Chapter 5

Craig walked into the small den in which the girl who Joey said was named Rachael was sitting on a coach. Hmm..... He thought, looking over the girl and rating her in his mind. Looks....different. He thought again to himself. I should say hi. He was a little nervous about this girl, she was so beautiful, she looked like she came straight out of a painting. She didn't look exactly hot- as he would say. She beautiful- mystical- and unworldly. Wow. he thought stunned. As the girl just sat there on the coach, playing with her fingers. Sad. Craig thought. Very sad.

He walked up to the girl who had a shy, but don't-mess-with-me kind of image. He could tell she'd been hurt before. Maybe worse than he. "Hey, I'm Craig." He said, telling that this girl, Rachael had gone through a lot. She didn't answer. Just continued to sit there. playing with her fingers, staring up at the ceiling. Lonely. Craig thought. She needs a friend. I guess I'm pretty good at that. "So...umm... Joey tells me your... Rachael."

That caught her attention. She seemed shocked that he called her by her name. "No, not Rachael," she said with a spark and a tint of shyness in her voice all at once, a combination Craig rarely saw. "Rae." She said again with a bit of an attitude. Not like Paige though, like a Bad-ass kind of girl. He could tell that was what she was trying to be, but he didn't believe it one bit.

"Isn't that a guys name?" He said back with attitude to give Rae a taste of her own medicine.

"No, idiot it comes from Rachael, its a cool name. Not girly. That's why I like it."

"Oh... I see." Craig said with bewilderment. This girl was sure an enigma. He just couldn't figure her out. A conundrum. She was a toughie.

"Well... you should." Rae said back, not as fiercely this time. "Craig Jerimiah." She repeated his name sing-singishly. "Lucky."

She thought he was a Jerimiah. No, that he'd never be. Which made him sad. Joey and he weren't exactly on good terms right now. After that car incedent. {[which I only found out about because I was on the website. I live in Pa. USA they haven't shown that episode yet.]} "No. I'm Craig Manning. Not Jeremiah."

"Manning?" She said befuddled. "Your not a Jerimiah? You look so much like Angie."

"She's my half sister. My mother died, she was married to Joey."

"Oh." Rae said halfway relieved. "But what about your Dad? Couldn't he take you?"

Uh...Oh. Craig thought. Didn't want to get on that subject again. Practically the whole school knew about his problems anyways. But then something like a light bulb-he couldn't tell what- appeared in Craig's mind. Rae- she was a foster child- wasn't she? Then maybe he should tell her. Maybe it would make her feel better about her own situation. Maybe she would tell him and she would make him feel better about his situation. There hadn't really been anyone Craig could talk to about what had happened to him that could empathize, they could only sympathize, and that was the last thing he wanted. Pity. He thought. And probably the same goes for her.

PLEASE R&R peeps I'll write more next time. Hope you like!