This is a pre-pilot AU story where Callie is 13 and in foster care with Jude for the past 3 years. She meets and becomes friends with Mariana in a public middle school and gets to know the Fosters, as she deals with a neglectful foster home and a drug pushing foster brother. Disclaimer: Yes, I know I do not own the Fosters characters.

Chapter 1: A New School

Thirteen year old Callie was tired of that feeling of being the new kid at school. She used to feel so nervous the first day at a new school, but now, it almost felt normal. She was getting used to being placed in a new foster home and a new school every 6 months or so since she entered the foster system at age 10. This time, she was starting 7th grade in a new middle school. They had held her back a year because her records had somehow gotten lost while being transferred in from another school. She didn't even care anymore. She was only upset that her 9 year old brother Jude was now at a different school than her.

Jude had been nervous this morning so Callie walked him to his elementary school and to his first class, even though that made her late for her first day. Luckily, her vice principal, Ms. Lena Adams or something like that, had cut her some slack since it was her first day. Lena had walked her to her first class and asked a girl there called Mariana to be her guide for the day. Callie sat tuned out during her first class. She wasn't even sure what class it was. When the bell rang, she jumped.

Mariana appeared by her side, "Hey Callie, math is next. Follow me. So, what school did you come from?"

"Umm, you know, I don't even remember. I've moved around a lot."

"Yeah? How come?"

Callie decided to come clean, "I'm a foster kid."

"Oh yeah?" Mariana replied, "I was a foster kid too. I was adopted a couple years ago."

Callie stared at her. She was surprised. She wondered if the vice principal had paired them up on purpose. She didn't usually meet other foster kids or adopted kids in her classes.

After being bored out of her mind in her next class, they headed to lunch. Mariana said, "Lunch is pretty gross. Did you bring your own lunch or money for lunch?"

Callie shrugged, "I don't have any money."

She had just been placed at an overcrowded foster home with foster parents that seemed nice but not very involved. They hadn't given them anything to take for lunch. And there didn't seem to be a lot of food in that house anyway with so many kids around. She hoped Jude would find something to eat for lunch too.

"I'll go ask Mama," Mariana said as she steered them to the vice principal's office. Callie was surprised to see Mariana talking to the vice principal and calling her Mama.

Lena turned to her and said, "Callie, I'm going to put you on the free lunch list. Your foster parents haven't done the paperwork yet, but I'll send it home with you, okay? There's also free breakfast if you get here on time."

Callie nodded. She felt a little shy around Lena Adams. She was so tall and beautiful with intense eyes that looked right into you. Mariana seemed so comfortable around her though. Callie wondered what it would be like to be adopted by someone like that.

Mariana chatted her way through lunch and introduced Callie to some friends and her brothers Jesus and Brandon. Callie was still thinking about Lena, "So, your mom is the vice-principal? That must be tough. I bet you can't get away with much at school."

"Yeah, sometimes it sucks," Mariana replied, "but sometimes it's good too."

Jesus added, "Like when you forget lunch money or need something, she's right there!"

"Our other mom's a cop," Brandon interjected, "and she's the one to really watch out for when you get in trouble."

Callie looked up surprised at the mention of a second mom. She wondered what that would be like. She said, "Wow, I guess you try not to get into trouble then."

Mariana replied, "Oh, Jesus is in trouble all the time! Not me though."

"You're a goody-two-shoes," Jesus teased.

"No, I'm just too smart to get caught," Mariana replied. Callie thought to herself that Jesus was probably right.

Callie glanced at a clock and wondered whether Jude was okay. Jude's school got out earlier than hers, so she was planning on skipping her last class to go pick him up. She also wanted to ask about free lunch for him. She had to ditch Mariana though and hope she didn't tell her mother.

"Mariana, I'm just going to go the bathroom. I know where I'm going now, so I'll see you later," she said as she made her escape between classes.

Mariana stared after her and shrugged. She got suspicious when Callie didn't show up for last period, but she decided not to say anything. Callie seemed cool, and she wanted to make friends with her. She wasn't a tattle-tale.

Callie snuck out of her school and made it just in time for Jude's school letting out. She went by the office to pick up a free lunch form for him too. Jude said his teacher had shared her lunch with him today luckily.

