Sam (age 16, August, San Diego)

I laid in on my bed waiting for dinner and traced the scar on my arm with my finger. It had happened on a night I remember well, a night that still haunts me five years later. It was in the foster home I was in before I came here to my forever family. The first person I met from this family was my aunt Callie. She and my uncle Cole ran a home for LGBTQ youth and that was where they placed me after the night my world crumbled at my feet. But I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I?

Five years ago…

I was lying in my bed with my eyes closed but I heard him come in. I knew it was him by the way the floor boards creaked under his feet. It was a sound I knew well. He came in every night after everyone went to bed to see my sister Sara. She was seventeen and would be eighteen in a few weeks. Matt was another foster kid in the same house as us, who would also be eighteen soon. He was a good guy and was always nice to me. They had a plan to get me out of here. Once they both aged out of the system, they were going to get married and petition the court for custody of me. Taking on an eleven-year-old kid at eighteen was a big responsibility but Sara had promised me the night our parents died she'd never leave me. So far she had kept that promise. We had been in three foster homes in two years and I seemed to always be the one who ruined things when they found out about me or couldn't handle me.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up the next morning to my foster mom screaming. She was screaming at one of the other kids in our house. I pulled the covers over my head and tried not listen. I was just happy she wasn't screaming at me. She often screamed at us for some reason. This was by far the worst foster home we had been in. I hated it here and couldn't wait to leave when my sister did. I had actually thought about running away several times but I couldn't leave Sara like that. She would worry about me.

A few minutes later the door swung open and our foster mom came in. She never knocked. She said this was her house and she had the right to enter any room in it at any time without knocking, including the bathroom. We were never allowed to lock any doors. We had zero privacy in this house and privacy was something someone like me needed very badly.

I peeked out from under my covers and saw her pull Sara out of bed by her hair. Then I noticed Matt was still in Sara's bed. He always snuck back to his room before I woke up. This wasn't going to go well. I just stared at them as Matt got up out of the bed in nothing but his underwear.

"You little slut. I knew something was going on between you two but I could never prove it. Well now I caught you red handed," she screamed.

Sara stood there defiantly. I had never seen this side of her. She was the kind of person who always did what she was told. Matt was the first defiant thing she had ever done. She had told me sometimes love was worth fighting for and she was in love with Matt.

"Funny how can I be a slut when I'm still a virgin?" Sara said back.

"And a liar too," our foster mom said.

I thought Sara was lying about that too. I was sure she and Matt were having sex when I was asleep. I wasn't stupid. Now I was confused though. I thought when you loved someone you had sex with them. So if Sara and Matt were so in love why weren't they having sex?

"She's not a liar," Matt said coming to Sara's defense.

Sara just stood there staring at her. That was when she hit her. Just smacked Sara across the face. Sara shoved her and she stumbled backwards. She lunged at Sara after she caught her footing. She was stronger than Sara and I jumped in to defend my sister. Our foster mom swung at me and I fell back into the full length mirror on the bathroom door. The glass shattered and I look down at my arm as I sat there on the floor and blood gushed from a cut on it. I started to feel woozy and the room started to spin. Before I passed out I heard Matt tell me it was all going to be okay.

But it wasn't okay. I woke up two days later in the hospital. My sister was gone and no one would tell me where she was or what had happened to her and Matt. They kept asking me questions that I didn't know the answers too. Did I know what happened? Did I have an idea where Sara would go? Could I remember anything about what happened? I never answered. I just stopped speaking to anyone.

"Sam time for dinner," I heard pop say from the door way.

A/N: So Sam has a story to tell. He has had quite the traumatic experience. He has a lot of secrets. What happened to Sara and Matt? Do you know what Sam's secret is? Hope you enjoy Shattered!