Author's Note: My second attempt at a Remember the Titans story, and hopefully this one doesn't suck as much! I don't own anyone, but I wouldn't mind if I did. Anyway, have fun reading!

I hated the airport. Everyone bustled around my brother, sister and I, knowing their destinations.

We however, had no idea where we were headed. None of us had heard of Alexandria, Virginia. We wished we never had, because the only reason we were here was because of a tragedy.

"I'm hungry," my older sister, Summer, murmured.

"You look it," I muttered, referring to the amount of weight she'd lost from her already tiny frame.

Summer's twin, Sky, sighed loudly in impatience. "When's this jerk gonna get here?" he demanded.

"Don't call him a jerk," Summer snapped. "He's taking us in, isn't he? And besides, he's Mom's brother."

"Was," Sky corrected. "Was Mom's brother."

Pulling my heavy suitcase onto my lap, I rested my chin on it. I wanted to go home. I wanted to know where home was.

"He doesn't even care about us," Sky said bitterly. "He doesn't want us. We're just an obligation or something."

"Shut up, Sky," Summer sighed, raking a shaky hand through her long wavy brown hair. "He could've told the social worker that he didn't want us, and then we could have all just got shipped off to different foster homes."

"Well, why haven't we ever even heard of this guy? Mom never talked about him. She mustn't have cared for him."

"Who cares about Mom ever thought?" I whispered, unheard.

A light-haired man approached us, holding hands with a little blond girl with corkscrew curls. "Are you the Weavers?" he asked, his voice dripping with Southern drawl.

"Yes," Summer said, standing up and shaking his hand. "I'm Summer, that's Sky, and this is Lyric."

"I'm your uncle Bill," he said. "This is your cousin Sheryl." He lowered his voice to a gentle whisper. "I'm so sorry, kids. Your mom was a special lady."

Sky snorted. Summer elbowed him. I looked up at my new uncle and smiled politely. But none of us thanked him for his condolences.

Uncle Bill pulled into his driveway after the quiet but courteous car ride from the airport. The three of us looked up curiously at our new home. I tried to imagine myself coming home from school everyday to this house, but couldn't. I wanted Maine back. Maine had been home. Tears built up in my eyes as I climbed out of the car.

Summer noticed. She took my hand and squeezed it. "We'll be okay, kiddo."

"I have Sky in the far room down the hall here," Uncle Bill announced, inside the nicely furnished house. "And then I thought you girls could share a room? I've got two beds set up in the room next to Sheryl's upstairs. There's not a lot of room, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, we don't have a lot anyway," Summer told him.

Sheryl, her cherubic face filled with sympathetic interest, offered, "I'll take you upstairs to your room."

The room was small, the walls painted white. But there was a beautiful view of the entire, rustic town. We thanked Sheryl softly, and she left us alone to pack with a shy smile. Summer told me that I could have the bed under the window so I could look out at the town.

I looked at my sister and began to cry. I wasn't sure why, but all the dams inside of me broke and soon my shoulders were trembling with sobs.

Summer pulled me near to her, into her arms. "Shh," she whispered. "We're going to make it, Lyric. We're strong. Don't give up now."

"Don't give up like Mom," I murmured bitterly.

"Mom was sad," she reminded me.

"So am I." I nestled my face into the crook of her neck and prayed for my mama.

Dinner was somewhat awkward. Uncle Bill and Summer both tried to keep up a conversation, but Sky was mad at the world as usual, I didn't have much energy after such a long week, and I think Sheryl was just unsure of what to say.

"Do you play football, Sky?" Uncle Bill asked, taking a sip of his milk.

Sky looked up, suddenly interested. "Yeah, I played some back home. Why?"

Sheryl sat up straight in her seat, her feet curled up under her. "Daddy's the assistant coach at the high school. Our team was undefeated last year. We had a perfect season."

Uncle Bill looked at Sky for a moment curiously. "You think you'd be interested in trying out?"

Appearing indecisive for a moment, Sky shrugged, popped a forkful of peas into his mouth and said, "Yeah, maybe."

"Camp starts August seventeenth. Coach Boone's only requirement for making the team is you've gotta survive camp." He smiled. "You're a little on the skinny side, but I think you could stick it out for two weeks."

"I appreciate that," Sky muttered, not interested anymore.

"What grades are you going into?" he asked.

Summer looked at me, expecting me to actually say something. I smirked, gave her a playfully dirty look and then told him, "I'm going into Grade Eleven. They're going into twelve."

"Either of you girls thinking about going for the cheerleading squad?"

I scoffed, but Summer replied, "Thinking about it, yeah."

I scoffed again. Summer looked like a cheerleader. She was small, her face uncommonly pretty with her big amber eyes and her friendly smile. She would fit right in. I wouldn't. I usually didn't. It's not as if I was a completely hideous cow, I was just shy and introverted. People didn't typically embrace me.

"Are you all excited about starting at a new school?" our uncle wondered, probably running out of things to say.

Sky rolled his eyes, pushed away his plate and looked off into the distance. Uncle Bill noticed and looked slightly offended.

I wasn't looking forward to much of anything anymore, but I definitely couldn't wait for Sky to head off to football camp.