Ch 1. Bio and The Adventure Begins!

Hello, my name is Galetea Evans. I was a normal girl of eighteen years, just until recently, right up until I . . . – well for lack of a better word, fell into Middle Earth.

I was working my way up in school, taking all the advanced courses I could: AP Spanish, AP European History, Pre-AP everything, you name it. I was working on getting a drivers' license. I was even on the school newspaper team, writin' up a storm. Was one of the few oboe players that graced my school with their talent. I happened to be a contradictory percussion player. I had friends who were just as wacked as I was. And was the typical blonde, blue-eyed, smarty pants that was graced with a sarcastic humor.

I was creative, I had friends, I had a loving foster family – and then I had to go and screw things up.

That day was the greatest and worst day of my life.

I awoke to the usual unceremonious thumping on my dingy little bedroom door.

"Galetea, get up, you lazy bones. You need to get ready for school!" Kari, my foster mother, yelled.

Whippy! . . . Another day another headache. . . I thought sarcastically rolling out of bed while groaning and stretching.

I was an orphan . . . the US seemed to be teeming with us and yet, at the surface an outsider looking in wouldn't be able to tell. My parents had mysteriously disappeared at my birth, leaving me to fend for myself in this socially retarded world. I had been in the foster care system since before I could remember. I was currently staying with the only foster family that would take care of an eighteen year old girl with raging hormones and a mind. What can I say? My life and education was expensive, what with the changing trends and school activities.

I stepped into my bathroom and turned on the faucet so it would be warm when I came back. I pulled out a pair of mid-thigh jean shorts, a blue tank top and a grey cardigan. After going through the normal boring routine of washing up and eating, I dashed out the door to walk the half mile to school.

The school day was what I considered 'the norm': uneventful, the usual, pop quiz, boring day.

It was a nice day so I decided to take my time going home. The trees of the forest on the other side of the street was beautiful, and walking next to it was thought cleansing.

Today was a special day I could just feel it.

Or I'm just going insane from all of this estrogen . . . I thought sarcastically, just as my phone started singing, 'Blinding' by Florence + The Machine. As I flipped it open I registered that the phone number was from Arin, my foster father, and regretted wholeheartedly that I had answered. Sure he was nice, but the guy talked and talked.

"Galetea speaking." I said formally while puffing out my chest in dignity.

"Hey, Kiddo! How was your day today?" The Ken look alike asked from the other end of the line.

"Just dandy, Arin. It was like sniffing a flower, an easy breezy day, what more could a bored senior ask for?" I retorted.

"Well, I'm glad, your mom and I are making a special dinner tonight! It's going to be totally green, no meat what-so-ever. I think you'll enjoy some veggies once in a while." He said all excitedly.

Great. . . no meat on this already bland day. . . you'd think that after a few months of housing me they'd realize that I was soooo not up to becoming vegan. . . no offense or anything to those people who are . . . it's just . . . I like my meat all day, everyday! Dang it!

"Sounds utterly offensive. Why did you call me again, Arin?" I asked disappointed.

"Well, sweet daughter of mine, first of all call me 'Dad' if you will and second, I just wanted to warn you not to stray into the forest. People get lost in there you know?" He chuckled at the end like it was all one big joke.

"You remind me every day." I retorted slumping my shoulders as I sighed. I decided to ignore the first part of his request.

"Just be careful sweetheart and look both ways! I'll see you at home!" He said before hanging up.

"Yeah, yeah . . . see you later too, Arin. . ." I mumbled as I stashed my phone in my backpack.

Not but a few minutes later did I see a small child. He had curly, light brown hair, didn't seem to be wearing any shoes and was grumbling like an old man. Come to think of it, he had wrinkles and stubby little fingers. I squinted and kept walking towards the creature.

As I was scrutinizing the little thing he saw me and darted into the forest.

"Hey! Wait, no one's supposed to go in there!" I yelled and ran after the thing.

'Thing' . . . what a nice name . . . Well what else was I supposed to call a child that looked to be older than me . . . a hobbit, I mean come on, I wasn't about to call it a midget, that would be rude.

I felt like Alice as I darted through the trees after my quarry. I almost slipped several times as I attempted to amp up my speed. Bad idea. I almost fell on my butt.

Wow, that bugger is fast! I was already short of breath and just wanted to sit and rest, but I would not let my body's fatigue rule my judgment. This was the most exciting thing that had happened to me since they stationed me in the outskirts of some small, little Oklahoma town.

The forest around us seemed to grow brighter and brighter, which was odd since it was supposed to get dark as the sun goes down, not the other way around.

The hobbit thing, as I came to call it in my angered, running state, suddenly disappeared into the light that was right in front of the two of us, as if he stepped out of the forest and into a clearing.

I ran the rest of the distance towards said light and immediately tripped and face planted in soft, green grass. I groaned and looked up.

My eyes widened, I was surrounded by rolling grassy knolls. And one more thing . . . there were little people everywhere.

Where am I? . . . I'm not Alice, and this sure as hell isn't Wonderland!

Hey all you viewers out there, this is my first fanfic eva! So I've been reading stories on here for a while now and decided it was my turn to return the favor to the FanFiction community. I'm on my school's newspaper and thought that writing is better than sitting in my room and drawing. So what do you guys think? I'm a little rusty on my LOTR so I'm going to watch the movies over and over and ov- you see where this is going. I know it's short and all but hey, it's something! ^^

Hope you guys liked chapter one! Review please~