Randy and I packed our things that night, and went home with the McGraths early the next morning. They had two daughters, Carly and Anna. Carly was a year older than me, and Anna two years younger.

Randy and I got along the same as we always did. We cooperated with each other and even though he was my stepbrother, we still got along like the friends we had always been. We tried to avoid arguments with Carly and Anna, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. We also took extra care in helping out around the house and doing as we were told, because we were content there, and we didn't want to blow it and get sent back into foster care.

We paid visits to our friends at the foster home a lot. And guess what? As luck would have it, the McGraths were the Stilianos' next-door neighbors. That was how Gwen knew my new family. So the three of us hung out together every day. That is, until about two years later when my whole life changed forever.again.

Randy, Gwen and I all went to the same school, got decent grades, and were all accepted pretty readily by different social groups. Randy and I were both on the varsity basketball team, but I was the only girl. Gwen was a cheerleader. So we all went to the basketball games together. Although we couldn't have pep talks in the locker room because there was a girl on the team, so we met in the office.

One night, I was taking my laundry upstairs after it was washed, and I felt my nose start to tingle. Darn allergies! I tried to stop it, but you know how these things are. "AH-CHOO!"

The next thing I knew, the smoke alarm was going off, and the house was burning down. I screamed "Fire, fire," as I ran down the stairs and out the back door. In a minute, the rest of my family was outside with me, watching it. The emergency squad started to arrive just as I heard Carly say, "Oh no! Where's Anna?"

A firefighter came up to us and started feeding us the "We'll-have-her-out- any-second" line. Yeah right! Like I was going to just stand around and trust my sister's life to a "should-be." A crowd started to accumulate, but I forced my way through them, ignoring the dozens of voices and arms trying to stop me. A firefighter grabbed my shoulder, but I twisted away and ran back into the house.

Once inside, I had my mind so set on finding Anna that I hardly even noticed the smoke and the flames. The only thing that got my attention at all was when a part of the ceiling collapsed and fell six inches away from me. My heart must have skipped at least three beats when that happened! I felt a pain in my chest and I seriously thought I was having a heart attack, but it passed momentarily. "Woah," I commented, "That wasn't cool. Okay, let's not have any more scares like that." I decided that I didn't have time to stop and catch my breath if I was going to get Anna out in time, despite the fact that my heart was going even faster than I was.

It took me a while to find her, and when I did, she was unconscious and her shoelace was stuck on the bedpost. Don't ask me how. It's just one of those things that only Anna can manage.

I was in there for about ten minutes before I got her unstuck and came back out again carrying her in my arms. The instant I came out, I was swamped with news reporters and curious observers. They crowded around me so I could hardly move. They screamed at the top of their lungs trying to get me to answer their questions. I wanted to say, "Very nice microphones. Now please don't shove them up my nose," but I decided to be polite about it. "Please back up. She needs space! She needs more breathing room!" No one listened, so I had to get tough. I inhaled deeply until I thought my lungs would pop, and screamed as loud as I possibly could. "EVERYBODY, COOL IT!!!!" Everyone fell totally silent and stared at me. The ambulance squad worked their way through the crowd and took Anna from me. She was hurt pretty badly.

As soon as she was in the truck, I realized that all the eyes never left me. "Thank you! Excuse me!" They all cleared a path for me to get through to my family. As I started walking, I started feeling very self- conscious. Who wouldn't, with a huge crowd of people staring at them, making way for them, whispering to each other and pointing at them, and they don't know why? It was really freaky.

Gwen was standing with Carly, Randy, Mr. and Mrs. McGrath. All five of them were crying. I mean really crying as in bawling their eyes out! I approached them slowly and they all came up to me and hugged me. It was very strange! I had never really been hugged before, at least not like this, so I was not sure what to do. I just stood there in as much awe as them. Then we turned back to the house, and watched.