Hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter. By the way, after the evil laughing thing, there was supposed to be a line. Apparetntly, that line did not show. So I will try somthing else this time. AND, in the last chapter, at the beginning it was suposed to be, "The other three will come." Just lettin ya know. MARS PICKLES! I love saying that!

I looked at myself in the mirror. It was the day after my, "hallucination" and Cassie, a eighteen year-old girl said that I needed to go shopping to get my mind of things. I wasnt much for shopping, but a grape slushie and wandering the malls couldnt be bad. Since Cassie helped out at the orphanage, she gave me some money because she couldnt come with me but she had to work.

She had said I couldnt leave without looking, "decent." So now, I was modeling some green shorts, and a white and green layered tank top, with a brown braclet and tennis shoes. Once agin my hair was curly, but this time I put it in a ponytail.

"Ok, you can go now." Cassie said, waving her french manicured hand. I practicly ran out of the house, my two necklaces bouncing around. I ran all the way to our nearby mall, thats what the tennis shoes were for, right? and went inside. First I got a grape slushie, the top on my priority list. Then I spotted a bookstore across the hall and practiclly ran to it.

Bookstores call my name. All the time.

I wandered around the huge store for a little bit then saw a book called Inkheart. I had read that book at least six billion and seven times. Long number.

I picked it up. This one had a red cover with- Uh oh.

Uh oh as in I should scream and run. But that would attract more attention to the person I was face to face with.

Annabeth.

"Alex?" she said. I smiled the dashed out of the store, dropping the book before I left. I may be in a hurry but I am not a theif.

I saw Annabeth run into the electronics store next to the book store. I didnt know that was there!

I had to restrain myself from going inside the store.

I dumped the slushie into the trash next to me and walked into the electronics store, deciding that I would be smart enough to stay low.

Suddenly, a hand gripped my shoulder. I turned around to see Thalia just entering the store.

So much for staying low. I was led to the back of the store where Annabeth was franticly trying to tell Chiron she had seen me, and Percy was looking at a computer game.

"I played that game once at an arcade. Bad graphics." I said.

Percy nodded and put the game back on the shelf then did a double take.

I smiled at Chiron. "Hi."

They all seemed a little taken aback that I was not very...um...we'll go with rude.

"What happened to you yesterday? We though Luke got you!" Thalia asked me.

"Well, I figured that I was going crazy and I went back to the ophanage."

Just then I saw Cassie. She was compleatly out of breath, and was franticly scanned the store. When she saw me she rushed over.

"Alex...theres...some...people," thats all she got out.

"Cassie, what?" I said a little annoyed.

"Somone wants to adopt you!" she said.

At first I was a little confused. Then it sank in. "Are you serius?" I asked disbeliefingly.

Cassie grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. Before I left Annabeth followed me and handed me a peice of paper. "If you ever get in trouble, go there!" she said, then Cassie pulled me out of the mall.

I stuffed the paper in my pocket and ran all the way back to the orphanage. Cassie was behind me. On our way to the "interveiw" room, Cassie fluffed my hair why would she do that? Its in a ponytail dork! and I paused outside the room.

I had been in there only once or twice and the parents had been duds. The room had some chairs and a couch. Usaully with the older kids, you could just go in there by yourself. I took a deep breath and walked in the room.

A pretty woman with long curly blond hair and very bright blue eyes was sitting net to a man with green eyes and blond hair. The looked about in their twenties or lower thirties. I took a seat across from them.

"Hi, im Alex DeClaire." I said and shook the peoples hands.

"Im Paula and this is my husband Ben." the woman said.

"Nice to meet you." I said. This was very...official.

"Why dont you tell us a little about yourself." Paula said.

"Kay. Im thirteen, and I like singing, dancing, reading, writing, art, all stuff like that. My favriote sport is softball. I pretty much spend most of my time riding horses, and I always wanted to learn how to drive a four wheeler and dirtbikes." I said.

Ben nodded his head and Paula said, "We're both twenty-seven, and we used to live in the country."

"Used to?"

"We're staying on a cruise ship at the current moment." Ben said.

I nodded my head. These people seemed pretty nice and I liked them so far. We talked for an hour or so, and they told me a lot about themselves. By the end of the day we were laughing.

Cassie came in. "Is everything going well? Does anyone need anything?" she asked. Nosey, nosey Cassie...

"No, but if its ok with Alex, I think we'd like to bring her with us." Paula said smiling and glanced at me.

I smiled, letting Cassie know my answer. "Well then, Alex, why dont you go get your stuff, and we will get all of the paperwork settled." she said, leading m new, "parents" out of the room. I had a familiy now.

Smiling, I got up and walked to the room that I stayed in. I shared the room with two other younger girls, and one was gone. The other, Sarabell, who I knew the most was drawing with some crayons.

I leaned against the door and watched for a minute or two, thinking that I probobly wouldnt see her again.

I stepped into the room, grabbed a duffel bag, and started stuffing my things into it. Sarabell looked at me. "What are you doing?" she asked in her five-year-old voice.

"Im leaving." I said, putting my version of Inkheart into my bag. I finished putting everything away and looked up to see that Sarabell had tears in her eyes. We had been really good friends, and she was like a little sister to me, even if she was eight years younger then me.

"Im sorry Sarabell." I said, sitting next to her on her small bed. I put my arm around her shoulder and she hugged my waist.

"I dont want you to go." she said, looking at me with her bid brown eyes. Why'd she have to use the eyes?!

"I will see you again. I swear."