Okay don't yell at me. I know I have a caseload with my other stories but this idea just came to my head and I got inspired.

Hope you all like it.

Chapter 1: The New Girl

"Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?" -Mary Manin Morrissey

Samantha Walker stood in front of Tree Hill High and scoped the place that she would call home for the next two years. Well actually is more like until she had to get up and move again. With a job that required certain necessities and sometimes ran rather slow she was never sure when she'd have to pick up and move again. This was school number eleven; no twelve, and city number seven. At first it had been hard for her but after a while she started to dull out the mournful and sad feelings. Those were for the weak and for Sam to make it in her world she had to be strong; had to be a rock.

Her life hadn't always been so complicated. She had vague and distant memories of being with her mother. Up until the age of seven she was just like any other kid. She had friends, toys, and a family. She knew that she had been lucky because her mother gave her basically everything she wanted. Ironically, she now despised the very people who recieved everything on a silver platter with a passion. Sam remembered her school and the teachers. She had had it all and then she had lost it all. On May 30, 2001 her whole life had gone to hell.

The day had started out like any other. The birds chirped happily outside her window as she routinely got ready for school. She entered the kitchen and hopped up on the stool where her mother had set her waffles. They were chocalate because she wouldn't eat any other kind. She was sort of a brat now that she thought back to it and she regretted it with all her might. Her mother enterred the kitchen with puffy eyes and matted hair. She looked like she hadn't had a good nights rest in, well forever. Sam didn't think much of it. She was only 7 after all.

After she finished her breakfast she got her sweater and bookbag and she and her mother were on their way to drop Sam off at elementary school. The drive was quiet as always. Sam had never been one for conversation and her mother seemed to be more stressed than usual. When they got to the school they walked over to where Sam's class lined up. Sam spotted some of her friends and ran over to them. She didn't even say goodbye to her mom or give her a hug and kiss like she usually did. Sam couldn't see the hurt on her mothers face. After that she just turned and left like always.

By three thirty Sam stood in the playground alone. She had been waiting for her mother for over a half hour. All the other kids had gone home with their parents but Sam remained. Her mother was never late no natter what and that worried her. She was usually smiling and waiving and the end of the day waiting to take her into a hug and ask her how her day was. That used to be her favorite time of the day. Used to. Her teacher called her inside and she had been asked to sit in the office while the teacher tried to get a hold of anyone could pick her up. Unfortunately she had no other family besides her mom.

Cops were called after an hour of waiting. They got Sam's home address and went to her house. They walked up the old fashioned paved walkway and rang the doorbell only to get no reply. One of the officers walked around the house and peaked into the livingroom window. The cop had worked on the force for twenty years and the sight in the living room even had his stomach reeling. Sam's mother was hanging from a rope that was tied around the revolving ceiling fan. Her eyes were wide open. She was dead.

The cops said that she had taken her life because she was extremely stressed. Sam didn't know what to think. She was so young and now she had no one. She was put into foster care a few days after her mother's death. For five years she was juggled from home to home. Soon she got the hang of the system. It was a vicious cycle. First you got a new home. Then you were either used as a baby-sitter, a personal bank, or a punching bag. She had been used for all three purposes. The final stage was you were given back. The foster "parents" got tired of you after a while and no on ever really wanted to adopt.

When she turned twelve she was stuck with a guy who beat her everyday. By that time she was used to the pain. The cuts and bruises didn't hurt anymore. She didn't feel anything and didn't care about anything. One night after a bad beating she waited for him to fall asleep. When he was asleep she snuck out her bedroom window and just ran. Somehow she ended up somewhere down town and the bad part of town at that. She got wierd glances as she walked down the street. She had a pretty bad shiner on her eye and the handprint on her neck wasn't easy to hide at all.

"You know this place is dangerous for a little girl at night." a voice had said behind her.

Sam turned around and she came face to face with a girl that was only about five years older than her. By the looks of her she was pretty sure that the woman was a hooker. Sam tried to ignore her and continued walking. The lady continued to follow her. Sam wasn't scared but she was getting really pissed off. She turned back towards the lady.

"Look I don't know you lady so if you could get the hell away from me I would be really grateful okay." Sam yelled.

The lady laughed causing Sam to become more angry then in the beginning.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" yelled Sam.

"You." the Lady replied, "You've got spunk kid. Look I'm not like a stalker or anything. I was actually just like you a few years ago. I ran away from my foster home because I was tired of the system. I didn't have anywhere to go but I ran. I ran and never looked back. Soon I ran out of money though and food was hard to come by. Thats when I met Kate. She took me in and gave me a job. Now I get to do whatever I want."

Sam was suddenly interested in what she was saying. Sam hadn't thought her plan out either. She just wanted to get away. She didn't even have money. She had a bottle of water and some granola bars. She didn't know what she was going to do when that ran out.

On that day she had made a decision. She had taken the lady's, whos name she later discovered was Veronica, job offer. At first it was hard. She was only twelve and she was forced into prostitution. She was scared in the beginning. The guys were all pervs and they had hurt her many times and tooke advantage. After a while though, like with the beating, everything became numb. By the time she was fourteen she was so used to it that she could just block everything out easily.

She wanted things to be different. She wished she had found some person that was able to care for her and love her but she was sixteen now. No one cared about a poor foster kid. She was a runaway and by now the cops had given up search. Nobody wanted to find her and she certainly didn't want to be found. She couldn't spend her whole life wishing for something that would never happen. She just had to accept that she wasn't meant to be happy.