Notes

This one was a bit quicker however exams start in just a few weeks so I don't know what updates will be like once we get there. I guess we will see.

Ironically after that I am going to say that due to exams I can't currently due the story justice, I'm too stressed and distracted so everything is coming out shit so I'll be back hopefully in a few weeks with a new chapter. But until then if anybody has anything they want to suggest, the story isn't yet set in stone, please say and do review they always convince me to write at least a little bit. Sorry be back soon and good luck to anyone else with exams.

Claudia sat in the living room on a large cushy sofa along with Leena while Myka sat in an armchair facing towards them.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Pete yelled from the kitchen.

"Coke." Myka called back.

"Tea." Leena spoke much softer than the other two but still loud enough that Pete might hear. Claudia sat playing slightly with the sleeves of her jacket.

"Claudia what about you?" Pete called having not heard any response from the younger girl.

"Um, I'll take a coke if that's okay." She spoke hesitantly though she was convinced to speak by the others responding before her.

"Hey Myka can you come lend a hand with all this." Myka sighed before pulling herself up from the chair and heading through the doorway only to return seconds later arms pilled high with food.

"Pete there are four of us here, you're not trying to feed an army." Leena laughed as Pete followed shortly after with almost as much food as well as the drinks all very precariously balanced, Claudia stood up to help remove the food from his arms without it spilling while carefully taking one of the smaller packets of cookies and slipping it into her bag hoping no one noticed. When no one called her out on it she assumed she did.

"Sooo," Pete started while sitting down on a bean bag on the floor, "What do we wanna do?" He reach forwards and grabbed a slice of the cold pizza he had brought out. Myka looked straight at Claudia causing her to try and sink into the sofa as much as it would allow.

"Well I for one don't know much about are new girl over here." Claudia become more and more nervous as she spoke. "I can't speak for the others but I only know your name and reputation, you haven't exactly shared much."

"Well there's not much to share about me." Claudia tried to brush it off hoping they would change the subject soon from her.

"Well do you have any siblings." Pete chimed in, "I have a sister, though right now she's at a boarding school for the deaf, there weren't any around here." He looked down as he finished the sentence clearly missing her, Claudia flinched slightly at the line of questioning, everyone always started with family.

"No, no family to speak of." She hoped it would stop there however, from past experience, she knew it wouldn't.

"No family?" Myka started to question then suddenly the realisation drew on her, "You're the kid the Syke's took in, aren't you?"

"Does everyone know they fostered someone?" Claudia wasn't sure, it wasn't as if she exactly went around telling people and neither did the Syke's.

"Small town, that sort of thing is big news around here, though nobody really knew who it was. I guess we know now." As Claudia looked around she watched everyones reactions, both Pete and Myka wore an expression of surprise while Leena remained unfazed.

"But you don't seem like one of those," Pete started but quickly stopped with a glare from Myka. Claudia turned to face Leena.

"You knew didn't you?" Leena simply nodded her head in response. "How? Did my aura tell you that?"

"Not your aura, you. I suspected before but I was certain today." Claudia looked at her intrigued to know how she had given it away. "You know how to make teachers leave you alone, so clearly you have been to enough schools to have tested methods, you don't want to make friends incase you have to leave at a moments notice. That bag of yours, it's so large because you have everything that belongs to you but your clothes in there at any point, you probably had enough stuff stolen to learn to do that and to have little enough to do it. You have about three sets of clothing that you just reuse not because, like everyone thinks, you don't care enough to get more but you cant afford it. Yesterday you hadn't eaten breakfast and you hadn't wanted to say you had no one to drive you. And today, well today you weren't sure about coming here, probably because you are getting closer than you planned to us and you have had to leave people before and don't want to do it again. The final straw however is sitting in your bag." Claudia tensed, hoping Leena wasn't referring to what she thought she was. "You took a packet of cookies, you steal Artie's cookies all the time too, you don't have a steady three meals a day and so you take food wherever you can get it. That's how I knew." The three kids looked at Leena with awe.

