Second Chances

Prologue

I don't like talking about my first life- that is, life before living with the Whitneys. My life was depressing, bleak, dreary, whatever you wanna call it.

The only thing I ever knew of my parents was fragments of my imagination, and predicaments of what they were like. Why I got dropped off at an abandoned bus stop my sixth month here on the earth, I don't know. It was only luck that a lady was passing by this bus on her way home from work, and took me to a center for kids like me- orphans. I hate that word.

When I was 12, I was smart enough to figure out that there was a loose floorboard in the conference room on the third floor, and I learned that a new employee wanted to work there because she thought it was "tragic and romantic' that these children were left without parents. Anne, Peter Pan, Annie. She never once mentioned wanting to help us with our emotional trauma. I knew we needed it here. Several had severe anxiety, depression, some here were suicidal. They thought since their parents didn't care about their lives, that they shouldn't either.

But weeks before my 16th birthday, my life became very much worth it. Because the golden family of Amber Lane wanted ME.

I packed all my nervousness in a tattered grey back pack, along with the only thing that's ever really been mine- a faded baby blue bunny.
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I went to Nicoli High school last year-end the name was nice enough, but the place was rundown and in a poor community.

I was bullied.

From the time I stepped foot on the playground in first grade to 8th grade when I left for highschool, I was teased, tormented, and never good enough. I had no friends.

I thought high school would be better. A chance to go unnoticed. But to no avail.

And now I was moving across town. Amber Lane High school was known as the rich kid school. Better schooling, teachers, gym, sports.
Amber Lane itself was one huge subdivision where all the rich people lived. The Whitney's lived in the newest part of the development. Therefore, they had the biggest house on the block.

I used to fantasize about that house- it's stained glass windows and light blue shingles made it stand out even more then the size did. It was unique.
The people inside were not.

They were your average all-American family. The Whitney's had two in college and two still living with their parents.

But since I was going to be a new part of the family, all of the relatives and close friends were going to be there. Only heaven knew how many of those the Whitney's had.

My nerves were on the entire ride there- which lasted little over 20 minutes. The only thing keeping me sane was a slight cinnamon aroma that kept cycling throughout the car. I breathed it in deeply, and it calmed me down.

I could do this. I could-

But seriously, all the relatives are going to be there, and ALL of the close friends. They're throwing me a welcome home barbeque.

Thinking about steak and barbeque ribs made my stomach grumble. I realized that I didn't eat lunch.... or breakfast. But oh well, as soon as I get there, I can eat.

The driver stopped, and I realized that I was here. He went around to help me get out, and he took my bag to the guestroom, where I would be staying for a while.

I was grateful, because as soon as I saw the crowd, my arms turned to jello.

As soon as I got out, I looked up. The house was so much bigger up close. The whiteness of it plus the sun's rays caused me to go blind temporarily, and I forced myself to look down.

Towards the crowd (gulp). The people inside the house were all squeezed in trying to get a good look at what was outside. Then I realized that they were looking at me (double gulp). Funally a familiar face pushed through the crowd, and walked towards me.

Anne Whitney was short and skinny. And very, very beautiful. That beauty shown inside and out. When she hugged me, she whispered-
"I'm so glad that you're finally able to be my new daughter." However cheesy that might've been, it still helped me a little bit.

I swallowed my anxiety and followed her inside. She lead me to my new family. A tall pale man that looked like Ross off of friends introduced himself as Mr. Whitney. I shook his hand.

Mr. Whitney stood next to four equally gorgeous girls who all had different looks on their face. The first two had to have been the oldest.

One had a 'U' sweatshirt tucked into dark wash jeans. She smiled and hugged me tightly. I remembered that her name was Jule.

The next was Grace. Her blonde hair was wavy and held up by a pair of white sunglasses. She was tanner than the rest, and I'm guessing she was going to UCLA, at least that's what the sunglasses said. She hugged me too, but I knew that it was because of jetlag and time difference that she was out of it.

The third daughter looked pissed off. I knew it was Lauren. Either she was really angry, or she had a serious case of resting beach face... My gut told me that we were around the same age.

When Anne sort of forced Lauren to hug me, she whispered in my ear-
"Oh great! Another charity case. Do me a favor, and just stay out of my way." And she pulled away, checking her phone.

The youngest daughter was an eighth grader. I remembered her- she was there the first time Anne went looking for a child to adopt. Auden was her name. I remember her name, mostly because she was playing with the younger kids, making them laugh, but also because she's the one that remembered me.

She was the one that pointed to me on her way out with her mom. She pointed to me, and I could barely hear, but I knew she said it-

"She's meant for us mom, I can feel it."

A.N.
Hey guys!! I'm so excited to share my prologue with you. This will be the start of a very long and bumpy journey, but I hope it will be worth it. I will get a playlist for this book up- these songs were what I listened to when I was writing and editing this book.

Thanks, Super_women_writer