Intro "Family isn't about any of that, though," I argued. "It's not about shared DNA or having people who look similar to you. It's about trusting someone unconditionally and knowing someone will always care about you. That you'll always have someone to count on. It's not where you come from, but where you feel like you finally belong. You need to feel like you're surrounded by love and you're always wanted." "Thank you, Olivia, but please feel free to express yourself during your own presentation and not someone else's. Thank you." Mr. Perkins gave me a stare and I slowly sat back down in my chair listening to this boy's awful speech about family. "I'll speak to you after class. Again," he added. The assignment was to create a speech convincing people to believe the way you do about the meaning of family—in front of your family. Since none of my family bothered to come, I rang up the mysterious man so he could hear what I had to say. I knew it would be good for him to know because he is always so alone. Once he told me he had no family. I don't believe him. Everyone has family. After class that day I was told to stay after on a Thursday the next week for detention. I had never received a detention and frankly didn't plan to any time soon. I put up a fight, not the one you'd imagine—it was purely verbal, based on my vast vocabulary and intellect—and earned myself another afternoon of detention for the week after. I shut up by that point which awarded me in the end I suppose and here I am now, writing all of this down for the reason only that I was told to. How did I go from the girl who used to be afraid and shy of nearly everything to the smart-aleck, back-talking one who has almost completed serving two detentions in one week and seen more in 24 hours than most will see in a lifetime. I suppose somewhere along the way we all get lost and forget to ask for directions. I guess I just expected that I wouldn't forget. I am Olivia. Olivia Jordan. I moved to England with my family when I was a little girl about ten. I am sixteen now. People call me Olivia Grace, my first and middle names, just Olivia or just Grace. However the mysterious man calls me Olive. I remember when I met the mysterious man with the mysterious box. Perhaps I should start with that. So now I will tell you how I met this very mysterious man because I suppose that's where my tale begins.