AN: That first chapter was harder to write than it seemed. I want to write in the present-tense, but I guess it takes practice. There's another reason for me to write this story!

Disclamier: I do not own Pokémon, Nintendo, or a 3DS. I want to get one so bad, though…

~~PAR~~

I shivered in the cold night air as I tried to find my way home- no. It wasn't home. Not yet, at least.

I wasn't surprised they had forgotten me, since I was still so new to their household. It was just that they had said they would pick me up from school, which was fifteen minutes from their house by car, and I had waited three hours for them. After waiting that long, I needed to go find home myself.

Out of all the families I had been to, this one was definitely one of the nicest. That just made me even more certain that it was simple forgetfulness.

As I walked down the dark street, I saw a crowd of people gathered around the other side- where a large column of smoke was rising. Curious as I was, I checked to make sure no cars were coming before running across the street. I heard people murmuring about an oil slick, and a tragic accident. I pushed my way to the front- and froze.

That was my foster family's car, surrounded by police and firemen. The smoke was coming from the front of the car, which was crumpled up and smashed beyond repair. The front doors had been removed, and I wondered absently why there was red paint spilled on the car's carpet floor and steering wheel…

I then realized it wasn't paint. It was blood. I found myself hyperventilating. I heard loud screams- my screams, I realized. There were voices all around me, but I couldn't hear them. I heard someone saying my name.

"Melissa."

"Mel."

"Mel! Wake up!"

I sit straight up in bed, whacking my head on Cameron's. "Ow! Watch it!" she says, rubbing her sore chin.

"Then you shouldn't put your head in my face," I retort, rubbing my forehead in a similar manner.

Cameron stops rubbing her chin and looks at me, concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asks.

I frown in confusion. "Why d'you ask?"

"You were yelling in your sleep." Blade's grumpy voice comes from the other side of the room. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"I did," says Lacey quietly. "It was in a funny movie I saw once with my Grammy. The main guy was staying at a hotel with another guy who ate a lot, and he started screaming about toothpaste and ducks."

I recoil a bit. "Wait… A guy was staying at a hotel with another guy? And your… Grammy let you watch this?"

"Well, the guy got scared of the other guy's screaming, so he slept under a table in the entrance of the hotel."

We all stare at her, unsure of what else to do.

Finally, Blade clears his throat. "Well, we might as well go down to the Mess Hall to eat."

"There's a Mess Hall?" I ask. "Why didn't I hear this?"

Cameron smiles at me gently. I want her to stop smiling at me. "One of the guys in the white coats came while you were still asleep and told us."

"Oh." I frown at this. "And you didn't wake me up for that?"

"You were really deep asleep then," says little Lacey.

"You mean fast asleep," says Blade.

I get out of bed. "In that case, I'll come eat too."

~~PAR~~

We take multiple wrong turns trying to find the Mess Hall, but eventually we find another group of straggling kids that actually do know where they're going. I notice Cameron talking in a very animated way with one of the guys in their group, a boy about her age with dark blond hair and blue eyes, and a heavy German accent. I begin to wonder how wide a variety of kids there are here.

When we finally reach the Mess Hall, I see even more kids there than I remembered from the previous day. Blade clearly notices this as well, since he comments "We must have been brought in multiple groups."

I nod absently, looking around at everyone. It looked like some international convention, and sounded like one too. I saw a few Hispanic girls chatting animatedly with one another in Spanish, a Japanese boy speaking quickly to a girl in his group as she nodded at his every word, a girl blushing fiercely as a confused young man with a French accent spoke to her in his native language, confusion increasing with every excited squeal. I shake my head. Stereotypes.

"I see some seats over there," says Lacey, pointing to the far side of the room. We seat ourselves over there, and one of the guys in the white coats brings us four trays of food. My mouth waters just looking at it. Scrambled eggs with hints of cheese, chocolate chip pancakes, little sausages… I can't remember the last time I had a meal this good!

Lacey, Blade and I all dig in immediately! I relish every last crumb of food! Cameron, on the other hand, holds one of the sausages between two fingers with a look of disgust. She grimaces at it, then turns to us. "Hey. Do any of you want this?"

I immediately reach out to grab the sausage from her hand- just a second too late. I glare at blade as he takes a bite of it. "I was going for that, you know!"

He smirks at me. "Yeah, well, I got it first."

I open my mouth to retort, when he pops the other half into my mouth. Not one to turn down the gift of food, I chew and swallow the savory meat. I see him trying to contain a chuckle at this. "So, what? Last night you were Mr. 'I'm too cool and tough to talk to you,' and now you're acting like a normal teen?"

Blade blinks in surprise, then slowly looks down at his plate. "Sorry. Watching you guys yesterday… made me a bit jealous."

I snort when he says that. "Jealous? Of an old blanket and a teddy bear?"

"Not any teddy bear," says Lacey, sticking her tongue out.

Blade ignores her and continues. "It's not that you have possessions… it's that you guys have family, and things to remember them by." He chuckled. "I've always been envious of others for that."

Cameron looks like she's about to cry at his story. I shake my head. "Look. If you're trying to gain sympathy by telling us your whole life story, it's falling on wasted ears. I was a foster kid! You say you want a family? I've had more than I can count, and my last one died coming to pick me up from school!"

Blade stares at me in shock, then glares. "So, you're rubbing it in my face?"

I glare right back at him. "I'm saying that having a family isn't all that it's cracked up to be!"

"I'm sure it's better than living in the streets and dodging police all day!"

Cameron raises her hand weakly. "My mom died in childbirth and my dad was killed my a mugger," she says, trying to help.

Lacey looks down at her plate. "All I had was Grammy, and a bunch of men took her to some place because she was old."

I look around at our table. "So… none of us have any living family?" They all shake their heads.

I stare at what remains of my eggs, suddenly unable to eat anymore.