Nothing about this day was different from the one before, or the one before that. The skies were grey and the wind heavy, the food in the orphanage barely edible and the furnace broken.

Emily Prentiss was only ten years old. The brunette girl was left on the orphanage's doorstep right after she had learned to walk, her single father no longer willing to take care of her or her older brother. The orphanage's owner, Jessica Higgins, had taken them in and treated them just as she treated the other children in her care. Horribly. No child got a new dress or pair of pants until the end of the year; one item for each child. They were fed breakfast and dinner twelve hours apart, an apple for a snack during the afternoon if all of the chores had been done.

The ten year old girl had made no friends during her stay at the orphanage; all she had was her brother and the note her mother had written the children just before she had died. She stayed as quiet as needed, did everything she was told and tried her hardest to stay out of trouble to not have to get a talking to by Ms. Higgins.

Emily sat firmly on the orphanage's front stoop in her best dress, having only one tear near her shoulder, with a book in her lap. Reading was her favorite thing to do. She squinted as she tried to read the words on the page as her midnight hair blew before her eyes. "Anybody could have reached the..."

"Hilltop."

The brunette girl looked up from the book to see a robust little girl standing at her side. "Hi."

"Hi!" The hazel eyed girl smiled down to the ten year old, plopping down onto the steps just beside her. "I'm Penelope."

Emily gave a small nod of the head before turning back to the book in her lap.

Penelope frowned. "Now you tell me your name."

The brunette turned back to the strange girl at her side. "Why?"

"So we can be friends, silly."

Emily gave a small shrug, her small hands tightening around the book in her lap. "I don't have any friends."

Penelope pouted. "Why not?"

Emily bit her lip as she shrugged. "I don't know."

"You should! You're really pretty."

The ten year old felt herself smile at the blond. "Thank you!"

Ashton Prentiss opened up the orphanage's door and peeked out into the gloomy weather, his dark eyes immediately hitting his little sister that sat on the front stoop. "Emily get back in here! Its almost supper."

Emily turned her head. "I'm reading, Ash."

"You want Ms. Higgins to come looking for you?"

The brunette girl huffed before standing from her spot, dusting the dirt from her dress. "Ok I'm coming." She looked to her new friend with sad eyes and shrugged. "Bye Penelope."

Penelope stood from her seat. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"I think so."

The blond smiled wide. "Ok! I live on the next block. Bye Emily!"

Emily felt herself smile, waving to the girl who ran from the stoop. "Bye!"

"Emily Lucille Prentiss!"

The brunette girl refrained from rolling her eyes before turning around, looking up to the busty redheaded woman standing in the doorway in her nightgown and robe. "Hi Ms. Higgins."

The thirty year old growled, pulling the small child back inside the orphanage by the arm. "How many times do I have to tell you not to go out until your chores are finished?"

Emily bit her lip, letting the woman drag her into her office. "I wanted to finish my book."

Ms. Higgins rolled her eyes, throwing the ten year old up against the wall and giving her a firm slap to her butt.

The brunette girl's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Ow Ms Higgins! That hurt!"

Another smack.

Emily let out a cry, dropping her book as the redheaded woman pushed her out of the office and onto the steps of the foyer.

"Don't you forget again!"

Emily's lips quivered as familiar hands helped her up off the floor. She let her older brother press a kiss to the crown of her head and dust her off, her hands grasping his tight as they walked slowly into the mess hall to join the other children.