offered half of her sandwich. At first, Aurora declined, thinking that Linda just probably needed something from her, that's why she was being nice.
"What do you want in exchange for your sandwich?" Aurora asked, skeptical.
Linda looked at her with a puzzled expression, "I don't want anything, I just wanted to share," she said.
Nobody had offered to be kind to her before, that was why she kept to herself, but it seemed this girl was really genuinely nice. And so their friendship grew from there.
They were now in their second year of being medical students.
Aurora had chosen this course because she had always been interested in helping people, and there was nothing nobler than saving somebody else's life by becoming a doctor. Linda, on the other hand, did not have a clue on what she wanted to take up in college so she just blindly followed Aurora.
They were the total opposite of each other, but their friendship seemed to work, probably because they were the same age and they were both lonely, both wanting to belong somewhere. Aurora was beautiful and kind. Being book smart and mature beyond her age added to her appeal. Whereas Linda was not bad looking, but neither was she beautiful, she was what one would call average. She was very ditzy and concerned mostly about her appearance and popularity.
"Oh, but I don't want to study right now. I can't understand the chapter I was reading," Linda pouted, giving Aurora one of her pitiful expressions that always worked to get her way.
"Don't worry, I finished all the notes for the chapters we have covered, and I will share them with you," Aurora replied.
Linda could be smart when she wanted to, but she would rather fill her head with daydreams and waste all her time primping and making herself pretty. At the back of her mind, she knew Aurora would always be there to help her study when she needed to.
Aurora was always eager to help and never judged Linda, they were friends, it's what friends do all the time, but she thought if Linda was a little more serious in her studies then she could score better in her exams.
"Aww… Aurora, you are the best," Linda hugged her happily. Small things like these made Aurora happy. Linda was the only person who bothered to get close to her, and she always treasured that. She was just happy that she had a good friend like Linda.