Searching (not done)

It all happened too fast. All it took was one night, and my life would be changed forever.

                                                                                          Searching                                             
                                                                                Ch.1 Changed Forever

  I wake up suddenly, and hear terrifying yelling downstairs. Fear strikes me quickly as I hear the yelling get louder. I shiver, and look over at the clock, it's 1am. They're at it again.. Slowly slipping out of bed, I creep downstairs. I peek around the corner into the kitchen, and my eyes widen. My heart speeds up as I see what my father is about to do. Terrified, I gasp. My father spins around, a furious rage in his dark eyes. He storms towards me, his footsteps sounding like thunder. I flinch as he grips my arm and pulls me into the kitchen. My mom is sitting on the floor leaning against the cupboard, terror in her eyes. The fear stabs me like a knife, I start to shake as my father pulls me into the living room. He pushes me into a chair, and quickly ties me up. I wince as the ropes tighten around my wrists and ankles. My father walks back into the kitchen, leaving me alone in the dark room. I will never belong here.. 

  "Please don't!" I hear my mother cry. Horrible images come to my mind, making tears well up in my eyes. I try to pull out of the ropes, but it's no use. Suddenly the house is filled with an ear-piercing scream from my mother. I flinch, terrorizing images flowing through my mind. It suddenly goes deathly silent, and I know what has happened. The tears flow freely down my cheeks, my life will never be the same again.

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I'm sitting on the couch deathly silent when there's a knock at the door.

  "Get the damn door!" My father yells at me. I flinch, and quickly walk to the door. As soon as I open it, nervousness strikes me.

  "Hello miss, is your father home?" A police officer asks. Before I have the chance to open my mouth, my father shouts at me.

  "Meg who's at the door?!" He yells. Concern appears on the police officer's face, then he notices the cut on my cheek.

  "What happened to your cheek?" He asks, concern and worry in his voice. Very quietly, I answer.

  "My father, he murdered my mother, he's beating on me. Please help me." I say, tears threatening to fall. Hesitantly, I step aside and allow him into the house. My father jumps up off the couch, complete rage in his eyes as he stares at me.

  "You little-" He hisses. To my surprise, two more cops walk into the house.

  "You are under arrest for murder." The one says, and another walks up to my father with handcuffs. The last cop, grabs my arm and gently pulls me outside.

"I'm afraid you will have to come with me." He says. I nod sadly, and follow him to his car. I climb in, and he starts the car. Finally I can't hold it in anymore, I start crying. Images of my mother flow into my mind, bringing back sweet, sad memories of what used to be. I watch everything go by in a blur, tears running down my cheeks nonstop. The cop looks at me in the mirror, sadness in his eyes. We pull up to what I was dreading, a girls home. I wipe my eyes, and climb out of the car. I follow the cop slowly into the building. As soon as we walk into the door, a young woman walks up to us.

  "Hi, how can I help you?" She asks politely. I look around at the place where I will be staying. There are girls from ages 7-15 years old.

  "I'm here to register this young girl." The cop answers. I frown, this is gonna suck.

  "Of course, I'll take it from here, just sign here." The woman says, handing him a clipboard. He signs the bottom right away, then hands it back and walks out the door. Why me... 

  "My name is Brittany, what's yours?" She asks, smiling.

"Megan." I answer quietly.

"Come with me Megan." Brittany says, and starts walking towards an almost empty room. Hesitantly, I slowly follow her. She closes the door behind me, and we both sit down at a desk.

  "So Megan, how old are you?" Brittany asks, ready to write down everything I say on a form.

  "I'm fourteen." I answer honestly. She writes it down, and I sigh. This is gonna be a long day. After filling out a form about me, she leads me out of the room. She leads me into another room, where a girl is sitting on the top bunk of a bunkbed.

"Megan, you will be staying in here with Jessica. Jessica, this is Megan." Brittany says, then strolls out. Jessica looks up at me, some kind of hate in her eyes.

