• “Hey!” I feel something warm nudging at my shoulder. “Hey! Cassy! Wake up already!” My eyes open and I focus the light into my vision. Jon is standing over me. Where am I? Oh, yeah! We went back to Jon’s house around ten last night. I forgot.

    “Sorry, I was really tired.” I look over at the clock to the left of me. It says it’s 12:32 in the afternoon! Holy cow! I didn’t mean to sleep so late! “Oh my god! I’m sorry I slept in so late! I’ll make up for it! I swear!”

    “Haha! It’s fine, Cassy. Most teenagers do that.” Jon chuckles, calmly. “Now, it’s Saturday but we have to go up to the school to get you registered. Then after that you, Blair, Dawn, and Andrew are going to the mall.”

    “Wait, I’M GOING TO SCHOOL?! Yes!” This is awesome! I actually get to go to school! That’s, like, the best thing… EVER!

    “Yeah. Did you think you wouldn’t be able to go to school? Everyone gets to!” Jon looks like he’s actually surprised.

    “No, N…” I don’t want to say her name, but I have to be brave. “Nancy said school was a horrible place, she said that the people there wouldn’t understand her reasons for hurting me.”

    “Well, now you get to go. C’mon get dressed, Cassy, I’ll be waiting in the car. Unless you want to eat something first.”

    “No, I’ll be fine.” This is just awesome! I just CANNOT believe I finally get to go to school! Not that this is a good example (since it never really applied to me) but do you remember when you were a kid, and you heard the ice-cream truck? Then your mom or dad would buy you an ice-cream? You remember that feeling? Well, that’s how I feel about school!

    “Uh, wait, Jon?” I just realized I have nothing decent to wear.

    “Yeah, what is it, hun?”

    “I don’t have any clean clothes.” Wow, I’m such a friggin’ burden on everybody. I should apologize. “Sorry.”

    “Oh, yeah that might be a good idea to get some clothes!” He laughs, but I don’t see how it’s funny. “I’ll see if Blair has anything that you could fit into.” Blair’s almost a foot taller than me, how is that going to work? Whatever, I’ll just take what I get. So now I just have to sit here and wait for Jon to come back. I just realized, I’m sitting on the top of a bunk bed. Who’s room is this? I’ll ask Jon when I get back. I start fiddling with the sheets, then I jump down from the top of the bunk. The alarm clock that earlier said 12:32 now says 12:41, but it seems like as soon as I look at it, it changes to 12:42. Haha, that’s coincidental. I play with the cord, and decide it’s best just to stop doing anything.

    “Here, these should be good.” Jon comes back in after a few minutes with a few shirts and two pairs of jeans. The legs on the jeans are really skinny. I guess that’s what people mean by skinny jeans. I laugh out loud, but realize it’s stupid. Jon asks what I’m laughing at, and I claim nothing.

    “Thanks, Jon. Should I change in here?” I take the clothes from him, see a bright green top that looks awesome, and immediately choose that one to wear.

    “Yeah, you can change in here.”

    “Oh, and also. I have a question. Who’s room is this?” He says it’s the guest room. Oh, well that’s cool. They have their own guest room. “Okay, just wondering.”

    “Well, I’ll be in the car.” Jon leaves and I close the door. I hope their okay with me closing a door without permission. I change the shirt quickly, but struggle a little when I get to the jeans. I chose the pair that was darker. Their was one with holes in the knees and it was kind of a light blue color. The other pair was - I believe - denim. Dark-blue denim. Wow, I look awesome in this outfit! I’ve never worn anything so… stunning!

    Once I’m done I walk out of the room and try to find my way out of the house. I flash back to a time when I was waiting for Nancy to come home from work. I had just snuck a slice of cold pizza from the refrigerator and ran back to my room, hoping Nancy wouldn’t notice. But when she got home she immediately went to the kitchen to look in the fridge, and once she noticed a slice of pizza was gone, she dashed back to my room. I remember the door slamming open. I was finishing up the last bit of pizza crust, and realized I was in deep s**t. I had stolen for the first time. I knew I was bad. Instead of punishing me, though, Nancy told me to eat the rest of the pizza. I didn’t know it then, but it was a trick. Later in the day I felt sicker than ever before. I had a horrible stomach ache and I had to use the bathroom non-stop. ‘Did Nancy put something in the pizza?’ I had wondered, but I realized it was because I hadn’t had that much food before, and I wasn’t used to it.

    I come back to the real world, and realize Dawn is standing next to me. She said something but I’m not sure what it was. “I’m sorry, what’d you say?” She looks surprised.

    “Haha! You were spacing! Haha! That’s so funny! What I said was ‘Daddy says he’s waiting for you in the car.’ Are you going with us to the mall?” She is so adorable! I just want to squeeze her!

    “Uh, yeah, I’m going with you guys. Why?”

    “No reason, just wondering. You hungry?” She holds out half a piece of toast with butter and grape jelly on it.

    “Yeah, thanks, Dawn.” She looks confused, as I take the toast from her, and take a bite.

    “How do you know my name already?” She backs up a little. “Are you going to live with us from now on?”

    “Oh, Andrew told me your name. And, yeah, I think I am going to be staying with you guys.”

    “Yes! I have an older sister now! This is awesome!!!” Dawn runs down the hallway and down a set of stairs, out a door, and starts dancing in the grass, I can see her through a big window in the living room. Well, Andrew did say she was hyper. I laugh, then follow her tracks. When I get outside Dawn comes up to me, grabs my hand, and pulls me towards the car. Andrew is sitting in the back seat, Jon is in the passengers seat, and Blair is in the drivers seat. Wow, a family trip. This is cool! Haha!

    I get in the car after Dawn and help her get into her booster seat. Andrew gets the other side of the buckle. I feel like I’m in a real family, and it’s awesome! But, what I don’t know, is that it won’t be for long.