The sun shone down on a small Virginia town, pedestrians walked through the streets going on with their daily routine. Laughter was heard could be heard from a nearby park, children ran around playing games like tag or hide and go seek, as two teen walked by they smiled at the children who waved back before returning to their game. A girl with short black hair and brown eyes walked next to a taller blonde haired guy, they crossed the street and walked into a small house.

"Finally summer!" The short haired girl exclaimed as she plopped down onto a red couch, the guy sat down next to her. He shook his head before he turned on the TV.

"Will your rents mind that I'm here?" He asked, the girl quirked an eyebrow and then shook her head before she took the remote control out of his hands.

"Nah…. They like you so I think it's cool." The sound of a car pulling up into the driveway of the house was heard a few minutes later, the short haired girl got up and ran to open the door, a smile on her face as she saw her foster mom step out of her car.

"Jazz, can you get the rest of the groceries from the car." The short haired girl, now known as Jazz, nodded and quickly walked towards the car. She heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Hey Mrs. Smith." Jazz grabbed a bag out of the trunk of the car as she heard her mom's heel click as she walked up towards the door.

"Hello Jack, can you help Jazz out with the groceries?" The blond haired guy, now known as Jack, nodded and walked over towards Jazz. They quickly brought in all the groceries and locked the car before they settled back onto the couch in the living room.

"So what are you kids watching?" Jack was about to answer when Jazz got up and started to dance.

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!" Jazz sang as she followed the steps that were being shown on the TV.

"Rocky Horror…I should have known." Jazz heard her step mom say as she grabbed her arm and Jack's arm getting them off the couch.

"It's just jump to the left." Jazz yelped as she bumped into the love seat falling into it. Jazz heard her mom laugh as she quickly got up.

"Smooth Jazz, real smooth." Jack said as he continued to do the time warp, Jazz glared at him before she started dancing again. Jack laughed minutes later at a comment Jazz made, causing her to glare at him.

"Honestly, he did give me this murderous look."

"Don't you get that look from the majority of people already?" Jack questioned.

"That's not the point here Jack, the point is that Mr. Ribatto gave me this look like if there weren't other people in the class he'd kill me." Jack looked towards Jazz once he noted the serious tone she was talking in.

"You could have just been imagining it, Jazz. You did say that you weren't feeling well."

"Yeah maybe…" Jazz muttered not really convinced. She looked back at Jack and smiled, she didn't want to worry him that's the last thing that she'd want to do.

"Karaoke time!" Jazz heard her mom shout as she walked into the room with a plate full of celery and carrot stick a small cup of ranch sitting in the middle of the plate. Jack groaned as Jazz laughed at his face. She lived for karaoke night.

"Their tears are filling up their glasses, no expression, no expression." Jack watched as Jazz continued to sing, sadness welded up inside of him. He knew how this song came close to Jazz's own family history. The song ended and Jazz handed the microphone over to Jack who sighed in reluctance.

"No." Jazz laughed as the next song popped up onto the screen.

"Rules are rules. Sorry Jack." Jack narrowed his eyes at her as the song began to play. Well at least no one else was there to see hear him.

"Bless my soul, Herc was on a roll, person of the week in every Greek opinion poll."Jazz restrained a laugh as Jack continued to sing. Truth be told he was singing one of her favorite songs, Jack rolled his eyes as Jazz sang a line or two with him.

"Done. Here."

"Aww is wittle Jackie mad at me?" Jazz laughed as she took the microphone and looked at the next song.

"We said that we wouldn't sing that song anymore."Jack shrugged as Jazz shook her head.

"I was feeling done in. Couldn't win. I only ever kissed before. I though there's no used getting into heavy sweating…" Jazz continued to sing as Jack's phone rang, he frowned at the name that popped up on the caller I.D. He reluctantly answered the phone and frowned before getting up from the couch.

"Was it your mom?" Jazz asked pausing the karaoke machine. Jack nodded before he walked towards the door, he loathed his mother. Jazz walked over to him and quickly hugged him, Jack hugged back and then walked out the door.

"Knock on my window if you need to."

"Yeah." Jazz frowned as she walked Jack walk down the street, he only lived three houses down from her so it was always easy for them to seek refuge from their parents at one another's house.

"Jack your home!" Jack sighed as he entered his house; his mother was currently laying on the couch a bud a marijuana on the coffee table. A middle aged man sneered at Jack as he walked into the living room; he spotted a used injection needle on the coffee table near the bud.

