Things don't always go according to plan. Sarah had a plan. If her plan had gone off without a hitch, Julian would have dropped her off at school, but she wouldn't have made it to class. She would have ditched school, Brooke and Julian and foster care in one foul swoop. She would have been halfway across town instead of sitting in class right now. Julian had thrown a wrench in her plan. Nathan walked her to class, so she had to go. She sat in class quietly seething.

Sarah hoped to lose the escort and cut out after 1st period, but Nathan was waiting outside her classroom. She waited until about 10 minutes into 2nd period. She wanted to make sure Nathan was long gone. Then she asked if she could go to the bathroom. The little piece of paper in her hand wasn't just a hall pass; it was her ticket out of a dictatorial house and into anarchy. It represented freedom.

By the time Sarah's teacher realized she wasn't coming back from the bathroom, Sarah was at Andie's house. The school called Brooke to tell her Sarah left during 2nd period.

"Sarah's gone," Brooke said. They'd known she was a flight risk. That's why they took the precaution of having Nathan walk her to class. She didn't know what else they could have done.

Julian's eyes clouded with confusion. "But Nathan walked her to class."

"Yeah, but she asked if she could go to the bathroom and disappeared." Brooke's frustration seeped into her voice. She didn't know what to do. She hated feeling like she'd failed.

"We'll look for her. We'll do whatever we have to. We'll find her."

"Where would she go?"

"I don't know. I don't even know who any of her friends are."

Brooke realized that she did know who Sarah's best friend was. The night Sarah's previous foster dad threw her down a flight of stairs she was going to crash at Andie's place. Brooke caught Sarah and Andie smoking on the deck. Their friendship was reminiscent of Brooke's friendship with Peyton. Brooke had spent more nights at Peyton's house than her own when they were in high school. They'd been partners in crime. "Andie. She'll be at Andie's house." There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in Brooke's mind. Her voice was filled with certainty.

"Can I crash at your place tonight?" Sarah asked.

"You don't even have to ask. You're not going back to Brooke's?" Andie said.

"No. She's a bitch." Sarah's expression and tone hardened. Beneath the hard exterior was pure fury.

Andie's lips curved into a smirk. Her eyes shone with amusement. Sarah was in rare form. On the seldom occasion Sarah's anger hit its boiling point, she was dangerous. "What did she do?"

"She grounded me." Sarah said as though it was ridiculous. She used the same derisive tone people would use to talk about UFOs. "Who the hell does she think she is? She's not my mom." Her earlier humor was gone. Her tone was deadly serious.

Andie chuckled. She could imagine Brooke grounding Sarah. She knew Sarah well enough to know Sarah wouldn't have taken it lying down.

"It's not funny!" Even as the words left her mouth, Sarah's lips curved up into a faint smile. Andie was the only person who could tease her out of a bad mood. "When does your mom get off work?"

"She'll bring dinner around 6:00 and then she has to go back to work."

Confident that they had time before Andie's mom got home, Sarah helped herself to a cigarette from the pack in Andie's purse. Andie lit one for herself. Andie's mom was a chain smoker. The lingering scent would go unnoticed.

Andie's younger brother, Johnny, came in. He had the same raven hair and golden skin as Andie. His hair was in need of a haircut. He joined Andie and Sarah on the couch.

"How did you get home so fast?" Johnny asked.

"We ditched," Andie said.

Johnny's eyes widened. It was the only sign that he was impressed. He was too cool to say anything. His eyes flickered to the cigarette in his sister's hand. "Can I have one?"

Sarah's lips formed into an amused smirk. "Can you have one?" Her sarcasm didn't escape the 13 year old.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Andie said.

Johnny lit a cigarette and took a drag. As soon as the chemicals hit his lungs, he coughed hard. Andie and Sarah burst into laughter. A blush crept over Johnny's cheeks.

Andie's house was a block from Sarah's previous foster home. Brooke had lived in Tree Hill for the better part of her life. She'd never set foot in this neighborhood until Tyler and Sarah walked into her life. Now she was constantly pulled there.

People fear the unknown. Oftentimes if people get to know what they fear, their fear is replaced with understanding. Brooke had gotten to know the area, but the opposite had happened-her fear intensified with the knowledge. This was where Sarah had been thrown down a flight of stairs. This was where Joe had almost shot Julian. Brooke hoped this would be the last time she would ever have to come to this neighborhood.

