Leap Before You Think

Prologue

Lorie:

"She just lost her parents." Madam Sasha whispers in a hushed tone to the strange man.

Why doesn't she just scream it to my face?1 Gosh, this lady can't whisper. New tears spring to my eyes. Even as young as I am I understand that my parents are gone. I know that I am a very "fortunate" child to survive such a terrible crash as I did. I know Mother will never again sing me to sleep and Father will never again tackle me in a bear hug when I'm sad till I laugh.

"Yes, I heard about the crash in the news." the man is loud and I hear everything, from how insincere he is to how much he feels forced into taking me.

I want to scream at this man to shut his big fat ugly mouth, but who's gonna listen to me: a 10-year-old girl who just lost everything in the blink of an eye?

"Well, my orphanage is a fine institution. School, home, and shopping center all in one." he laughs as if he's telling a joke, "Plus I can tell that this girl is a quick learner and that she will quickly work her way up to my elite class of brilliant students."

Again I want to scream. I mean this man doesn't care about me. Not really anyway. As far as I can tell he only cares that I learn quickly and that I'm smarter and wiser than most kids my age. I stare down at my feet, tugging on my stuffed bear's ear and humming my mother's lullaby. Doing this calms me and I lose the urge to scream at this horrible smelly man.

"I'll be terribly sad to see her go. I've never loved a child quite as much as I do this one." Madam Sasha says sadly. I wonder how many other kids she says that about.

"Yes, yes. Now we must leave." This man has no patience.

Madam Sasha sighs "All right if you must. Lorelai dear it's time for you to go. Lorie,"

I don't bother answering her. I really don't want to go with this stone-eyed man that stands before me. I'm certain that his school sucks, I mean who names a school Fortitudo & Cordis. What the heck does that even mean?

"Young girl it's time to go." He gives me an evil-looking grin. The man's teeth are yellow-tinted and his breath smells foul even from where I stand four feet away

"Of course sir," I whisper just loud enough for him to hear.

"It's pronounced Chief to you and everyone else girl," He glances at Madam Sasha, "but that's all right you didn't know. You'll learn it though." he pauses, maybe at a loss for words, perhaps because he fears Madam Sasha. "Well, uh let us go now."

I follow him to his car which to my great dismay smells like him. Before my door is shut I wave goodbye to Madam Sasha for the final time, making a silent vow that I will see her again someday.

>>>----<>----<<<

Judah:

"Come on cousin, we must meet her outside." Harper's cherry voice echoes in the great hall as she skips beside me.

"Harp, she's just a girl."

"No Judah, she is not just a girl! She is gonna be part of our family now."

"Alright," I shrug.

The oldest in our trio, soon to be quad, clears his throat.

"Let's not fight. We wouldn't want the new girl to get a bad first impression."

His comment seems directed at me and when I look at him he glares at me still annoyed about the trick that I played on him earlier this morning. When we get outside, second-in-command Sergeant Cleo beckons for us to step forward.

"Ah children, not a moment too soon. Your new group mate will be here soon."

As she finishes her sentence the Chief's black limo pulls in front of us nearly knocking Sergeant Cleo in the side. Two people get out: the Chief and the new girl. The girl keeps her head down, her hair covering her face. To no surprise, Harper steps up to the new girl first.

"Hi. I'm Harper Nightly. What's your name?"

"Lorelai Ventus but I prefer Lorie." The girl still keeps her head down, her eyes trained on her feet.

"Well hi again, Lorie."

The girl's head pulls up slightly, her face still unseen. Harper nods her head and then jumps to the next matter at hand.

"This is my friend Jackson Galloway and my cousin Judah Nightly."

Jackson steps forward to shake the girl's hand. The girl lifts her head to look at all of us and my jaw drops slightly. The girl's eyes are the most stunning blue that I've ever seen. It's unseteling how much her eyes look like a blast of lightning. She smiles slightly at Jackson and shakes his hand. I just stand there staring at her and her blue eyes like a dummy. Harper nudges me in the side, more like hammers, and I turn my attention to her. "Move" she mouths. I do as she says and I step up to the new girl. I stick out my hand to shake hers. As she lifts her hand to place it in mine, time seems to slow down as I realize that I still have the zapper that I used on Jackson on my hand, which was a harmless prank between us, but I don't know this blue-eyed girl. Her hand touches mine and I feel a light shock that I know is greater on her side. The girl looks shocked at first but then she laughs.

"That was clever. Do you do that to everyone?"

"Um, no." I pull the ring off and stick it in my pocket. I mumble the word sorry.

She smiles at me and removes her hand from mine. My opinion of the girl, Lorie, has changed. She walks over to Harper, tugging a single suitcase behind her. I hear Harper a little as she explains that she is going to show her around. Jackson walks over to me grinning, he mumbles something to me and I punch him in the arm.

"See you at dinner, Jack." I walk away planning to follow Harper and Lorie or maybe planning to go to my room. I don't know. I guess my feet will be the ones to decide.