Ally's Pov

The last day of school was finally over and now I was walking home. Well at least that's what my friends think. And by friends I mean Merry. The reason I am not going home is that my dad's insanely drunk all the time. Ever since my mom's death he went downhill. He started hitting me so obviously I don't want to go he anymore. I looked at my wrist watch and saw that it was 4PM already. I knew that my dad was going to leave soon to get drunk again with his "friends". I waited a while and as I expected he left. And that was my chance. I was going to leave that hell hole for good. I know I shouldn't let him live on his own but I couldn't take it anymore. It was a lot for a 16 year old girl. And I was done. So I went straight to my room and took out my luggage. I put all my clothes inside ,my songbook and some money. When I finished I saw it was 6. I was actually going to do this.

"Well here goes nothing" I said to myself as I made my way to the door.

It was something past 11 and I was still walking around the city. Living in Miami meant that it was really hot even at night. As I was enjoying my 'freedom' I accidently bumped into someone. I looked up and I was greeted by a pair of hazel eyes that belonged to a blond guy.

"Sorry" I mumbled as I tried to go past grabbed my wrist and turned me around.

"Are you lost?" he asked with a little worry in his eyes.

"No I'm fine" I said putting my best smile on my face.

"Really because a pretty girl like you shouldn't walk alone at this hour." he said crossing his arms against his chest. "Maybe I could walk you home. There are a lot of weird people out at this hour."

"And how would I know you are not one of the weird people?"I asked.

"Well there is always that possibility. I'm Austin Moon by the way" he said.

"I'm... Not going to tell you my name." I said with a smirk.

" Ok, no problem. I've got a whole summer to find out your name right?"now it was his turn to smirk.

"Good luck with that" I said. After that I turned around and started walking again. Shortly I heard footsteps behind me.

"What you are following me now?" I asked surprised.

"Why yes I am. I'm not going to let you walk alone because I am a gentleman."he said proudly.

"More like a creep" I mumbled. He most likely heard me because he chuckled.

"So where are you going? I can see you have a piece of luggage with you so you must be visiting or moving to Miami." he said trying to sound smart.

" None Sherlock." I said blankly.

"Well then. I am guessing you are running away. And before you cut me off you have a really nasty bruise on your check. Someone should check that out"

Ah right. The bruise my dad gave me yesterday for no aparent reason,, he was just drunk.

After a few minutes of silence I said:

"Look it is really nice of you to walk me home but I can manage on my own" I said as sweetly as I could.

"Ok well I hope I'll see you around. And don't talk to strangers."he said laughing.

"Too late. Just did"

"But I am not a stranger anymore. I introduced myself. I was polite. Unlike one of us.". He said the last part quietly. I just rolled my eyes and started walking faster. I was glad he stopped following me. Now I was just enjoying the silence of the night when my phone ruined it.

"Hello? " I answered cautiously. I mean lets face it who calls you at almost midnight?

"Hello,Miss Dawson?"a lady asked.

"Ah yes,, is everything okay?"

"Oh well you see your father is in a critical state. Apparently he thought it was ok to drive drunk. He didn't stop at a red light and another car hit him. I am going to be honest I don't think he is going to survive. And I know that your mother died and you have no other realitives so you are going to be put in foster care. I am really sorry for your loss. " she said.

"Thank you for calling me. When am I going to be put in... " I trailed off trying not to think about it.

"Tomorrow morning. You are going to be picked up from your home at 10."

"Thank you. Good night" I said and didn't even wait for a response. Well at least I packed my things I thought trying to make myself feel better while I was running home. When I arrived I quickly ran into my room and tried to get comfortable in my bed. I wasn't sad because of a my dad. I was expecting what happened for a long time now. I was mostly scared because of the foster care part. And with that thought I slowly fell asleep.

The next morning I was woken up by someone knocking at my door. I slowly made my way out of bed and to the door. Once I opened it I was greeted by a tall man that looked like he was in his 40s.

"Hello darling you must be Ally Dawson, right?"he asked.

"uhm yes" I said shyly.

"Well good morning. Sorry if I woke you up. I am Mike Moon,, the owner of the foster care you are going to be put in" he said extending his hand dome to shake it.

"Hello. I don't want to be disrespectful or anything but why did you personally come to pick me up?"

"Because I want the kids that are going to live in foster care to feel welcomed from the beginning. I don't want you to feel awkward or anything because I know it is a terrible to lose your parents. And I don't want to make you more uncomfortable. " he explained." Now as I can see you are dressed so you can take your bags and we are ready to go"

Right I fell asleep with my clothes from yesterday. Oh well. I just went upstairs and quickly took my luggage and saw Mr Moon (what a familiar name) waiting for me downstaires.

"Ready?"he asked. I just nodded.

"No need to be scared. The kids from there are really nice. They won't cause you any harm. As long as you don't steal their dessert. That means war."he said trying to lighten up the mood. I tried to smile but I'm pretty sure it looked forced. He either didn't realize or he just let it slide. We got to the car and before I climbed in I took a last glance at the house. I sure as hell wasn't going to miss it but there were some good memories too. Although they were outnumbered by the bad ones.

The foster care was only a 20 minute ride away. When we arrived Mr Moon opened my door. I thanked him and took my luggage. We made our way to the door and he opened the door. The foster care was just like another normal house. The inside was what surprised me. There were lots of kids of different ages.

"Why don't we go to the kit hen so we can discuss the rules.". I just nodded and followed him.

"Okay so as you saw here live younger kids and older kids than you so no bad language around the little ones. They have from 6 to 19 and some of them are in the process of being adopted. Now if you follow the rules and behave we put a nice word and you get out of here as soon as possible. Now for us it doesn't matter if you are legally able to live on your own if you break all the rules. After you are 18 we give you a job so you can get money. Any questions so far? "

"Just one. You said we. As in who else?Just so I know." I said

"My wife and son. He is your age and he is mostly here for the little ones and he helps tha ones closer to your age with their problems. Now if there are no other questions I should tell you the rules." After he explained everything he showed me my room. I obviously had a roommate. When I entered I was greeted by a short Latina girl.

"Hey I'm Trish and we'll be roommates from now on. I really hope we'll get along" she said excitedly.

"I'm Ally. Nice to meet you" I said.

"As much as I'd love to chitchat we have to go eat breakfast but after that is bonding time." she said happily while graving my wrist and pulling me to the kitchen. There were lots of kids at the table and they were all seated by their age. As Trish was pulling me to my seat I heard the front door open and Mr Moon saying:"Son how nice of you to finally join us."

I heard them walking to the kitchen. When they appeared I imediatly recognised the boy. My eyes widened.

"Hello stranger" he said to me with a smirk.