Hello All, I have started a new story that I hope you will enjoy. I don't have a beta, and literally started this story last night. It won't leave me alone. I have a plan for the first several chapters. I'm new to this fandom so feel free to give me advice or let me know that I missed something critical. This chapter is meeting my OC. I envision her as Sophia Bush. Slightly Brookish from One Tree Hill but barely. Please enjoy!

We all know that saying, "When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well screw that because life has always given me a fuck-ton of lemons without any sugar. Just when I think I finally have a hold of my life, just when I'm getting out from under my scummy father's grip, he goes and fucks it all up. It's not my fault he was in the pocket of local mob. And it's definitely not my fault that the feds decided to use him as a decoy. Sure, not many people know about me, that's what happens when your father only rolls you out for Christmas and any important public events where it would be questioned where his daughter was, but the feds dropped the ball by not doing just a little bit of homework. Now here I am leaving school so that I can hide from the mob. Where's the paternal unit, oh he skipped town as soon as it got out that he had 'talked' to the feds. He's probably somewhere in Europe, safely hiding from all this bullshit.

Why don't we give a little backstory while I head to my new jail? I'm sure my father wasn't always the king ass that he portrays himself to be now. My mother might have been the love of his life. I only think this way because I know he was married to her for at least 5 years. I don't remember her, I was 4 when she died. He never talks about her, and as far as I know, I have no other family. I asked about her when I was younger but he would always ignore me. I've had a handful of step-mothers and seen dozens more women who weren't up to marriage standards, but I only ever called any of them by their first names. It's not like we ever had any bonding moments. I was sent away to boarding school as soon as I was old enough to go. I thrived in school, not that my father ever cared. I learned a very long time ago, to never count on him for anything except for money. I could use as much as I wanted, he probably didn't even notice. Guess who was surprised when I graduated early, at the age of 14. I had already applied and been accepted to MIT in their Chemical Engineering track. It was a normal Tuesday morning when the feds showed up at my apartment. I had an hour to gather everything I wanted to take with me, no there is no way we can tell you how long you will be gone, yes, we will handle putting all of your other belonging into storage, or ship it to you safely when we have the opportunity to.

They didn't even tell me where we were going. Oh, I got the run down, I'm still shocked over the feds fuck-up. They told me that I would have to be a 'normal' 16-year-old, and go back to high school. Didn't they realize that I've never been in a 'normal' high school at all. I was going to be bored out of my mind. I've read horror stories about foster families. I really hope these people know where they are putting me, but I don't have a lot of hope going by their track record. After 18 hours in the back of a car I finally see a familiar skyline. Of course, they couldn't leave me in Cambridge or take me back to New York, I'm starting to wonder if I should have picked a university overseas. There ahead of me is Chicago, I have been here a time or two but never for long. I couldn't think of a single person I knew who lived here. At least they've put me in a city where I could be hidden. When we leave the interstate, and turn into a poorer part of the city I start to realize that they might not have been as thoughtful as they should have been. Luckily, my closet has a lot of basic clothing items, but it's the brands that will give me away. They want me hidden, yet I still have clothes that cost more than some of these houses. What are they thinking? Damn, looks like most of what I left behind will have to go to storage.

I decide to finally speak up, "Hey guys, there's a slight problem if you're planning on dropping me off in the slums of Chicago."

You would think they had forgotten that I was even in the back seat of the car, with how high they both jumped, and did I just detect the car swerving just a tad. I've named the duo Fred and Barney, after the Flintstones. Both of these jerk-offs have rocks for brains. It also didn't help that they look like the cartoon duo but in suits. Barney turns around, "What's the problem Ms. Hendrix?"

Before I could get the obvious out of the way Fred piped in, "Jones, she isn't a Hendrix any more. She never was. Ms. Bryan probably doesn't know how to slum it. Never had to work a day in her life."

I can feel my blood pressure rising. I can't let the asshole get to me. It would also be really unwise for me to bash his face into the steering wheel, considering he's driving. I'm sure the agency wouldn't mind losing such a crappy agent. Poor little rich girl my ass. I never asked to have a wealthy father. Do I use the money? Yes, because the faster I can get my Ph.D. the faster I can get away from him. I count to ten three times. "Just because you guys messed up doesn't mean you can take out your embarrassment of incompetency out on me. Did you even read my dossier? Know anything about me? Why yes, I've never done anything, and yet I'm in MIT. I guess I just used Daddy's money to buy my way in at the age of 14. Also, if you had read about me you would have seen that I haven't legally been a Hendrix since I was 12 and became a Grant. But I digress, the problem is I'm pretty sure whomever you are about to drop me off with don't shop at Macy's or Nordstrom's. I bet they don't have Burberry or Prada in their house. Sorry to burst your bubble, but with less than an hour to pack up enough clothes for who knows how long, I didn't have a chance to go to the local mall to get clothes from The Gap or Wal-Mart. But I guess this isn't my problem. Maybe these people won't know brands and I can just lie, but that's your call."

I sit back and let them digest what I just said. Maybe they won't care but I bet we will be making a pit stop at a local store. I let Fred and Barney decide what the plan is. I could really care less. I would rather not bounce around the nation for who knows how long.

Shopping is so much fun when I am annoying Fred and Barney. I stroll through the stores, browsing through clothes that I would never wear, but they didn't need to know that. Finally, I'm ready to put them out of their misery. I walk into The Gap, it won't compare to my current wardrobe but the clothes are comfortable and definitely my style. Hopefully these clothes will allow me to fit in well enough that no one will notice when I wear my clothes from home. After spending several hundred dollars I finally decide that it's time to leave. I should have enough to get me through the winter here, probably the spring as well. If I'm still here during the summer I'll have to get more clothes but we'll cross that bridge in a couple of months.

We head back to the car where I quickly get rid of all the evidence that these are brand new clothes. I stuff the new items in with old, hopefully obscuring the name brands. We head on towards my new home. We aren't anywhere close to the side of Chicago that I'm used to. I'm way out of my element here. I have a feeling that I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble around here.

We pull up outside a red house. It's definitely not the worst around here, the house looks sweet. I notice a teen around my age a couple of houses down smoking a cigarette. He's watching the car intently. He obviously knows who lives in this house and knows of them getting a foster kid today. Well I'm not the original choice. I wonder what will happen to the other kid, the one they were supposed to get. Oh well, looks like that's another life the feds didn't take into consideration. I roll my eyes again. I can't stand incompetence.

Before we leave the car, Barney turns around, "Ok Alice. We know that this isn't where you wanted to be, but this is the best we can do for you. No one will find you here. I don't need to tell you how important it is that you don't let anyone know this is where you are. You cannot blow your cover. We know this is a setting you are not used to but give it a shot. You never know what you'll find here."

Wow I actually got a pep talk. I see Fred in the driver's seat roll his eyes. I'm with you there Fred. I'm not going to fuck this up. I'm betting the next stop would be somewhere with a swamp, no thank you. I just have to put on my happy face and not fuck everything up. There I gave myself a pep talk and it wasn't fake at all. Fred and Barney exit the car and Barney opens up my door. I take a deep breath before exiting the car myself. I guess it's time to learn about my new life.