Catlynn's POV

I was fixing up my hair in the mirror. I had decided I was putting it up for my presentation at school, I was sort of sick of wearing it down all the time. I put on the blue and white dress I had worn to Heathers, which was fitting, given my project.

Speaking of my project, I had forgotten to tell my family what it was about, except for Evan. He was the only one who knew.

I heard a knock on the door, then heard, "Sunshine! It's 8:00! We have to go!" and I frantically grabbed my backpack and opened the door.

"Geez, Sunshine, why are you so dressed up?" Jessica asked.

"I have a school presentation today. We're getting judged on it. This is huge, the whole school's going to be there. The three presentations with the highest scores are moving on to Nationals."

"Wait, did you say...you have a chance of making it to Nationals?" Elle asked. I nodded excitedly, and Jessica said, "We have no doubt you'll do amazing. Now, eat your breakfast and get in the car."

___________

"Woah. Catlynn McLemore." Cesca said.

"Yes, that's my name." I laughed. "What's going on?"

"What member of your family made you get that fancy for a school presentation?" she asked. I laughed, and said, "I chose to wear this. Considering that my project is about the adoption process and how it changed my life, it's fitting."

"You should've worn Elle's dress! That would've been better." Cesca said. Why didn't I think of that?

"Come on. Axel and Red are waiting for us." Cesca said, dragging me to the gymnasium where a bunch of kids in fancy suits and dresses were waiting.

"The eighth graders went all out!" Axel said when we saw him.

"The eighth graders are the only people doing this." Red said. "By the way, Cat, you look really pretty."

"I have never seen Catlynn with her hair up. Not once." Cesca said. 

"Liar! I wore pigtails for Spelling Bee!" I said, giggling.

"That's different. That's a costume." I said, redoing my ponytail. 

"And there's Violet Gardner." Axel said.

"I wonder what Violet's doing." Cesca said.

"Who knows. Literally half of the flute players are with her." Red said.

"Literally half of the flute players are in our class." Axel said. 

Then it hit me. If Violet Gardner was here, she would know about me being adopted. And we all know how that would end. I couldn't change my project last minute. 

"Is there any way we can present to the teacher privately and still get full credit?" I asked. 

Violet turned around and said, "Aww. Catherine's being a chicken. And nice dress you got there. Did you get it from your 'mommy?' Or did you get it from the dumpster where you belong?" Violet cackled and Cesca said, "God, I hate that girl. Just ignore her, Cat."

"Alright!" said the principal, shutting everyone up as teachers filed into the auditorium, along with some parents. If I had known parents could come, I would've invited Elle. "Let's get started! First up, we have Elizabeth Ashley, Catlynn McLemore, Axel Riesling, and Francesca Sawyer!" The audience clapped and Red grabbed the poster and set it up.

"Hi everyone. My name is Francesca, and these are my partners and friends. That's Elizabeth over there, but we usually call her Red." Cesca said. Red waved and started fixing the poster on the stand.

"That's Axel." Axel waved as well.

"And that's Catlynn, who's going to be doing the talking today, because this is about her and her experience with the adoption process. Me, Red, and Axel made the poster and conducted the research. Catlynn wrote the speech. Cat, take it away!"

I took a deep breath and stepped out, holding the 7-page stack of papers with my speech on it. It was long. Longer than anything I was usually comfortable presenting, but this was about my family, so I was okay with it.

"Hi everyone. My name is Catlynn, but I'm usually called Cat. Or to my family, I'm Sunshine." I heard some murmurs as I continued.

"I never expected to be adopted, or put in the foster system. My biological dad was an alcoholic, but my mom kept me, my brother, and my two sisters away from him most of the time when we were younger. I was pretty happy living with my family for a while. As I got older, my dad started abusing me and my younger sister. My mom made my little sister live with my grandparents when the abuse started getting bad. My mom came back the next day, but didn't really talk to me and my brother, and stopped protecting us." I took another deep breath, and imagined I was presenting to my family, not an audience full of strangers.

"On April 4th, 2014, my dad got mad at me and pinned me to a brick wall. That was the day that changed my life. That wall was right outside of the New World Stages, where Heathers the Musical was being played. Elle McLemore, the girl who played Heather McNamara, saw me from outside the window and rescued me. She immediately made a plan to adopt me, and two months later, it happened. Right before my 13th birthday."

I flipped the page and almost cried. I forgot I had included the crash in my speech. 

"Sadly, the worst wasn't over after then. On August 7th, 2014, at 8:15 PM, Jessica, who played Heather Chandler, got in a traumatic car crash that almost killed her. It was really hard for all of us. I didn't know how to deal for a while. And that's when I started ballet. Ballet was my one distraction, and it helps that I'm surprisingly good at dancing. And it was also the one thing that set me apart from my family."

