Amy stood in the spacious master bedroom of the modern, two-story, spanish style house she resided in with her mother, Teresa, and her mother's boyfriend, Chris. The young woman's brows furrowed inquisitively as her mother handed her a few sheets of paper, which she could already tell were job applications.

Like most adoptive parents, her mother looked nothing like her. She was a short, full-figured Caucasian woman with wavy, shoulder length honey blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and thin lips. Chris was the opposite of her adoptive father's appearance. He was a tall, unattractive, barrel-chested and Caucasian man with short curly brown hair, deep-set brown eyes, bushy brows, and jutting jaw. She tended to wonder what her mother saw in the man in the first place. They were an odd couple if she'd ever heard of one.

"Here. I picked up a few applications for you from work. One is for the library downtown, another is to work at the regional park, Coral Gables. The last one is a secretary position at the medical office in South Beach. All you need to do is fill them out and I'll turn them in for you."

Amy exhaled sharply and shoved the applications back at her. "No! God, I wish you'd stop fucking pressuring me to get a job! I don't need one right now, I'm still going to college. Shit. Just leave me the hell alone!"

Teresa sighed in frustration, her eyes narrowing on the young woman. "I'm not going to be paying for your tuition the rest of my life. You're going to have to start taking some responsibility around here. You've got a car. If you don't start paying for the insurance yourself, I'm not going to do it for you anymore. I have bills to pay."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "I can't handle going to college AND having a job at the same time! I'd barely have time to breathe."

"Then go to college part-time. How do you think I manage? Do you think it's any fun for me? You're not even taking but two courses right now. You spend four hours out of the week at college and then come home and spend the rest of your time sitting in front of the computer. You can't waste your life away there! Do you want to become a low-life like your father?"

Tears began welling up in her eyes. "Shut the fuck up! I don't waste ALL of my time in front of the computer. I'm almost twenty years old. I can do whatever I want! I'll get a job when I'm ready to get a job. Not when you fucking tell me to."

"Don't talk to your mother that way!" Chris blurted defensively, pushing himself up to seated position from his spot on their bed.

She shot a glare at the man before turning her attention back to her mother, who looked ready to explode at any moment.

Her mother looked from Amy to Chris, then back to Amy, lowering her voice to a tone that only she could hear, "don't you dare speak to me like that around Chris." Her voice returned to the same spiteful tone it had started. "As long as you're still living under this roof, you can't do whatever you want. You're still my responsibility and I still make the rules around here! Oh, and what have you been doing all day? It's almost seven o' clock at night! I don't like you being out in this city at night and all by yourself."

Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. "How many fucking times do I have to repeat myself? I'm almost TWENTY years old! I can take care of myself. I'm not a God damn child anymore. I don't need you to stand beside me and hold my hand in everything I do and everywhere I go."

"Stop using that language and stop taking the Lord's name in vain. You may be on your way to being twenty years old, but until you move out of this house, you don't have the grounds to make your own decisions. Now take the applications," the woman handed them back to her, but she wouldn't take them.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she could feel tears stinging her eyes. "No! Just leave me alone. I'm moving in with Courtney. Don't talk to me anymore!" She turned on her heels and started out of the room but her mother grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Oh no you're not! We aren't done here young lady." Teresa insisted.

She tugged her arm back from her mother's grasp. "Don't touch me! Why can't you just leave me alone!" She continued on her way out of the room, but Teresa was not about to back down.

The woman followed her daughter into the hallway. "I am NOT going to leave you alone until you start taking respon--"

"You're NOT my REAL MOTHER!" Amy screamed. Marching into her bedroom, she slammed the door behind her and locked it. She stood there for a moment, listening intently to see if the woman was still out there. The only sound she heard was the muffled sound of the television from their room, followed by the voice of her mother. She couldn't hear what she was saying, but she knew her well enough to know she was most likely talking about her behind her back and telling Chris exactly how irresponsible she was.

She crossed her room and turned on her stereo system. The device sat on top of the chest of drawers just inside the door. Snap's song, "The Power" pumped out of the speakers nosily. Collapsing down on her bed, the tears began streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed softly. She couldn't believe that this was her life. Where were her real parents when she needed them? Not having a father was one thing, but how could this woman think she was actually a good mother? There was no way she could continue on this way. It would drive her to the nut house or to her own destruction.

Sniffling deeply, she fixed her watery eyes on the front pocket of her backpack where a corner of the white envelope was sticking out. She knew what she had to do. It could very well make things worse, or...it might make them better. There was only one way to find out. Maybe these two strangers would give her some sense of shelter away from this hell that she was living. Reaching out, she unzipped the front pocket and slipped the envelope out with a shaky hand. Lifting the seal, she slipped her hand inside and fingered the birth certificate before sliding it out. She wiped a tear from her eye, fixing her gaze on the two signatures. Inhaling deeply, she turned towards her nightstand and took out a pad of paper and a pen. She hesitated before finally taking the cordless phone from its base and dialing 4-1-1.

Grabbing the remote from the nightstand, she turned the volume down on the stereo as she spoke softly into the phone. "Um, Chr-Christian Troy. It's a residence. Miami, Florida." A lump formed in her throat as she waited for the number to be given. Her heart pounded in her chest. It took a leap of courage to put the pen to the paper and note the phone number when it was given to her. Turning the cordless off and hanging up, she stared down at the large round buttons on the device in her hand, debating with herself about whether or not she should call the man now.

What if she caught him at a bad time? What if he wasn't home? What if she couldn't speak the moment he came on the line? There were a dozen questions flooding her mind. As terrified as she felt, she could not afford to cry anymore tears. She had to think about doing what was right for herself. Everything happened for a reason. This time, she had to believe that she was destined to find out who her real parents were so that they could make a better life for her. The life she never got to have.

She took a couple deep breaths to calm her racing heart before she turned the cordless back on. While her fingers continued to shake, she dialed the set of numbers on the sheet of paper before her. Her stomach knotted up and her heart constricted as she listened to it ring. Once. Twice. Before it could ring a third time, someone picked up. A deep voice came over the line. "Hello?"

Her mind went blank, and for a long moment, she didn't know what to say. Her tongue felt like lead. A huge lump formed in her throat. She tried to form a sentence, even if she began stammering but nothing came out.

"Hello?" The voice came again, more intent than before.

She forced herself to push the words out from the back of her throat. "Is-is this Christian Troy?"

"Yes it is. Who's this?"

"Um..." What was she suppose to say? Hi, I'm your daughter. You may not remember me. Obviously, because you must have given me up at birth. What's up dad? There was no doubt in her mind that the next sound she'd hear would be a click. He would think she was insane and instantly hang up on her.

"Who is this? Hello?" The man was still on the line.

Instinct took over and she panicked. "No one." She hung up the phone immediately before he could say anymore. She brought a hand up to her mouth in astonishment, asking herself what on earth she had just done. Her heart returned to a normal rate now that she had calmed down, but she still felt just as disorriented as she did when she found out she was adopted. Sighing deeply, she reached for the cordless once again and dialed Courtney. Perhaps she could help her get a handle on everything before she got up the courage to call the man again.