Lorelei's POV

Lorelei stayed up late doing her homework. She loved Algebra so she didn't have any problem with doing it. She just loved dealing with numbers. Elizabeth knocked on the door. "Come in", Lorelei said. Elizabeth opened the door buy didn't go in the room. "How's your homework?", she asked. Lorelei shrugged. "It's quite easy. Almost done", Lorelei answered, trying to focus. "That's wonderful. I was hoping if you could help Kyle with his homework one of these days", she said. Lorelei looked up from her work and looked at Elizabeth with a confused expression. "Why?", she asked. Elizabeth got in and sat on the bed. "His grades have dropped. He has never had any problem with school. But seems as if...", Elizabeth shrugged. Lorelei sighed. But she was shocked as well. Kyle was the best in her class. As came first position in everything he did. Lorelei nodded. "I'll see what I can do", she said. Elizabeth smiled weakly. "Thank you, sweetie", she stood up. "You sure you don't need anything?", she asked. Lorelei shook her head. "Well then, goodnight, Lorelei", she said as she was closing the door. "Goodnight Elizabeth."

"But Harold, we really need...",  Lorelei heard from downstairs. She sat up straight from her bed and listened. "I don't care. We can't afford it!", Mr Cohen yelled. They started moving. "They probably went to the kitchen", Lorelei muttered. She opened the door slightly then tiptoed down the hall. She stopped at the top of the stairs. "Harold, when have I ever asked you for something like this?", Lorelei heard Elizabeth's voice cracking. She was crying. "You've never because you never needed to!", Mr Cohen barked at Elizabeth. "You don't even care about what I want, do you?", Elizabeth started raising her voice. "We're in a crisis at work, dammit! Like I said, we can't afford to do that!", he yelled. "This conversation is over. And I don't wanna hear about it again, understood?", Mr Cohen said. "No we're...", they started to drift off again. Lorelei thought about what they were fighting about. She didn't even think that this family knew the definition of arguments. But then again, couples fighting is a normal thing. Lorelei got distracted when she felt a strong grip on her shoulder. In instinct, she grabbed then arm of the person holding her and turned around. "What are you doing here?", he asked. "I-", Lorelei didn't want to say. What was she going to say? That she was eavesdropping in matters that didn't involve her. "I was heading back to go sleep", she turned around going back to her bedroom. But Kyle moved his hand to her wrist and held it tight. "Listen, whatever that's going on down there is none of your business. You're only a guest here. And uninvited one, I might add", he said, his expression getting dark. He was squeezing her hand. Lorelei tried pulling away but he gripped it tighter. "Well I'm sorry. I didn't ask to come here", Lorelei scoffed. "But you decided to stay", he retorted. "Because Eli- your mother wanted me to", Lorelei said, managing to pull away. "Of course she did", he said, rolling his eyes. "Kids, what are you doing up?", Elizabeth looked at both of them very shocked. Kyle cleared his throat. Lorelei rubbed her wrist. They had red marks, her veins were bulging. "Lorelei here, was wondering if I had extra pens to spare", Kyle said. Elizabeth sighed. "Lorelei, sweetie. You could've asked me if you needed pens. I have more than enough", Elizabeth said, pushing them to their rooms. "Go to sleep. You have school tomorrow", she said. Kyle closed the door. Lorelei watched Elizabeth walk down the hallway. She then closed the door and got in bed. She focused on the rain. A lullaby in her ears. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Shit shit shit, Lorelei thought. She woke up late. She quickly dressed in her uniform and packed her homework in her bag. She ran down the stairs two steps at a time. "Aren't you having breakfast?", Elizabeth asked. Lorelei shook her head vigorously. "I'm already late. But thanks", she ran outside and saw Charles was waiting for her. She opened the door and saw Kyle there. Lorelei frowned at the sight of him. "Guess I'm car pooling with you", he smirked. Lorelei rolled her eyes and hopped in. "Everyone ready to go?", Charles asked. Lorelei looked at Kyle who shrugged at her. "Idiot", she told him. "Yes. We can go", Lorelei said. Charles drove off.

