A/N Gah thanks so much for all of the reviews it makes me soo happy! Also I'm baking a sweet potato and it smells like chocolate chip cookies and it smells amazing in here I'm so hungry.

Kendall was left inside of the small, cramped room Samuel shoved him in for hours. It was cold and darker than anything he'd ever experienced before, and truth be told, he was a little bit scared. Surely they couldn't leave him in there forever, right? That would be child abuse, child endangerment. Orphanages weren't allowed to do these kinds of things, Kendall thought.

But several hours slowly ticked by, and Kendall was still locked in the tiny "discipline" room. Wasn't discipline classified as a spanking, or getting dinner taken away for the night? What kind of cruel punishment was locking up a child in a freezing cellar of a room, all by himself, in pitch darkness?

Kendall had given up on screaming for help and pounding on the door long ago. Figuring salvation would never come, Kendall curled up in a ball on the floor. A few tears squeezed past his shut eyes as he longed to be home again with his mother and sister.

"I heard we got a new kid today!" James whispered as he and Carlos made their beds. It was late evening, and bedtime was coming up shortly. As usual, the two teenagers were hyper rather than sleepy. While half of the room was already in bed asleep, they were gossiping about all of the rumors going around the orphanage, as they did every night. It had been 5 years since the duo first met and now, they were closer than best friends, they were pretty much brothers.

James had grown considerably. He was the biggest kid in his grade, and extremely buff for his age, standing at almost 5 feet, 10 inches tall. His hair had grown longer and his features stronger, but he still kept a hint of the baby face he had as a little boy. Unlike most boys at the orphanage, he was good looking, and even though he was teased sometimes for being a pretty boy, the kids' taunts never got too far, being as he was much bigger than the rest of them.

Carlos however was still itty bitty, with a child-like face and soft tufts of spiky black hair. He was the smallest boy in their grade. Since they had turned 14, they were moved up to the floor for 14-18 year olds, and the other teenagers towered over him in size. If Carlos didn't have James, the little boy would have probably been beat up every day, but nobody messed with Carlos with James' protective presence constantly around.

"Really? I haven't seen anybody new," Carlos said. It had been months since any new orphans came to stay.

"That's 'cause supposedly he got locked in the Tall Man's discipline room," James explained in a hushed voice. "The lower grades say they heard some screams coming from down below!"

"Nuh-uh!" Carlos gasped with disbelief. The naughty room was the Tall Man's favorite punishment besides whipping! He only used it when a kid was being extra bad. He never heard of an orphan being sent their on their very first day.

"I'm telling the whole truth, Carlitos. I went down there myself and sure 'nuff, I heard screaming!"

"Gee, he must be a really bad boy to get sent there on his first day here. I wonder if he's really tough? Or a serial killer?"

James rolled his eyes. "I doubt they'd send a serial killer here Carlos, instead of jail."

"But what if he killed his parents James? So he was sent here, because he's an orphan now? This place is worse than jail when you think about it James."

James was about to argue with Carlos that his idea was far-fetched when the door to their sleeping corridors swung open. Their upper-grade floor monitor, Mr. Hurtz, an old German man who had zero tolerance for children (why he worked at a home for children, James would never figure out. He just assumed the Tall Man liked to hire the meanest, nastiest folks around to take care of his orphan-prisoners) led in a tall, lanky boy with blonde hair. Without a word, Mr. Hurtz pushed the boy onto an empty bed and threw his bag down next to him, then left the room.

James and Carlos exchanged glances as they watched the boy look around with gloomy eyes. He appeared to be lost and even a little afraid, but when he saw Carlos and James, his mouth formed a thin line and he scowled at them before lying down, turning on his side so that his back faced them.

"He doesn't look like a serial killer, Carlos. He looks… Scared," James said.

"I want to talk to him," Carlos said, already walking towards the mysterious new kid. James followed behind him, a bit apprehensive. Sometimes, well, most of the times, the kids who came to live here were not very friendly and had a tendency to be violent.

"Hello?" Carlos said, walking around the bed to face the blonde boy. As soon as he caught a closer look of his face in the light, a feeling of pity mixed with concern filled his gut. The teenager was pale, and though it was obvious he was older than James and Carlos, he looked like a little boy just by how terrorized he seemed. His entire thin body was shaking and his lips were tinged blue.

"God, what have they done to you?" Carlos whispered to himself.

"Carlos…" James warned. His little friend leant forward to wrap the boy's shivering frame in a thin blanket, then ran over to his bed to get his own blanket and wrapped him in that one as well.

"You'll be okay," Carlos said gently. Kendall looked up at him with grateful, but humiliated green eyes.

"We don't know who he is," James whispered in Carlos' ear.

"So? He's really hurt. He's barely even responsive. Something's wrong. I think he's nearly frozen to death!" Carlos replied.

"Let's just leave him alone for a bit, let him get some rest," James said as the boy's eyes slipped closed, exhausted from whatever he had gone through.

"Give him your blanket," Carlos said.

"What? Carlos, I-"

"James, please. I won't be able to sleep knowing he might not be okay." Carlos pushed out his lower lip and looked at James with his puppy dog brown eyes. James scowled and took his blanket off the bed, sacrificing his warmth for some kid he didn't even know at all.

"For a serial killer, you sure do want to help him," James muttered as he placed his blanket over the now sleeping boy's body.

"He's one of us now, James. He needs all the help he can get," Carlos said sadly. "I don't think he's evil, anyway. He looked in my eyes and what I saw, wasn't evil. He's an innocent, like me and you."

James gave Carlos a small smile. His best friend was pretty amazing. "Let's go to sleep now, buddy. It's late. Look, he's regaining color and his lips aren't blue anymore. He'll be alright, Carlos."

Carlos nodded, a little reluctant to leave the new kid's side, and lied down in his own bed, curious to find out who this boy really was first thing in the morning.

A/N Thanks so much for reading! Now, I got a sweet potato to smother in brown sugar and eat! Ps, reviews are as amazing as sweet potatoes! I know you're busy but if you liked this, let me know and I'll… share my cookies and sweet potato! Xoxoxo!