**Anstasia's pov**

The rest of that day was spent visiting various stores. Josh bought me a new phone, since my old one was lost in the fire. I had forgotten about that stupid thing anyway and a small part of me didn't really want it back. Josh took some time to explain to me how the adoption process worked because I didn't know anything about it. Overall, it was a good day considering the hell I had just been through, and he did a good job keeping my mind off of it.

The next day, however, wasn't as good.

We got a call from a social worker about plans that had been made for my mother's funeral by none other than my stupid uncle. The arrangements were left up to him since he was the only adult related to my mom. I was too young to have a say in anything.

Next was the discussion of inheritance. Since I was the only child Margaret Halloway had, I would of course inherit the money she had. I wasn't sure exactly how much she possessed, but I knew it had to be a lot. I didn't really care about it. I just had to wait four more years, until I turned eighteen, to get it.

The funeral was going to be on Thursday, six days from then. I wasn't looking forward to it, especially since Derek would be there. But no matter how much I protested against going, the odds were all stacked against me.

Tyler and Jenna still lingered around the house most of the time. For a while I forgot that they didn't live there. I wondered if their constant presence was normal or if they were just there to try to help Josh. Either way, I wasn't complaining. All of them were kind to me, never raising their voices at all, checking up on me constantly and asking how I was feeling. I never felt so loved before. For once in my life I didn't feel invisible.

On the other hand, I was still haunted by what had happened. I didn't think I would ever get over it. I hoped the shakiness and jumpiness would go away after a few days but they hadn't. I refused to tell anyone how I was feeling when they asked. Knowing that soon I would be adopted by Josh was great, but that didn't mean I wouldn't have to deal with those feelings inside. I would still be haunted by nightmares, not just ones that preyed on my memories, but ones that my mind conjured up all on it's own as a work of fiction. I knew that Josh, Tyler, and Jenna all wanted to help me, but the thought of telling them how I felt scared me.

One visit from a social worker and six restless nights later, the night that I had been dreading finally came. It was the night of the funeral.