I touched the wall lightly with my fingers, tracing a line on the wall as I walked down the stairs. Other kids ran through the halls, rushing to the dining room.
     The orphanage was where I'd spent 5 years of my 11 year existence. Since I was 6, when my parents abandoned me and my sister on the side of the road. The memory was as sharp as if it'd happened just a day before. I could still remember the bitter cold I felt that day.

     "Kira!" Lauren came up to me as I walked into the dining room, waving. I waved back, but I couldn't bring myself to smile. She noticed this. "Hey, I know Jade's gone now, but she'll be fine." She said. I nodded slowly. "I'm worried her new family will send her back." I lied. Honestly, I wanted her to come back. I was more worried of her coming to love her new family and then them sending her back. Or of them keeping her but abusing her.
     The two of us had bounced around in the system our whole lives. No one would keep us because either our...abilities were problematic or we ran away from terrible families and back to the orphanage. Other times they would split us up, but we would always find each other again. My sister would never cooperate without me, which was problematic for many of her families. And I didn't have full control of...whatever was wrong with me, and would always accidentally hurt my families.
     "Me too." Lauren replied, putting a hand on my shoulder. "But I'm sure this is the family for her." She said. That's what you always say. The taller girl then looked over, "Let's get food."
     Reluctantly, I followed her over to one of our caretakers, who handed me a plate of waffles and sent me over to the table. "Hi." Someone said as I sat down beside them. I politely greeted them, before scarfing down my waffles. The faster I got out of there the better. People snickering about my height early in the morning wasn't something I needed to deal with. I was roughly 4'9" and probably wouldn't get any taller. So what? I just came from a short family.
    Sam grabbed me by the shoulder before I could stand up. I looked at him, confused. "Do you think you could teach me a few more chords?" He asked. "Yeah!" Another of the boys said. I was suspicious about the second boy, but I was okay with teaching Sam some chords for the ukulele or acoustic guitar. I'd taught him before, and even though I thought my sister was the better teacher, she could be intimidating to those who didn't know how to read her.
     "Alright." I said, standing up and putting my dish next to the sink, before heading upstairs. The dusty, dark wood creaked under my steps as I walked to my room. I shared it with a few other girls, including Lauren.
     In the corner was all my stuff. We had beds, but I preferred to sleep on the floor with my sister. Since she was gone...it was kind of lonely. As I sat down on my blankets, I gingerly picked up ukulele and strummed a few chords, noting them down in my notebook. Before Jade, or Kaede as she had been named at birth, had left, we had come up with lyrics to a song, and I was trying to find a rhythm and notes that fit the feeling.

     "Hey, Kira." Dylan said. I looked up at her. "Hi." I replied. She sat down beside me, reaching for my book to see what was inside. I slapped her hand away. "Aww." She pouted. "Gift from Jade." I said.
     Dylan was a few years older than me, at age 13. "At least can you sing for me what you two wrote?" She asked. I stretched my arms in front of me, cracking my knuckles, "Maybe later." She sighed. "Please?" She dragged out the word.
     Maybe on a good day I would've given in, but I didn't want to sing without Jade. It was like that every time we were apart.
     Lauren walked in and sat beside us, running a finger over the guitar case that lay closed. "You guys wanna go to the park with Luke and I?" She asked. Dylan rolled her eyes, leaning back on her arms. "Alright. I've been itching to go out. Do you think we'll be allowed?"
     "The caretakers don't care." I said, waving them off and setting my ukulele against the wall, before closing and locking my notebook. "Are you sure?" Dylan asked. "Do you know how many times I've gone out without telling anyone?" I asked. "A lot." Lauren muttered, then chuckled. "Let's go!" She jumped up into a standing position. Dylan giggled softly, standing up too. "Alright. Let's get our shoes on."

     As we walked down the sidewalk, I cast a reluctant glance back at the house, where my notebook was. But I continued to walk with the other three to the park. It wasn't too far from the orphanage, although it was in the more sketchy part of Callo.
     Luke was flirting with Lauren, to no one's surprise, and Dylan hung back with me. She was pretty chill, and had a wide variety of interests. Her hair was brown, her eyes grey, and she was left handed. Lauren was a peppy 14 year old girl who believed that anyone could do anything if they tried hard enough. She had an interest in the sciences and wanted to become a doctor when she grew up. She had brown eyes, mouse-colored hair, and was right handed. Luke was more interested in engineering. He was a bit of a flirt, and mischievous, but when it came down to it, he was very reliable. His hair was dirty blonde and his eyes hazel. He was also 15, and right handed.
     I knew a lot about the people I lived with. After all, it made sense to know things about the people you grew up with. Many of the kids I knew were abandoned like me, or their parents were killed. Dylan, for one, was abandoned. Lauren's mother was killed in a car crash, and she herself was an accidental child. Luke's parent's divorced, his mother giving up parental rights and his father being killed in the same car crash Lauren's mother died in.
     Maybe it was creepy. That's what some of the other kids told me. But Jade said it was okay. Unfortunately, that didn't mean it didn't weigh on me.

