Chapter 1

"Wake up, Bianca!" Meg yells in my ear and I open her eyes somewhat stunned. She run my hand over my neck, which hurts from having slept badly in the chair next to Matt's bed, who had a fever all night.

Poor boy, he didn't stop complaining about the discomfort, but Richard doesn't want to take us to the hospital for care. He says they are full of germs and that one comes in with one disease and leaves with three others. Sometimes that kind of mania on his part of him annoys me, like, for example, he does not like I'm around when he's meditating.

But with the fact that he doesn't want to take us to the doctor, he goes too far. Luckily for him, the guys who live in his foster home are very healthy, of course, except when a disease like chickenpox falls on us.

As always, I am at the foot of the bed when he feels bad. No idea how to cure them. Not nurse, nor do I want to be one, I am going to be a lawyer and mine is the law, not injections. Luckily, all the guys I have cared for heal very quickly. Although I must confess that I am happy to take care of them and see how they heal.

It makes me feel something special.

"Come on sleepyhead!" The cute blue-eyed girl shouts again as she tries to rip my arm off, "the new girl just arrived, I saw Maggie's car down the street from my window."

"Take it easy," I tell Meg," I only have two arms and you're going to take one off me." Try to joke, but she pouts at me and narrows her eyes. Rub my face and stretch in the chair, "let me see how Matt is and I already go down the stairs."

"But we're going to see her together, you promised me," she claims. Although it is exciting for her to receive a new sibling, as she calls us, for me it is normal. Seen so many people come and go from Richard's house, that now I try not to get attached to them, although of course it's hard not to love little Meg, with that sweet look and warm golden curls.

I near to her and kiss on the top of her head and take the thermometer from the nightstand and place it on Matt, while I pat little Meg's head. When the time marker sounds, I look at the device again and verify that the temperature is normal.

"Now we can go, little one," I inform the impatient cute girl.

"Then Matt isn't going to die anymore," the very cheeky teases, as we go down the stairs to the hall.

"Of course not!" Tell him in false amazement.

"He was screaming yesterday that he was dying," she tells me. Poor Matt, he's scared of everything, but I can't blame him, he's barely seven years old and has lived through more things than a typical child: the loss of his parents in an accident and having to live with strangers for six months.

"Of course not, if it was just chickenpox," I reply, and she looks at me somewhat puzzled.

"Got chickenpox and my mom took care of me for a long time. She had a high fever and I got hives full of water. You have to put medicine all over the body," she tells me and now I am the one who is surprised. In all the time that I have lived with Richard, that is, all my life, I have never seen a child with chickenpox that lasts more than two days with a fever and I have only seen a couple of little bumps each.

Not surprised about Meg, she is a bit exaggerated, the other time she had a wound that was made with a knife and said that she was going to die, but her wound closed in a matter of minutes, after I put her some of hydrogen peroxide. Sometimes I forget that she is only eight years old and that anything scares her from her.

"Well, let's see the new one, but I have to get coffee first, okay?" Ask her.

"Okay, but don't be late, I'll be at the door to see when they get out of the car," she tells me and I nod, while I goes to the kitchen.

"How's Matt doing?" Richard asks me as he walks into the kitchen, not saying hello or anything. Typical of him.

"He no longer has a fever," he replies, as he begins to set the table for the eight seats, as if Andrew were to appear today. Set the kettle near the seat of Maggie, who she doesn't like coffee. She is good at being a social worker, of which I have heard horror stories from other guys who have stayed around. When I'm done, I pour myself my cup of coffee to keep me awake.

Maggie is the one in charge of all the boys that arrive here, except for me. I don't know who my social worker is, but I've never needed one because I get along so well with Richard and I haven't wanted to run away, like Andrew. Richard is a great friend, except when he is meditating.

After a while Velkan appears going down the stairs accompanied by little Matt, who looks much better. They both sit down at the table and begin to help themselves to breakfast, which is already placed in bowls, thanks to Richard.

"They arrived!" Meg says excitedly, which annoys Velkan and Matt, who were about to bite into their bagels with jam.

"Come on, guys," Richard asks them, "we have to meet a new sister."

When the boys, Richard, and I head to the door, Meg has it open with two people standing in the doorway. Maggie looks the same as always, in that brown and black suit, with the scarf adorning her neck that makes her look like an old woman, but that she doesn't care. Beside her, a girl with tanned skin, red hair up to her neck on one side and shaven on the other, wearing a black leather jacket and matching boots, ripped trousers that were tight to the ankles, and a tight shirt that shows her belly button. Typical girl from foster homes.

