(I am about to undergo major edits on the entire story soon. I wrote this when I was 13, and since it is my first story, I owe it the proper creation it deserves. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you will enjoy!) Samantha, Sam, Peers - a 13 year old girl who grew up with an abusive father who hits her every time she talked or laughed. So Sam just stopped saying anything, but when she accidentally bumped into her father he her beat again. Now Sam flinches at every sudden move, waits until everyone is out of the class room to leave for her next class, she walks so she doesn't have to sit next to anybody on the bus, and if you say her name she puts her hands over head in attempt to block out the world. So when she comes to school for the fifth time looking all beat up with a swollen lip and a bruised cheek the principal calls the authorities. Sam's father gets put into jail while she has to stay at the police station until they can figure out what to do with her. Because of how she was treated Sam can't stay at a foster home and because she is so scared of people she can't go through the adoption process. But when a lawyer hears of her situation from a friend who's police officer he wants to help this young girl realize that not every person is like her father and that its ok to have fun and be a kid. So him and his family take Sam in to show her that she doesn't have to hide her voice or lock herself away from the world. And with the help of his wife and four sons they just might get her to open up to them. Sam might think that if she makes any noise or even one mistake she'll get punished but the Whelms family is here to prove her wrong.