A/N: Woohoo, new story alert! Don't worry I haven't forgotten my other story, I just wanted to get this off to a start. I know it gets off to a bit of a small start but please let me know what you think!

I don't own the GG series, Ally Carter does obviously!

My heart sank as I approached the hostel.

My hand began involuntary rummaging around in my jacket pocket searching for my money. Empty. My heart sank even further as I processed what I would have to do.

It was fairly common for me to realise I had suddenly run out of money without realising, after all when you've been sleeping in old hostels all over the country for three years you have to find money from somewhere… even if you don't particularly like it.

()()()()

'Oh sorry!' I cried as I purposely ran into an old man on the side of the street.

'No, pardon me mam' He tipped his hat politely. As he corrected himself I ran my fingers through his wallet, my hand passing by the fifty dollar note and taking the ten instead. The wallet was already back in his pocket before he could blink.

'Have a nice day mam' He waved.

'You too' I replied sweetly as my heart pounded against my chest. That man had worked hard for his money no doubt and I had just taken his well-earned money. I tried to clear my conscience by reminding myself of the fifties he'd had in his wallet and the fact I'd taken a mere ten dollar note… I would have to make sure it lasted me the week somehow so I wouldn't have to do that again for a while… of course, it wasn't the first time. In fact, I was a natural at pick-pocketing, a talent that had no doubt been passed through the generations of my family who I didn't know. I blinked back the tears.

()()()()

'Hey Claire' I greeted her cautiously.

One thing I had learnt when I was thirteen was that when you're a young girl on the run people don't hesitate to take advantage. I still had my doubts about Claire. I'd been thirteen when I'd first run away from my 'parents'. It made me shudder to think about what they'd done to me and it was a story I wasn't yet prepared to relive and think about. I'd had to survive by myself on the streets of America with nothing but the clothes on my back and ten dollars. Claire had found me and suggested this hostel. She'd also been the only one near me when my ten dollars had mysteriously gone missing and I could no longer pay for the room… I'd had to escape from the window and I'd been surprisingly agile and quick, landing squarely on my feet, barely feeling the impact. Luckily I soon learned how to fend for myself. I became the best pick-pocket around, able to steal thousands of dollars without anyone noticing… theoretically though… I would never do it, it was just plain selfish, I tried to just take what I needed and get on with life. Get on with the search.

'Oh… Cammie… Long-time no see' She stuttered. I eyed her designer jeans and realised I probably hadn't been the only one she'd stolen from.

'Any luck with your parents?' I asked as if I actually cared. Claire had been a spoilt only child who had run away from home because her parents wouldn't let her date any guys.

'Nope' she smirked. 'They've put another thousand in my bank account though, probably another desperate plea to get me to come home'

I rolled my eyes internally in frustration and on cue a picture of Claire flashed up on the miniscule TV Screen in the hostel reception area, the caption reading 'Beautiful girl aged 16 reported missing by devoted parents.' I wondered if my name would ever be on the TV, a family desperate for me to come home. Probably not.

'Any luck with your parents?' Claire asked, not bothering to hide the fact she didn't care.

'Nope' I shook my head. When I'd thought Claire was god's gift I'd told her how I was hunting down my birth parents. How I'd scrolled through endless death records and phone books, looking for anything, finding nothing.

I drew out the ten dollar note that felt heavy in my hands.

'Jeez, is that all you stole today?' I winced at her words and the way she made me sound like such a terrible person for needing to survive. 'You could steal thousands if you wanted to'

'Well I don't want to' I replied coldly before turning my back on her and approaching the coffee stained reception desk.

'Room for one please'

The receptionist jumped as if I'd just interrupted her from a deep sleep. She popped her bubble gum in my face.

'You'll have to pay up front love, we've had people running away without paying their ten bucks'

'Okay' I shrugged, trying not to blush stupidly.

()()()()

The room obviously wasn't anything fancy… far from it. I threw my fraying backpack onto the worn bed and let my body follow. I stared up at the ceiling wondering if somewhere in the world my parents were doing the same, maybe they were even thinking about me, perhaps trying to find me. I had to stop being delusional.

