Emily wiped her Charlie Brown cheeks clean of tears, her big doe eyes looking down to the oatmeal before her before gently picking up the spoon beside her bowl.

"Hi there Em."

The brunette looked up, her child-like gaze landing on the sixteen year old boy that took a seat beside her. "Hi Dennis."

Dennis Alexander, sixteen years of age, had been living in the orphanage for three years. Every day he'd sit beside the beautiful little girl at breakfast and dinner, his hand settling over her always bare knee as they ate. "I heard you in Ms. Higgins' office."

Emily looked back to her dinner and slowly nodded her head.

"Did it hurt?"

The ten year old bit her lip, swallowing her oatmeal slowly as the teenager's hand smoothed over the skin of her knee. "Yes."

Dennis tried his best to hide his smile. "What did she use?"

"Her hand." Her eyebrows furrowed at the feeling of the blond boy's hand cupping around her knee, his thumb almost digging into her skin. "You're hurting me."

Dennis let out a small laugh, scooting closer to the younger girl. "It can't hurt that much, Em." He bent down and burried his nose in her dark hair. "You've gone through much worse, haven't you?"

Emily's eyes closed tight as the older boy was yanked away from her, her ears trying to block out the sound of him falling to the floor of the mess hall. She sniffled as her brother sat down at her side, taking another spoonful of oatmeal after he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I don't like him."

Ashton nodded his head. "I know, Em."

The brunette girl pouted as she looked down to her dinner. "He scares me."

Ashton wrapped his arm around the ten year old, holding her to his side and using his free hand to spoon at the oatmeal in his own bowl. "Don't worry, Em. I'm here for you."

"I know." Emily leaned up and kissed her brother's chin. She quickly swallowed another spoonful of oatmeal before her eyes looked across the room, her gaze landing on a small blond girl who was staring towards her and her brother with her crystal blue eyes. Her lips immediately formed a frown when the blond looked away, and she tapped on her brother's leg. "Who's that?"

The thirteen year old boy looked up from his dinner, following his sister's eyes to the young girl who sat in between to large boys, her frail looking body covered by an oversized sweatshirt, her blond hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. "I think that's Jenny."

Emily's head tilted. "I don't think I know her."

"She only got here yesterday. She's pretty nice, you should talk to her."

The brunette girl bit her lip. "But I have a friend now."

Ashton frowned. "That girl out front?"

Emily glared up to her brother. "Her name is Penelope and she's nice. She's my first friend."

"First, Em. Not only."

An hour later, Emily pulled her nightgown over her head, her dark hair sticking up around her head. Because boys and girls in the orphanage slept in different rooms, the ten year old couldn't sleep with the comfort of her older brother's presence with her.

Emily pulled back her cottom blanket and quickly climbed up into her bed, her ebony eyes glancing over to the younger girl in the once empty bed beside her. "My brother said your name was Jenny."

The blond girl peeked out from under her small blanket and nodded. "Hi."

"I'm Emily." The ten year old's forehead scrunched. "You look cold."

Jennifer bit her lip. "Kind of."

Emily smiled to the younger girl and scooted over in her bed. "It gets chilly here. Wanna sleep with me?"

The blond quickly sat up in her bed. "Really?"

Emily nodded her head. "Uh huh. We'll be a lot warmer."

Jenniifer quickly scampered from her bed to the one that sit right beside the big window that looked down on the city, sliding in beside her new friend and laying her blanket over the older girl's. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." The brunette laid down beside the younger girl and quickly shut her eyes, a smile spreading over her face as she thought about the two new friends she had made that day.