  "Hi." I say quietly, uncomfortable. She hesitates, then answers.

  "Just don't bug me and we'll get along fine." She growls.

  "Ouch." I mutter, sitting on the bottom bunk. I hate this place! I lay down, and before I see it coming, I'm silently crying. In a matter of minutes, I fall asleep.

  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    .    .  Ch.2 School .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

  I wake up to a bell, and groan. I get up and walk out of the room.

  "Ah Megan, I've signed you up at a new school, its just around the corner. You slept in so you better get going." Brittany says. She hands me a backpack, and I groan again. I throw on my shoes, and walk out the door. I go around the corner, and immediatly recognize the school. I sigh, I hate this already. I walk into the front doors, and am kinda surprised. It's not as big and busy as I expected. Before I can even walk to the office beside me, a cute 15 year old boy walks up to me.

  "Hi, you're new right?" He asks. He has bright blue eyes and short black hair. Still looking around at the unfamiliar place, I answer him.

  "Yeah, I am." I say.

  "Come with me. My name's Jake by the way, what's yours?" He asks, starting to lead me to the office.

  "I'm Megan." I reply quietly. Jake grabs me a schedule, and quickly reads it over. He grins and a new happiness appears in his eyes. He hands me my schedule, and smiles.

  "You're in some of the classes I'm in. Your first class is art, that's in the room right beside here on the right. If you need help, come to me at break. My locker is number 78." He winks, then walks away. I need to get myself a locker.. I walk up to the secretary.

  "Hi, I'm new, I need a locker." I say quietly. Without saying a word, she hands me a sheet of paper. I quickly read it, it says my locker number and combination. My locker is number 43. I walk out of the office, and look around. Seeing that the higher numbered lockers are on the right, I go down the left hallway. I find my locker without much difficulty, and put in the combination I was given. The lock snaps open, and I open my locker. I shove all my stuff inside, and grab my supplies for art. I sigh, this is gonna be a long day. Before I close my locker, another 15 year old walks up to me.

  "Well hi. I've never seen your beautiful face around here before." He smiles.

  "Yeah, I'm new. My name's Megan." I answer, closing my locker and locking it.

  "Nice name, my name's Nick." He grins. I start heading down the hallway, him following beside me.

  "You have art too?" I ask curiously. Happiness sparks in his light brown eyes. He runs his hand through his brown hair, and grins.

  "You bet." He answers. We walk into the art room together, and I take a seat in an empty desk beside his. Beside me on the other side, is a 14 year old girl with long blonde hair. She's drawing a beautiful picture of a dragon.

  "You're really good." I say, looking at her picture. She stops drawing and looks up.

  "Thanks. Hey, are you new?" She asks, some kind of disgust in her voice.

  "Yes, I'm Megan." I reply.

  "Oh." She says, then goes back to her work. I sigh, and lay my head on my arms on the desk. I don't belong here.. I'm thinking of mom, when the teacher walks into the classroon.

  "Ok students, let's begin."

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  "You finding your way around the school ok?" Jake asks, walking up to me. School is now over.

  "I guess." I sigh, opening my locker to put my books away. My mother's scream is still echoing in my mind.My eyes start watering as I picture her on the floor.

  "Hey, are you ok?" Jake asks softly, putting his hand gently on my shoulder.

  "No." I say, tears once again threatening to fall. I close my locker, and start walking out the door, Jake beside me.

  "Meg what's wrong?" He asks softly. As soon as he said Meg, I shiver.

  "My father called me Meg.. He.. He murdered my mother." I say, then start crying. Jake sits down on the cement steps with me, as other students go by and quickly leave the school. Jake puts his arm around me, and frowns.

  "Aww, I'm so sorry Megan." He answers.

  "Thanks.. I'm gonna be late, I gotta go." I say, standing up. He hands me a piece of paper with his cell number on it.

  "Tomorrow's Saturday, maybe we can hang out." He smiles, then walks away. Will I ever belong here?

