Recovery. ( o2l. )

chapter 1.

"there's a part of me I can't get back.
a little girl grew up too fast.
all it took was once, I'll never be the same."

I heard a soft knock on my door and I stopped singing. I turned towards the door.

"come in," I croaked. I didn't have much of a voice, I never do. I saw Cassidy, my best friend at the orphanage, poke her head through the doorway.

"some adopters are coming today, do you want to get cleaned up and come downstairs or do you want to do what we normally do?" she asked softly, smiling kindly at me. usually when someone came to the orphanage to adopt, they chose a younger child so they could watch them grow, so I didn't bother going downstairs. today, I felt better than I normally do, so I changed my mind.

"I'll come down, give me ten minutes," I rasped. she winced at my voice and then nodded quickly, scurrying out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind her. I stood up from my place at the front of the keyboard I had in my room and I slipped on a large white and black cheetah print sweater, along with some black leggings. I let my long, blonde hair go loose down my back and I slipped my black fuzzy socks onto my feet.

I walked out of my room and quietly padded down the wooden stairs. I heard everyone in the ballroom of the mansion that the orphanage resided in, so I made my way into there. I gripped my white iPhone so hard that my knuckles were turning white.

when I stepped into the large room, I saw six guys talking with all of the kids. the kids were sitting at the round tables, according to age, and the guys just went around talking to each one. Alice, the director of the orphanage, caught a glimpse of me and waved me over. I quietly walked over to her and she smiled down at me.

"hey, wendy. go ahead and go sit by cassidy. these guys are nice, I'll tell them that you're here," she chirped. I forced a smile onto my chapped lips and I walked over to the 12+ table. that's where the kids 12 and over sit every day for meals and for when an adopter comes to visit. I slide into my usual seat, next to cassidy and a girl named vera.

"wendy! these guys are really nice, you're gonna like them," she stated happily. I nodded and gazed over to where Alice was standing and she pointed over at our table. suddenly, six pairs of eyes were on my. my cheeks turned a light shade of crimson as I turned back to cassidy.

"they seem nice," I stated. she grinned and nodded, and I heard footsteps coming towards me. I looked over to see a tall guy with his hair styled in a quiff and a Starbucks coffee in his hand.

"hi! my name's Connor. this is jc, kian, trevor, sam, and that's Ricky in the tank top," Connor stated, pointing to each of the guys. I got a chorus of hi's.

"I'm wendy," I said, fumbling with the hem of my sweater sleeve.

"how old are you?" Sam asked me. I looked up.

"I'm going to be thirteen soon," I said. soon the group of boys were rapidly firing random questions at me.

"favorite animal?"

"kittens."

"favorite color?"

"red."

"favorite music artist?"

"demi lovato."

Connor smiled at me, and I returned it with a small, crooked grin.

"it was nice meeting you, wendy. we're gonna go talk to Alice," he said. I smiled and nodded.

"it was nice meeting you, too," I said as they walked away.

as I was answering questions, I had hope. the guys seemed to really enjoy me. I hope it wasn't just my imagination.

[ a/n; hi! I'm chloe and I have lots of ideas for this book lol. I hope you enjoy it! ]