A/N okay, so I've decided to do something a little different for this chapter…it is set when Polly is 15 and taken into care. Enjoy and please read and review xx

Polly was silent as her new care/social worker, Savannah, drove her to the children's home for the first time.

"Alright kiddo? We're here, Cherrieswood House" Savannah said, going round to open the car door for Polly to get out, who currently seemed lost in her own world, simply staring out of the window at her new home. It looked nice enough, well; anything had to be better than where she was before.

"Right, come on then. Let's get you inside, eh?" Polly nodded, following the young woman inside and into the large hallway.

The house was huge; Polly could tell that just by looking at the downstairs of it. It was also very noisy; lots of children and young people lived there.

When everyone suddenly crowded around her to see who the new girl was, Polly moved back, shaking and looking at Savannah for re-assurance. Her confidence and self-esteem were at rock bottom; years of constant abuse and neglect, both physical and emotional, had taken their toll. She was easily frightened and intimidated, hated confrontations and was generally just quite unsure of herself.

"It's alright" Savannah assured her, smiling "this lot are just nosy. Come on, move back, give her some space all of you. Right, this is Polly, she's 15 years old and she's going to be living here from now on. Has that satisfied your curiosity now?" the group of children nodded and moved away, going back to what they had been doing. All except for one; a tiny girl, about a year old still stood there, looking at Polly who gave her a shy smile. The small smile was enough to encourage the young child that Polly was friendly and she walked slowly towards her, wrapping her arms around Polly's legs affectionately before letting go and reaching her arms up to be lifted.

Polly wasn't sure how to respond at first, but then instinct kicked in and she picked up the little girl, resting her on her hip and smiling at her.

"I see you've made a friend already" Savannah smiled "that's Nieve, she is… 1 year and 2 months, only been with us 2 weeks. She'll quite happily follow you around all the time if you let her; she's very friendly, as you've probably noticed! You won't get much peace when she's about, especially when she takes to people as quickly as she took to you. Do you want me to take her or are you alright with her?"

Polly spoke for the first time that day "No, I'll keep her, she's cute" smiling at Nieve.

"Right, I'll show you to your room. You'll be sharing with a girl called Avani, bit older than you, about 16, she's really lovely though" She waited until Polly nodded before continuing and beckoning for her to follow her up the staircase "She won't mind me telling you, she was in a similar situation to you before she came here a few years ago, things weren't great at home for her, either"

Savannah stopped at a door covered in flowers and stars and knocked on it "This will be your room. Avani? Avani? Polly's here, the new girl, come and say hello"

The door opened and Avani walked out, beaming at Polly.

"Hiya! I'm Avani, you're Polly, right?" Polly nodded, unsure of how to react; she liked her, she seemed really nice. "Come on in, sorry it's a bit of a mess!"

"Right, I'll leave you to get settled in Pol. If Nieve starts being a monkey, just bring her downstairs" Savannah said, sticking out her tongue at the toddler, making her giggle "Yes, you. Anyway, if you need me you know where I am. Alright?"

"Thank you" Polly replied quietly, smiling shyly at her.

"No problem. Have fun you two!"

"Come on, come on in!" Avani encouraged gently, seeing how nervous her new roommate was. Polly obediently walked into the room, taking in her new surroundings. It was huge, posters and pictures adorning the walls apart from 2 of them. These walls were blank, and in-between them sat a freshly made bed "I didn't know what kind of things you were into, so I left them blank. But you can decorate them however you want"

Polly smiled at her new roommate, she could tell that she was going to like sharing with her "Thanks. The rest of your room looks great. Did you do it all yourself?"

"Thank you! Yeah, I did it all, some of the pictures are ones I did, too" she said proudly, pointing some out to Polly.

Nieve, who seemed to be quite happy just being held, started to play with Polly's shoulder-length hair, twisting it gently around her fingers. Polly smiled at her, and in return received a wet kiss on the cheek from the tiny girl, who grinned back at her.

"So, what sort of things you into then?" Avani asked her, wanting to find out more about Polly, who she would be sharing with from now on.

"Erm…I like music, animals, just nature I guess. How about you?"

"Much the same actually, we obviously have a lot in common!" Avani again smiled, the smile lighting up her eyes and making them sparkle.

Polly returned the smile, she really liked Avani. She knew she would be alright here.