They had named her Jinx. What type of adoptive parents see some kind of weird sign from the universe to name her Jinx. Hilarious. Right? No. Who names their daughter Jinx? Her parents apparently. Sure, she didn't like her name, but Lacey and James were two of the weirdest and yet kindest people Jinx could have landed.
They treated her like she was theirs, called her their little miracle. They always took the day off on her birthday, also known as the day they found her in carbon box with a sticky note stuck to her forehead. At the rebellious stage of her life (13) she though of running away. The world outside was cruel to Jinx, fitting for her name. Pushed around, bullied, isolated, she hated it. Couldn't her parents see she was struggling? Couldn't they have warned her? Why won't they protect her from cruelness of the world.
They had her favorite that night ' After dinner' she repeated in head, like a mantra, or maybe she was trying to make sure she wouldn't psych out of her own decisions. And then she was pulled towards the living room, movie night, she had forgotten. Fridays were always movie night. So she sat their, tucked in the middle of both of them. Somewhere halfway through the movie her mother had fallen asleep. Her dad was the one who broke up the silence, "Do you want to hear something funny?" he asked her
βYou chose your own nameβ
βYour mom and i wanted to let you choose your own name but you grumbled in anger at all the name in the baby booksβ he sighs in fondness, all Jinx could do was stare at him in utter confusions. Could he not read the room? βYour mom and i sighed at the same time and we said βJinxβ and you laughed.β Jinx has never been more disappointed in both her parents and herself βSo we repeated it over and over again you looked so happy with the name Jinx, that when we named you that when we adopted you.β
Silence engulfed them both, aside from her momβs soft snores. Sighing in defeat Jinx threw her head back against the couch. βI was going to run awayβ Jinx grumbled out. And to her surprise her dad laughter βWe knew. Why do think your mom went out of her way to cook your dinner tonight?β He shrugged βWe also added alarms to your windowβ he added.
Jinx stared at the ceiling, warmth spreading through her chest. How could she leave this warmth? How could she leave the only people in this world that actually cared about her? She sat their, bring her legs close to her chest, faced buried in the knees. Sure the world had never been kind to Jinx, but these two airheads where her luck. So she'll stick around with her parents. Maybe her luck would turn around is she stuck around.
Her father got up, grabbing the bowl of left over popcorn. Lifting her head from her knees she called him out βOh, dad.β She got a soft hum in return βI won a trip to the Bahamas.β