A legend in secret (with Al)

We’ve been friends since childhood. You were the one who stood up for me in elementary school and since then, we’ve been practically inseparable. We both had our ups and downs throughout school, but somehow, we managed to make it through. Sometime during high school, the decision was made to get away from our home town, our parents, and our problems. Once we graduated, we both moved out of the state and kept contact to our relative to a minimum. Since we're both female, no one really thought much of it. We got an apartment got through college, and have had a pretty good life.

We are older now. I am a writer and I work at the local newspaper. You are a financial manager at the largest company in the city. We are still roommates, living together, but with your financial savvy we have scored a beautiful two story home that is just the right size for the two of us and the possible guest for the holidays. Most of our friends are mutual friends, which is nice. We are pretty well off, and everything is smooth sailing.

Every Friday night is the night that we have chosen to be movie night. It’s the night we can both just sit down and relax. We can talk over the week, enjoy a movie (be it good or bad), and enjoy a nice quiet evening. This Friday, a storm has come through, threatening any chances of watching a movie on  the satellite, so, we put in one of the hundreds of movies in and begin our night. (We will begin somewhere around this point)

It’s not long into the movie before we hear a knock at the door. It’s a quiet knock that only I faintly hear. When we make it both to the door, we open it to find a small girl, soaking wet on our doorstep. We hardly recognize her as one of our closer friend’s child, Alexandria. She clutches an envelope in her hands and inside is a note, a picture of the girl and a signed guardianship form.

We rush her inside to dry her off. You aren’t very good with kids, and you make it very clear that we should just take the girl to the authorities, but I love kids, and I want to asses our situation. You don’t believe that the guardianship form is valid, but I don’t care. Will we keep her at our home while we try to figure out where her mother went and why she left her only child behind or will we call the police and send her on her way?

Alexandria:

First name: Mira
Surname: La’Mar
Age: 24
Date of birth: April 16th
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Relationship status: Single

Traits of Voice
Accent (if any): American
Language spoken: English
Other languages known: Nope
Volume of voice: Mira is quiet around those she doesn't know, but can be quite loud if  she is comfortable around you.

Physical Appearance
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 128lbs
Eye color: Blue
Skin color: Mira has a creamy ivory skin tone
Shape of face: Miras face is rounded, and she never lost her full cheeks
Build of body: Mira is short, but slender. While not oddly stick-like, she is not enormously voluptuous.
Hair color: A dark  brown
Hair style: Mira’s hair is long with  slight waves at the ends. She usually keeps it down, but if it’s up, she only puts it in a pony tail.
Tattoos: Mira has a tattoo on her right wrist that says “ A man chooses, a slave obeys”  

Spoiler:

Piercings: Mira has her ears pierced
Typical clothing:
http://www.polyvore.com/kiss_me_at_midnight/set?id=120479320
Clothing being wore at the start of the roleplay: http://www.polyvore.com/simple_sleepwear/set?id=120480857
Is seen by outsider as: A quiet girl that keeps mainly to herself.

Personality
Likes: Movies, video games, nice people, cantaloupe, being punctual, the rain
Dislikes: Rude people, beans, humidity, being bored
Education: Graduated with a degree in creative writing
Fears: Spiders, snakes, drinking bad milk
Personal goals: having a book published
General attitude: Positive

---

You could hear the thunder crack outside. Some were loud enough to shake the house. I looked over the television screen. No matter how much rain came down it seemed we lost satellite. I watched the black screen a moment before pulling my feet out from underneath me, and setting them down on the cool hardwood floor.

“It looks like it’s going to be a DVD” I glanced behind me a moment to the figure that was sitting beside me on the couch. I smiled quietly before turning and walking back towards the set. I kneeled, opening up the cabinet doors to look at the stacks of movies to pick from. I frowned quietly, closing my eyes and pulling one from random. I couldn’t make decisions on my own. I always had to pick movies on movie night like this. I turned around; flashing the movie in the air so there could be no swapping. I removed my hand from my eyes just as there was another flash of light and rumble of thunder. I jumped, dropping the movie on the floor. I gave a half laugh, turning halfway to close the doors to the cabinet before picking up the movie and standing.

