Prologue

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I love the rain. It makes me feel melancholy and relaxed, and it gives me inspiration on days where I have nothing to do. It’s always been a comfort for me when rain starts falling from the skies. I like sitting and watching it from a window, and getting lost in my thoughts, or in the music that I’m listening to.

So as we sat in our social worker’s car, and rain dripped down the window, I found myself calming down, despite the fact that my two brothers and I were being sent to a new care home. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I hadn’t been in a care home in a while. Not a good one anyway. But Ashdene Ridge was said to be a really good place. I looked over at my brothers, Edward and Isaac. They didn’t notice, as they were busy chatting to each other about games.  I watched as one particular drop of rain traced its way down the window, and I closed my eyes.

I’m Molly Turner. I’m the youngest sibling. Edward and Isaac are 15 year old twins, and I’m 14. I’m the half sister; my mum cheated with my dad and then pretended I was Jason’s child. Jason, Edward and Isaac’s dad, found out eventually and got really pissed. Everything just went down from there. Nonetheless, we all have my mother’s name; Turner. We’re pretty well known back in our hometown. It’s in the country, and seemed a million lightyears away from where we were going.

I opened my eyes as the car stopped. The rain on the window was preventing me from seeing anything more than a silhouette of the house. I opened the door, and stepped out. I was soaked within a minute, but I was too enchanted by the house to care. It was huge, and it looked beautiful. I was brought back to earth when Edward shook me.

“Come on, we’ll freeze to death out here.” He said. We headed towards the door, and our social worker, Ralph, knocked on the door. An older man opened it.

“Ah, Molly, Edward, Isaac and Ralph? Come in.” He said, letting us into the house. We stepped in, and I looked around, noticing that it looked even nicer from the inside. My eyes flickered to the door straight up ahead, where kids were crowded, staring at us. I felt uncomfortable and my gaze slid away. My hair was hanging in rat’s tails, I probably looked dazed and windswept, and my clothes were soaked through, clinging to my skin.

“Molly, right?” a young woman said, smiling. “I’m May Li. I’ll show you where your room is and we can get you all dry.” She laughed, steering me upstairs. Mike ushered Isaac, Edward and Ralph into the office and my stomach dropped, because I knew exactly what they were going to be talking about. I didn’t have much time to think about it, though, as I nearly toppled down the stairs when somebody ran into me.

“Oi, watch it!” he snapped.

“Ryan!” May Li tutted.

Ryan rolled his eyes, and our gazes met. He looked me up and down once, before dodging past me and running into the living room. I rolled my eyes.

“He’s just having a bad day.” May Li explained, shaking her head. “Ignore him. He gets like that.”

“Maybe he’s on his man period.” I offered, and she burst out laughing.

*

As promised, May Li got me all dry, and I got changed into a white, long-sleeve t-shirt with a black explosion on the front, black skinny jeans, and my black and white converse. It was cold, so I put a black jacket on. I managed to unpack a little but not too much as Edward dragged me downstairs to meet the others. Luckily, I didn’t have to share with any of them. I knew full well why that was.

I was pulled into the living room.

“Okay, guys, this is my sister, Molly.” Edward smiled. He’d obviously gotten settled in already.

A tan girl smiled at me. “I love your style.” She said admiringly. “I’m Carmen.”

“Nice to meet you.” I said politely.

I was introduced to everyone. Ryan was sat in the corner, and he kept rolling his eyes whenever I glanced his way.

“What’s his problem?” I asked Carmen, gesturing to him subtly.

“He’s weird.” Carmen shrugged. “Ignore him, you’ll be fine.”

“Edward, Isaac, Ryan, wanna play pool?” Johnny asked.

“Sure.” They all replied.

I rolled my eyes. “Isaac, you can’t even play.”

“I can! I’m better than you.” He retorted.

“Oh yeah?” I asked, folding my arms. “Wanna bet?”

“You’re on.” He said.

Johnny laughed. “You two play first.” He handed me a cue, and Isaac picked one up. I arranged the pool balls neatly in the triangle, before removing it once they were perfectly placed.

“I’ll break.” Isaac said, and he used some chalk on his cue before placing the white accordingly. He looked concentrated as he took his shot. I snorted, already knowing there was no competition. Isaac knew I was better at pool than him. I took my shot carefully, and instantly potted a stripe.

“Go Molly!” Carmen and Tee cheered.

“No way.” Bailey said.

I knew this was going to be fun.

*

Three pool game wins later, I was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa while Carmen plaited my hair.

“You’re brilliant.” I commented, when Tee showed me her progress with a mirror.

“It just takes practice.” Carmen said, laughing. “You’re the brilliant one. The guys were so shocked when they saw you win three times.”

“I just have a skill, I guess.” I grinned. “I can try to teach you.”

“Oh, that’d be awesome!” Carmen exclaimed.

Tee suddenly got up and left. I raised my eyebrows at Carmen, but she shook her head, obviously as confused as I was. I tried not to think anything of it.

“Hey, Molly.” Ryan called. “Can I talk to you?”

Carmen tied my plait at the end and let go. “Go ahead. I’ll see you in a bit.” She got up and went upstairs. I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked over to Ryan, expecting a rude comment or something like earlier.

“I’m sorry about earlier on the stairs. We all get those days, y’know?” Ryan told me sheepishly.

Although it wasn’t what I’d expected, it was definitely something. I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I get it. We’re cool.”

He smiled and ran back over to the game going on between Edward, Johnny, himself and Isaac.

I smiled after him, noting the way his plaid shirt fitted perfectly on him, the way his skinny jeans clung to him, and the way he looked when he laughed...

Whoa. What? I blinked and shook myself out of it, turning and running up the stairs to go find Carmen or Tee. What just happened to me?

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