"And now onto the latest update on the MDVA prevention act. Yesterday, the child genius Oliver, brother of Alex, declined the adoption offer from the Head of the Research Institute. This news was a massive shock to the public as being part of the Head's family would have allowed him unlimited resources and massive support in the Institute, which would highly benefit society. But towards these complaints, the Head has issued a statement that Oliver is still a child, and an orphaned one at that. It would take more than just a couple days for him to trust others again. Especially after the betrayal that landed his foster father, Andrew, into jail. Some say that Oliver is searching for a new family to heal the wounds caused by his sister's passing, others say ..."
I looked at the expressionless news anchor on the television screen reciting her lines and scoffed. Taking the remote, I pressed the off button and turned my back to it.
Walking into the kitchen, I gazed at my mother's back as she faced the stove with bowls and ingredients in her hands,
"I'm going to school now Mom! See you!"
Waving to her, I let her gentle smile melt away the ickiness I felt from listening to that 'news' before heading to the door.
As I wore my shoes, I thought about the 'news' combined with the actual news from yesterday. The line that Oliver declining the adoption being a shock at all should be false. After all, according to what I read in the article yesterday, there was no way Oliver would view the Head of the Research Institute as anywhere near human. Since his own sister was almost taken by the MDVA prevention act, he should hate the act down to his bones.
But the statement after that, of Oliver finding a new adoption home, might or might not be true. As someone fortunate enough to have loving parents, I could not fathom what might be going on in Oliver's mind right now when his most trusted person and only guardian, Andrew, was in jail. He should have no one to turn to.
Frowning at the thought, I hurriedly squashed the feeling of helplessness and pity that was beginning to take root in my heart. Even if I had such feelings towards Oliver, it was not as if I could do anything to help him. It was better to not think about it.
Standing up, I turned the knob and closed the door behind me. It was currently decently early in the morning. The sun had just risen and the beautiful blazing red rays were slightly blinding. About to turn right, I was going to head to Camellia's house like usual when at the corner of my eye I saw a hand waving at me.
Swirling my head left, I met a pair of eyes, the shade of melted ice. With his hand next to his head, Ralph smiled as he greeted me.
"Good morning!"
Seeing the happy expression on his face, I could feel it spread to me like an infectious disease, my mouth already curving up at the corners as I greeted him back.
"Good morning!"
Waving at each other for a while, Ralph then tilted his body, showing that he was leaving, and gave a goodbye wave before descending the stairs. Probably on his way to his new job at the local cafe.
Watching his figure disappear, I felt the upturned corners of my lips return to their horizontal position and the warmth that came with seeing him disappear. Hugging my bag straps, I slowly turned around and headed towards the Justice apartment.
As I arrived in front of their door, I was about to raise my fist to knock when I heard the sound of the door knob turning. Taking a step back, I saw Camellia's pale and thin hands push open the door.
"Good morning Dan."
Tilting my head up to see her face, I was slightly shocked at how disheveled she had become. Her clothes were incredibly wrinkled, her hair a bird's nest, and there were two thick dark bags under her eyes. It was obvious she didn't have a good rest last night.
"Good morning Dan."
To further add to my shock, after Camellia greeted me, I heard a familiar voice sound from behind her.
"Daniel! Do you have the day off today?"
Slanting her body, Daniel appeared from behind Camellia in a slightly less disheveled state then her. Although that was not shocking since that was his look when he was off duty.
"Yeah. Camellia told me we had some important matters to discuss, so I called one of my police friends to help replace me in the police station today.]"
Smiling a warm and friendly smile, Daniel bent down slightly as he spoke to me. Beside him, I saw Camellia gaze at him with love in her eyes. Then, as if suddenly remembering why I was here, she took the news book and passed it to me.
"The articles are mostly the ones you read yesterday. I also managed to include some more updates that happened after you two left."
Taking the news book with both hands, I nodded my head and waved goodbye to the two of them.
Before leaving, I turned around once to peek at the couple. With his hands around Camellia's shoulders, the two were discussing something privately with serious looks on their faces. However, even their furrowing eyebrows could not dilute the sweet scene created by them both.
Noticing I had not left yet, the two pairs of eyes simultaneously turned my way. In response to that, I quickly gave another goodbye wave before rushing down the staircase and out of their sight.
How lovey-dovey! How romantic!
Although my parents basically did the same kind of mushy actions at home, comparing the two couples, it was sweeter and less weird when it wasn't your parents.
