CHAPTER 1
They say home is where the heart is. Lima was never home, and it never will be. As long as I remember New York was my home; strolls down Central Park, New Year's at Times Square and Broadway. Not so performing like my sister Rachel but more of the art of performance in general. I knew I was my mother's daughter, the famous Shelby Corcoran, Broadway legend. As far as I know, I was born in Lima by a woman that is not Shelby, and that's all she is to me, a woman. Growing up without my biological mother seems way harder than people say but I think it's easier because if I knew 'Quinn' when Shelby told me my birth story I would've hated her, but since I'm no longer in her life she's no longer in mine.
The plane ride back to Lima felt so long and laborious, I've only ever been out of New York by driving, but this place, Lima, is a new slate. I know that I was born here but I would always tell people that I was born in New York and I said it so often that I started to believe it. The airport was small, nothing fancy, it was about the size of our Loft in New York, so that's saying something. I walk out of the terminal to see a short, blonde, pale, young woman standing behind the barrier with a sign with my name on it, Beth Fabray Corcoran. Shelby convinced me to keep the Fabray even though I don't believe I am one myself. She smiles at me, indicating she knows who I am. "Beth, I had to look twice, you look so much like your mother" The lady offered to take my bags and I accept. "Haha, thanks" I reply with minimal enthusiasm, I've gotten used to people saying I look like her, I haven't seen her so I wouldn't know and honestly I don't care.
"Sorry, I'm Kitty Wilde, I went to school after your mother did and I've met her a couple times, nice young lady" She held out her hand and welcoming me to shake it and I did.
"Not my mother" I huffed under my breath, loud enough for only me to hear.
"It's good to have you back home" She flashes a friendly smile.
"This isn't home" I deadpan, walking faster leaving Kitty behind.
I push through the airport double doors and I reach the company van and the logo couldn't be plastered more obviously, Lima Foster Family, it's like they want everyone to know I was abandoned. I lean against the side of the van, pushing my big black sunglasses further up my nose, pretending I don't know anyone because I don't, but they might know me. Finally, Kitty emerged from the airport and put my bags in the van without a word. She unlocks the van and I hop in the passenger seat and Kitty eventually makes it into the drivers and we left the airport in silence.
The guilt is killing me. I feel really bad for my behaviour earlier and I know the Shelby would be disappointed in me because she raised me right. I'm tired and cranky but that is no excuse for disrespect.
"Hey Kitty," I break the silence and she averted half of her attention to me, the other half on the road.
"I'm sorry about before at the airport, about Quinn and Lima and stuff" I apologize embarrassingly, I've step foot in Lima for 10 minutes and someone might already hate me.
"Oh don't worry about it," she says in a soft voice, "I get it, you don't consider this home and you don't believe Quinn is your mother" She explains accurately.
"I read your file, I know what happened" her eyes never left the road.
"Thanks, I really appreciate your help," I say as we approach the foster home.
The building isn't the worst. Red brick, 2-3 stories high and a large front door, It looked like an old apartment complex. Kitty and I haul my bags into the foyer. She was instantly greeted by 4 little kids, 2 girls and 2 boys, all ranging between the ages of 5 to 8 years old.
"Kitty!" they all shouted in unison as the attach themselves to Kitty's calves.
"Hey kiddos, how was school?" She asks carrying the last of my bags before I grab them out of her grasp.
"I got this," I say indicating she should properly greet the kids. She lets go and carries one of the girls and sits her on her hip.
"Hey Elise, how was school?" Kitty asks as I shut the van boot.
I could see her whisper into her ear through my peripheral vision, Kitty nods and walks towards me with the little girl still on her hip.
"Elise this is our new friend, her name is-"
"Anna. My name is Anna, short for Annabeth" I hold out my hand to hold a smaller, softer one. I peer over to Kitty and her eyebrows are furrowed, indicating confusion.
"Hi Anna, I'm Elise" She introduces, I plaster my most friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you Elise, a very beautiful name" I compliment and she pale cheeks turned a rosy red colour. Kitty places her back safely on the hardwood foyer floor.
"Can you please go get Stevie, Elise? I just need to talk to Bet-Anna for a moment" She kisses her on the cheek and runs off, you can hear a loud, "Stevie!" on the echoing hallway. I pick up my bags and swing some over my shoulder.
"What was that for? Why did you change your name?" Kitty turned to me and I carried on doing my things.
"Because the Shelby news is going to be public and they are definitely going to mention the Broadway Stars daughter. I just didn't want to draw attention towards myself, that all" I follow Kitty's lead up the stairs as I explain the situation. I've gotten used to publicity but after what happened I don't feel like being front page news.
"Oh okay, I understand, I'll just change a few things in your application then," Kitty says as she opens another door, holding it open for me to enter.
"Thank you, Kitty," I thank as we come to a stop in an empty bedroom. A Queen bed in the middle of the room, a desk and bookshelf, a large wardrobe, my own bathroom and a window seat.
"Wow, nothing compared to New York but not what I was expecting in Lima" I dropped my bags at the door and walked around the room in awe.
"I got this room just for you actually" Kitty confesses. I turn to her in surprise.
"If you're anything like your moth-sorry, if you're anything like Quinn then I know that you deserve more than what you get" I turn to her and I give her a sincere smile.
"Thank you, Kitty, honestly, thank you for everything" I drop what remains and pull her into a hug that I genuinely mean.
