Saved

Chapter 1

Sawyer POV

I'm racing down the field at the park, dodging invisible defenders, cutting left then right, and again. As I get closer to the goal, I wind up my right leg and hit the ball perfectly in the lower right corner. "Gooooooal and the crowd goes wild!" I say to myself. This is how I spend most of my free time. Between here and the beach, surfing.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sawyer and well, everyone calls me Sawyer; not much room for a nickname here. I'm 14 years old and an orphan. I currently live in a group home with about five other girls in San Diego. When I was three, my parents were killed in a car accident that I survived. I sometimes think that I should have died with them. I have ADHD, which sometimes gets me into trouble, but mostly I do things impulsively without thinking. I love soccer, surfing, and skateboarding. My best friend, Emily keeps me out of trouble the best she can. We've been best friends since we were six.

I grab my bag and hop onto my board to head to the group home. Once I arrive home, I take a deep breath, just hoping to calm my racing thoughts. I walk in and see the girls chilling, watching Moana. The five other girls, Mackenzie, Ash, Sophie, Vanessa, and Erin all are spread out on the floor with our social worker, Liz hanging on the couch. She sees me and waves me over. Here's the thing about Liz, she's really great and cares so much about all of us. Especially me since I've been here the longest. I've had some families come and meet me and talk to me at family days, but everything falls through. This has not helped my feeling of constant abandonment. I've told Liz that I have given up finding a bonus family, but she keeps saying she has a feeling. I walk over and cuddle into her. "How was your day?" I look up at her, "It was a good day today. I kicked the ball for a few hours and watched the sunset. Sorry I'm late by the way, lost track of time. She chuckles, "Typical you, I was starting to get a little worried though. Why didn't you call or text?" I shrug, "I don't know...just thinking." "About what?" "About how you keep thinking that I'm getting a family, but how would my parents feel about that?" I whispered. "I think they'd want you to be happy and open up to the idea of a new family, kid." I sigh, "Yeah, maybe. Can I go up to my room now?" "Sure thing, come get me if you can't sleep or have a nightmare, ok?" "Yeah, okay. Night, Liz." "Night kid."

I walk up the stairs and into my room. It has posters all over. The USWNT, Carissa Moore, and a few skateboarders. Plus some bands. I quickly change and do my bedtime routine and flop into bed. I grab my headphones and plug them into my phone. Music starts flowing through while I concentrate on falling asleep. I just keep thinking how much I want a family, but also how terrifying that is. I don't think anyone wants to deal with me and my problems. Soon after, I fall into a deep slumber.

Alex POV

I fall into bed with a loud sigh, I hear Serv chuckle next to me, "How many books did she con you into this time?" I lift my head off the pillow tiredly and look at him, "Five. I don't know how she does it, but I always end up reading more than the decided two." "She has you wrapped around her finger, that's how." "Ugh, she's so cute, I can't say no!" I say. He smiles at me, "Our Charlie is very cute, that's for sure." I roll over onto my side and look at him. "You know I was thinking about our conversation from the other night.." He quirks his eyebrow, "Oh yeah? What about it?" I pull myself on top of him so my hands are cross on his chest, my chin on top, "How we want Charlie to have a sibling. I want her to have what we both had growing up and I want to seriously look into adopting. You're right when you said that having a baby right now is not good timing, but adopting is an option. We could give a kid a really great life babe." He looks at me adoringly and smiles, "Are you serious?!" "Yeah, 100%. I mean I'm in preseason with Wave FC, Charlie is settled and we're
moved into the new house, what are we waiting for?" He sits up with an even bigger smile, "YES! This is gonna be so awesome! Can we call the agency tomorrow?" I laugh at his response, "Yeah we can. But right now, let's get some sleep." I give him a kiss and cuddle into his side. I fall asleep with a smile on my face thinking about the journey we're about to begin and how I can't wait.