Chapter 1

"We've had enough of this out of you, young lady. We won't stand for it anymore." Phillip, my foster dad tells me.

"Good!" I scream back at him. "I hate it here anyways." I say storming towards the door.

"If you walk out that door young lady, you better plan on never coming back." Maggie, Phillips wife tells me.

I let out a puff of air as I rip open the door and yell back to them, "I'm never coming back." I say then slam the door as I make my bratty like exit. I've never liked it there anyways, I tell myself as I storm off towards the neighborhood park. My foster parents and I have never gotten along, but then again I've never gotten along with any of my foster parents.

The Dennisons—Phillip and Margaret, try to be patient with me but I'm never anything but trouble. Aiden their oldest son and Jackson the youngest are really good brothers. They treat me like I'm their real sister. Not some foster kid that moved in four months ago, because she got kicked out of her last foster home. They're a great family, the only problem is—they're not my family.

My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was about seven. I don't really remember much about them, I just know that I loved them. I went and lived with my aunt and uncle for a while but my behavior made them decide I was too much for them to handle.

You know the usual when a kid has lost their parents: skipping school, smoking, drinking, and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Most of it didn't start until I turned ten, though. That's when I met my first foster family the Montenegro's. They were a nice family, I guess. They treated me okay for a while, until they had a little baby of their own, then they decided they couldn't care for two children. Then came the Harrison's, I didn't like living there from day one. They yelled me all the time and made me work like I was their slave instead of their daughter. There were four other families that tried to take me in but after only a week of 'trying,' I was right back in Mrs. Carroll's office—waiting for another family to come take me home.

When I reached the park I made my way over to the swings and sat on one. Letting the wind lightly push me back and fourth. It's pretty late out so there wasn't really anyone around. The street lights would be coming on soon, so most kids were already in the house—talking and laughing with their families—maybe watching TV or eating dinner together. You know, the stuff real families do.

After sitting on the swing for about two hours, just watching as the leaves blew by and the trees swayed with the wind I decided to go back to the Dennison's, plus it was getting pretty chilly out.

I knew that when I got back I would be in a lot trouble. I know they've already called Mrs. Carroll. She's probably at the house waiting for me.

As I made my way onto the street the Dennison house was on I could see Mrs. Carroll's car in the driveway. I made my way up the front steps into the house to find the Dennison's and Mrs. Carroll all sitting in the living room—waiting on me.

"I'll go pack." I say in a low voice and make my way up the steps to the room I had been occupying. I grab a bag from the closet and throw the few belongings I possess into it. I've learned that it makes no sense to have a lot of clothes and things when you're just gonna have to lug it all around, time and time again. After I finish packing my make my way down the steps where Mrs. Carroll is waiting for me at the bottom with a sad look on her face. She really wanted this family to work out for me. She's one of the few people in the system that actually gives a damn about what happens to me. She'd said she'd adopt me herself if she could. But with four kids of her own I wouldn't want to put that extra burden on her.

As I reach the bottom of the steps, I look to my left, one last look at my foster family who I'll probably never see again in my lifetime. Phillip has his arms wrapped tightly around Maggie, who's eyes are glued to the ground. Jackson and Aiden make their way over to me.

"I'm gonna miss you." Jackson says to me cutely. He's only seven, and I must admit I've grown really fond of this little boy. I sit my bag down on the floor next to me and pick him up.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Kiddo." I tell him, then sit him down and ruffle his brown hair. He slaps at my hand and smiles then makes his wake back into the living room with his parents. Aiden walks up to me and wordlessly hugs me. Him and I are the same age, 16—so we've pretty much always gotten along. He gives me a small smile as he pulls back then inconspicuously hands me a piece of paper that I quickly stuff into my pocket. He joins his family in the living room. I pick my bag up from the floor and mumble a quick goodbye to my former foster parents then make my way out of their front door with Mrs. Carroll following closely behind.

"What happened?" Mrs. Carroll asks as we both get into her car. "I thought the Dennison's were a great match for you?"

"I guess not." I say simply as we pull off.

She sighs and shakes her head before saying, "There's no way I can get you set up with another family so quickly, plus it's the weekend—the offices are closed tomorrow. We'll have to find you a temporary place until Monday at least." She tells me taking her phone out of her purse.

"Okay." I say then turn my attention out the window, watching as the houses pass by.

"Well can she stay at the Heart House, is there room there?" I hear Mrs Carroll asks whoever is on the phone, as I come out of my daze. "One bed." She says as I look at her. "Okay that's great, we'll be right over." She tells the mystery person then hangs up. She turns and looks at me, "You're gonna stay at The Heart Foster Home For Girls, until I can find you a more permanent solution, okay?" She asks, like I actually have a choice in the matter. I play along by nodding my head.

Twenty minutes later we pull in front of a massive two story building that looks about one hundred years old. I get out of the car, grabbing my bag from the back seat and make my way into the old looking building with Mrs. Carroll.

"There's only one bed available at the moment, it's in the west wing. You'll be sharing a room with four other girls." The older woman tells me. She's what you could call the headmaster of the Heart House. She runs the place. It's a total non-profit organization, so it isn't the Ritz Hotel or anything. Most of the furniture looks old and the paint is chipping on the wall. I look around the old office as she continues to explain the rules of The Heart House. "Are you ready to go see your room, dear?" She asks standing up from her chair. I nod and she gives me a small smile before making her way around the desk and towards the office door. "She'll be fine from here, Jackie." The older woman says to Mrs. Carroll.

