CHAPTER ONE
"Hurry up, girls! We're leaving in a couple minutes!" Ms. Winnie shouted up the stairs. Emily and Kat were on the other end of our bedroom, giggling the day away.
I threw down the pair of jeans I held in my hands. "Are you two done packing?" I said with my hands firmly planted on my hips.
"Not quite." Kat answered, tossing her blonde hair behind her ear. I sighed and picked back up the jeans. I stashed them into my tattered suitcase. "Come on girls! We're leaving!" Ms. Winnie called from the hallway. I heard the three other bedroom doors swing open. Ten girls then came binding out into the hallway, suitcases in hand, eager to see the new house. I waited until traffic calmed and I went slowly down the stairs, trying to remember every detail and every memory of this house. As I day dreamed, Emily and Kat came right behind me. They pushed their way right in front of me, knocking me down. "Hey!" I called after them, but they were already out the door. I picked myself up and ran outside.
"Taylor?" Ms. Winnie was preforming role call. "Here!" Taylor exclaimed. Ms. Winnie continued down the list of all the girls. And of course she called my name last. "Shay?"
"Here." I reacted blandly.
"That looks like everyone then!" Ms. Winnie said, jumping into the front seat of the mini van. A few of us also jumped into the back, while the others went with Ms. Hillary. "Here we go!" Ms. Winnie started the car. The next thing I knew, the house and the SOLD sign were out of sight. Just a memory.
The car wounded around bends and turns as I gazed out the window. Girls were talking and blabbering excitedly. I never understood how they were always so unnaturally happy. THEY'RE ORPHANS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Well, not all of them are orphans... but they still don't have their parents. I just wanted to get to the house! I hoped and hoped that I would have a room to myself for once. I always got the most annoying roommates. As I bounced around in the car (with the roads so bumpy), I heard Ms. Winnie say something. "What?" I asked.
"We're here!" She turned to me. Oh, cool. We bounded up a long curvy drive way. Then, a huge green house emerged from the trees. "Whoa..." Taylor sighed. And whoa was right! The house was at least four stories above ground. It was minty-green colored with white trim around the windows and roof. There was a small tower like thing coming out of the roof. The tower had a large window, over looking the bay in the distance. I WANT THAT ROOM! But I probably won't get it. Kat will. She usually get's whatever she wants. She is, after all, Ms. Winnie's niece. Everyone is at least a litlle jealous of Kat; long blonde hair, blue eyes, and she has family who's still around for her. And there's me; black hair. And that's all.
As we got out of the car, we met up with Ms. Hillary and the girls. But there were three girls we had never seen before. The girl on the right (Tally) had glossy brown hair, green eyes, and was probably around nine years old. The one in the middle was red head Susan. The one then on the left looked just my age. She had brown hair (with small traces of red) and brown eyes. This was Amanda. Amanda smiled warmly as Ms. Hillary introduced all of the girls. Something about Amanda, even with her smile, seemed dull and dark. Maybe it was her eyes. Her eyes were large, but they were not smiling the way the should.
We grabbed our suitcases out of the trunk. Then we eagerly awaited the opening of the door. Ms. Winnie fumbled with the keys in the door as we jumped out of excitement. She very slowly pushed open the door. When she finally pushed the door all the way open, we trampled over eachother, trying to get the best rooms. I lagged behind the rest, in no rush to pick a room. I just wanted to have an opportunity to soak in the beauty. The inside of the house supported the Victorian look of the outside of the house. When I first walked into the house, the thing that caught my eye was the stairs, in a box type of formation, spiraling up floor after floor. The stairs also had the same white trim that was found on the outside. As I began to scale the steps, I noticed I wasn't the only one lagging behind. Amanda was soon next to me, holding a newly bought bag. "Hey. I'm Shay." I said, smiling as warmly as I could manage.
