Ok, here's chapter one! I hope you like it. (: This is my first time, so it might really suck right now.

xxx

It had been a couple of months since Rosie's coranation and Carter had not seen her at all since then. Everything had changed, though.

Chelsea was no longer the queen of the school and Brooke had decided that she would not be her friend anymore. Donny had turned into a joke because he got turned down by Carter Mason, the girl he had kissed under the basket ball hoop in third grade, during Homecoming. Carter didn't realize it until now. Everyone changed. Chelsea, not being at the top anymore, couldn't get the best of Carter or any of the other girls. Brooke focused more on her studies, and Brainless Bull, as Brooke had now nicknamed him, had turned into Braniac Bull. He actually tried in school now because he had to rep to follow up to.

Carter was happy with these changes, but she wished that Rosie was there to see it.

Carter entered her house and yelled, "Dad, I'm home!"

She was stunned when she heard no reply. Her first thought was, He's on a mission. But she thought throughly and thought, Why didn't he tell me?!

She ran outside to see his car wasn't there. She entered the bait shop and scanned for him. He had to be messing with her. She ran back into her house. He wasn't in the bathroom. Or the living room. Or his own room. She ran into hers, thinking any minute he would jump up and tickle her like he always did when he pulled a stunt like this one. She held her sides and looked under the bed.

"Dad?! It's not funny, where are you?" she yelled and went to the kitchen. He wasn't there either. She ran outside and looked around again. She saw Ernie, an old man that always came by the Joe's Bait, the name of their bait shop. "Ernie, have you seen my dad? I can't find him."

"I was just about to ask you that," Ernie said scratching his hair. "I haven't seen him. I was going to buy some bait since I'm going fishing with my grandson."

"Sure, Ernie," Carter said and went into the counter, used her key to unlock the back and took out a bucket the size that Ernie always bought when he was fishing with his grandson. She brought it back to the counter.

Ernie offered her the money but she said, "No, no, no, Ernie. It's on the house."

"You sure?" Ernie asked.

"Positive. I have Dad's full permission. You are our best customer, so discount," Carter said, locking the door and running to the back. She looked around to see if she saw her dad. She didn't. She ran back to the house and started shaking. She was terribly scared now. Where was he? Why wasn't he here?

"Are you Carter Mason?" a feminine voice asked. Carter turned around to see this strange, well-dressed lady with bright red lipstick and her brown hair tied in a bun tightly.

"Yes," Carter looked at her up and down. Maybe her dad had brought another princess. "Who are you? Why are you in my house? Did my dad bring you?"

"I'm Analise Johnson. No, your dad didn't bring me. I'm here because something happened," she looked at Carter with pity in her eyes. "Your dad. He died this morning."

"What?" Carter exclaimed, she suddenly started shaking and tears started to fall from her cheeks. This is a nightmare. Wake up, Carter! Wake up! Once you do, everything will be fine. You dad will be standing there, waiting for you to come to breakfast. This isn't real. This isn't real. She almost convinced herself it was a nightmare, she even tried pinching herself awake, but it didn't work.

"I'm here to pick you up and take you to Lake Monroe's Home For Girls," she continued, almost as if she didn't see Carter was crying. She didn't make the slightest movement to comfort her.

"But... that's an orphanage," Carter whispered. Her voice rose. She never expected it to crack the way it did. "I'm not an orphan! My dad is alive! This isn't real. There's no such thing as you. This is a nightmare. Or a bad joke," she looked around the house again. "Very funny, Dad, come out! Rosie? Are you back from Costa Luna? Where are you guys?! It's not funny," the tears started to fall faster. "Ed, if you are videotaping this, I am so going to kill you!"

"I'm afraid it's not a joke, Ms. Mason. He died in a car accident this morning. I'm sorry, you have to come with me," Analise insisted.

"My name is not Ms. Mason. It's Carter! I know you're lying!" Carter shouted in tears. You're lying. Analise grabbed her wrists trying to calm her down.

"Carter, I wish I was," Analise responded. "You're not making my job any easier."

"You're lying!" Carter yelled again in tears. Analise pushed her to the couch trying to calm her down.

"Carter, listen to me," Analise used a strict tone now. Carter looked at her, her eyes wet, shaking her head as Analise spoke. "You're going to get in the car with me, or I'm going to have to call reforcement. Understood? The police is right outside right now..."

"How come I didn't hear them coming? I didn't see them," Carter cut her off.

"That's because they just came as we were talking. Carter, listen. You can either just get in the car with me, or you'll have to get in it by force," her voice was nice, soft, but she still held that tone that told Carter she had to do what she said. "Understand? Go pack."

Carter nodded, went to her room, packed everything she could, and followed Analise Johnson into the car. Carter watched from the window as the police men entered her house and searched inside the home. Carter couldn't hold back tears.

Before she knew it, Analise pulled up to the old, gray building with a plack in the front that read Lake Monroe's Home for Girls. The scene of the front reminded her of a modern version of the movie Annie, except girls ran around everywhere, and weren't cleaning. Some of the older girls were sitting staring at the car as it pulled over. As Carter got off, the girls' sad looking faces told her she was not going to have fun.

So that's Chapter One! Tell me what you think. 3