                                                                          Ch.3 Replaced

  As soon as I walk into the girls home, I go straight to my room. When I walk in, I'm shocked. A girl my age with long black hair is laying on my bed, reading a book.

  "what are you doing here?" Jessica hisses from the top bunk. Tears start coming to my eyes as I open my mouth to answer.

  "Uhh, Brittany put me in this room with you? What is she doing her?" I ask.

  "I've replaced you with her, so get lost." Jessica growls. I turn and walk back out of the room. I go to pull out my cell phone, then realize I don't have it. Crap, where's my cell?! I find Brittany sitting with a little girl, reading a story. I sit beside them, waiting for her to finish, not wanting to inturrupt. Once they're finished, the little girl walks away, and Brittany smiles at me.

  "Need anything Megan?" She asks.

  "Yeah, I lost my cell phone. I think it's at the school, can I go back and check?" I ask, a sad look in my eyes.

  "Sure thing." She nods. As soon as I walk out the door, I run to the school. Within just a minute, I'm at the front doors of the school. I growl in absolute frustration when I discover the door is locked. I suddenly hear a car, and turn to see a car pulling up, a familiar face in the passenger side window.

  "What are you doing here?' Jake smiles, stepping out of the car.

  "Oh, Hi Jake, I uh, I lost my cell phone. I thought I lost it here but uh, the doors are locked." I stutter, noticing how gorgeous he is, especially in the basketball uniform he's in..

  "Oh, my dad can let you into the school, he's the janitor. I'm here for  basketball game. Hey, think you could watch?" He smiles. He walks up to me, and then I can't resist.

  "Sure, yeah of course I'll watch." I answer. His dad grins, comes up to the door and unlocks it. I follow Jake inside, and we go into the gym. I sit up on the bleachers with some other people as they warm up for the game. Suddenly the school's girs' basketball team comes in, looking disappointed.

  "We're a player short, I'm afraid we can't play." A familiar girl on the team says, it's the girl from the art room.

  "You've got to be kidding me! I've been looking forward to this game!" Nick says, frustrated and disappointed.

  "Is there anyone else who could play for you guys Amy?" Jake asks the girl from the art room. She looks around, then turns to me, excitement in her eyes.
 
  "Hey, Megan, think you could play on our team?" She asks. Uhhh... I look over at Jake, to see an excited look in his eyes. I can't dissappoint him!

  "Sure, I'll do it." I say, and a big smile appears on Jake's face. I smile, and Amy grabs my hand and leads me into the girls' change room.

  "Thank you so much Megan! here, put this on." She smiles, handing me a basketball uniform. She walks back out into the gym, and I quickly change into my uniform. I'm nervous.. I take a deep breath, put my hair up in a ponytail, and jog out into the gym.

"Ok, since it took some time to talk and get a player, let's skip warmup and start the game!" Nick shouts, grinning.

  "You're on." Amy grins. "Megan, your check is Jake." she says. We all get into our positions, and the game starts. Amy gets the ball, and Jake chases down the court after her, me right by his side. One of the guys unexpectedly steals the ball, and runs back across the gym. I snatch the ball from him, and dribble it down the court. Jake appears in front of me from out of nowhere, but I dodge him, and shoot. Everybody freezes to watch as the ball balances on the edge of the hoop, then drops in. Our team cheers, jogging back to our side of the court. After a few more points, a girl walks into the gym. The game stops and everybody walks over to her.

  "Taylor you made it!" Amy grins.

  "I never miss a game." She smiles. Amy turns and looks at me, then frowns.

  "I'm so sorry Megan, we don't really need you now.. Thanks for playing though, you were awesome." She says.

  "No problem." I say quietly, then walk into the change room. I quickly change out of the basketball uniform, and walk out to the fountain. Jake is waiting there for me.

  "Sorry you had to leave." He says.

  "Its ok I guess." I answer.

  "You were really good. You should join the girls' team." He smiles. I smile back, then remember why I came here in the first place.

