"Valerie!" I heard, and I turned around. George was behind me, standing with another guy in glasses. "This is Will Roland." George said. Will waved at me, and said, "Remind me of your name. Veronica? Victoria? Vanessa?"

"You're close. Valerie." I said. I suddenly felt shy. What if Will or George took me back to my old foster home? Or worse, they were just like Penelope?

"Valerie?" I heard, and I snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry. I was just daydreaming." I said softly, trying my best to not let my accent slip. George sat next to me and pulled me in a side hug. "You can drop the fake American accent, Val. Your real accent is very pretty." George said. "Also, didn't you say you had to go to the hospital today for something? That's where you were running from?"

"Yeah." Will looked confused, and I said, "I have a heart condition. It's fine though, I'm fine." I said.

"Valerie, sweetheart, you almost fainted and were out of breath when you crashed into me." George said. "If you didn't crash into me, you would've fainted."

"Wait. I'm still so confused." Will said.

"Valerie ran away from her abusive foster home. Her poor little heart couldn't take all the exertion so she crashed into me." George said.

"Oh my God. Also, Val, about the accent..." Will said.

Holy crap. I was preparing for the worst. Will hated the accent and would hate me if I ever spoke with it again. That was the only thing that was running through my mind.

"I love it. It's super pretty. What kind of accent is it?" Will asked.

"Italian." I said. I looked at George then looked at my pump. "It's almost empty." I said.

"We better head to the hospital to get it changed, then." George said. Will looked horrified, and said, "You're making the poor girl go to the hospital a half hour after you met her?"

"Will! Calm down, I kind of like the hospital. It's the one stability I have in my life." I said. "I've been going to the same hospital since the day I was born. When my parents died, well, some of the better foster parents knew how much that hospital meant to me. I was placed in Penelope's care two years ago, and, well, you know how that ended. I was terrified she was going to adopt me, since I'm under 12, she doesn't have to get my permission."

"The foster care system is screwed up sometimes, Valerie. But hear me out, we are going to try to fight for you. No kid needs to be worried about changing their voice to avoid abuse. Penelope is a cruel woman, and you don't deserve that kind of guardianship, especially with your heart condition. I know I've only known you for a half hour, but Valerie, I want to fight for you. Would you, Valerie Raines, like to be my foster daughter?" George asked, smiling. Will was smiling too.

I broke out into a huge grin and hugged George. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" I cried. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"I'm surprised she isn't skeptical about it." Will said in a voice barely loud enough to hear.

"Should I be?" I asked. Will laughed, and said, "No. George is amazing. He'll be a good dad to you. Speaking of, do you know your biological dad?"

"My parents died when I was younger. Both of them. I barely remember them." I said sadly. Will looked to George and said, "Wow. That sucks, Valerie."

"Yeah. I try to keep their legacy alive. Stay true to my roots. My parents were Italian immigrants. My middle name is my grandma's name, Adalasia. I love that name. But I love Valerie more." I said.

"Adalasia is a beautiful name. I love it." Will said. I smiled at him, and said, "Well, um, we better go. If I go too long without medicine, I'll wind up actually in the hospital. I speak from experience. I've had a couple near-death experiences at the hand of Penelope's ignorance."

"Woah. I'm sorry, I'm just amazed at your accent. It's unlike anything I've ever heard." George said, and I laughed. "I can show you some Rossi family recipes if you want! My mom was an amazing cook. My aunties used to teach me how to cook after Mommy died, but when I was put in Penelope's care, that had to stop."

"I would love to learn." Will said. George looked at me and said, "Didn't you say we had to go?" I nodded and we went to the hospital.

_________

I was telling Will and George my family history on the way back to the theater.

"So, that's the story of how my dad fell in a river when he was my age." I finished, giggling. That story was one of my favorites.

"You have an interesting family." George said, laughing. "You must've had a good life."

"Yeah." I said. "Even though I barely remember my life before foster care." We entered the theater and I sat on a chair, pulling out my phone. A girl walked up and tapped George on the shoulder.

"This Valerie?" she asked. I looked up and waved.

"This is Valerie. Val, this is Stephanie Hsu. She plays Christine Canigula." George said. I shyly said, "Hi!" and went back to my phone.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Stephanie said. "George told me about you a little. Tell me about yourself. You seem like a pretty interesting girl."

I sighed. "Well, um, my name is Valerie Rafferty, I'm 10 years old, and I love history." Not many people know that I want to be a history teacher when I grow up. Not many people know that I even have a passion for science.

"History? Like, what kind of history? U.S. History, world history?" Will asked.

"Ancient history. Like ancient civilizations. I want to be either a history teacher or an archeologist when I grow up. Like, I want to travel all over Asia and research the ancient culture there. Asia is rich in culture." I said. When I'm excited, my accent gets stronger, and it's hard to understand. I tried to slow down my speaking so everyone could understand.

"You have big plans, Valerie." George said.

"Yeah, I've never met a 10 year old kid with that detailed of a life plan before." Stephanie said. "I'm impressed."

"Thanks." I said.

"Hey, what's in your arm?" Stephanie asked, gently touching my IV straw.

"Oh, it's my infusor pump. I have a heart condition. No biggie." I said, slightly embarrassed.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Val. I think it's kind of cool." George said.

"Hey, Stephanie. I know what we can call this girl. It's a unique nickname, just like her." Will said.

"What?" I asked.

"Via." Will said.

"I love it. I really do. George can call me Val, because George is special." I said. George hugged me tight and said, "Val!"

"This kid is gonna be something special." Will said, ruffling my hair. "I just know it."

"Me too, Will. Me too." George said.

AN: Hi! I was out of ideas for this chapter and this book in general at first. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or cast members you would like to see next, (keep in mind, this is BMC Broadway) feel free to comment them down below! Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!