We pull away and she smiles. "Now come on, let's meet the gang"
X
Kitty and I are on our way down the stairs when we intercept with a tall, blonde male figure. Kitty suddenly stops which causes me to crash into her back.
"Oh Kitty, Elise sent me and I was just looking for you" They mystery guy spoke.
"Oh Stevie, This is… Anna" she hesitated for a second, trying to comprehend the situation. The guy has a name, Stevie I could already see the curiosity in his eyes as he looks at me in the eyes. He holds out his hand and I politely shake it.
"She'll be staying with us for a while, could you please introduce her to everyone, I have to pick up Lacey from her babysitter" She checks her watch on her left wrist.
"Oh don't bother, Skylar already brought her here to surprise you, don't tell him that I said that" He playfully whispers, his voice was low and mature. He joins us on our journey down the wooden staircase to what looks to be the lounge or the main area.
"Hey guys, look who I found?" Stevie announces, attracting everyone's attention. 17 pairs of eyes facing our direction, switching between Kitty, Stevie and I.
Kitty kneels down to be the same height as the younger children, "We have someone joining our family today" she says in her 'baby voice' for the kids to understand. She turns back to me and smiles, "Everyone, this is Anna, she just moved here from New York" Everyone turned to me.
"Hi everyone" I introduce with a small awkward wave. Everyone smiled and waved back.
"Anna, this is guys," Kitty gestures to everyone, "Let me introduce everyone"
"Our babies, Carson, Zoey and Max" Kitty points at them in the arms of the older kids, she picks up one of them out of the older kids arms and carries one for herself. The baby girl, Zoey babbles and smiles with glistening saliva running from the corners of her mouth. I smile at her and she giggles. It's sad to think that these babies were abandoned at birth by their own mother, kinda reminds me of a someone.
"Next is our youngsters, Colin who's 7, Addy who's 8, Elise who's 5 and Vinnie who just turned 7, they all go to Lima Elementary down the road" All 4 children huddle together except Elise who walked up to me and gave me a hug, "You're pretty, I like you" I'm elated by her compliment and I bend down and pick her up and sit her on my hip. I think I already have a favourite.
"You are too" I whisper into her ear and bop her on the nose. She grabs my finger in a playful defensive way, still with a toothy grin.
"This is Stella and Lee, they're freshmen at McKinley" They both look up from off the floor and look at me. They look around 13 maybe 14 years old.
"And finally there's Thomas, Laura, Lincoln, he likes to go by Lin, and Ava who are around your age, Tom and Laura are juniors and Lin and Ava are seniors" Final lot smile and wave. There's a lot of them but I'm spending more than enough time here to remember all of them.
"It's so great to meet you all, I hope we get to know each other soon" I place down Elise and Kitty leads me to another room with a different crowd.
"Now for the staff, You know me obviously, I'm the head administrator, I do files and paperwork, you know, the boring stuff" Kitty jokes and I chuckle.
"You've met Stevie, he's in charge of entertainment and physical care, and these are his two younger siblings, Stacey and Sterling Evans. They volunteer as helping hands around the home" Two similar looking people display themselves. I can so see how they're all siblings, tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, almost identical but different ages and genders. Sterling looked about my age and Stacey looked a bit older.
"And last but not least, Skylar Bishop, my husband, and the home transport" He walks up and comes in for a handshake and I accept and return one.
"It's nice to have you with us Anna" His voice is strong, masculine and deep, but it had a musical ring to it. Shelby taught me that, she told me I had talent by ear, I can tell if someone had or has a singing voice and what part they sang, Skylar was an alto. It's a useful talent when it came to Broadway but pretty much useless in Lima.
"Well, that's about it" Kitty huffed in relief.
"Okay, so you know where your room is, dinner is at 7, lights out at 11 and no boys allowed over" Kitty checked off her mental notes.
"Oh Skylar and I have to take Lacey to a doctors appointment, Stevie, you're in charge" She checks her watch and grabs her coat and now is in search of her daughter and husband.
"When am I not" Stevie shouts from the kitchen, carrying one of the babies in his large muscular arms.
"Okay I'm gonna go," She stops in front of me, "You can just get settled in while you wait for dinner, I'll be home before then, Bye Beth- sorry, bye Anna" She swiftly exits the front door and leaves me stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I find my way to the foyer and the staircase and remembered my path from there. I enter my room and unzip my duffel bag, this one was filled with my books and photos. I drag the duffel to the desk and arrange my books on the shelf and photos on the desk. One of me and Shelby at her very last show, me and Shelby at my very first show at the tender age of 2 and some of my old friends, Mila, Sophie and Gray.
"Knock knock" I hear a knock on the wooden door frame, I whip my head around to see bright blue eyes staring at me.
"Hey Anna, It's Sterling, I just wanted to check in and see if you've settled in right" He was cute, shy and awkward. He fidgeted with his hoodie ties as he talked.
"Yeah I'm doing okay, just a little tired, jet lag you know, but I'm good" I answer, turning my entire body to fully face him.
"Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Well, I gotta go, wait no sorry, Stevie was wondering if you're allergic to anything" He said almost halfway out of my room when he pivoted.
"Um, peanuts, but not the deadly kind" I could see the surprise in his eyes, "No way, me too" one thing we have in common.
"That's crazy, well I better tell Stevie, Bye" he exits the room almost in a run. I smirk and turn back to my things and finish unpacking, but I also repack my schoolbag for tomorrow. My first day at McKinley.