  "I gotta go find my cell, I'll see ya later." I say, and jog to my locker. Opening my locker, I dig through it for my cell phone.

  "Looking for this?" Nick suddenly says behind me. I jump, and spin to see him holding up my cell phone.

  "You scared me." I say.

  "Good." He grins. He holds out my cell phone, but when I go to grab it, he pulls it back.

  "You'll get it back, for a kiss or two." He smiles. Note to self, Nick is flirty.

  "Nick-" I start, but he cuts me off, with a kiss. At first I want to pull away, but then.. I kiss back, the kiss is full of passion. He is a VERY good kisser. Maybe... He pulls away, and smiles, excitement in his eyes. I can't help but smile in return.

                                                                          Ch.4 A New Home

I get back to the girls' home, and Brittany runs up to me, relief in her eyes.

  "Where were you Megan? I was so worried about you, It's been a while." She says.

  "Sorry, I was playing basketball, but I found my cell phone." I answer, pulling out my cell phone.

  "That's good. But now you-" She stops as a man walks into the building. Brittany walks up to him, smiling.

  "Hi, I'm looking to adopt a girl." He says, looking around.
 
  "Of course. Feel free to spend some time and talk with the girls. I'll be in the other room when you have decided." Brittany says cheerfully, then leaves. I look at him to see his eyes land on me, and he grins. I sit down in a chair, nervous, and he walks up to me. Sitting down beside me, he starts a conversation with me.

  "Hi, my name's Henry, what's yours?" he says. I shift nervously, then answer.

  "I'm Megan." I quietly reply. I swear I see him move closer to me as he starts speaking again.

  "How old are you Megan?" He continues with another question.

  "I'm fourteen." I answer, wondering if he'll pick me.. Unexpectedly, he stands up and strolls into the other room. I watch the doorway, waiting impatiently for him to come back into the room. Suddenly, my cell phone vibrates. Pulling it out of my pocket, I see I have a text, from Jake.

                                            Jake: Heyy Megan.. What are you doing after school 2morrow?

                                            Me: I'm really not sure.. I think I might be getting adopted right now...

                                            Jake: Adopted? You r at the girls' home??

                                            Me: Yeah :/

                                            Jake: Well I guess its a good thing ur getting adopted then (:

                                            Me: Yeah (: I hope this guy is nice.. I'm nervous :/

                                            Jake: Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be ok (: *hugz*

                                            Me: thxs (: *hugz* but i gtg, I'll txt u later

I put my cell back in my pocket, right as Brittany walks into the room, with Henry right behind her. They walk up to me, and I get nervous.

  "Megan.. Henry is going to adopt you." Brittany smiles. Henry offers his hand, and I accept it, and he pulls me to my feet. I give Brittany a hug, and as we walk out the door, I turn and wave goodbye. I follow Henry to his blue truck, and climb into the passenger seat. He starts the truck, and smiles.

  "You will really like your new home Megan, I can promise you that." He grins, and for a split second, I can see an evil look in his eyes...


                                                                          Ch.5 Falling in love

I wake up to Henry shaking me, and I groan. Beautiful sunlight is streaming in through my window, lighting up the room.

  "Wake up, it's 7:30" He says, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of bed.

  "Right, school. It's Friday." I sigh. U quickly get ready, excited to see Jake and Nick again. By 8:00 I'm ready to go to school, I just haven't eaten. Without seeing Henry, I leave the house. The school is a block away from here, about 5 minutes walking. Right when I enter the school, I bump into Nick.

  "I'm so sorry!" I gasp after we collide into each other.

  "Don't worry about it." He smiles. Again, I can't help but smile back. Suddenly, I remember what I was gonna mention to him.

  "You added your cell number to my contact list." I say as we start slowly walking towards my locker. Nick just grins, happiness dancing  in his beautiful eyes.

  "Yep, yep I did." He finally answers. Shaking my head and smiling, I grab my books and close my locker.

                                                                (to be continued)