Opening the news book, I immediately went to the first page of today's news. It was the same article I read yesterday about Oliver. Flipping the page, I skipped the article I had read already and only stopped when I came across one I didn't remember.
'Oliver registering at the adoption center in Middle street. Might be looking for a new home.'
Raising my eyebrows at the title, I panned my gaze down to the contents and read it. To sum it up, the article was the true version of what was said on the news channel just now. Oliver, after rejecting the head of the Research Institute's adoption offer, had traveled to Middle street on his own to register for adoption at the adoption center.
This adoption center, usually run by the government in the feeble attempt to show that they actually care, was famously Anti-MDVA and were quite vocal about how much harm the act had to both children and adults. In contrast to the more neutral and technically unneeded adoption center in High street, going to Middle street to get registered made much more sense.
MDVA had a higher appearance rate in low income families. That was a fact that nobody could refute. But the opposite is the most important part. High income families, families who lived in High street, rarely ever experienced MDVA. It was so rare in fact, that the euthanasia center only had a scarce handful of employees and they were basically there for the cushy job of doing nothing all day.
It made sense after all, since most people on High street were either rich or powerful, and could easily afford private doctors that would keep their mouths shut even if they saw anything.
Finishing my thoughts, I read the article to the end and sighed. In the end, there was no information on which household Oliver was going to be adopted to, nor was there any hints on what sort of conditions Oliver was looking for in his new house. After all, as basically a famous person, he should at least be able to choose which household he wanted to live in.
Lifting my legs up the stairs, I arrived at the classroom just as I finished reading the last article. Like usual, Frank was waving enthusiastically from his seat, with Linel happily conversing with some other classmates nearby.
The moment he saw me, Linel's eyes lit up and he seemed to excuse himself from the others and headed over to my seat.
"So what's the news for today?"
Opening the news book the moment I put it down on the table, Linel flipped to the first news for the day scanned through it. By the end of the article, he had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I wonder if Oliver would know whether the rumors of a project to cure MDVA being conducted at the Research Institute is true or not? I heard snippets from my parents that it has been so long since the last update about it, everyone is starting to lose hope that it exists. Either that or it got shut down."
Frowning as he said that, Frank sighed and flipped over to the next articles. Skimming through them, I saw him finally stop at the update article about Oliver. Raising his eyebrow, he had a slightly shocked expression on his face as he read it.
"Oliver is moving to Middle street?"
Eyes filled with a mix of excitement and nervousness, Frank exclaimed so loudly that the whole class stopped talking for a couple of seconds. Then, the noise level rose tremendously as discussion on Frank's words ensued. In fact, several nearby classmates were already crowding near my table, craning their necks to get a peak of the article.
"It's not confirmed. Although he registered for adoption in Middle street, the adoption center might assign him someone in High street instead. After all, he is somewhat famous, especially with all the news coverage of him and his family the past few days. The people there might think that it would be too dangerous for him to remain in Middle street."
Pouring cold water onto everybody, Linel declared in a loud voice to the crows as casually as possible, causing them to break up and the noise level to go down back to normal.
"You should be careful of what you say in the future."
Once he was sure that everyone had shifted their attention away from us, Linel whispered to Frank.
"I'm sorry."
Apologizing, Frank lowered his head. However that apology seemed less sincere when he followed up with a question.
"So does that mean that Oliver won't be moving to Middle street?"
Giving Frank a look, Linel sighed in helplessness and confiscated the news book from him.
"I wouldn't bet on it. Unless he is aiming for a certain family or has some incredibly important reason to remain in Middle street, it would be better for him to stay at High street. The security and safety is better there, and it is also closer to the Research Institute. If the rumors about the project regarding MDVA research is true, Oliver definitely must have joined . He's a genius and would certainly speed up the research progress. And so, he would probably stay close to the Institute."
With sound logic, Linel reasoned out to Frank why there was a high chance that Oliver would be adopted into a family living in High street. And with that cold shower, Frank wilted in disappointment and laid his head on the table.
"And I was hoping to be able to meet Oliver."
Shaking my head at Frank's naive thoughts, I shared a look with Linel as we both patted his shoulders and cheered him up.
Oliver's adoption most likely would have nothing to do with us, so there was no point paying too much attention to it.
Putting the thoughts on the news aside, I spotted the teacher entering the classroom and signaled to both Frank and Linel. Taking out our notebooks, chalk and chalkboards, the three of us stopped talking about the news and focused on the lesson.
After all, it's not as if Oliver was going to be adopted into my family, right?