"Hey punk get me a beer." Jack glared at the man who spoken spoke; he was his mom's current boyfriend. His mom laughed as she tried to get up from the couch, her curly blond covered her face as she fell back onto the couch. Jack ignored the two of them and walked towards the staircase.

"Hey! I told you to get me a beer!" The man shouted at Jack causing him to stop in his tracks anger ran though him.

"Get it yourself asshole. I'm going to sleep." Jack muttered as he took the stair two at a time.

"Bullshit! You're going to climb out your window and go over to that chick's house." Jack ignored him and slammed the door to his room. He sat on his bed thinking about everything that had happened in a short year. His mom hadn't always been a druggie she had once been an important person in a company then she met Paul, her current boyfriend, who made her give it all up. It was his entire fault that this had happened. No. It was his father's fault, if hadn't left him and his mom none of this would have happened.

Jazz sat on her bed, her knees touching her chest as she rested her head on her knees. She loved her foster family; they'd saved her from the constant changing of different families, places and friends. Yet, she longed to be with her real mom though she knew that was an impossible desire it didn't stop her. She glanced down at a small gold charm bracelet that her mom had given her, it always brought her comfort. After all it was the one thing she had left of her mom.

"Te extraño…" She muttered before falling asleep.

Snow gently fell onto the ground in a small town in Vermont. A gentle wind blew making it feel much colder than it really was. An average size girl walked next to a boy who was about her height, though he seemed to walk awkwardly.

"You seem rather fidgety today, Sid." The boy looked over at the girl, he froze for a second.

"Watch out!" He shouted just as something resembling a lion jumped out of the woods next to them.

"WHAT'S A LION DOING HERE?" Sid stood in front of the girl as the lion like creature lunged at the girl.

"VERA RUN!" Vera stared at Sid she fear evident in her brown eyes, goose bumps trailed along her chocolate colored skin. She did as she was told, running towards her house which she realized was only a block away.

Vera panted as she ran into her house, not once had she looked back. A middle aged man peered into the door way, a frown plastered on his face. Vera tried to ignore her fathers' indifference about her as she got up. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water; she sat in the kitchen trying to calm herself down. A knock on the door disrupted her thoughts, Sid walked in a few minutes later, a few cuts were evident on him.

"Vera you're not safe here, we have to go." Vera gave Sid confused look; she was even more surprised when her father walked into the room with a pink backpack in his arms.

"This okay?" He asked Sid nodded in response. Vera sat there in confusion.

"What's going on?" Her question was ignored by the two males in the room. Sid grabbed Vera's hand and the backpack; he figured that if they started towards their destination now they'd be there in a week or two maybe.

"Come on, Vera."

"NO!" Vera yanked her arm away from Sid and grabbed the backpack. She wanted answers and she wouldn't move until she got them.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Sid shook his head, this wasn't good.

"I'll explain everything to you when we get there I pinky promise." Sid held out his pinky waiting for Vera to link hers with his. Vera rolled her eyes and intertwined their pinkies. Sadness flowed through her once she realized that her father had basically kicked her out.

"New York?" Vera asked a few minutes later as she slid into a seat; Sid nodded as he sat next to her.

"Okay, guess it'll take a while to get there then."

"Well at least you live close to the state…." Vera heard Sid mumble, she decided to ignore his comment. Instead she stared out the window watching the landscape change as they went from town to town. Sid tapped her shoulder a few hours later, he seemed uneasy.

"We're getting off at the next stop. Don't ask questions okay?" Vera nodded something told her that she was better off listening to Sid than anything else. The bus stopped near a gas station that happened to be near the border between New York and Vermont, Vera noticed that an elderly woman seemed to be watching her intently as she got off. Sid quickly led her towards the gas station.

"We'll wait here for a minute or two." Sid mumbled to himself. This wasn't going to be as easy as he had initially thought it would be. Vera looked around assessing the situation that she currently found herself in. She realized that for all she knew Sid could be taking her to a brothel in downtown New York or something worse than that. She quickly shook that idea from her mind, Sid wouldn't do that he was one of her most trusted friends.

"Okay lets go, before she come back." Vera wanted to ask who he was talking about but never go the opportunity as Sid led her into the woods; she had to run to keep up with him. Something had been set in motion and whether it was good or bad only time would tell for now Vera ran along side Sid.