Callie and Jude walked back to their foster house. They walked into the noise and chaos of 6 kids returning home and scrounging around for snacks. Their foster parents had two kids of their own and four foster kids including them. It was crowded and noisy, and there didn't seem to be a lot of food. Callie was able to grab a couple crackers from a box for her and Jude before the box was grabbed by another boy and taken away. A fight broke out among the boys downstairs, so they headed upstairs, but they came back down again when her foster sister turned up her music full blast. They decided to walk to the park to do their homework there. Callie and Jude had to be in separate bedrooms because of foster care rules about boys and girls not sharing a room over the age of six. Jude shared a room with a 6 year old boy who wet his bed every night, and Callie with a teenage girl with pink hair and piercings who didn't talk to her. There was another bedroom with two teenage boys who always seemed to be in trouble.

Their foster mom Sue came home from work at 7 PM and threw together a pot of spaghetti with sauce from a jar for dinner. Callie made sure she grabbed enough for Jude before it was gone. Their foster dad was working a night shift. Their foster parents seemed nice enough but just exhausted with work and life. The kids were pretty much left to fend for themselves. Callie didn't mind this. Neglect was better than abuse, and she felt like she could take care of Jude and herself, even at 13. She felt very tired at night though, although she had a hard time falling asleep, listening to the vibrating beat of music coming from her foster sister's ipod.

xoxoxo

The next morning, Callie was late again after taking Jude to his school. This time she got a tardy slip from the office. Luckily, no one had noticed her missing her last class yesterday.

When she came to class, Mariana whispered to her, "Where did you disappear to yesterday?"

Callie shrugged, "I had to go get my little brother from school. Did you tell?"

Mariana shook her head, "Of course not!"

Callie smiled.

At lunch, Mariana said, "If you keep skipping last period, they're going to notice, you know."

Callie shrugged again, "I don't really care."

"I'll try to cover for you. I'll tell the teacher you got sick and went home today, but you can't do it every day."

"Thanks, Jude might be okay after a few days anyway," Callie replied.

Mariana asked, "Want to come over on Saturday to work on that history project?" They were assigned partners for a project in class.

"I have to take care of Jude," Callie replied.

"You can bring him with you."

Callie nodded okay. She was curious about seeing where Mariana lived anyway.

She had bad luck skipping out of of her last class though. Lena happened to be coming around the corner down the hallway when Callie opened the back door to slip out. Lena yelled out, "Hey!", but Callie just ran without looking back. Her heart was beating fast all the way to Jude's school. She tried to put it out of her mind as they did their homework that night.

xoxoxo

The next morning, Callie was late as usual. She walked up to the office with a feeling of dread in her stomach. She knew she'd be in trouble from skipping out yesterday right in front of the vice principal. Lena immediately stepped out and called her into her office,

"Callie, I saw you leaving school yesterday before the last period. And your teacher said that this is a regular pattern for you. Is there a reason you're skipping your last class?"

Callie fidgeted in her chair and shrugged.

Lena continued, "You seem to be having trouble getting to school on time and staying the whole day. I think we should have a meeting with your parents and see what's going on."

"I don't have parents," Callie replied angrily. "And I doubt my foster parents would come to a meeting anyway."

Lena looked at her with concern and gently said, "Callie, please tell me why you're skipping class. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

Callie was surprised that Lena cared. She was prepared to get detention or something but not to answer questions. Lena just stared at her pointedly while Callie wondered what she should say.

Callie finally admitted, "Umm, I take my little brother Jude to school in the morning and pick him up afterwards, but his school ends earlier than mine…."

Lena looked up in surprise, "Okay, I'm glad you told me. We can work with that."

They worked out a plan that Callie would take Jude to his school earlier in the mornings for breakfast, and Jude would walk to Callie's school after his school day and wait in the office with Lena for Callie to be done.

Callie left Lena's office feeling relieved. She was surprised that Lena had listened to her and worked with her to come up with a plan. She wasn't used to adults listening to her or trusting her, and she wasn't used to trusting adults either. Surprisingly, she found herself trusting Lena. It felt strange, but good.