"Mom have you seen-?" "Your dance shoes are under your bed." "I just checked there." My mom came into my room. "So if I check under your bed they're not going to be there?" "No!" I threw my hands up in the air. "So what's going to happen if I find them?" I shrugged sarcastically. "Ok if I find them under your bed then you kick after practice." "Fine, but you're not going to find them down there." She bent down and moved some things around. When she finally came up she had both my tan half soles and jazz shoes. "So I guess this means double the kicks?" She gave me one of her looks. "Yes ma'am." I grabbed my shoes from her and stuffed them in my bag. I pulled the bag over my shoulder along with my school bag. Spring break, unfortunately, came to an end.

My name is Scienna Jaxson and I'm fifteen years old. To start off, my real name wasn't Scienna Jaxson. My last name used to be Longoria, but I changed it when Jaxson's adopted me. See when I was born my mother relinquished her rights and the nurse who helped deliver me took me to a foster system. I've been in and out of foster homes pretty much all my life. When I was about twelve I was placed in a foster home that I thought I could possibly stick with. The Jaxson's were loving people that had nine year old and ten year old sons. Mrs. Jaxson was expecting their third and probably final child. I stayed there a few years trying to get used to not rebelling and not running away. For my thirteenth birthday Mrs. Lisa and Mr. Bill adopted me. I was finally apart of a family. So I now had two younger brothers and a baby sister. It was odd at first but I got used to it and liked it. Finally high school came. Mom was a teacher at the school she enrolled me in and she put my on the JV dance team without me knowing. I didn't know anything about dance and thought it would be really lame, but since mom was the assistant coach I stuck it out. And I thought mom dished out all this money and did this for me why not stick it out for her. Well it came to be that I love dance. I was a natural and my teacher and peers thought I had taken studio my entire life. The third week of school and dance I was promoted to the Varsity dance team without even tryouts. Of course some of the girls didn't like it since I was a freshman.

Now I'm a sophomore and have mom as one of my teachers and as my dance coach. "Sci can you grab Arianna?" Mom called from her room as I exited mine. "How does she do that?" I grumbled pulling my bag over my shoulder again. "Mom ears." She called back. "Of course." I muttered sarcastically. She just chuckled. I grabbed my baby sister, still asleep, and went down stairs. Mom already beat me there, so I just headed to the car. Mom grabbed my bags and the baby bag from me. I put Arianna in her car seat, buckled her up, and closed the door as softly as I could. She looked like an angel when asleep, but when she's awake she's like a little devil. Mom says it's just because she looks up to me and wants to be like me, which is fine, if only she would follow her brothers sometimes. Although she is cute in her own little way. On the ride to take Arianna to daycare and school I had my headphones in, when I noticed every chance she got, mom would look over at me and smile. I took one of my headphones out. "What?" I looked at her skeptically. "Nothing just… you've grown up so fast." "Mom I'm only fifteen, and I've only been with you since I was twelve." "Still, you're my little girl, and three years have passed by. You're fifteen, in two years you'll be graduating… and…" I could see tears gather at the corners of her eyes. "Mom I promise you I'm never ever leaving you. I'll always be your baby girl, although I think Arianna would argue." She chuckled and glance back at her baby still asleep. She still didn't look convinced though. "What is it mom?" "Aren't you going to want to find your real mom?" I looked straight ahead. "Hmm… I've never thought about it before. Why do you ask?" "I just thought you'd want to find her." I shrugged. "I'll think about it, but I don't think I really want to." "Well whatever you decide I'll support you, and no matter if you find her, you'll always be my baby girl." She grabbed my hand and I smiled back. We dropped Arianna off at daycare and then off to school. We got there just a few minutes before morning practice started. "Hey where have you been?" My best friend, Amelia, asked. I kicked off my shoes, threw off my sweat pants, and took off my shirt all at once. "The traffic taking Arianna to daycare was horrible." I pulled my hair up in a ponytail. I was more in a rush than usual and Amelia new it. I was going to go in the middle of the floor to stretch, but she grabbed my arm. "Hey what's wrong?" I sighed. "Nothing, come on we got to stretch." "Sci, seriously what's wrong?" I pushed a strand of my light brown hair back a little annoyed. "I don't know, mom brought up something that made brought up some bad feelings is all." We walked to our lines and started to stretch. "What did she say?" She asked as we went straight into our straddles. "Mom kept staring at me this morning and it was weird so I asked her why she kept doing it. She said I was growing up so fast and that I was her baby and it scared her. I reminded her that I've only been with her since I was twelve, but I'd always be her baby girl. She then asked if I was going to try and find my birth mother." I paused. "Well are you?" We changed to our left leg. "I really don't know. I mean if I did I wouldn't even know where to start. I mean I've been in and out of foster homes all over the state before mom and dad adopted me. I don't even know what hospital I was born at or even what city." "Well maybe you could start with the system you were placed in. They have records going back for decades." "I don't know, she gave me up for no good reason and didn't even try and find me a decent home. I don't know if I can forgive her for that." "Well I would just think about it Sci. I mean it could be the one chance to know who you really are." I just shrugged. Mom and Sweet put us in our new kick line routine for an upcoming competition. "I guess spring break is really over." I mumbled to Amelia. She chuckled as we started the sequence. We learned most of the choreography. When first period bell rang, Sweet gave us a break. I was going to put on my makeup when mom called me over. "How are you?" "Ok I think." "Does anything hurt or any dizzy spells?" "No mom I'm fine. I took all my medications and I'll go to the nurse at lunch to take my meds again."