I pulled the map out of my back pack. Pieces peeled off of it and it was so worn I could hardly see the outline of America anymore. I marked off yet another unsuccessful location I'd visited, analysing the map trying to look for places I hadn't yet been. My eyes lingered for a few seconds extra over a very small town named Roseville. It was then I thought maybe I'd been taking the wrong approach; I'd been to nearly all the large cities of America… maybe I should take a look at some of the smaller towns? I gazed at the map again having another look at the many small towns but for some reason my eyes kept darting back to the label 'Roseville'. I sighed and used the scale to easily work out how long it would take me to get there. Two hours. I proceeded to stuff the map into my bag but for some reason my eyes didn't want to obey and I pulled back out the map, studying this town that I couldn't forget. Roseville. The name just seemed to stand out from the map. I finally shut my eyes and decided I would check it out tomorrow. I wouldn't allow myself to feel excited, after all it was probably nothing, and I didn't want to get worked up over nothing.

It was easy to fall asleep after I now had a clear head about what I was going to do, but the name Roseville still wouldn't leave my head.

()()()()

I was shivering uncontrollably, my head was pounding. A beautiful woman leaned over me, her hair falling over her face elegantly as she gently stroked my cheek.

'I won't let them hurt you' She whispered, a tear escaping from her eye. 'I promise'

She span around suddenly.

'Matthew!' She screamed, causing me to begin crying, my little hand clutched around her fingers tightly.

'Matthew they're here!' I'd never heard so much panic in someone's voice before as a thumping sound came from the other side of the door.

'I'm here darling, I'm here' A man came into my view but his back was turned away from me and I couldn't see his face, I craned my neck to get a better view but he went over to the woman, he ran his hand gently across her face wiping away the tears and then he was standing over me so quickly that I had to blink in surprise. I was crying and my blurry eyes obscured his face making it into a blur of colour.

'I'll be back, you're the best thing that ever happened to me' He gently kissed the bridge of my nose before he span around and disappeared out the door. The woman suddenly fell to the floor and buried her head in her hands, sobs racked her body.

But then a shot rang out.

'No!' She screamed suddenly, leaping up, her hair still covering her face so I couldn't see her.

'No! No, Matthew no!' She was in hysterics as she ran out the door.

Suddenly someone picked me up, the persons hands were caked in blood, the coldness of his skin pressed against my small body.

He ran with me over to the window and he tied a rope around himself and we began to descend to the floor.

'No, No, not my baby! Please No!'

()()()()

I woke with a start. I was drenched in cold sweat, my whole body was shaking and I was uncontrollably crying. I suddenly felt a wave of loss wash over me. Followed by relief.

'It was just a dream' I reassured myself breathing a sigh of relief.

I shakily got off the bed and finally heard the head pounding music that vibrated through the paper thin walls from the room next door.

Along with my amazing ability to pick-pocket I was also able to tell the time, almost as if I had an internal clock. It was five in the morning.

I had a quick shower, trying not to notice the grime that coated the walls.

I got changed into yesterday's clothes, taking one final look at the map before thankfully leaving the hostel behind me.

I used the last of my money on the train fare, deciding that maybe that hadn't been the best idea.

My stomach rumbled as the food trolley came through the isle of the train. I gazed longingly at the chocolate bar and made my decision before I could change my mind.

I glanced around, noting that there was hardly anybody around me apart from a group of boys about my age a few seats away, they were laughing at some joke, completely oblivious to everyone around them.

As the trolley passed through my hand swiftly grabbed a chocolate bar from the trolley, so quickly that my hand moved as a blur. The person who pushed the trolley didn't even blink; he continued to make his way through the train. I tucked into the chocolate hungrily, suddenly feeling self-conscious. I glanced around the carriage looking for the cause. One of the boys was staring at me.

He whispered something to his friend and they both stared intently at me.

'Crap, they might have seen me' I thought as I blushed, quickly stuffing the chocolate bar into my backpack.

