RACHEL'S POV

"Rachel!" my foster mother yelled from downstairs. "Get off the computer and come and eat dinner!"

"All right, I'm coming!" I yelled back. Ugh. She is so bossy sometimes. I know she took me in and all, but I just wished she would leave me alone for a while.

I'm not even on the computer. I'm painting!

See, I want to be an artist, a real professional artist. It's my lifelong dream. I don't want to go insane and cut off my ear, though. I just want to create beautiful pieces of art.

I am currently painting a piece I call "Invisible", which is of a young girl huddled in a corner while people walk right past her, paying no attention to her. I know I was a bit sad when I started painting it. But it's how I get my emotions out, by painting.

I put down my paintbrush and started to walk out of my room when I tripped. Ow. I looked back at what I and fallen on and it was a book. Ah, not just any book, a black book that had the title Eclipse on it. Now don't suddenly judge me and assume I'm a crazy Twilight fan. I'm not. I just read them in my spare time, because they're pretty good books.

I got up and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. My foster family was already sitting at the table and, no surprise, had started eating dinner without me.

By the way, I have four foster siblings. Talia is 13, Brendon is nine, Travis is eight, and Suzy is five. I'm the oldest, at 17. We look nothing alike, mostly because we aren't related. But I'm the most different because I have brown hair and red eyes. None of them do. I've lived with them for about two years. You see, my parents died when I was 10, in a fire. So, I ended up in foster care. I've lived with my fair share of families by now.

I sat down at the table and served myself some of the macaroni we were having. Yum.

I sat next to Travis. His face was covered in cheese.

"Slow down, Travis," I told him.

He set down his fork. He was already done. "Too bad, I'm already finished," he said, leaving the table.

I rolled my eyes. Boys will be boys.

My foster mom, Sara, looked at me. "So…how was school today, Rachel?"

"The usual," I replied, "boring."

"School is very important, Rachel," my foster dad, Chris, explained. "You will never get into a good college or get a good job if you don't get good grades."

"Artists don't need school," I argued. "My paintings will sell for millions."

"Yeah right," Talia said. Gosh, she's annoying.

I laughed. "If my dream won't come true, your dream of being a famous singer is definitely not going to happen."

"Meanie," she muttered.

"Girls," my mom warned us. "Just eat your food and stop bickering."

"I would be glad to." I then took a bite of my macaroni.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Rachel! Rachel, wake up! You're late for school!"

Aw crap.

I quickly put on a pair of shorts and a Hollister tee. I quickly applied makeup and did my best to make my hair look suitable.

"Get in the car, Rachel!" Sara yelled from the garage.

Could this day get any worse?

~*~*~*~*~*~

I walked into my first class, Government, with Mr. Johnson. I was late, and he was currently in the middle of a lecture.

I gave him my slip and he gave me an annoyed look. I quickly sat down next to my best friend, Cassie Cecile. She has brown hair and brown eyes and is about the same height I am.

She looked at me sympathetically. "Alarm didn't go off?"

I sighed. "Yep."

"At least you got to miss Mr. Johnson's fabulous lecture on World War II," Cassie said.

World War II is boring, but Mr. Johnson makes it even more boring.

"I'd rather listen to Mike Newton," I said.

"Me too."

"Rachel?" I heard Mr. Johnson say. "What was I just talking about?"

"Hitler?" Everyone laughed at that. Or were they laughing at me?

He sighed. "No, Rachel. Next time, stop talking and pay attention."

"Yes, sir."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, I had made it through half the day. Boy was I hungry. Oh yeah, I didn't have breakfast.

I got a hamburger and tater tots. Then I looked for my boyfriend, Seth Miller. He has sandy brown hair and green eyes. He is so cute. We'd been going out for about six months. He was sitting at a table not too far from me. I took my lunch and sat down across from him.

"Hey, Seth."

He looked troubled. "Um…Rachel, we need to talk."

"Talk about what?"

"Well, you know the new girl?" he asked.

"You mean Sidney Lance?" I asked a little confused. "What about her?"

"Well, I got a chance to talk to her yesterday and she asked me out on a date. I said yes."

He did not just say that. "Y-you're…breaking up with me?"

"Yes," he said, looking relieved. "I'm glad you understand."

I could not believe he just said that. I could feel tears on my cheeks. I heard the snickering of Michelle Leto and her stupid "friends". She's an annoying popular girl, and was unfortunately in earshot. I noticed Sidney Lance walking toward us.

I got up. "Have fun with your new girlfriend," I told Seth, running out of the cafeteria.

I wasn't very hungry anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I was in the girls' bathroom, crying in a stall, when Cassie found me.

"Rachel?" she called out. "Are you in there?"

"Y-yes," I said, sniffling. I cracked open the stall door and closed my eyes.

I felt her gently pull me out of the stall. I opened my eyes. I was looking into the bathroom mirror. I was a wreck. My face was red, my eyes were swollen, and my hair was a mess.

Cassie hugged me. "You poor thing…"

"Seth broke up with me," I sobbed.

"I heard. Forget about him. He's a jerk for leaving you, especially for another girl. Sidney is not even close to being prettier than you."

"Seth doesn't think so." I was ruining Cassie's shirt.

"No one cares about what he thinks."

I managed a half-smile. "You're such a good friend, Cassie."

"It's my job. Besides, you're a great person who deserves a much better boyfriend than Seth," Cassie said, letting go of me. "I think you should go home."

"Can I sleep at your house?"

Cassie grinned. "Of course you can! My mom would love that!"

"Thanks."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You can stay as long as you like," Cassie's mom told me. I was at Cassie's house.

"Thanks, Mrs. Cecile. I already called Sara and she said it was okay for me to spend the night."

"Have fun, girls," Mrs. Cecile said, walking out of Cassie's room.

"You are lucky you're an only child," I told Cassie.

"Lucky? It's so boring sometimes. I have no one to play with," Cassie said, shocked. "I would love to have a little sister that looked up to me."

"That's your opinion," I told her. "My foster siblings annoy the heck out of me."

Cassie laughed. "What do you want to do? I think you could use some cheering up."

"You're right," I agreed. "I'm a mess."

"Hey, I know what we could do! We can give each other makeovers!"

"That's a great idea!" I said, excitedly.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was now 10:00 PM, and I was tired. Cassie and I had given each other the full spa treatment. Then we ate pizza. Now we were gazing at the stars through Cassie's bedroom window.

"The sky is so beautiful," I sighed.

"Yeah. I like the constellations."

Suddenly a shooting star dashed across the sky.

"Make a wish, Rachel!" Cassie told me.

"I wish…" I started. For what, though? My life sucked right now, so why not wish for another one? It wasn't going to come true anyway. "I wish I was Bella Swan."

Cassie sighed. "I wish that too. She has Edward."

"Way to remind me of the man I can never have, Cassie."

She smiled.