Disclaimer:Obviously, I don't own everyone in this story. Just a few. Or more. Whatever. Under lock and key

Making promises that you can't keep

Bringing down everyone that you meet

Say who's it gonna be this time

Gonna use the same old line

Gone are your days of running free

-Cliff Richard

"And finally," Dean pushed open the door to my room. "The grand finale: Your room."

I braced myself for pink. Ruffles or lace, maybe even dolls. That probably sounds really unfair, but I didn't know my sister anymore, much less her decorating style. It's always been my policy with strangers (hell, with people I knew personally, for that matter) to expect the worst. Sadly, they usually did not disappoint.

Instead the first thing I saw was green. A wide window looked out into the small backyard, straight to the tree's that separated Dean and Lynette's backyard from that of the house that backed it. Everything was quaint about where my sister and her husband lived, from the houses and the cars to the little white picket fence in front of their powder blue two story.

As I was thinkig all of this, I realized that we were still standing in the hallway, like some human traffic jam. Dean, whohad been leading this little tour until now, had stepped to theside,leaving me alone in the doorway. Clearly, they wanted me to go in first. So I did.

The room wasn't huge, but it was bigger than any bedroom I'd ever had while living with Evie. The walls were the palest yellow and there was another window like the one I had first noticed. Both were covered with white eyelet curtains. The double bed was made of soft pine, as was the desk and chest of drawers. It was pushed to the far right and covered in a sky blue and bright yellow quilt. I liked it immediately.

"So, uh," Dean stepped into theroom, shooting a nervous look at my siste over his shoulder. "What do you think?"

I had to smile at him, he'd been so nice. "I love it. Thank you for fixing it up for me."

"Oh, no." He said. "That was all Lynette." He grabbed my sister and pulled her forward. "As soon as we found out you'd be coming,she got right in here and fixed it up."

I tried to smile at my older sister. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She answered, not really looking at me.

She hadn't looked at me properly since they had picked me up at the train station in Durham. It had been too long and there had been too much bad blood. Not between Lynette and myself necessarily, but between her and Evie. She had barely even spoken to me. I couldn't blame her,I guess. It had been nearly ten years since she last saw me and I had grown from a quite six-year-old to an even quieter sixteen-year-old. I wasn't used to talking. Evie usually took all the words. Dean had tried to keep up a conversation, asking me about my likes and dislikes. There wasn't much to tell. I ate what you fixed me, slept where you told me.

"Well, Adelle, we'll just leave you to get unpacked." Dean glanced at my one battered suitcase, my meager belongings. "Tomorrow, Lynette's going to take you into the city for some new school clothes or anything else you might need. How does that sound?"

"Great." I had barely even thought about school and I wondered what the kids would be like. I hoped they wouldn't notice I was a little behind. I had missed the first month of school after Evie left. I wasn't that I didn't want to go, but only that I couldn't find the energy.

After Dean and Lynette left to go fix supper I unpacked the few clothes that I had. They were old and smelled slightly of cigarette smoke and mildew. I was glad Lynette was taking me to buy new things. Evie never bought me brand new things, just from the flea market and what not. From the looks of it, Lynette shopped at expensive stores. I hoped that I would be as pretty as she was.

I finished unpacking and laid down on the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. I was glad I had come here; it felt safe ad stable,something I rarely, if ever, felt with Evie. It felt like a fresh start.