My name is Elizabeth Smith, but everyone calls me Lizzy. I have lived in New York all my life. Unfortunately 10 of those years I have lived in an orphanage. My so called dad left when I was three and my mom died when I was five. This whole thing started on my fifteenth birthday. I was celebrating it with my two friends from the orphanage. Nothing big, but I did get a card from them. They were ten year old twins named Maggie and Ben. That's when the nuns came in and gave me the worst news of my life. They told me that I was being moved into a new orphanage in another state.

I was shocked. I didn't want to move. They said it would give me a new chance at finding a family, but I knew it was because it was over crowded. Not only did they tell me that in front of the twins, but they then told the, to leave my room. I then decided if they needed more room, I would. I pulled out my duffel bag and put everything I owned in the bag, which wasn't much. That included a set of warm clothes, my pajamas, some pictures, all my comics I have collected over the years, a teddy bear my dad gave me when I was born, and all my money (I earned that from a job I had at the local skate shop). I wrote a note to the nuns' and one to the twins'. I then put on my helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist guards before grabbing my skate board from the corner of my room and went to the window. Before leaving I made a mental check list. Bag, notes, skate stuff, all check. I feel for my mother's necklace around my neck before giving a final farewell. Leaping out the window and siding down the fire escape, I jump on my skateboard and head into the dark city night.