Cinder and her stepfamily's taxi screeched to a halt in front of their new apartment building. Exhaling a breath of relief at not having to be squished between Pearl and Peony in the back seat anymore, Cinder stepped out. She glanced up at their new home. It was...not what she had been expecting.

She would never have expected Adri, pampered, stuck-up Adri, to rent out an apartment in this wreck of a building. It wasn't even a building. More like a giant hulking monstrosity that had been hastily slapped together out of scrap metal. Colorful graffiti lined the outer walls, chaotic drawings and rude words written in bubble letters. All of the windows were cracked and dusty and the front door was barely recognizable among all of the grime. Some tenants living in the upper floors of the apartment building were arguing for everyone else to hear, screams and insults echoing through the stale air and ringing hollowly off the walls of the buildings around the Phoenix Tower Apartments.

The buildings around this part of Commonwealth City had a feeling of being hastily put together, of more floors being added years after construction had been finished to accommodate the growing population. Cinder observed this as she hauled their luggage out of the taxi's trunk, as usual doing all of the work for her family. The upper levels of the Phoenix Tower Apartments balanced precariously on top of a structure that had not been built to support that much weight, and even Cinder, an amateur engineer, could tell that it was not structurally stable.

She shrugged. To her, it didn't matter where they lived. She would always be stuck with the same horrible people no matter where they went. Her older adopted sister Pearl didn't see things the same way. "Mom, you can't seriously expect me to live here," she whined as they walked up the front steps. "This looks like a shelter for homeless nut jobs."

Adri's lips pressed together tightly. It was clear that she was having the same doubts as her daughter. "I know it's a different scene, honey, but we have to get used to it."

That was an understatement. This apartment building was a huge change from their former luxurious home. But ever since Adri's husband and Cinder's adopted father, Garan Linh, died, they had struggled with money and eventually couldn't pay the bills for their house. Moving didn't faze Cinder. She had never had an attachment to their house. She had been adopted only five years ago, and it was clear that Adri and Pearl still saw her as an outsider in their home.

Ding! Cinder's phone went off as they entered the lobby. She checked her cell phone (which Adri had reluctantly let her buy after she made it big with her mechanic business in their old town). It was her best friend, Iko. She had texted, Hope u like ur new house! Miss u xoxo and Call me ASAP.

Cinder would've responded, but Adri was glaring at her since she'd paused in the entryway. She quickly slipped her phone into the leg pocket of the grimy cargo pants that she wore nearly every day. Her heart ached for Iko. The two girls had been best friends ever since they met in middle school, back when Iko was the short, chubby girl who everyone hated because of her overly cheerful personality and Cinder was the awkward shy girl with a metal leg and hand (rumors of all sorts had traveled around the school about what kind of accident she had been in to lose those limbs). As the outcasts of the school, they had bonded quickly.

In high school, Iko had completely changed, growing taller and thinner and prettier. Cinder had been terrified that Iko would leave her behind for the "cool" kids, but Iko had faithfully stuck by her side. Even when Cinder refused to go shopping with her about a million times. Even when Cinder canceled their plans because she had to work for her mechanics business. Even when Cinder didn't have an opinion on which boys were cute and which weren't. Iko had stuck with her through thick and thin. She was the very definition of a loyal friend.

Adri was tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for Cinder to wheel the overstuffed suitcases over to the front desk where she was waiting. They got their room keys from the person at the front desk and were about to set off the elevator to go all the way up to the twelfth floor when the lady yelled, "Oh, forgot to tell you! The elevator's broken. Take the stairs."

Pearl looked like she was about to faint at the thought of all that exercise ("I'll be a sweaty mess and my clothes and makeup will be ruined!") but Peony just grinned and took one of the suitcases from Cinder. She smiled at her younger sister. Peony had an aura of exuberance and joy that just radiated off of her, making it nearly impossible to be sad in her presence.

"Let's go!" her sister cried. "Off to start a new life here in Commonwealth."

This chapter turned out really short, but I promise the other ones are longer. Hope you liked it! Please keep reading!