Full Summary:

A new mystery has come to the BobWhites. A teen girl has come to live with the Belden's for the summer & is staying in the guest room. How do the Belden kids react to having her around during the summer? How does the teen react to being around a close knit family unit? Will they eventually end up adopting her? Will she finally have a home?

Annabeth Jackson:

The Loser:

Anna knew that nobody liked her, she knew this and yet she still tried to be nice to everyone and anyone she met. She was a child, orphaned at the age of six from a car accident that killed her parents and younger sister. She had been the sole survivor and in the process had lost a lung because of the internal bleeding she had sustained during the crash. Nobody seemed to want to play with her when she was growing up in the Group Home. And most people didn't want older kids when looking for a child to adopt. So when it came time for people to start looking for a child again, and she could always time it to the exact time of month, she would get the younger kids ready, making sure they were clean and well behaved before taking them to see their perspective new parents.

She was always helping out. Getting older meant that the orphanage and group home where she was frequently from one to the other month by month would need more people to help them with those perspective parents looking for younger kids to add to their families. Anna knew that she was too old to be adopted by people looking for younger kids. And the younger kids may not have liked her but they knew enough to know that if they were going to get adopted, it was Anna they needed to look to to help them get ready.

Anna had learned at an early age, shortly after the car accident, that when a child is injured, most people tend to overlook the child, thinking that they are not worthy of being adopted (not true, but in this story it is). She had had a family that was willing to adopt her until one of the nuns at the orphanage had mentioned the car accident and then they had said that they didn't want her anymore. She had remembered that day because it was the day she thought she was going to be getting a new family.

Now, being about fifteen and knowing that all she was ever going to get was either the orphanage or the group home, she was content on keeping the other kids in line as much as possible and making sure they were well behaved for the people that wanted to adopt them. That was until the parents of four came to the group home looking for an addition to the family. They told the nuns at the group home that they were looking for a girl about the age of fourteen or fifteen, a sister for the daughter they already had. The nuns told them to hang on and went to find Anna.

The Belden's:

Sister Rebecca came and called me to come with her. I was in my room which I had all to myself. The other kids weren't there long enough to get a room. But at the orphanage, I had my own room because I had been there the longest. She said that there was a couple at the group home (which was right across the street) that was looking for someone to spend the summer with there family. They were looking for a girl about fourteen or fifteen to be a sister to their only daughter.

We walked over to the group home together. Sister Rebecca was explaining to me that the couple wanted someone their daughter's age, someone she could get along with. Almost all of the kid's in the orphanage and group home were younger then twelve. There were a few kids older then me, but they were in foster homes already and weren't at the group home at the moment. We entered the office and I noticed that the family looked very nice. The people smiled at us as we walked in and then proceeded to introduce themselves.

"Hi, we're the Belden's. And you must be Annabeth. Sister Anne has told us a lot about you. We are sorry for how you got into the system but we would like to give this summer a try and let you come live with us for awhile. What do you think?" Mr. Belden said.

"Yes, my name is Annabeth, but everyone calls me Anna. Annabeth is normally used by the Sisters when I'm not in the mood of listening or when I want some alone time and just wander off. The Sisters use it when they want to get me to pay attention. I would like to spend the summer with your family. It would be very pleasing to be out of the Orphanage and Group Home for the summer, no offense Sisters."

"None taken Anna, you deserve a summer away from everything here in the city. We'll help you pack up your belonging so you can take them with you. And if you decide to come back at all, your room will still be waiting."

"Thank you Sister Anne. You and the rest of the Sisters have always been so nice to me over the years. I don't know what I would have done had you not allowed me to stay and help out with the other children, though they have yet to appreciate my being around them."

"They aren't around long enough to get to know you the way we have Anna. You go have fun this summer, we'll be waiting when school starts back up." Sister Rebecca said.

"I know you will. Let me go pack and we should be good to leave today, that is if you want to leave today?"

"We wish to bring you home with us today. Trixie and the boys are staying with the Wheelers till we get back. We told them that they could stay till Sunday, even though we were planning on being back tonight." Mrs. Belden said.

"I see. Will they want me ruining there summer?"

"You won't be ruining it. As far as I can say, they will like having someone else around. A sister is all Trixie has ever wanted and that was even before the Wheelers moved in to be our neighbors." Mr. Belden said.

"Trixie must have a best friend who is a girl then if you are neighbors with the Wheelers."

"Yes, Honey is a very good friend to Trixie but we figured that Trixie would want a real sister, one who lived in the house with her instead of up the hill from her." Mrs. Belden said.

"So they do not know that you are going to be bringing me home then. Will I not be a burden from the start if they do not know about me?"

"You are not going to be a burden, trust us; they will like you, though it may take a few days to get to know you and all." The Belden's said together.

"I see. Then let me go pack and I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

"You don't need more time to pack?"

"The Sisters have paid me for odd jobs that I do around the Orphanage and Group Home and I normally buy odd things that I like. I did end up buying a portable laptop so that I could write my journal down and so the other kids couldn't look into my paper journal anymore. And I also bought some music that I like very much. But other than that, I have very little I need to pack."

"We see, well let us know if you need any help getting your stuff into the car. We'll wait here for you to come back."

"Thank you and I don't think I'll need help but thank you anyways. Sister Rebecca, will you help me please?"

"Of course, Anna."

Sister Rebecca and Anna left the Group Home and wandered back over to the Orphanage. Anna went straight to her room while Sister Rebecca grabbed some things from the kitchen. Sister Rebecca knew that Anna would want some of the recipes that she had used to make good food over the years for the younger kids. The recipes had come from the internet, and even though Anna wasn't Hindi, she seemed to love learning new and exotic recipes. Anna came out of her room with her backpack and a small duffel bag-the contents of her room-and met Sister Rebecca in the kitchen. Sister Rebecca handed the copied recipes to Anna who put them in her backpack, then the two headed back over to the Group Home after Anna locked the door to her room and pocketed the key.

Once over at the Group Home, the Belden's helped Anna with her stuff, told the nuns goodbye and drove off, back to Sleepyside with Anna in the back. Anna looked at the scenery as they drove, before falling asleep to some of the music she had in her CD player. Would the Belden kids like her? Or would they be like everyone else that met her?