“Looks like it’s The Lion King” I glance back at her with a quiet smirk before putting the DVD in the player and returning to my seat.  It was cool in the house and as I sat down I noticed the Goosebumps that had formed on my legs. Running a hand over my thigh I pulled my feet back underneath me, pulling a pillow over my legs to shield them from the chill.

I watched her and i couldnt help smiling when i see how she jumps with the storm going on outside. "You never seem to have gotten over the thunders and lightning. I still find it somewhat cute." I said as she came back sitting down next to me. "Lion King is after all one of my old time favorites. " Again another lighting happened and seconds later the thunder came through. I looked out the window.I loved storms. i loved looking through the window and the drops of water slidding down, then the lightning from the storm, creating an orquestra. I glanced at Mira and smiled at her. "Ready to push play?"

I hummed quietly to myself as I listened to the harsh rain on the roof. It was calming when you were jumping at the thunder. I looked up from my thoughts as she asked if I was ready. I giggled again, unable to ignore the fact that I had just sat down and didn’t even push play.

“Sure” I reached across the end table and grabbed the remote. I pushed the small button on the remote before settling back down in my cozy little cocoon. The movie wasn’t as long as some of the others that we had watched before. I rolled my eyes, remembering the night we had decided to watch Schindler’s list and ended up having to pause it for intermission breaks. This wouldn’t be as bad as that. It was a simple movie we had watched probably a hundred times together, but that was just like most of the other movies that we had.

“It’s been a long week huh?” I let out a sigh, pressing my chin into the pillow and smiling at the television.

She pushed play and ended curling up again. The movie ended. i dont think it could ever possibly bore me, considering the amount of times we've seen it. Once movie ended she spoke to me, I glanced at her before I replied. "Yeah it has. Work has sure kept me busy as hell.Im sorry, I know I've been coming home late and finding you asleep already."

I smile to her quietly, shaking my head. There was really no reason for apologies. We had these discussions before. I took in a deep breath before unfolding my legs.

“There’s no reason to-“ I stop as I hear the sounds of a quiet rapping on the door. “Apologize” I speak, listening to another crack of thunder. I pulled myself to my feet before turning and walking around the couch. “I’ll be right back… I think I heard someone at the door” There were two more quiet knocks at the door before I made it to the entrance way. I picked myself up onto my toes to look through the tall peep hole. I saw no one at first, until I looked a little farther down. I gasped quietly, dropping down onto my feet to pull at the door. Outside was a small child.
“Mo…There’s a little girl out here” I call out behind me as I meet the sight of a small girl, soaked and shaking. Her eyes are wide as she looks up at me, confused. It’s almost as if she doesn’t know why she’s here. I kneel down, looking at her as she shakes quietly.
“Mommy told me to give this to you” She holds out a wet hand, gripping paper.

I smiled back at her. I always felt i owed her the apology even if she said it was okay. She soon stood up and headed towards the door. I soon followed behind her. Once she opened tbe door, a little girl..."Bring her in...I'll go for some towels" I turned and heade to get a towel. Why in the world is there a child here. I held out the towel to Mira.

I ignore the paper that the little girl has in her hand. Right now, I don’t care about that. The girl is quite strong. She’s somehow able to keep from crying although she is soaking wet and confused. Mo rushes off to get a towel and I smile, trying to put on the front for the girl. I walk quietly up to her, picking up her small body in my arms and walking her inside.

“It’s okay sweetie, we’ll talk about that in a minute. Are you okay? You must be cold” It wasn’t long before Monica returned with a towel and I smiled in thanks. I took the towel and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Mommy said don’t say anything until you take this” She holds out the papers and I sigh, turning and walking her into the kitchen, it was always warmer in there. I take the papers out of her hands, placing them on the counter. “Will you look and see what that is?” I sat the girl down on the floor, reaching up to pull off the jacket she had on over her clothes. She is quiet, but helps me take her coat off. I place her coat on the counter.


“We need to get you out of these wet clothes” I smile again, reaching down to take off the two, small rain boots off of her feet. She helps once again, giving me the first small smile as I slide her wet socks off.