Velkan clears his throat loudly, causing Matt to chuckle. Meanwhile, Meg takes the new girl's hand and gives her a hug. No one can resist Meg's charms from her.

"My name is Megan," she tells her, “But everyone calls me Meg."

"Hi, Meg," the new one answers with a smile from ear to ear, which takes away a bit that bad girl image that she has "my name is Kayra."

"Come, I'll take you to the dining room, everything is ready, there are bagels, jam, bacon, scrambled eggs, coffee ..." Meg follows the list, while she leads her to where the table is set.

"Hi everyone," says Maggie.

"Hi," we all reply and head the path Meg and Kayra just took.

"See the table is set for eight people," Maggie says suspiciously.

"Of course," Richard replies, "I know Andrew will come back."

"We'll talk about that later," Maggie just says.

We all sit at the table to eat. Meg sits next to Kayra, the new one, which makes me a little jealous, because until five minutes ago I was her favorite hers. I think she will be one of the few that I will miss when I come of age in a few months. Her and Richard, who has been like my father, of course, very in his own way.

He has been concerned with educating me at home, unlike the other guys who have been here, who have studied at the local school. That has been good, because he has advanced me so many subjects that this year, I graduated with only seventeen and I am going to go to college in the fall, with a scholarship that I won. He did everything he could to make that happen.

When we finish breakfast, Richard and Maggie head to his office from him to talk about Andrew, the last boy to leave here. Usually most of the guys who come here stay to come of age, but he left without telling anyone. Know that happens in other foster homes, but we have never had a case like that. Richard is not exactly everyone's best friend, but he gives us shelter and food, and he cares about us, very much in his way of him, of course.

He even takes us for summer vacation. Once he took us to visit the sea and it was wonderful to breathe so much fresh air that I felt my lungs renew. This year we will go to the mountains, in a reservation that has a lake. That's good because it takes us away from the stress of this huge city so dirty and full of smoke and noisy people and cars. I think that when I am a lawyer, I will live in a smaller and quieter place.

"So, what do you all do here?" Kayra asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"The same old as everywhere," Velkan replies, who can't hide how dumbfounded, and I make a gesture to wipe his mouth.

"The drool is coming off, brother," I say softly, and he rolls his eyes and approaches the new one. Decide to leave them alone, so I take the children to the back to take the dishes and I get ready to wash them. When I'm done, I send Matt and Meg out to play in the backyard and I head upstairs to my room. It is an advantage of having grown up here since I was a baby, I have earned the right to have my own room.

But my eyes widen when I see Velkan cornering against the wall the new one, Kayra, who is eating him with kisses. Their hands are everywhere, and they are so caramelized that I even get envious.

"Gosh!" Tell them with false surprise, "at the rate they are going, I'll have nephews soon," I scoff. They both part with a mischievous smile and looking at different walls.

"We wanted to propose something to you, but it has to be something between us," Velkan tells me, as if I hadn't found them reaching out.

"Let's see, shoot," I answer.

"Well," he says a bit hesitantly, but he looks me in the eye with a twisted smile, "it's that you spend so much time working here, and we think you'd want to go out to a club."

"Know one close by, it's called Scarlet Moon, it's for teenagers, you're going to love it," Kayra adds with a smile, as she puts her arm around her shoulders.

"Teen club, don't mess me," I reply and snort, "there's no such thing and I don't have a fake ID."

"Easy," says Kayra, "I have everything arranged. Know the security at the gate. Some friends of mine will be in town and I want to say hi to them."

"Velkan, you know Richard, no clubbing and you know it," if I will know, how many times have I heard him say to all the guys who have passed through here that.

"He doesn't have to know, Bianca," he winks at me, and I roll my eyes, "come on, little sister, aren't you tired of being Richard's spoiled girl?"

"I'm not the spoiled girl, I'm just the one who's been here the most," I snap, rolling my eyes. Kayra looks at me pouting, still with her arm on my shoulder.

"Come on, think it's my welcome to Richard's house," she says to me, and I meditate a bit. I never really leave the house, I even studied here. My social life is a big zero. Also, this girl looks like take fun and a lot, so nothing will come between her and the club tonight.

"Okay, let's get," I tell them both, raising my hands in surrender. They exchange a knowing look that they don't have to clarify for me. It seems that in the five minutes they know each other is enough to understand each other for a lifetime. As if they were two magnets. That's good for Velkan, who is a bit elusive at times. It seems like what they call love at first sight, although it still seems ridiculous to me.