Everyone Thinks That I_m Adopted

Last week, a cashier at a supermarket asked my mom, is she yours? Correct, my mom said, in the kind of tone people use when they're answering questions in court.

The cashier apologized.

I pretended I didn't hear it.

I always pretend not to hear things.

That's my real talent, aside from music.

But I'll get to the music later, because that's the thing that ruined everything in the best possible way.

Hi, my name is Sunny.

Not because I have a sunny personality.

Although, okay, I kind of do.

It's because my grandfather told my mom in the maternity ward that I was like a ray of sunshine in a dark room.

Mom says it was just something he said, but I think he got it exactly right.

He passed away three years ago.

Now, it's just my parents and me.

They were my complete opposite.

Sometimes, I felt like a neon brushstroke in a black and white painting.

My mother was a lawyer and my father ran his own business.

Their lives followed a strict schedule with every day planned down to the minute.

In our house, I always felt like the only splash of color.

Mom had designed every inch of the interior and not a single detail was out of place.

Every morning Debussy played from the speaker.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against classical music, but when you hear the same thing over and over and over again, it starts to quietly drive you insane.

You know what happens if I try to change the music?

Not now.

My parents never yelled at me.

Sometimes it felt like they just weren't capable of emotion.