Raven (Orphans 4)

"And I wasn't the last one in there," she added quickly. "Please tell Gordon."

"All right, dear. Don't worry. I'll get him." Louise laughed. "They get so nervous when

something goes wrong. Gordon fixes everything so quickly. He should. He's been doing it long enough. I'll just take Raven upstairs," she told Marjorie, "and then come down to meet with you in the office."

"Fine. Good-bye, Raven," Marjorie said, hugging me. "You're going to be just fine," she said.

"I don't know why," I said. "I've never been before."

She and Louise exchanged troubled looks, and then I followed Louise up the stairs. The tall girl watched us for a moment before turning to hurry down the corridor. I imagined it was to announce my arrival. We stopped at a room on the left, and Louise knocked.

"Yes?" a voice called.

Louise opened the door.

"It's just Louise, Brooke, with your new roommate that I promised."

"Lucky me," Brooke replied. She looked up from the table upon which she had a tape recorder with its casing apart. It looked as if she was repairing it. When she set eyes on me, however, her head snapped around in a double-take, and she stopped what she was doing.

"This is Raven. Raven, this is Brooke. You two are about the same age, so I imagine you have a lot in common "

"I doubt it," Brooke said.

I smiled at her. "I doubt it, too."

"Oh. Well, Brooke will tell you all about the Lakewood House and introduce you to the other girls on the floor, won't you, Brooke?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course you do, dear."

"Come on," she said in a tired voice. "I'll fill you in on Horror Hotel."

"Brooke!"

"I'm just teasing, Louise. You know that," Brooke said.

"Of course you are. My girls love it here," Louise said. "I'll just go finish with Marjorie, and then I'll see you soon after," she told me. "Make yourself at home, dear."

She stepped out, closing the door behind her. Brooke and I stared at each other a moment. "You meet Gordon yet?" she asked. I shook my head. "I thought you looked too calm."

"Why? What's he like?"

"He's big, ugly, and mean. Otherwise, he's okay," she said.

I started to smile.

"Haven't you been at other homes?" she asked

"Just overnight at one. Before that, I've lived with family."

"Family? What happened?"

"It's a long story," I said dryly, "with a bad ending."

"Not yet," Brooke said.

"Excuse me?"