They giggled and pointed at me. Like I couldn't see or hear them. They pointed at the headphones in my ears, and the book in my hands. I listened to books on CD while attempting to read the book; I thought it might help me with my dyslexia. Right now I was reading the four released books from the Percy Jackson series for the hundredth time.

I just rolled my eyes at them and sat back in the bus seat and closed my eyes. My friend Skylar shook me back to reality when our stop came along. I stepped on the foot of one of the girls who had just been making fun of me. I didn't mean to do it, but I didn't say sorry either.

The other girls all went inside. I stood and looked at the sign. Richmond County Home for Girls. Fancy words for an orphanage. I have been here for as long as I could remember. I don't even know how I came to be here, I didn't have the courage to ask the administrators. For all I know, my parent's last name wasn't even Carpenter, and I was just given that name so that I wouldn't have to only be known as Hayden. And I don't even know how I got that name.

I walked inside. Ms. Donna greeted me as I walked in. I gave her a quick wave before heading up the stairs to my room. My room was the room designated for the girls ages 10 to 12. I am at the bottom of that spectrum. There are ten of us exactly and the room is dominated by five bunk beds. An old TV sits in the corner, it's static-y and off color. That's the place that the majority of the girls in my room spend their afternoons. I was usually one of them, but today I was devoted to my reading, which was really mostly listening to the voice that said things just a little too slow.

I had claims to the bottom bunk on the side of the room closest to the window. My best friend Skylar was already adjusted in her bunk above me. She was probably watching the TV from up there, but I couldn't be sure.

For a while I tried to read without listening to the CD, but I wound up getting so frustrated that I gave it up altogether. I joined Skylar above me. She was half listening to music, half watching TV. She smiled at me as I climbed the tiny ladder. We watched the TV for a while before she finally spoke.

"You wanna go out and play basketball?" she asked me while she looked out at the basketball court.

"Sure," I said as I started to make my way off the bed. We'd managed to get two more recruits for a small game before heading out. Me and Skylar were a team against Lexi and Lauren. Two of the older girls in our room.

We played the game until it started to rain, at which point it was almost time for dinner anyway. I went into one of the dingy old bathrooms to wash up. Looking in the mirror, something seemed to be off. I swear that I could see a slight glow around myself, like I was lit up. Granted, the same mirror made my skin tinge green so it was probably nothing. I shook my head and then went out to join the other girls in line for food.

The Home serves as a place for girls from babies to age 17. Once they turn 18 they set them off on their own, whether they have what they need to make it or not. That's why most of the girls older than 15 are never here. As soon as you are able to get a job, you get a job. Even some of the girls just a little older than me are doing odd jobs for neighbors in walking distance. There are about 40 of us, give or take. And only about five of them were younger than me, because the younger you are, the more people want to adopt you, for whatever reason.

The dinner line was similar to a buffet line. You walk with your plates through the cooks' kitchen and grab everything that comes your way. We are usually served milk or water with dinner. No soda for any of us.

I sat at one of the two long tables next to Skylar and a 16-year-old girl named Victoria. Dinner tonight was mashed potatoes and sliced ham. Ms. Donna and a few other administrators were starting their nightly routine of talking to some of the girls, asking how their day was, how the food was, blah, blah, blah. I know that they tried to make us feel like we were a family and that we had a place where we belonged, but I would rather them treat us like what we are, orphans. I would rather be treated like garbage than to be in the middle of the illusion of family they tried to create for us. I don't like fake.

"Hello, Hayden," I looked up, it was Miss Michelle. "How was your day today?" I could have told her what she wanted to hear, that my day was good, short and sweet. But I didn't.

"Girls on the bus were making fun of me for my dyslexia," I tried to say it in a way that didn't seem like I was trying to earn sympathy, but I'm not sure if it came out like that.

"Oh, well that's okay, you're just different, that's all," then she moved on to talk to Skylar. What? I'm just different? What's that supposed to mean?

Victoria laughed beside me. Even when I turned to look at her she didn't bother to try to hide it. I guess I don't like Victoria anymore…

As soon as Miss Michelle moved on to the kids at the next table Skylar turned to me.

"'You're just different'? What kind of comfort is that? Some family this is…" Skylar was like me. She wanted a family more than anything. She would kill for that family. But until then she doesn't want a fake one. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, turning back to my food.

After dinner ended, they made us all go out in the courtyard, of sorts, and just play around. They thought that this was some form of bonding, but most people just found it annoying because after dinner we wanted to go to our rooms and relax.

The four of us playing before decided to continue our game. More and more girls eventually joined in though, so we never did decide the winners of the original game. The sun finally set, and we were instructed to go back inside, and go to our rooms.

Despite the fact that I've lived with the same group of girls all my life, I never got to the point where I was comfortable changing in front of them. So I hung up my blankets under Skylar's mattress and changed in my little cave, just like every night. And then I took them down and went to sleep.