I took the note and stashed the note in my pocket, and headed to the room and got a tshirt and some shorts. "Umm..I dont know if this will do for now..." I handed Mira the clean clothing, headed ti the coach to check the note. It didnt really say much or at least anything that would mean anything for me that is. I watched Mira with the child.

She was quiet, and I was sure that was because she was afraid and confused. I didn’t know what to do or say. This small girl had ended somehow on our doorstep. I knew that there was something to do, but I didn’t know what. Once she got her shoes off, she watched me with wide eyes.

“Mommy says that you are a nice lady…That you’ll help her…” Her voice is soft and innocent. I smile quietly, watching me as I take the towel from the ground where I had placed it.

“We need to get you out of these clothes before you get sick” I smiled to her, glancing over at Monica a moment. She had brought clothing. They would be large on the small girl, but they would have to work. “Now…I’m going to take you to the bathroom so that you can change and dry off. If you need help trying the strings on the shorts, I’ll be nearby, just call for me” I smile and she nods. I rise to my feet and she holds her arms up, getting ready for me to pick her up. She was very able to walk on her own, she was definitely old enough, but I would humor her and carry the girl; it seemed that she had been through enough already.

I picked her up, walking her silently down the hallway, clothes in hand. Once I made it to the door, I set her down, pushing the door open and flicking the light switch on. There was a small pause and she looked at the large room, then, another moment passed and she turned towards me.

“What’s your name?” I question her. She smiles again, she is much happier, but I’m not sure why.

“Alexandria” She turns around, and without another word, closes the door. Now, I am watching a white door. I straighten up from where I have bent over slightly. I turn around, rushing back towards the kitchen where I left Monica. I am damp from holding the wet girl, but I ignore that. I stop in the doorway, watching her figure a moment.

“What was that? What was the note about? Let me see it” I don’t know what to do from this point on. I don’t see the envelope anymore, and I wonder where it has gone. I tilt my head, resting it on the doorway, my eyes tracing the ink in the skin of the outstretched arm.

"Tomorrow morning I'm calling child services..." I hand her the note. "I tried reading it but i didnt understand anything of it." I explained as I opened the fridge to serve a glass of water. "I dont know if the girl might be thirsty...." I handed the glass to Mira.

At first I wasn’t sure why she didn’t understand the letter, but when I opened it, I understood. The water had made the ink bleed in the paper, making the letter hard to read. I carefully unfolded the paper and let my eyes scroll across the paper.
“Mira and Monica
I can’t take care of my daughter; she’s become quite a hassle in my current situation. You two were the first ones I thought to take care of my Alexandria while I go and take care of myself. You’ll do fine, don’t worry. She trusts you and I trust you. I’ve signed the guardian sheet to hand over custody. I am sorry I couldn’t stay. I wish I could have explained all of this myself, but I couldn’t.
I owe you, Annie”

“Annie….” I mutter the word a moment before looking up. She was one of my friends, from work. She was always away. The only times I saw her was when I stayed late or very early in the morning to finish up an article for that morning’s paper.
“Do you remember that one house party we had…? Where I made little rainbow cupcakes and we grilled and had s’mores and I got kinda…” I giggled quietly, rolling my eyes. “You had to carry me to my bedroom because I passed out?” I refolded the letter, unfolding the second piece of paper to look over the whole thing. “Well Annie, was the girl in the Fiat that pretty much no one but the people from my work knew. She brought the extra plates…?”
I look up from the paper as I hear the sound of a door opening down the hallway. I turn slightly before looking back to Monica. I frown, the girl was coming.
“You can’t call child services. You know what they do to kids in orphanages?”

"but why ..." i stopped myself as i noticed the girl coming our way. I wasnt good with kids, I didnt like them, I wasnt callin child services for the heck of it..I just didnt know what else to do. I took thw paper again and re read the note, trying to remember Annie. She was nice to me, and did asked about what was between me and Mira. I juat watched her and the child coming this way. "I guess we will talk about this later."

