Hey, people! This is my first fanfic, so I hope it's good. I'll try to update it often, but I might be really busy this summer, so I can't promise anything. Hope you like it! Special thanks to TieDieTruth for letting me use some of her characters and for helping me get this started.

I dunk yet another dirty plate into the soapy water. Washing dishes is SO not my first choice in chores at the orphanage. Okay, that makes it sound like Sarah and Daniel are horrible slave drivers of orphanage owners. They're not. Quite the opposite, in fact. They're some of the kindest people I know. Sarah is like the mother I never had. And Daniel is nothing like the father I did have.I'm actually a volunteer here. When I first got here, I was already too old to count as an orphan, but Sarah and Daniel were nice enough to let me stay and work for them in exchange for food, shelter, and a chance to be surrounded by the best people in the universe.

I'm interrupted from my mundane task by yells outside. I hear Ellie (one of the orphans) yell "Get away from me!"

"Oh, yeah?" I hear a guy say. "Make me!" I'm outside in about 2 seconds flat. A boy who's about 18 years old has Ellie pinned against a wall by her arms. He has a malicious sneer on his face. Ellie's face is streaked with tears. "Please leave me alone," she begs. The boy tightens his grip. That's when I step in. I run over, grab him by the arm, and spin him around, away from Ellie. Before he even gets a good look at me, I've shoved him onto the ground and pinned him down.

"She tells you to get away from her, you better get the hell away from her!" I hiss. "She's only 11 years old, you asshole!" He starts to say something, but I push him further into the dirt and continue my rant. "As if her life wasn't messed up enough already! No parents, a brother in jail, and an alcoholic aunt to live with? She doesn't need you to come and-"

I would say more, but Michael puts his hand on my shoulder and gently pulls me away a few feet. "Did you see what he-"

"Yes, I did, but you need to calm down before you permanently disable him," Michael says. I smile a little.

"I know, it's just-"

"Yeah, I get it, I care about Ellie, too. But that guy's life is probably just as screwed up as hers is," he reminds me.

"That doesn't mean he has an excuse to be a total jerk," I grumble.

"But you know that could've easily been any of us if we hadn't met Sarah and Daniel."

"Ugh, stop making me understand him," I whine. "Why can't there just be clear-cut bad guys and good guys? Life would be so much simpler that way."

"Maybe. But that's not how it works. Everyone has good parts and bad parts."

"I know. I think everyone's really 50/50 on the inside. It's just that different situations bring out different traits." And that's seriously what I believe. And I know Michael believes it, too. He tries harder than anyone to see the good in people. I try, too. But when someone does something like that, I don't want to think about their good parts or about what made them that way. I just want to punch their face in. I look back at the jerk who was bothering Ellie. He's standing up and starting to walk away. I try not to smile when I see that I've given him a bloody nose.

Don't be a sadist, Allysa, I think to myself. I walk back towards Ellie. "Are you okay?"

"He tried to . . . touch me . . ." she breaks into a sob. I pull her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, I swear," I whisper. "You're going to be okay."

"Why?" Ellie asks me. "Why do these things happen to me? It's not fair!"

"Ellie, nothing is fair. Some people have lots of money and food and a big house; other people die of starvation. Some people have healthy, stable families . . ."

"And some people live with their perpetually drunk aunt because their brother murdered their parents?" she finishes for me.

"Exactly," I hug her again. "Let's go inside, 'kay?"

"Okay."

When we step inside, Ellie heads upstairs. It's only 7 PM, but she deserves the extra sleep after what happened tonight. I head back to the kitchen to finish the dishes, but I find Rachel finishing them for me. "Oh, thank you, Rachel, you're the best!"

"It's nothing," she insists, but I know it's not. Rachel hates doing dishes more than I do. I leave the kitchen and go to the gathering room. We do something here every Friday night. Sometimes it's a skit, sometimes a game show, sometimes a concert. Always done by Michael, Nick, Ethan, Melani, Rachel, me, and a few volunteers from the audience. I find Ethan, Michael, and Melani already there.

"Nick went to gather the kids," Melani lets me know. About 3 minute later, Rachel and Nick join us at the front of the room as the kids file in. When they're all seated, Ethan steps forward and pulls a fake microphone to his mouth. "Hello, folks! It's time for the most entertaining game show within a 10 foot radius! Yep, you guessed it . . . We're playing Trivial Triviaaa! Our contestants tonight will be Mark, Lily, Steven, Emily, and Hannah!"

Trivial Trivia is kind of dumb, but its lameness is what makes so great. Most of the questions are things like "What is Michael's favorite color?" or "How often does Rachel brush her teeth?" with a few questions about history thrown in for variety. (Blue and 3 times a day, in case you were wondering)

"So, Hannah, you're up first! Your question is: What is Allysa's favorite chore here at the orphanage?"

"Umm . . . working in the garden?" she guesses.

"That is correct!" Ethan exclaims. I grin. He's so hilariously over-the-top with theses things. I bet he'll actually host a game show someday. Or maybe he'll replace Millon Faydaye as . . . royal announcer person? Huh. I don't actually know Millon's official title.

"Alright, Steven, you're up! So tell me: How long ago did Sarah and Daniel found this lovely establishment?

"16 years ago,"Steven answers confidently, but, unfortunately, incorrectly.

"Oh, so close!" Ethan says. "Sorry, Steven, but the correct answer is 15 years. Better luck next time!"And it goes like that for another hour, until we finally call it a night and send the kids to bed. Ethan thanks all the participants for competing and hands a cheap plastic trophy to Mark, who beat Hannah by a single point.

"Uh, Ethan?" Mark says, "This is for girls' soccer."

"Look, it's the only trophy we had, okay?"

"Whatever," Mark laughs a little bit. "I always wanted to be a girls' soccer champion, anyway." He shrugs.

"Well, you haven't achieved that goal, yet, boo," Melani points out. "Because that trophy's just for participation."

"Oh, come on!" Mark pretends to be really upset and stomps upstairs. We all laugh. Normally, I'd stay downstairs and hang out with everyone, but I'm really tired, and I want to check on Ellie, so I say "Guys, I'm going to bed, now, okay?" I get a chorus of "goodnight"s and "sleep well"s and a hug from everyone. We're all really close, in case you hadn't guessed. When I get to Michael, I put my hands on his hips, lean up a little, and press my lips against his. He kisses me back, and it's pure and sweet and gentle and a thousand other words that mean wonderful. "Goodnight, Michael," I whisper in his ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he says. "More than you know." I kiss him one more time, on the cheek this time, and then head upstairs. Behind me I hear Nick say, "Dang, you've been dating for two years already; are you ever gonna stop doing that?"

"Never," Michael says.

"Never," I repeat to myself.