Reluctantly making my way downstairs to meet the other 'young people', as we're called, I was hoping that I wouldn't meet anyone from the school. If I was lucky they would all be in younger years so I wouldn't have to put up with them in school like at Vale. It was a big care home so you never escaped the taunts of the day. Still, I put on my brave face and acted like I didn't care; I didn't then and I don't now…ish.
"Hi! I'm Carmen, this is Tee!" Two girls had suddenly materialised in front of me, making me stumble back a bit. I hadn't realised I had wandered so far into the living room without introducing myself, but these girls seemed to be the only ones who had noticed.
"I'm Sophie, kinda made me jump there!" I smiled warmly at them. It seemed a nice enough place, so I may as well try to make friends, even though these girls did seem quite a bit younger than me.
"Sorry, Gina says we have a tendency to that!" the shorter of the two apologised.
"It's alright! What did you say your names were?"
"I'm Carmen," the girl with long dark hair pointed to herself, "and this is Tee."
"Hi." Wow Sophie, way to make yourself look good, you forget their names after two seconds. Intelligent.
"That's my brother Johnny," she gestured to a boy sat at the computer who looked up briefly and muttered a hello. I'd seen him around the school he might have been in year eight or nine, "he can be a bit anti-social when he's on the computer!"
I looked up around the room to see how many kids were here. Not too many, so this awkward bit would be over soon, thank god. But there were a few people that went to the same school as me. There was a girl sat there, with blue highlights; Elektra. I didn't get on too badly with her, but she wasn't the friendliest of people. I may as well get it over with:
"Hi Elektra."
"Yep." Well that was easy.
"I'm Harry. This is Jeff. Who are you?" A small blonde boy who couldn't be more than seven was gently poking me in the side.
"Hi Harry, Jeff! I'm Sophie, nice to meet you!" So there were small children here too, I might just be able to make myself useful then.

Climbing into bed I couldn't help but smile at my new circumstance. It was a really friendly place and they didn't seem to judge me, true to Tracy's word. Although some did seem taken aback when I said where I came from, but that was going to happen.
The Fleeting estate wasn't the nicest of places to grow up. It was always littered with junkies and empty beer bottles. Mum used to look after me, my brother and my sister but Dad was always in charge. My brother left when I was about nine, he was nineteen. My mum had him at an early age; Dad always said that it wasn't anything to be ashamed of, that more people should do it. But Rob, my brother, hated his life there and spent every waking moment trying to escape it. Rob loved school, sports the best. He used to stay really late school training. Dad got mad at him for it, but it just made him stay later at school.
Dad got mad a lot. He mainly got mad at Mum and Rob, but Rob didn't let it get to him and Dad couldn't punish him when Rob was training so much, so he could easily over power Dad. That may have been why he took it out on me and Mum. I only got yelled at and hit a few times, but he used to batter Mum. I don't think he knew I was watching, because if he did he was sick. Well he was sick for beating my mum up, but even more so.
But when Mum found out she was pregnant with my sister he stopped. He was still angry all the time but he used Mum's saving to drink it away. Mum didn't say anything because it meant he was calmer for a while and out of the house, but Rob had plenty to say about it. Dad came back one night absolutely pissed and Rob just snapped. He went crazy at Dad, shouting about how Dad should be a better father, that I've had to miss school for two weeks for the black eye he gave me when he should be taking Mum to her hospital appointments (according to Dad, Mum wasn't allowed out on her own). So Dad started yelling back, saying that Rob should just go, leave because he was a useless waste of space anyway. That was how we all found out he had joined up for the army. I was sat meekly in the living room. I was too young to understand what Rob was doing but I knew he was going away, for a long time, and my big brother had always took care of me when Mum couldn't. Mum broke down and Dad just went packed his bag and told him he never wanted to see him again. And he never did.
My sister was born not long after that she was called Teresa after my Dad's mother. But neither my mum nor I liked it much so we called her Totti, as a nickname. When she was one the social called over and mum had bruises all over her arms, but Dad wasn't in. She told them everything asked them to take me and my sister away. I hated her for that for a while, but I soon realised that she was trying to save us from Dad.
Totti and I started in emergency foster care. But when we went to Richmond a family was looking to adopt a little girl about her age. And I was left on my own.

I placed Rob's watch in the top drawer in the table next to my bed and turned over. The room was nice enough, a bit bare, but I'll just set my posters and pictures on it and that'll change. I was thinking about what would go where when I heard my window being pulled open and groans of effort coming into it. Panicking I grabbed a big text book, raised it above my head and crept over to my open window. A rucksack swung itself over the window sill, into my room and two hands and a head appeared at the bottom of the window.
"Who put the curtains up today then, eh?"
With that I deftly swung the book down on his head.
"Argh! What do you think you're doing!"
"I could ask you the same thing!"
"Shh, keep your voice down!" he sighed "Can I come in? Only I don't find hanging outside of a window that comfortable."
Realisation dawned on me. I knew who that voice belonged to. Liam O'Donovan, the infamous prankster known throughout the school.
"Liam? What are you doing here?"
"So, you're the new girl then Sophie! Sorry, didn't expect you to be in this room!" He grabbed my arm still held out with book, and finally hauled himself into my room. "Just went out for a day trip with a mate, didn't expect to be back so late so I came through the window so that I didn't wake anyone up... apart from you, sorry about that!"
"You live here? In care? Here?" I was still shell shocked from a 15 year old boy climbing through my window at eleven o'clock at night.
"Yeah, Gus has probably given you a tour already, right?"
"Yes, he has. I know we don't have much to do with each other in school but you never said that you were a care kid!"
"Well, you never asked." He picked up his rucksack and started across the room.
"Well... You never gave me a reason to!" I put the book down on the desk in the corner. He spun around and looked me up and down before grinning and saying:
"Nice PJ's!"

A/N

Much happier about this chapter than the last.
Thank you so so much to everyone reviewed/followed/favourite! Gave me a real boost and determination to finish this story.
I'll try to update soon but I have a messed up sleeping pattern so they probably won't be that regular but I have free days for a few weeks (summer holidays YES!) so they'll hopefully be quite frequent.
Reviews make me very happy! :)