I was about to respond. I was about to let her know just how I felt about orphanages. Of course I had never been in one, but the idea made my skin crawl. I had always heard that those orphanages were a place of pain and worry. I didn’t like the idea, but before I could say anything, the quiet sounds of feet were behind me. I stopped myself, giving Monica a smile before taking the water glass and turning around. When I see the sight of her I can’t help, but laugh. They were very large on her, and she was holding the two strings of the shorts with her hands.

“Can you tie them?” She questions me, taking a few more steps toward me. I giggle, kneeling onto the floor. I set the glass down before taking the two strings.
“Of course I can” I smile to her, quietly tying the stings together to keep the shorts in place. She watches me quietly as I do so, eyes wide. She then looks around me, to what I can only assume to be looking at Monica. I can only image what’s going through her head. She was very clear on the idea of kids. I could admit from experience she wasn’t good with them either.
“What’s your name?” Her voice is soft, but carries easily behind me. I finish tying the shorts and grab the glass, holding it out for her to take in her hand. She only glances at me for a moment before taking the glass and slowly swallowing some of the clear liquid, eyes back on Monica as she drinks.

I just watched at Mira tend to the child. Yeah she was sweet and warm towards her. Then the child was looking at me and i was avoiding eye contact, then it hit me she was asking me a question. "My name? oh uh, Its Monica." I replied. "What about yours?" I had only asked out of politeness.

"Alexandria" She pulls the glass away long enough to respond before finishing off the glass. She looks to me and I reach for the glass, pulling it away from her hand. I stand, turning and walking the cup toward the sink.

"Alexandria, are you sleepy? We have a bedroom upstairs for you if you'd like" I take in a deep breath, turning around and leaning against the sink. It was late, probably around ten o'clock. We needed to talk about this without the girl. We needed to figure this out. Almost on cue she yawns and I smile, taking a few steps forward. She shakes her head a moment. "Monica, why don't you take me? You're quiet. You don't look at me..." she trails off a moment and I stop, not sure what to do from here.

I was relieved when Mira asked if Alexandria was sleepy, but to my surprise the little girl spoke to me again. "what?! Uh...me?" I replied slowly. Why would she want me when I've least wanted to acknowledge her presence. "Mira will take you, after all she was offering, I just forgot I had some emails you check..."

I let out a quiet sigh. It didn’t surprise me that she wanted as little to do with the girl as possible. It would be hard to convince her that the girl should stay. I looked to Alexandria, who watched us in silence for a moment. You could see the disappointment on her face.

“Monica has work to do Alexandria, I will take you upstairs. I think you’ll like the room” She doesn’t say anything just raises her hand up for me to take. I smile quietly, taking her small hand in mine and walking her out of the room. I give a harsh glance back before we escape into the hallway.

“Your room is just down the hallway and if you need anything, I am a few rooms down.” I smile, starting slowly up the stairs. We fall into silence for a moment and I look back to see her watching the stairs, taking care not to fall and hurt herself. It it only when we make it all the way up the stairs that she looks up to me and smiles.

“Your house is pretty Miss Mira” She giggles, following me down the hallways a little further until I stop and push open a door. She peeks into the darkness a moment before I lean in, turning on the light on the bedside table.

“Thank you. It’s not much, but it’s home.” She lets go of my hand now, walking inside the room and looking around. “Now, do I need to go take a light out of the closet? Are you afraid of the dark” She has walked over to the bed, pulling at the covers lightly before shaking her head and grinning at me.

“There are no monsters coming for me. I don’t need to be afraid” Her words fall a little strange, but I only smile, watching her as she climbs into bed. Another moment later I am by the bedside, tucking the covers underneath her. She seems comfortable, and nothing can shake her smile for long.

“Alright, well the door down the hallway a bit is the bathroom, and my room is just on the other side of that.” I pause a moment, watching her. She is sweet and seems to not care that she has been left on a stranger’s doorstep. I can tell her hair is still damp from the storm that still rumbles outside. “We will go tomorrow and get you some clothes that fit, alright?”

“Alright, goodnight Miss Mira” She hums quietly as I make my way to the doorway. She leans over, turning off the light and the room is once again dark. I leave the door cracked, hurriedly walking down the hallway towards the stairs. I take them two at a time, making my way back to the last place I saw Mo.

