My family of eight stands on the porch of our small home. They look like a family; my mother and father holding the two youngest siblings in their arms, My older brothers hovering over my sister, my little brother holding her hand. They looked perfect, except I wasn’t with them.

I bit my lip nervously, glancing down at my worn out backpack and duffel bag slung over my left shoulder. I don’t know ...

“This is stupid, Madison.” Chloe complains as I take a few more steps toward the cliff edge. I look over my shoulder and grin.

“Oh come on, Chlo, it’s gonna be fun.” My little sister gulps and peers over the edge. She looks back up at me. She was fiddling braiding her long sandy blonde hair and biting her lip.

“Maddie, I don’t want to. Why are we even doing this?” I smile and shrug.

“Why not?...

“Holy crap, why are the lights so bright?” I murmur, only to hear my voice ten times louder come out of speakers. There are lots of people, too.

“What the hell is going on?” It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the lights and the talking, before I realize I’m standing on a stage, overlooking a crowd of at least two thousand.

I was extremely high up. The people were chanting something . . L...

Soccer is all about strategy, and winning of course, my Dad taught me all about it. Keep the ball by your feet, feet usage is needed, soccer is my life....

The worst thing possible to do is, fall flat on your face onto the stage at a play. Well, catching on fire is pretty bad, too, but this one was getting high up there. There’s a reason we _cannot _fall on the stage today. Eli Adler. And, since he’s in the play this year, I’ll look even more retarted. _In _the play is an understatement, he’s in the same scene as me. We’re _supposed_ to act all lovey...

I met him at the little Italian restaurant down in Huntington Beach. I go here frequently, and I’ve never spotted a single guy, so I was astonished to see a man sitting at a table for two by himself.

He looked so lonely, like his date never showed up. But, if I’m going to be completely honest, I’m not sure why his date wouldn’t show up. His cold umber eyes held something else that I couldn’t qui...

It hit me really really hard.

Its been with me my entire life.

You never once stopped to think about how I felt.

I cried with you.

I fought with you.

I told you I was okay.

You and Mom arguing every night, you didn’t think to tell me it wasn’t because of me? That you both loved me? That you didn’t want this to happen?

My 6 year old brother aware of what was happening.

This is some serious...

“What the hell is that?” Gabriel looked down at the tiny photograph in my hand. “You need to have something that is gong to help you in the games, not distract you from surviving.” I shrugged and smirked; getting on his nerves were the most entertaining and enjoyable thing there was on the planet.

“I like it.” I murmured and held it up to my face. The picture was of when me and my Mom first move...

“I never said that!” I shouted across the table, which at that point, Ms. Jamison had given up, sitting back in her chair and watching the argument as if it was a tennis game. “Yes you did! I heard you!” Morgan hollered back, blowing her long hair out of her face. Her short, stalky figure stood in a frustrated stance, with her hands on her hips, leaning over the table a bit. I couldn’t believe it....

Hurry. He can’t know I’m here.

I rushed through the front door of my ex boyfriend’s apartment in Boston, and straight to the top drawer of the cabinet supporting the tv. I dug through the junk Marcus had kept in there, until I finally sought out the check book.

I brought it into Marcus’s bedroom, where his pens were, and made a check to me for $100,000. I gulped, and ripped out the little check c...