I heard some sobbing, then I felt Axel tap me on the shoulder, and heard him whisper, "Look!" and he pointed over my shoulder.

I looked out into the audience, and saw Elle waving with a video camera, crying. Jess, Ryan, Barrett, Alice, Evan, Jon and Katie were there too.

"If there's anything I've learned in the past 5 months, it's that family isn't about blood or who gave birth to you. It's about who walked into your life, said 'I'll be there,' and proved it. And my family, they have definitely proved it. The only legal ties I have to any of them is that Elle is my mom. But outside of the legal papers, Jessica's my aunt."

Jessica stood up and waved awkwardly as some of the audience applauded. Elle looked at her, obviously confused.

"Katie's my other aunt." I said. Katie also stood up and waved.

"Barrett and Alice are my sisters." They both waved and Evan laughed.

"Evan and Jon are my brothers." Evan took a dramatic bow and I tried so hard to stifle my laughter.

"And Ryan's my dad." Ryan stood up and the applause died down.

"Together, we make a family. With one little connection-me. All of these people have shaped me into the person I am. I used to be really shy and sensitive, now I'm a little more outgoing. Thank you guys, for making me the person I am today. I love you. To me, the adoption process isn't about finding a home, it's more about finding a family." 

Everyone applauded, and Red pulled up a slideshow I made on her computer, and we projected it on a blank wall with the lights off. 

That slideshow was a bunch of family pictures set to music. That music was Kindergarten Boyfriend. I heard sobbing, and I knew someone in my family was crying. 

"Hey, that's me!" I heard Alice say. I looked at the screen, and it was the picture that Evan took in the hospital. 

4 minutes later, the slideshow ended, and so did my speech. The whole audience applauded, and I sat in the back with my class.

"You killed it, Cat!" Red said. I blushed, daydreaming until the presentations were over.

_________

"Sunshine!" I heard, and I saw Elle running towards me. She picked me up and spun me around. "That was beautiful!" I blushed, and Alice said, "She's so cute when she's embarrassed."

"Alice!" I cried, still blushing, and Alice hugged me. 

Suddenly, Violet Gardner tapped me on the shoulder. 

"Why do you hang around her?" Violet said, pointing to Jessica. I started crying, and ran into Jessica's arms.

"Listen to me very carefully - we have evidence of how you've been treating Cat, so either you leave her alone, or we're going to the principal." Jessica said coldly. 

"That goes for your friends, too." Evan added.

"Jess!" I said, crying. Jess hugged me and said, "What?"

"Get off her, Catherine." Violet said. 

"Don't, Cat." Jessica said, hugging me tighter. "Elle, let's go home."

"Catherine can get her butt out of this school for good. You're never gonna be good enough." Violet said. "These people, they hate you." she said, pointing to my family.

"Leave her alone. And, frankly, don't tell the rest of us how we feel." Ryan said. 

"Can we just go home?" I asked. "Please." Jessica said, rolling her eyes.

"Catherine's the worst saxophone player in NYC, just saying. And the worst dancer. And that 'crash?' You're pathetic, sweetie." Violet said, and I started to cry.

"Don't you dare talk to her about the crash." Jessica snapped.

"Someone get me out of here before I do something I'll regret." Evan said, and Ryan pushed him out of the door. 

"She's just a pathetic fangirl. That crash means nothing, Catherine. You just want attention." Violet said.

"If that is what you think, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to share. Alice said. Barrett started to herd everyone out of the door while glaring at Violet.

Violet then slapped me, hard. 

"Ow!" I yelled, hiding behind Elle. 

"Okay, we're leaving." Barrett said, dragging Jon out. Katie dragged Elle out the door, and Alice dragged Jessica out the door. 

We got in the car, and I sighed in the backseat.

"I thought I won." I said sadly.

"We did win." Jessica said slyly.

"What do you mean?" Elle said. 

"Violet may have won this battle, but she won't win the war." Jessica said. "At least, not if I have anything to say about it."

"Jess. How can this family win against 9 rude, self centered flute players?" I said.

"They're 14-year-old kids with nothing to do besides ruin lives. We got this." Jess said. 

"Don't get her hopes up..." Elle said. 

"Elle. Do you seriously think we're gonna let Violet Gardner win?" Jess said. Elle and I looked at each other and Elle shook her head. 

"That's what I thought. Cat, stay in your room tonight. We have a battle to plan." Jessica said.

AN: Violet Gardner has made a reappearance! That's probably bad news to most of you, but hey! There's some more scheming going on! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!