"First day of fifth grade, Josie!" Stephanie said as she barged into my room. I groaned and threw one of my pillows at her and she laughed.

"It's not funny, Mama. I don't want to go to a new school." I said. And it was true. I was honestly scared to start fifth grade in a new school away from all my friends, and especially since the Samantha incident. Besides the sleepover I had with Brandon a few weeks ago, this would be the longest time I've been away from Stephanie since I was ripped from her. And my first day of school since I got kidnapped.

"Mama, do I have to go to school?" I asked. Stephanie sadly nodded and said, "Yeah, but maybe it'll be fun and you can make some new friends!" I sighed and said, "Yeah...I guess you're right."

"That's a good attitude! Now, let's get you some breakfast and get you on your way!"

"Yay!"

________

There's a lot of kids here.

They're all gathered in the front of the school, reuniting with their friends, laughing and talking. And I was the scared girl clinging to her mommy in the corner and feeling like a wimp.

"Josie, why don't you talk to some of the kids? They all seem nice." Stephanie said, trying to gently usher me over.

"No thanks." I said. I wanted to wait until the last minute so Stephanie could walk me into school. Yes, I know I would probably look like a second grader and not a fifth grader if I did that, but I was too nervous to do anything else.

Suddenly, a girl with long blonde hair and massive glasses came running up to us, out of breath and jumping up and down.

"Hi! I'm Angeline!" the girl said. "Angeline Ibragimov, it's very Russian. I'm Russian."

"This is Josie." Stephanie said, gesturing to me. "She's a little shy."

"And I'm not Russian." I said, and this Angeline girl started cackling. She's very loud. Almost too loud.

"Angeline seems nice, sweetie. Why don't you walk into school with her?" Stephanie asked. I nodded and Angeline said, "Where's your schedule, Josie-The-Non-Russian?" I pulled my schedule out of my pocket and handed it to Angeline, who took it and studied it.

"Sweet! We have the same homeroom! We can be lost together!" Angeline said. I looked to Stephanie for help, but the only thing she did was give me a slight nod.

I sighed, realizing what I had to do. I walked over and gave Stephanie a quick hug goodbye, feeling too embarrassed to cling to her for much longer,

"I love you, Mama." I said. Stephanie kissed my head and said, "I love you too, baby. Have a good day at school!"

"Bye!" I said, and headed off with Angeline in silence.

"I have a brother." Angeline said out of the blue. Noticing my confused expression, Angeline laughed. "Silence makes me uncomfortable."

"I have a brother too."

"Older or younger?"

"Older. You?"

"Twin." Angeline said with a goofy grin on her face. I giggled slightly and then realized that Angeline could actually be a really good friend.

I snapped back to reality when I heard Angeline start talking about her twin brother. "His name is Lukas and he's very annoying."

"My brother's name is Anthony and he's nice." I said.

"You're lucky."

"I really am, my family is crazy and chaotic, but they're my family. And I love them." I said.

_____

"So, how was your first day?" Brandon asked. My entire family was all gathered at my house for a celebration dinner.

"Good. Gym class was decent. Apparently we're doing the Pacer test tomorrow."

"What on Earth is that?" Christian asked. Anthony and I looked to each other and screamed "Don't ask!" at the same time.

"Okay then..." Christian responded, and everyone laughed.

"I made a friend!" I yelled.

"Oh? What's her name?" Andrew asked.

"Her name's Angeline, and she's from Russia! She moved to the US two months ago!" I said.

"Awww!" everyone said.

"You're always welcome to invite her over, sweetie! I'm glad you had a good day, see, it wasn't as bad as you thought, right?" Stephanie said.

"Yeah!"

For once, I was optimistic. Happy. I had hope.

Fifth grade was gonna be a good year.

AN: Yay more fluff! Happy? I'm working on some evil evil coming up shortly though! Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!