chapter three
it had been two years since we were taken out of that purgatory for orphans. my birthday was coming up, and coming up fast. my time with macie had come and gone. the years with her had been a blast, even though she was mute and blind. i had also gotten over mari and roxxanne. i hadnt known there could be two penguins in the world with hte name mari, ut i became fiends with two. the first mari had died of cholera, and the segundo of drowning after trying to swim from a sinking ship. roxxanne had gone MIA on a battlefield. and macie had been simply transferred away. i was best-friendless again. i still had kowalski, but i kinda liked him. it would be an error to be friends with the guy i liked. and hans, hans was suposed to be my brother, my older brother. one to protect me. yet, everyday he grew farther and farther from me. i was losing touch wih my last remaining family. and jhonson seemingly liked me, following me around like a puppy. manfridi, smart as he was, ignored my exspansive knowledge, and me in general. skipper commanded me at times, aknowledged me at others. he, por chance, seemed to be the most respectful of me, not oagling, ignoring, o hating me. and i could never tell what kowalski thought of me, though i longed to know.

i woke up to the cold air on my face. it was febuary 16. today's the day, i thought, excitedly. i got up and walked into the lab like it was no big deal. i rubbed the sleep from my eyes. i kept walking, not noticing the huge paper looing above me. not until i bumped straight into it. kowalski jumped out from behind. "hey amber, i know it your birthday and all,..." he trailed off, his arms poitning toward a giant birthday card. i gigled, 'you always know how t make thngs wierd, kowalski!" i exclaimed. he smiled, his arms outstreched. i ran over and huged him. he does like me, i thought, he does, he does, he does! i was shaping up to be a bueatiful 12th bithday. i opened the card and read, 'amber, your are the light of my life. tu are like a fire, glowing in my heart. happy birthday,love ya.' i closed my eyes and smiled. he had waited a heck of a lng time to tell me, but i was glas he did.

i walked into the main room of the hq, leaving kowalski to his inventing. manfridi and johnson stood before me. manfridi stared at the wall. his expression said, 'i feel lik a doofus.' i turned my gze to johnson, who was saring at me. he had a wide grin and i could swear i saw hearts in that boy's eyes. johnson held out a bouket of rosas to me. he had a paper in his hands. he bagan to read, "roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and i amor you!" he had the widest grin i ever saw. i looked at him through slited eyes. "johnson, do tu even know what the definition of original is?" i walked away, shaking my head.

hans walked in the front door. "NO!" he yelled. skipper walked in behing him. "but shes your sister. all of us got her a present. the least tu could do is tell her happy birthday!" skipper pleaded. "okay, tu mean like dis, 'happy birthday. now get out of my life!'" hans dicho sarcasticaly. skipper sighed. he walked in my directio until he noticed i was right there the whole time. "um... how much did tu hear?" he asked. "enough," i answered, "enough."
skipper motioned for me to follow him, and so i did. he led my to his room, where he and hans bunked. he opened a door at the back of the room, leading us to the backyard.
the backyard was basically our own little forest. but in the center of a clearing, there was a black tuck. memories of being taken from both my families fooded my mind. skipper led to to the back of he truck. he opened the door. what i saw was someone ive been wanting to se foever.
macie dropped onto the ground and felt her way around. skipper turned her in my direction and i pulled her into a hug. "macie!' i cried, "i thought youd never return!" macie noded, and i elive she was trying to say, "missed tu too, amber. been a long time." i let macie go and turned to skipper. "happy birthday, soldier." he smiled. i rn at him and pulled him into a hug. "THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU!!!! THANKS A MILLION!!!!" i cried. skipper pushed me away, "alright, lets not get overworked." he said.

as me and macie were getting reaquainted, hans came out the back door. he came over, waving a paper. "i got yu he biggest surprise, sis. guess what?" i glred t him hatefully, "what?" i asked sourly. "mcie isn your friend..." i was about to beat that kid up, "shes your sister. tu biological sister. just ceared it with kowalski." i shook my head and looked to macie. she nodded in agreement...