Brooke Roberts had been teaching fourth grade for six years. In those six years, she had seen many students. Some had been angels, others had been slackers. Out of all of them, she had never grown attatched to any of them. That was until she met Rachel Carter. Rachel was different from the other kids at school. She was a lot tougher than the other girls, and even some of the boys. She was quiet compared to the energetic children that surrounded her. The one thing that really stood out to Brooke was how she didn't trust people. While other little girls around her were whispering secrets about anything and everything, Rachel kept quiet. Brooke even noticed that Rachel didn't seem very trusting around her own parents. She did, however, seem to trust Brooke. The two had grown close when Rachel decided to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get extra help with her homework. On this particular Thursday, Brooke couldn't help but notice how distracted Rachel was.

She had been distracted all day. Staring off into space, just looking lost. And now there she saw, staring at her spelling book, not moving. Brooke was sitting at her desk, watching, concerned.

"Rachel, sweetie, is everything okay?" she asked. Rachel looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just tired." she said in a quiet voice. She returned her focus to her book, trying to ignore the fact that Brooke was staring at her.

Brooke sighed and stood up. She walked towards Rachel's desk and then kneeled down so she was eye level with the girl.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again.

"I'm fine! Just leave me alone." Rachel snapped back. Brooke leaned back, shocked. She'd never heard Rachel yell. And she could have sworn that she heard a slight accent when she did, something that was very uncommon for the Kansas town that they lived in.

Rachel looked at her teacher and frowned. "Look, I'm sorry. I haven't been feelin' well lately. Here, I'm done with my work." she said as she ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and handed it to Brooke.

Brooke looked over the work and smiled, forgetting about the little outburst from Rachel.

"It's perfect, like always." she said, handing it back to Rachel. She hesitated for a moment before asking the question that she had wanted an answer for all year long. "Rachel, honey, why is it you come after school to get help? You obviously don't need it."

Rachel looked down at her desk, then looked up again.

"I guess I just like comin' to school. I dunno why, but I like it. Is that so weird?" she asked. Brooke shook her head.

"No, it's just wouldn't you rather be spending time with your friends?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Ms. Roberts, I don't got many friends." she said as she closed her book and shoved it into her backpack.

"What about Ryan Johnson? He seems to like you." Brooke said, smiling.

"Oh please, my daddy would kill me if he knew I was talkin' to boys." she said, laughing and showing off her smile that Brooke hardly ever saw. It didn't last long, though.

"Are you close to your father?" Brooke asked. Rachel shrugged.

"I used to be."

Brooke nodded and stood up. She didn't want to push Rachel to tell her why she wasn't close to her father anymore. It wasn't her place to ask. She was a teacher, not a guidance counselor.

"Ms. Roberts, do you need any help around the classroom? I don't wanna go home yet." Rachel asked. Brooke nodded, pointing at an empty bulliten board in the back of the room.

"I was planning on putting up the recent artwork you all made. Would you like to help with that?" she asked. Rachel nodded..

"I'd love to help."

The two began hanging up the artwork. They worked in silence, just enjoying each other's company. They worked well together, with Rachel handing Brooke the projects, then Brooke would staple them. It wasn't until around the last piece of artwork that Rachel spoke again.

"It's my birthday today." she said in a whisper so faint, Brooke was almost sure she didn't hear it.

"I thought your birthday was months ago." she said, confused. Rachel shook her head no, and that's when Brooke saw the tears forming in her eyes. She placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort the child from whatever was wrong, but Rachel winced and backed away. Brooke was scared now. She'd never seen Rachel act like this, ever. She thought back to when she was younger and taking health class. Did girls get their periods this young? Maybe that was what was wrong with her, and she was just hormonal. But that didn't seem right.

"Rachel, sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, but as she asked, she could see that it was the wrong question. She saw the look in Rachel's eyes go from sad to angry.

"Don't call me Rachel! That ain't my name!" she yelled. Brooke looked at her, not knowing what to do. And this time, she knew she heard an accent.

"What do you mean that's not your name? If it isn't your name, then what is?" she asked carefully. She didn't want to freak her out even more than she already was. She looked at Rachel, or whoever it was, standing in front of her. She was now crying. Brooke didn't understand how they had gotten here. She had been distracted all day, but could it have been because nobody knew it was her birthday? But why would she say that Rachel wasn't her name? None of this made any sense. She looked at the girl and smiled, trying to reassure her that it was okay to talk. It worked.

"Lucy," she said between sobs, "my name's Lucy Messer."

It's a short start, but I'm planning on updating soon. Might be tonight, even. In the next chapter, you'll get more information about what's going on. But if you like it so far, you see that button down there? Click on it, and review please :)