Island of Misfit Toys

Prologue

It was hot, humid and her sweat stuck to her like a second skin. She hated the humidity the Mississippi air brought. She loved the town, because it was small and there were places she could explore, but this was one of the worst homes she had been put in.

Her hand immediately going to her forehead, where just a couple of hours ago, Mrs. Blythe's husband hit her with his beer bottle. The glass bottle broke on impact. The man was angry with her because she had set the table wrong for dinner. She forgot to put spoons out for his soup that Mrs. Blythe had cooked along with meatloaf. It was a simple mistake, but one that she knew would cost her greatly.

He kicked, punched, and slapped her until she was on the ground in a ball.The girl was used to this by now and knew all she had to do was hold on until he was done and went to bed. Then, she could run and call her caseworker, Ms. Sandy.

Peyton Leona had been in the foster care system since she was 6 years old. She didn't remember much of that day, but she remembered her parents dropping her in front of school and that was the last she ever saw of them.

She's had to grow up a lot, but at 16 years of age, she had managed to keep herself alive. Ms. Sandy wished she would make more friends, but the girl didn't like friends. There were to many variables of things to go wrong. People were unreliable, Peyton Leona had learned that the hard way, but she never made the mistake again of trusting people. She relied on herself, she was the only one that could get herself out of trouble and she knew that.

So, she called Ms. Sandy at a pay phone that night. She had already gotten her trash bag filled with her clothes, it wasn't much, but she learned to pack light over the years.

After the phone call, Peyton Leona decided to go in the gas station and clean herself up. She knew Ms. Sandy felt guilty every time she would pick her up and see that Peyton Leona would have a scar or more on her.

Ms. Sandy tried her best to get Peyton Leona in a safe environment, but Peyton Leona also knew that people easily hid their true natures and Ms. Sandy sometimes couldn't see through the cracks.

So, the girl went inside and tried her best to clean the blood off of her. A black eye, busted lip and gash on her hairline were the scars on her face. She lifted her shirt and saw some bruises, old and new, around her stomach. She wasn't fast enough this time to get into a ball and Mr. Blythe had used that to his advantage and gave her some hits to the stomach.

Her arms had handprint bruises from the man pulling her off the ground to try and punch her again. Peyton Leona just looked at herself.

Standing at 5'3 she was on the short side. Her blonde hair in braided pigtails that ended just on her shoulders. A plain shirt and black shorts wrapped around her bruised body. Her feet were clad with her favorite converse that were mangled and ripped from years of use. She hadn't gotten a new pair of shoes in 2 years.

Most of her clothes came from garage sales and her stealing some shirts from her homes. Peyton Leona didn't mind though, she wasn't someone that cared about fashion, she was perfectly fine in her jean shorts and over sized band tees.

After finishing up in the bathroom, Peyton Leona decided to head back outside. Getting to the front she found Ms. Sandy just pulling in. She didn't waste any time and decided to hop in the passenger seat.

"So, do you have another home for me, or am I going to have to spend some time in a group home?" Peyton Leona said bluntly.

Ms. Sandy had grown used to the girl asking thing straight up and sometimes found her bluntness refreshing. "Actually, if you have all your things, we are taking a long drive to your new home." Ms. Sandy gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm all set, where are we going?" "Hope you like the beach, Peyton Leona, cause you are off to Outer banks" Ms. Sandy said as she put the car in drive and started the long journey there.

"Wait, I don't own any swimsuits." the young girl said nonchalantly, but she couldn't care less at the moment as she leaned her head on the window and fell into a deep sleep.

To Outer Banks she goes.

**I do wish to point out, that not all foster homes are like this. I know some people have amazing foster homes, and are very thankful for them. I am not trying to portray the foster system as something horrible, this is a fictional story, I know there are good stories and bad stories when it comes to foster care, I am just writing for Peyton Leona.

I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I am. I can't wait for you all to see where Peyton Leona's journey goes! Also don't worry, she will get a nickname but I wanted to show that she goes by Peyton Leona because she has never had friends to give her a nickname.