"And I thought I was the observant one." Exclaimed Myka trying to figure out how she knew to look for the clues.

"People from the system all do it." Leena stated as if it were an explanation.

"Your house, all the photos were from the last few years." As Claudia spoke she thought back. "There were no baby photos. You're adopted!" Leena nodded as she received shocked looks from everyone.

"My parents died when I was a baby and Mrs F took me in when I was about ten." Leena rarely spoke of it, they had moved to Univille when she was eleven so everyone just assumed they were blood relatives.

"Well. That's enough getting to know each other I think." Pete spoke cutting through the silence, "How about some video games instead." And after profuse amounts of arguing, Pete and Claudia up for games such as COD or GTA while neither Myka nor Leena were hugely experienced at gaming, they ended up playing Mario Cart.

"Dude what the hell!" Pete yelled at Claudia after she had both gotten a blue shell while in first place and then had sent it at him in second. "You're so cheating!"

"I would do not such thing." Claudia replied, turing to face him and stick out her tongue as she crossed the finish line with a large lead. He was right however, she was cheating, it hadn't really been difficult to change the system so she could choose which prize she got and from there she easily changed the target for the shell. After Leena passed the line in third place the pair high fived, this marked their fourth win now. Pete slammed down his controller as Myka came in last and turned to point at Claudia.

"I should have known better than to play a computer game with you." Although the words were aggressive he spoke in a light hearted way showing her that he wasn't truly upset by her actions.

"Alright then, lets play something you can't hack." Myka suggested trying to find some even ground.

"What shall we play." Claudia asked looking around.

"Never have I ever." Three heads quickly turned to face Leena who had just spoken, a mixture of surprise at her for suggesting it and thought as they considered the option.

"We can't play a drinking game though." Myka looked around the group, "We all have school tomorrow and little Claudia's only what fifteen?"

"Fourteen." Claudia mumbled down to the floor just loud enough to be heard by the others.

"No drinking." Leena agreed, "Use your hands instead, each thing you have done put down a finger." All three murmured in agreement to the game under these new rules.

Pete started them off quite simply. "Never have I ever, hmmmmm. Kissed a guy." All three of the girls dropped a finger.

"Never have I ever kissed a girl." Myka countered hoping to level the playing field only to be surprised when not only Pete put down a finger but Leena too.

"What, when." Pete stammered, Leena smiled and shrugged at him.

"Never have I ever spent more than two years at a school." Claudia knew it would catch all of them and smiled as it did.

"What never?" Question Myka looking very concerned.

"Nope, haven't spent more than six months at a school since I was seven. Gone through, on average, three a year I think. One for each home bar one, didn't stay a that one long enough." Claudia honestly didn't care hugely for schools anymore anyways, by the time she was nine she had learnt all they would teach her there. Leena took her turn to break the slight tension that had formed.

"Never have I ever, had a detention."

"Oh no fair." Moaned Claudia as both her and Pete lowered a finger leaving her with only three remaining.

"Never have I ever been arrested." The three older kids laughed but then stopped as they noticed Claudia had quietly put down a finger.

"What, he was hitting a kid, what else was I going to do?" Claudia defended herself as the others thought for a moment and then nodded in what she felt was a form of acceptance.

They continued going with people just restarting when they ran out of fingers for a little over an hour before Pete's mother walked in.

"I believe it's time for everyone to leave since you all have to get to school tomorrow." Claudia looked up at the clock and was surprised to find it was nine O'Clock. Heading out with everyone else she started on her journey home wishing it was even remotely possible that this could last. Seeing her laptop as she headed into her room reminded her that it wouldn't.

Both a filler chapter and important simultaneously, not much happened but now means the characters at least know something. Stories really starting soon, the big major stuff is going to be unveiled soon probably two or three more chapters and to will all start to make more sense, please review not only does it hugely boost my confidence but it makes me write faster so there is an upside for you.