They continued to stare until the boy's friend laughed at him and then turned away to carry on his conversation with one of the others. However one of the boys continued to stare at me with an almost puzzled expression as if he were trying to work something out. I noted he must have been my age, perhaps a little older. He was more muscular than the others with his broad shoulders and brown hair that swept over his forehead. He was defiantly the best looking. I blushed deeply and then I quickly diverted my gaze from his intense eyes. I felt his stare on me for another whole five minutes before an announcement rang out saying we were approaching Roseville.

I followed the group of boys out of the station with absolutely no idea where I was going. I gaped in shock at the speed of their steps, the swiftness of the walk and the way they seemed to have such knowledge of their surroundings. I gasped as they all climbed into limos outside the station.

'Wow, it's alright for some' I thought as I continued to walk, the limos gradually pulled away and as they passed by me I could have sworn someone was staring me from inside the blacked out windows. I shook it off as the limos rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

I forced myself to focus as I walked towards the building clearly marked 'Roseville Library'.

The receptionist gave me a dirty look as she took in my shabby clothes but didn't say anything as I sat down at one of the posh looking computers.

I hesitated in front of it, trying to figure out how to turn it on.

'Here, let me help you' I jumped at the sound of the voice behind me.

'Oh, thank you' I stuttered as a pretty pixie looking girl leant over me and pointedly pressed the button clearly marked 'On/Off'. I blushed and blinked stupidly.

'No problem' she smiled as she sat down at the computer beside me.

I waited until the computer fully turned itself on and then clicked the button which I assumed marked the internet. I drummed my fingers thoughtfully against the desk.

'Can you stop that!' Someone moaned angrily beside me. I glanced towards the voice in shock. A girl was sat there; there was no way to describe her except stunning. Her glossy hair fell perfectly straight down her back and even in her creased sweat pants I could see she had a figure to die for. She was staring grumpily at my drumming fingers.

'Oh… sorry' I replied guiltily as I placed my hand down firmly against the table.

'Sorry, ignore her' a beautiful cappuccino skinned girl rolled her eyes at her friend.

'Oh…okay' I stammered and turned my focus back to the computer screen. I frowned and simply typed in 'Roseville'.

Hardly any results came up just like I'd guessed. Roseville was such a small town.

I looked at the results anyway.

My eyes swiftly passed over high schools and shop links until I found one that looked different than the others. I clicked it absent mindedly and my heart drummed against my chest as a picture with a huge mansion filled the screen, limos rolling down the country road. 'Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women' was titled at the top of the page. I frowned. I could have sworn that the limo that boy had got into was the same ones shown in the picture… but this was a private girls school.

I didn't even know why I'd clicked the page, let alone why I lingered on it. But I continued to scroll down the page, my eyes widening as I looked at the cost of attending. Finally in big letters at the bottom I saw a caption reading 'No longer accepting applications'.

'Don't waste your time' I turned to face the beautiful girl beside me.

'What?' I asked confused.

'You'll never get into that school' she raised her eyebrows. 'I should know, I go there'

'Oh… I wasn't looking at going there' I objected.

'What were you doing then?' The girl pushed curiously.

'My friend goes there' I lied. 'I was just checking it out'

'Name?' The girl raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

'Tina' I lied, the first name I could think of popped into my head.

The girl smirked. 'Oh, lucky you, I'm sure Tina's a great friend'

'Mhm' I shrugged, catching sight of the girls computer screen and seeing the words 'Boarding School for Exceptional Young Men' typed in the search bar with no results.

She looked like she was about to say something else until a girl ran over, her face a complete picture of excitement.

'Macey, Bex, Liz, Solomon wants us to come back to school, he says it's…' She paused for effect. 'important'

Everyone suddenly turned to stare at me. I quickly looked away.

'Not here Eva' one of the girls muttered. 'Tell us on the walk back to school'

They started to walk away. 'Oh, bye!' The blonde haired girl gave me a kind wave as they walked away.

'Bye…' My voice trailed off weakly and I turned back to the computer.

I wondered angrily if everyone in Roseville was so intrusive and interfering.