If you're wondering about the meds, there's one thing I forgot to mention. I'm an epileptic, have permanent scoliosis, and have heart problems. You could say I'm a pretty messed up child.

"Are you sure you're ok?" "I'm completely fine mom." "Ok, I love you." "I love you too." I gave her a kiss and then went to go sit with my friends. "Mom worried again?" Amelia asked. "Yeah, I can't blame her. The week before spring break I almost had a heart attack." "Yeah that's true. Dude it freaked me out when you gave Mrs. Mitchell your sign." I just chuckled. See I incorporated a signal with each of my teachers and vice principals for when I feel something happen. They immediately stop class and call the nurse while I or my teacher calls my mom. The nurse then calls 9-1-1 and I'm transported to the hospital. "You took your meds right?" "Of course I did, but you do understand that even if I take my meds anything could still happen." "Yeah, I know." We stayed quiet for a while as we put on the rest of our make up. "Wouldn't you want to find your mom to see why you have all your problems?" "I don't know. Mom's always told me it was because I was a three month old premature baby, but I've known other kids from other foster homes that were premature as well and none of them have anything as bad as me." I put my mascara down. "Come to think of it none of them had anything wrong with them. The only thing I can think of is one girl had asthma, but that's it." "Well maybe it's not all premature babies." I shrugged. "Or mom isn't telling me something." "Sci, I highly doubt your mom would hide something like that from you." "I hope not." Sweet gathered us back in our formation and we ran the routine over and over." "Sierra what are you doing?" Sweet yelled from her spot in the front. "It's strictly three fouttes onto a double, back into fouttes, and then into a Russian." Sierra, our lieutenant colonel, tried to do it right again while we just waited. Sweet finally got frustrated and was about to give up when she laid her eyes on me. "Scienna," "Yes ma'am?" She waved me over. "You know the officer part already right?" "Some of it yes." "Do you know the turns?" I could feel Sierra glare at me. "Yes ma'am." I said in a small voice. "Would you show everyone since one of our officers can't get it." I looked at my mom and motioned me to do it. I nodded and sweet counted off. I did what Sweet asked me to and did it with perfection. When I landed on the ground Sweet and everyone clapped. She turned to Sierra. "That's how it's done." I went back to my place and we finished the choreography. When we got dressed I put my stuff in my locker and so was Sierra. "Hey if you want, I could help you with the choreography." I said closing my locker. "I don't need help from a sophomore." She slammed her locker shut. "I don't even understand why you're on this team. Oh wait I know why, because Jaxs is your mom. But wait she's not even your real mom. She adopted you because she felt sorry for you because no one wanted you in the first place. As broken as you are why would anyone want you?" That probably would've made me mad had I not felt a seizure coming on. "Can you-? Can you get my mom?" I asked interrupting her. "What, no you can-." I dropped to the floor. I don't really remember seeing anything, but I could hear Sierra scream.