Mrs. Carroll nods and smiles at Ms. Heevy before turning her attention to me. "Everything is gonna be fine. You can call me anytime, okay?" She assures me and I smile and engulf her in a hug. Mrs. Carroll really has been the greatest to me, and I truly thank her for that.

"Okay." I tell her as we pull back from the hug. She leaves as me and Ms. Heevy make our way up the steps to my room.

"So, this is where you'll be staying." She tells me as we enter a room. It's a pretty big room. It has two bunk beds, one single twin bed and five dressers. At least we all get our own dresser. "As I said you'll be staying with four other girls, they should be up shortly. The bathrooms are down the hall. There's a community shower with ten showers in it. They all have curtains to ensure privacy." She says then glances around the room. "Everyone is down at dinner right now. Have you eaten?" She asks as I make my way over to the single twin bed. It's the only area of the room that isn't covered in posters, clothes, and other personal items so I figured it's the unoccupied bed.

"Um no." I say tossing my bag on the bed.

"Well, you're more than welcome to join everyone else downstairs for dinner." She tells me with a smile.

"Okay, thank you. I think I'll just get settled in first." I tell her, returning the smile.

"Okay, no problem. Be sure not to take too long. Dinner is over in an hour." She tells me glancing down at her watch. I look over at a clock on one of the dressers—it reads 8:00pm.

"Okay. I won't." I tell her and she gives me another small smile before leaving and shutting the door behind her. I flop down on the bed, taking a good look around the room. Next to the single twin bed is a dresser to the left and next to that dresser is one set of the bunk beds and then another dresser which is closest to the door. On the other side of the room—across from the single twin bed is a small black couch and a TV, next to that is a dresser then the other set of bunk beds and another dresser. In the front of the room next to the door is a desk, which I'm guessing is for people to do their homework at. All in all it's not that bad.

Better than living on the street, I tell myself as I lay back onto the bed—I'm beat. I yawn and quickly drift off to sleep. I guess I won't be joining everyone for dinner.

I wake up to find a small, tanned, brunette girl standing over me.

"Hi." She says smiling, as my eyes flutter open.

"Um, hi." I reply, sitting up on the bed.

"You must be the new girl. I'm Kyla." She says extending out her hand.

"Hi, Kyla." I shake it.

"That's Madison." She says pointing to a petite brunette girl on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds on the other side of the room who has her headphones in her ear, bobbing her head to whatever is playing. "That's Stacy." She points to the strawberry blonde girl on the bed above Madison who is enthralled in some novel. "That's Rachael." She says pointing to a dark haired girl that has her eyes fixed on me, smiling. "And finally, that's my sister, Ashley." She says nodding her head to the girl on the top bunk. A brunette, who looks like she fell out of a magazine.

"I'm Spencer." I say and she nods.

"Nice to meet you, Spencer."

"Um, are you in this room too?" I ask, realizing that she just named off four people and this room is only supposed to have four other people in it—she makes five.

"Oh, no. I'm down the hall with the fourteen year old girls." She says sitting down on my bed. "I just like to hang out in here sometimes." I nod. "So, Spencer. How long have you been in the system?"

"Um, since I was seven." I reply, not really wanting to go too deep into that.

She nods and says, "My sister and I have been in the system since I was two and she was four. Our mom died of a drug overdose and we never knew our dad." She says nonchalantly like it was the most common thing in the world. "We've lived with like four different families." She starts again. "But no one really wants to take in two kids, nowadays." She looks up at her sister. "Ashley got an offer to be adopted about a year ago but she wouldn't go." She turns back to me. "She said she wasn't going anywhere without her little sister so Ms. Heevy made it so we could stay together." Kyla finishes with a head nod.

"Kyla stop boring the girl to death on her first night." The girl introduced as Rachael says. Kyla smiles and jumps up from my bed.

"It's getting late anyways I should probably get down to my room. It was nice to meet you, Spencer." She says looking back at me before jetting over and slapping Rachael on the arm and running out.

"Sorry about her. She can be a bit... much sometimes." Rachael says.

"It's no problem." I say then clear my throat. She nods then turns back to flipping through her magazine.

"It's supposed to be lights out at eleven." Rachael says. I glance at the clock that reads 11:15pm. "But it's not really enforced much on the weekend. And since it's summer Ms. Heevy doesn't mind much during the week either. When school starts back, though, it's lights out at nine."

"I don't think I'll be here that long." I tell her and she smiles and nods.

"I'm sure you won't." She says turning away from me, putting ear buds in her ear.

I won't be here that long. I mumble to myself as I start to unpack my things. Mrs. Carroll will find me somewhere, she always does.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the piece of paper that Aiden had handed me earlier—I'd forgotten it was there. I unfold it and read the words on the paper, causing my lips to turn up in a wide smile.

"Love letter?" Rachael asks, taking a bud from her ear.

"No, just something my old foster brother gave me." I tell her and she nods before putting the bud back in her ear and turning over. I glance down at the note once more, thinking out of all the people in the Dennison house, I would miss Aiden the most. I lay back down on the bed, taking a quick glance at all my roommates, who all were in their own little worlds, before letting myself drift back off to sleep.

'No matter where you are or how far you go, you will always be a sister to me. Even if you liked to deny it. I love you, Spencer. In the short months we spent together, I couldn't help but embrace you as my little sister. I'll always be there when you need me, just pick up a phone and call me.'

-Love your big bro, Aiden.