“Emails huh?” I question before I even make it do the doorway.

I watched them leave and I sighed in relief. I paced around a bit and waited for Mira, when she finally came around she questioned my excuse and I pretended to be going through my cellphone. "yeah...." I looked at her and smile sheeplessly as I set the phone back n my pocket. "it's late....let's go to bed?" I extended my hand out to her. "we'll talk about the girl tomorrow."

I watch her a moment. It was all unreal. How could she be so nonchalant about this? There was a young child in the guest bed upstairs and she was 'checking her email' and trying to get us to just go to bed and talk about it in the morning.

"No. We need to talk about this now. Tomorrow morning, I will have to cook breakfast for the child in the bed upstairs. I won't have time tomorrow to talk woth you about this." I walk across the room, sitting down at the bar. I cross my legs, turning towards her. "So why don't we talk about this now."

I sighed and looked at Mira. My fingers went through my hair as I walked up closer to her. "So I'm guessing you don't want me to call child services?" I frowned for a bit. "I don't know...personally...I don't want to deal with a kid..I'm not good with them."

I looked over to her a moment, shaking my head. I felt like it didn’t matter if you were good with children, child services was no way to treat a child nor our friend. I sighed quietly, looking towards the doorway. There was likely a pile of wet clothes in the floor of our bathroom that I needed to go get and dry before they mildewed.
“I will be taking Alexandria to the mall tomorrow to find some clothing. Since you don’t like children, I’ll buy. If you want to come along you can, but I refuse to let you call child services on that little girl. We need to find out what’s going on. We need to find out what’s wrong. We have custody so we don’t even have to call the police.” I sighed quietly, starting towards the door. There wasn’t much to talk about. I would get what I wanted, especially if it pertained to this little girl.

“I need to go get her clothes out of the bathroom to wash. Do you have anything dirty that needs cleaning that you trust me with?” I can’t help the small smile remembering the few items of clothing that were ruined in the washing machine in my ignorance.

I couldn't stop myself letting out a soft chuckle with her comment in regards to washing clothing. "I'm good, I did laundry the other day when I had off." Then I gave her that look, one she knew she had won over an argument. It was a crooked smirk and my eyebrows slightly raised. "Okay no chil services. I guess we will need to figure things out from here. Now hurry up with the clothing and come to bed." I told her as I turned to walk to the room. I wasn't sure how this was going to work considering the fact I wasn't a kid person but for Mira I'd give it a try, plus she did have. Point so it would be useless debating it anyway.

I didn’t need her to give me any looks telling me that I had won like she had. I knew long before that I could sway her into doing many of the things that I wanted. I was used to getting my way, yes, but I was also used to fighting for it.
I walked through the doorway once more, rushing to the bathroom. I could still hear the television on in the other room. I frowned slightly, unsure as to why the thing was still on. I was sure we had turned it off before. I shook my head, walking past the half-bath and into the living room. I reached or the remote from the back of the couch, turning off the television. A yawn escapes my lips and I am sure that bed is the next best thing for me right now. I decide that for now, I will only dry the clothes that are soaking wet in a heap on our bathroom floor. Alexandria will surely need them for the next morning when we go find her clothes at the store.

I push open the door to the bathroom, scooping up the dark heap on the floor. Without looking up, I just turn, making my way back through the kitchen and into the back room. Moments later the clothes are in the dryer and the humming of the machine working fills the room.

“I need to take my hair down and it looks like you need to change into something more comfortable.” I giggle as I walk back through the room, giving her a large smile. I don’t stop walking however, for my next destination is my bedroom so I can take my hair down in the bathroom.

I watched herding her thing, then she came back and basically reminded me I should go change. I let out a slight chuckle and headed to the bedroom. I went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tshirt. I slowly stripped down and dressed up and took the dirty clothing into the hamper. Soon enough I was in bed, just waiting for Mira to come join.

As I laid there I found myself just looking at the ceiling. Thinking about the days events, work, friends, famil, just about everything. Then the child. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. I mean how hard can it get? I thought to myself. Plus this would make Mira happy and I want that more than anything. I yawned and stretched before I pulled the covers close to me and waited.