Train Wreck

Chapter 1 - Breaking Out

Aiden's POV

"Aiden, watch this!" Stephanie shouted excitedly as she did a cartwheel in front of me.

I smiled at her. "Wow, Steph, did Molly teach you that?"

Molly was Stephanie's older sister. They'd been here for 5 years after their mom died and their father gave up, saying he couldn't handle 2 children and the death of his wife on his own. He dropped them off here, not really caring how much pain it caused them. Well, Stephanie didn't really understand it; she was only 2 at the time. She's 7 now and Molly is 15.

Stephanie nodded, "Yeah, she showed me how to do a round off too, wanna see?" She bounced on her toes excitedly, her eyes begging me to say yes.

"Sure why not?" I smiled.

"Yay!" She stepped back and took a deep breath. She did the round off and landed on her feet. I clapped enthusiastically to support her. I didn't know one thing about cheerleaders except that they were usually hot. Molly stepped into the doorway.

"Hey Aiden, Stephanie come here. You need to get ready for dinner." Molly smiled. Stephanie ran to her and Molly looked at me. "Thomas was looking for you. He's downstairs just to let you know." She smiled and led Stephanie to their room on the other side of the orphanage.

I got up and went down to see Thomas. Thomas and I were brought here for the same reason. Our parents had died in a fire. Actually, they all died in the same fire; our parents had been friends and they were at a party to celebrate something my father had done. I couldn't remember what it was.

I spotted him by the door. "Hey Thomas, what's up?" I walked over to him.

"I've been looking all over the place for you. Where were you?" He looked at me quizzically.

"I was in my room, duh." I smirked at him.

"Whatever, let's sneak out tonight." He smiled, excitement danced inside his eyes.

"What if we get caught?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's the worst they can do? Tell our parents?" He replied sarcastically.

I missed my parents like crazy and just thinking about them made me want to cry but I always fought the tears. I had to be strong now. "They could take away our privileges." I looked out the glass door. I really wanted to get out of here.

"Whatever dude, are you in or out?" He tried to come on as strong but I knew he wouldn't go without me. Lucky for him, I actually did want to break out of here.

"Alright, I'll go. See you at dinner." I smiled.

"Thanks Aiden." He smiled at me gratefully. "I've just gotta get out of here for a while."

I nodded. "I know how you feel." I smiled and walked away as the bell rang for dinner. I ran to the nearest bathroom and washed my hands, then I went to the dining room. I found Molly and sat next to her. "Hey Molly, Steph." I smiled.

"Hi," Stephanie beamed.

"Hey," Molly smiled. "Did you talk to Thomas?"

"Yeah, I did." I saw Thomas walk in and look for me. I waved him over.

He sat next to me and we talked until it was time to pray. We all held hands as the head lady prayed at the front of the long table. I closed my eyes and bowed my head in respect. Everyone else did the same. A chorus of 'Amen's' filled the room as the woman finished. I didn't know her name and I didn't want to know. I just wanted to get out of here.

There was a plate in front of each chair and a bunch of food in the middle of us. It always reminded me of the Harry Potter movies, where they would eat at school. I filled my plate quickly and talked to Tomas about sneaking out. I whispered it to him so Molly wouldn't heart me. If she knew what we were up to, she'd do everything in her power to stop me and I'd never hear the end of it.

We finished eating and went back to our rooms. Lights out was at 10 o'clock for everyone, but the younger children usually fell asleep at 9. I waited until eleven to sneak out of my room. I knocked on Thomas's door softly. He opened it quickly. We snuck out the window down the hall and used the hedges that were lined up against the building as our safety net. I went first and it wasn't that bad. I just wondered how we would get back in. I got out of the hedge and the wind picked up slightly. I realized I didn't care about getting back in. I was outside, really outside.

"Where do you want to go?" Thomas climbed out of the hedge.

I walked to the sidewalk and a flyer was lying on the ground. I picked it up and read it over. "Let's crash a party." I smiled. I hadn't been to a party in ages.

"Too bad we don't know where one is." Thomas sighed and walked over to me.

"Actually we do." I handed him the flyer.

He read it over and smiled. "Let's do it." He grinned.