Chapter 1

I walked back to the Cleveland apartment I shared with my aunt, dragging my bad leg behind me. The thin, yellow plastic bag with the half-gallon of cold milk thumped against my good one.

The heat of late August lingered over the city, creating a drowsy atmosphere. Everyone was wearing shorts except me, making me stick out like a sore thumb. I never wore anything that exposed my leg; it was too embarrassing.

I stopped in the small lobby of the apartment building, which was pretty much a foyer with a door, an elevator and a set of stairs. Looking around, I made sure my aunt wasn't around, then turned my back to the elevator and headed towards the stairs. I always did that when I was alone; I used the elevator when my aunt was with me to make her feel better.

I tried to ascend the stairs as lightly and silently as possible, which was difficult due to my poor leg. Using the railing, I pulled myself up to each step, and then swung my disabled leg around onto the step next to my good one. When I finally reached the top, I limped toward the door of my apartment and began to fumble with the keys.

My aunt was talking inside.

"-don't think it's time. She's not ready!"

Her Irish accent was heavy, the way it got when she was agitated and worried.

"Her birthday is next week," a man's voice replied. Dad's voice. "Rebecca will be thirteen. All of us promised to-"

"I understand that!" Aunt Shannon snapped. I flinched at the sharpness in her voice as I quietly opened the door and slid inside. It was rare for her to speak like that and when she did, it was scary.

My aunt must have realized how harsh she had sounded because she sighed as if she were exhausted. "I know you mean well," she said to my dad, "but how will she be treated? You know, with her leg..."

My face turned hot with embarrassment when she said that. Like a fox peeking out of its burrow, I poked my head into the living room to see their backs turned toward me. Good. The last thing I wanted was to interrupt their conversation. Then I'd never know what they were talking about.

"Rebby will be fine," my dad assured Aunt Shannon. Rebby was his nickname for me. In my opinion, it was a strange name, but when it came from his mouth it sounded awesome. "Shannon, what you're doing won't work forever. I know that you ask to be transferred at work often. But they'll catch up. To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't encountered one yet."

"And it's possible she never will," Aunt Shannon countered. "What's the point of sending her there if there is no threat?"

"There will be threats," my dad responded, a little impatiently. Their talk was beginning to scare me. He made it sound like I was being stalked by blood-thirsty murderers. "It's only a matter of time. And, like I said, we promised him-"

"I get that. But I don't want to lose her, like I lost my sister."

There was a solemn and mournful moment of silence. She meant my mom, who had died when I was young. It seemed so long ago since her funeral, since I'd been living with my aunt that I could barely remember her. I only had fuzzy memories of her.

My dad broke the silence. "You'll lose her if you keep her," he said quietly. "Let her go. She'll be happy there. And safe. She won't be alone. She'll have siblings and…"

I didn't hear the rest of his sentence.

Siblings.

I was thrown into immediate shock. A huge lump formed in my throat.

He had other kids. And I never knew.

The key ring slipped from my sweaty and numb fingers, hitting the floor with a jangle.

The conversation in the living room stopped abruptly.

"Siblings!" I said, outraged as they turned to see me standing in the entrance of the room. "You have other kids, and you never told me! Is that where you've been every other day of the year, raising a family?"

My dad opened his mouth to speak, but I intercepted the chance, staring directly into his shocked, blue eyes as I spoke. "You could have been honest! You're not my father! You're a liar!" And with that, I was out the front door at the speed of lightning.

Within the next minute, my dad and aunt recovered from their shock and were at the door, desperately calling me to come back.

But I was already gone.