Lorelei jumped out of the car. "Pick me up at five, okay?", she told Charles. "Yes ma'am", he responded. Then he drove off. Lorelei looked at the alleyway where Krystal got beaten up. "What are you daydreaming about?", Kyle broke her train of thought. "Nothing that should concern", she replied. Kyle raised his eyebrows and raised his hands up in defeat. "What do you take to school?", Lorelei asked. "Session as if you wanna know everything about us, huh?", Kyle said sarcastically. Lorelei rolled her eyes then sighed. "Forget I ever asked", then she made her way into the building. The hallway was more crowded than usual but no one was moving. Lorelei tried pushing her way through. "Excuse me, coming through. Move you arm, I walking here", she said as she made her way through. Earning glares from some students. She made it to the front and saw what all the commotion was about. "... and that we'll deal with them", principal Roberts said. Lorelei scanned the crowd then saw Krystal a few centimetres away. She moved closer to her and nudged her. Krystal turned around and smiled when she saw Lorelei. "What's going on?", Lorelei asked. Krystal pointed at a girl who was standing next to the principal. The girl covered her face with on of her hands. The other one was in a sling. "I don't understand", she whispered. Then the girl raised her head. It was Smug girl. Oh what a drama queen, Lorelei thought. She didn't even hurt her that much. When Smug girl saw Lorelei, she glared at her. "Someone attacked her in the girl's toilets after school hours. Locked her in for hours. The janitor heard her screams the opened the door for her", Krystal explained. "Did she mention who did it?", Lorelei asked. Krystal shook her head. "She said she couldn't see their faces. But it serves her right", Krystal said. Lorelei smirked. Smug girl was actually scared of her. She wished she ripped off that arm of hers. "What's her name?", she asked. "Stellar", Krystal snarled. "Now everyone can go to their classes", Principal Roberts ordered. The traffic started moving again. Stellar bumped into Lorelei and whispered, "You're not gonna get away with this". "Oh, I think I already did", Lorelei sassed and bumped Stellar's injured shoulder. Stellar winced at the pain. "What was that about?", Krystal asked. "Nothing you should worry about", Lorelei answered. Krystal shrugged. "Hey, was I mean?", she asked. "About?", Lorelei asked. "You know, thinking that she deserved it? Well yeah she hurt me but... I don't know", she looked at her feet. "Of course she deserves it. Krystal, I'm sure you're not the first victim of Stellar's wrath and you're most certainly not going to be the last. This way, she got a taste of her own medicine", she said. "I don't know", Krystal said. Lorelei couldn't have Krystal going all soft on Stellar. "Think of it this way, if she didn't get attacked, I still think she's being over dramatic, she still would've attacked you again. Probably could've done worse. She hurt other people. If people don't stand up to be like that, then we would have them dictate us", Lorelei explained. "Like Hitler?", Krystal asked. Lorelei sighed. "Yes. Like Hitler", she said. "I guess you are right. You're always right", Krystal beamed at Lorelei. "Exactly. Now let's get to class otherwise we'll be late".

School was over. Lorelei was getting tired of these lessons. But this is what she wished for. It was still raining outside. Lorelei couldn't afford to sit in the rain or else she'll get a cold. So she decided to go to the school library. When she got there, she saw Krystal standing next to a woman. She has long strawberry blonde hair, wore cat-eyed glasses, a sweater that was too big for her, jeans and boots. She was pale but had the same warm hazel eyes like Krystal. Lorelei walked up to them. "Oh, there she is", Krystal jumped up and down. "So you must be Lorelei?", the woman asked. Lorelei nodded. "I'm Krystal's mother", she stuck out her hand to shake Lorelei's hand. She shook it. "But you can call me Joanne", she continued. What's with mothers and wanting me to call them by their first names? , Lorelei asked herself. "Sure will", Lorelei said. "I gotta sort of the problem with the computers. You girls have fun", she headed off. "So which author do you like? I like James Patterson and Rick Riordan", Krystal told Lorelei. "I never read much but I do love reading", Lorelei said. "Oh come. Let me show you where the best books are at", Krystal pulled Lorelei's hand. Lorelei was forced to follow. They stay there reading books. The library was so warm and cosy. Lorelei didn't even notice the time fly by. She got a text from Charles saying that he's already by the entrance. "I gotta go", she told Krystal. "Wait", she stopped her. "At least check this books out and tell me what you think about them", Krystal offered. "Sure", Lorelei took the books and got them checked out. She ran out and quickly got into the car.

When she arrived, Elizabeth was waiting for her by the porch, as usual. "Lorelei, I have good news", she said. "What is it?", Lorelei asked. She was curious about this 'good news'. "We're planning on adopting you".