Chapter 1: Where's My Mom?

Miley looked around at her surroundings. There was a dumpster nearby with vandalism written all over it. The wall next to it was no different, except there was no garbage hanging from it.

Miley looked out of the alleyway she was stuck in right now. It was bright out there and cars came and went. But the darkness of the alleyway described how she felt: hurt and abandoned.

Miley wasn't sure what had happened, but she remembered that she was just dumped here. Nothing made sense to her anymore. And she was only three. She sat down, back against the wall, and cried into her knees.

"Hey, what's this?" a voice said. Miley looked up to see a kid of about the age of thirteen.

"I don't know. I think she's a little girl," another voice said with a wicked accent.

"Wha…" Miley was pulled up off of the ground by her hand. She was now standing up, looking into the face of the first kid. She looked around and saw a group of kids, all the same age, giving her evil looks. She started to cry again.

"Awe, is the little girl upset?" the first boy said in a baby-mock voice. Miley looked up into his face again and the boy pushed her into another boy, who pushed her into another boy, and into another boy, and so on.

Finally, Miley fell to the ground. Her jeans had a rip in them right at the knee. The first boy walked up to her and kicked her in the stomach.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" a voice rang out.

"Martin, are you going to stand up for a three-year-old? What, is she you girlfriend?" voices of laughter rang through Miley's ears.

"Drew, gather up your boys and scatter! Unless you don't have a date on a Friday night." Another voice, much like the other voice, said.

Miley could hear the boys walking away, muttering curse words under their breaths. Miley grabbed her knee and started to cry all over again. Two boys who looked alike with blonde hair walked up to her.

"Cody, is she going to be alright?" one boy asked.

"I think so," the other one, Miley figured was Cody, said. Then, Cody turned to look her in the face. Miley looked back, tears streaming down her face. "Why are you here in the alleyway?"

"I…I don't know!" Miley sobbed. "I was…I was just left here! I don't know what's happening to me! I'm scared!"

Miley hugged Cody and Cody hugged back.

"Zack, what should we do?" Cody asked the first boy. "It seems like she was abandoned."

"I don't know," the boy that must be Zack, said. "Let's take her home."

Cody picked Miley up and Miley cried into his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," Cody said to Miley in a comforting tone. "Everything is going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

Miley woke up under some warm sheets. She sat up and looked around. She was in someone's bed. A bed, she knew, that was not her own. Things were different.

She got out of the bed and walked outside the room. There, two boys were sitting, arguing.

"Look, you're my little brother, do my homework!" one complained.

"I'm only younger than you by a couple of minutes, I'm not going to do your homework!" the other complained.

"Come on, I need the relaxation time!"

"You relax 27/7 and I always do your homework."

"Then let's not change the schedule. So, you start…"

The boy stopped talking and looked at Miley. The other one turned around and looked at Miley too. They both walked over to her.

"You're awake!" one of them said.

"No, Cody, she's asleep." The other one said.

"Where's my mom?" Miley asked quietly. The two looked at each other.

"We're not sure yet," the first one said. "But we will find out."

"And our mom will be here in a couple of minutes, everything will be worked out." The other one said.

"Do you want to watch some TV?" the first one offered.

"Who are you?" Miley asked, again quietly.

"I'm Zack, and that's Cody." The other one said.

"What shows do you like?" Cody asked.

"I've never watched TV," Miley said. "In my house, we didn't have one."

"Well, then, you'll love wrestling!" Zack said.

"Zack, she's three. That's a bit violent for her," Cody said.

Someone came through the doors. It was a woman, most likely Zack and Cody's mom. She walked over to Miley and Miley took a step back.

"Is this here?" the woman asked.

"Yep," Zack and Cody answered.

"What's her name?"

Zack and Cody looked at each other. "We don't know," Cody said.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Miley said.

"We're just trying to help, honey," the woman said. "Could you please tell us what your name is?"

"M-Miley." Miley said, trembling.

"Miley, could you please tell us what happened?" the woman asked again. Miley just shook her head.

"I just want to get back to my mom," Miley said.

"Could you answer a couple of questions for us, then?" the woman asked. She was kind, Miley observed, and pretty. She looked like she cared very much for Miley. Miley nodded.

"Do you have a dad?"

"No."

"Did your mom date?"

"Yes."

"Did you like the man she was dating?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"He didn't like me. When my mom wasn't around, he would call me savage and do something mean to me."

"Who was the last person you remember seeing?"

"My mommy's boyfriend."

"This isn't good," the woman said. "Zack, call the police."

A couple of hours later, policemen were asking Miley all sorts of questions. It was too much for Miley so she started crying. The woman she soon learned was Carey hugged her and told them to be quiet for a tiny bit.

After a while, Miley had calmed down and the policemen asked one last question.

"What is your last name?"

"Jones." Miley answered.

"Well, that's it. We should take you to Child Services now."

"No!" Miley said. She ran and hid behind Carey. She knew that Child Services most likely meant a group home, which was an orphanage. And after seeing the play of Annie when she was younger, she didn't want to live there.

"How about she stays here, with us, until you find something out?" Carey suggested.

"Okay, then you are her legal guardian for the next week," the policeman said. "Is that okay with you, Miley?"

Miley nodded her head. After the policemen had left, Zack and Cody turned to Miley, who had started crying again.

"I want my mommy!" she wailed. Carey wrapped her in her arms again.

"There's no need to worry, we'll know where your mom is soon. I promise."