"Do you think she'll be here?" Julian asked.

"She'll be here," Brooke said.

Julian knocked on the door of Andie's house. Andie cracked the door open.

"Hey. We're looking for Sarah. Is she here?" Brooke said.

Andie looked at Sarah. Sarah shook her head slightly and then slipped into a hiding spot on the floor behind the couch.

"No," Andie said. She started to shut the door, but Julian stopped it with his foot.

Julian peered over her head and searched the small house for any sign that Sarah had been there. "Isn't that her bag?"

Andie followed his gaze to Sarah's bag, which was on the floor by the couch. She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Her silence said more than any words could have.

"If Sarah doesn't come home with us, we're going to call the police and report her as a runaway. It's illegal to harbor a runaway," Julian said. He had her and they both knew it.

Andie opened the door wider in surrender. Brooke and Julian walked toward Sarah's bag. They saw Sarah crouched on the floor, her form no longer hidden from view. Sarah reluctantly stood. A blush crept over her cheeks. Brooke put a hand on Sarah's shoulder and pushed her gently toward the door.

Sarah's plan had backfired. When she left Brooke and Julian's house that morning, she planned on it being the last time she ever laid eyes on the house or its owner. Less than 7 hours later she was walking through the door of Brooke's house with Brooke and Julian behind her.

"Sit down," Julian said. He pulled a chair out for Sarah at the kitchen table. Sarah reluctantly sat down. Brooke and Julian stood across from her. The difference in height enhanced Brooke and Julian's authority and made Sarah feel small.

"You cut school and ran away!" Brooke raised her voice. Her anger seeped into her tone and expression.

"I meant it when I said we will call the police and report you as a runaway. You will stay here or we will be looking for you and the police will be looking for you. Trust me, the chances are slim to none that we won't find you." Julian never raised his voice, but his tone was firm. His eyes bored into Sarah's.

This was a game to them, but it was Sarah's life they were playing with. Brooke and Julian had her right where they wanted her. Knowing the game was over and they'd won only infuriated Sarah more. "This isn't a game. This isn't hide and seek."

"I know. We're not playing." Julian spoke with quiet determination.

"You're still grounded. And we're going to add another week for the disappearing act you pulled." Brooke's volume returned to normal, but the anger was still there, intensifying the impact of every word she fired at Sarah.

"Your principal wants us in her office tomorrow morning."

Sarah sat in between Brooke and Julian in the principal's office. The principal, Mrs. Rimkiss, was across from them. Sarah was surrounded by enemies.

"You've missed 10 days of school this month."

Sarah stared at the floor. She didn't say anything. Missing school didn't affect anyone. Her teachers were paid whether or not she was sitting in the classroom. Her truancy sure as hell didn't affect Brooke and Julian.

All of the adults stared at Sarah. They wanted an apology. They expected her to at least acknowledge that Mrs. Rimkiss was talking to her. After several seconds of silence, Mrs. Rimkiss gave up on getting a response from Sarah. "You're suspended for 3 days."

"The consequence for missing school is suspension? So she's going to miss 3 more days of school? Isn't that giving her what she wants?" Julian said sarcastically.

"Sarah was suspended earlier this month and she didn't learn her lesson." As much as Mrs. Rimkiss hated to admit it, Julian had a point. She had Sarah's attendance information up on her computer. She brought up Sarah's grades. "You have a 4.0 GPA. This semester you have a C-average. Your pathetic attendance is reflected in your grades. I changed my mind. You're no longer suspended. You have detention every day after school for the next month. If you want to keep your GPA up, you will use the time to study. Is there anything else besides your absences going on? Has anything been going on at home?"

Brooke saw an opportunity to help Sarah and seized it. "Actually-"

Sarah's gaze snapped up. Her hazel eyes pierced Brooke's. They were filled with fury. Sarah's life was none of Mrs. Rimkiss' business and it was sure as hell not Brooke's story to tell. "No."

"Actually Sarah's had a really hard year." It wasn't what Brooke was originally going to say, but she wouldn't betray Sarah's trust by telling her life story when Sarah didn't want her to.

"Have you given any thought to college?" Mrs. Rimkiss asked.

"My mom spent her disposable income on drugs. She didn't save any of it for college." Sarah's voice was ripe with sarcasm. If Brooke wanted to talk about Sarah's life, Sarah would talk about it.