     We got to the park, and Lauren spun around. "Does anyone wanna play tag?" She asked. Usually, we just sat on the swings, but sometimes we would go for the more active things like tag or hide-and-go-seek-tag. Sure it was childish, but there were more childish games.
     Dylan playfully tapped Lauren on the shoulder and bolted away. I ran in the opposite direction, away from Lauren. She chased after me, being the slowest of the three running from her. As she got close, I swung left, and chased Luke. "No don't lead her to me!" He protested.
    I just laughed, continuing to run. Dylan ran across my path, taking me by surprise. As I faltered, Lauren tagged me on the arm. She laughed as she ran away, but I continued chasing Luke. "Dammit." He cursed quietly, vaulting over the wooden fence at the edge of the field we were in and running through the playground.
     Instead of going over, I went around, and because I wasn't on his tail I could circle around, putting on a burst of speed. Luke didn't have a lot of stamina; his biggest ally was speed and his ability to jump over things well. As he rounded the corner, I chased him, using a smaller curve to tag his arm before stopping and turning on my heel, running away and towards Dylan.
     Tired, Luke took a quick breather, giving the three of us girls a minute or two to rest. Until he began running at us again. The three of us scattered in various directions, however because he went after Dylan, Lauren and I didn't run too far.
    ...Until she led Luke to us.
     I ran from him as he switched targets to me. I circled around to have him chase Dylan. She was fast, but she wasn't as good as turning sharply, and rarely ever used her full speed because she tired quickly from it and took a while to recover, leaving her vulnerable to getting tagged.
     With one hand, I touched her arm, making her yelp in surprise, thinking it was Luke. She'd stopped running for a moment, and I curved away from her, letting Luke switch targets and go after her, the weaker, temporarily stationary girl.
     As I ran over to Lauren, she high-fived me. "Nice job." She said. "Thanks." I replied, catching my breath. "I should help her, shouldn't I?" Lauren asked. "Let her get caught. She's the only one who hasn't been it." I said, looking up at the sky. The clouds were mesmerizing, but as I heard heavy footsteps running away from me, I looked back down. Dylan was now running at me.
     Surprised, I ran away, towards the edge of the field. Using her speed, Dylan was able to gain on me quickly; obviously she didn't care anymore. Once I got to the edge of the field, I swung around a tree and ran towards the greenway, taking advantage of Dylan's slow turns.
     Once I was on the greenway, I knew she had an advantage again, so my best chance was to tire her out as I continued to run down the greenway back to where Luke and Lauren were. Before I could make it, Dylan tackled me down to the grass.
     "You're not getting away from me!" She said, then pushed off me. "You're it." Dylan flopped onto the ground beside me, panting. Lauren and Luke came over as I began standing up. "Did she get you?" Luke asked, making sure to keep a safe enough distance away.
     "Yep." I said, starting off my run with a leap to tag him before I bolted away. Lauren immediately ran from him. "Lemme catch my...breath." Dylan said, holding up a hand to signal she was on time-out. "Okay!" Lauren called back.
     As I cast a careful look back to see who Luke was chasing, I accidentally ran into someone. I meant to pull away, but strong arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. At first I tried to struggle, but I stopped when I smelled the familiar scent of my sister.
     "Hey, Kira." Jade said as I looked up. "Hi, Jade." I said. I preferred calling her Kaede, but we rarely called each other by our given names. Only when we were 100% alone.
     "Jade!" Lauren called, running up behind us. Jade waved, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "How'd you get back?" Luke asked. "Ran." My sister said simply. Dylan came up behind him, her chest still heaving.
     "You have to stop running from people, y'know." Lauren said, crossing her arms. "I can't go without my sister." Jade replied with a completely straight face, pink colored eyes shimmering. "Wait a minute...does this mean you'll show me the song you were working on?" Dylan asked, eyes bright. "Um...maybe?"
     She punched the air, and Lauren chuckled softly, shaking her head. "What song?" Luke asked. "Jade and I wrote lyrics before she left. I came up with chords we could use on our instruments." I said, shifting from one foot to the other in embarrassment. "Can you show it to us?" Lauren asked, her voice pleading.
     "I have to show Sam some chords on the ukulele today." I said. Aaannd now someone else wants to hear it. I thought, slightly annoyed. "After then?" Luke cocked his head to the side.
      A soft hand was placed on my head, and I looked up to see my sister, looking down at me. She nodded slightly, her face completely blank, except for the encouraging sparkle in her eyes. I sighed softly. "Alright. Sure. But, um, I just have to show Jade the notes first."
     The three of them smiled, happy with my decision. Lauren gave me two thumbs up, "Perfect!"