"With your GPA and test scores, you can get an academic scholarship for any school in North Carolina," Mrs. Rimkiss said.

"What do you mean her test scores?" Brooke asked.

"Sarah scored in the 98th percentile on the PSAT. She scored higher than most of our honors students."

"Can you move her into honors classes?" Brooke asked.

"I don't think so."

"She scored higher than most of your honors students. I'm sure she would do great in honors classes. Think about it." Brooke picked up on Julian's barely contained sarcasm, but it escaped Mrs. Rimkus.

"She's not doing great in the classes she's in. She doesn't attend them regularly and when she does attend she's a discipline problem."

"We will make sure she goes to class," Brooke said.

"If Sarah signs a behavior contract that she will follow school policies and attend class, we can transfer her into honors classes."

Sarah stormed out of the principal's office. Brooke and Julian caught up with her outside the school building.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Brooke didn't understand what had set Sarah off. Sarah had gotten out of her suspension and been moved into honors classes. She should be happy, but she looked mad.

"What is it with you? What did I ever do to you? Ever since I moved in, everything's gotten worse! Do you spend all your free time thinking of ways to screw with me? I didn't care about the suspension, but you just couldn't leave well enough alone and now I have detention! I don't want to be in honors classes!" Sarah unleashed all of her fury on Brooke and Julian. They were infiltrating every part of her life.

"You're not supposed to be happy about the consequences for cutting class." Brooke looked pleased with herself.

"Aren't you a little happy that you're in honors classes?" Julian asked.

"You did great on the PSAT." Brooke knew Sarah was smart, but she'd still been surprised at how high Sarah scored on the test.

"Yeah, we're proud of you."

Julian, Brooke, Tyler and Sarah were sitting at the table eating dinner.

"How'd it go with the principal?" Tyler asked.

"It went great," Brooke said. She broke into a smile. Knowing how well Sarah was doing filled her with a sense of pride.

"That's a matter of opinion," Sarah muttered under her breath.

"Not only is Sarah not suspended, but the principal moved her into honors classes," Julian said.

A smirk played across Tyler's face. "Wait, are you telling me that you're an honors student?" His tone was light and teasing with sarcasm laced in.

Sarah didn't answer. She didn't need to. The look she was giving Tyler told him that she was an honors student and she wasn't happy about it.

Tyler chuckled. "Dork."

Brooke knew she shouldn't enjoy Tyler tormenting his sister as much as she was, but she couldn't help it. She tried not to smile, but her lips curved up. Sarah deserved it.

"You know, I was an honors student," Julian said.

"Sorry." Tyler's wide grin told Julian he wasn't sorry; he was enjoying himself. Dinner with his mom and dad had never ended with good-natured jokes and laughter; it usually ended with swearing and screaming. The atmosphere at the Atkins table was never light. He liked feeling like he was part of this family.

"Julian was a mathlete," Brooke's lips formed into a smirk, teasing Julian.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sarah said sarcastically.

"Brooke was surprised. She couldn't believe she was dating a mathlete instead of a basketball player." Julian's lips curved up slightly. His eyes glittered mischievously. He looked at Brooke. He was remembering when she was designing the wardrobe for An Unkindness of Ravens and made him a letterman jacket.

"Hey, I've dated boys who didn't play sports." Brooke's tone was defensive. She knew they probably wouldn't have gone out if they'd met when they were in high school.

"Yeah, actors and singers." Julian would never forget the many men who had come before him. He'd researched her dating history online when she'd been unable to tell him that she loved him. Deep down he knew she loved him, but he needed to hear it. He wanted to know what had made her so afraid to let people in. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was that she'd chosen him out of all her possibilities.

"Actors and singers?" Tyler asked.

"Colin Farrell and Nick Lachey, just to name a few."

"Colin Farrell?" Tyler had a hard time imagining the classy woman he saw as a good mom going out with the infamous playboy.

"Okay, Julian got his information from the Internet. You can't believe everything you read online," Brooke said.

Tyler's eyebrows arched up. "So you didn't go out with him?"

Brooke pursed her lips. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want him to see her as the girl she used to be. She wanted to be a good role model for her foster children. "I went to functions with celebrities when I lived in New York. It was good publicity for my company. None of the boys I dated meant anything to me."