Ximena was asleep, and I heard a soft knock on the door. Confused as it was 3 in the morning, I left Mischa to comfort Ximena and make sure they didn't wake up, and I headed out of the room to see who was at the door.

I went to open the door and there stood a girl with tan skin and a plum hijab, holding a backpack.

"Hi. My name is Rosalind Azimi, or Rose for short. I'm Ximena's best friend and technically, her foster sister- and they texted me a couple of hours ago and told me where they were, and I just wanted to drop off some of their stuff. I mean, I think all they have with them are their dance stuff and concert clothes." the girl said. "She can't live in pointe shoes for the rest of her life, y'know?"

"Oh, thank you, Rose." I said, taking the backpack and putting it on the couch. "Do you want to come inside? Does someone know you're here?"

Rose shrugged. "Our foster mother has been out since the concert. After Ximena ran off, she dragged me out of there, dropped me off, and then left. Thanks for taking care of her, by the way. She deserves a good home more than anything."

"Do you need a place to stay, Rose? Are you safe?" I asked.

"I'm moving in with my biological grandparents next week." Rose said, shaking her head. "I'm so lucky I have a chance- Ximena never did. They came from the States, they grew up in Massachusetts and had a huge family down there.. then shit happened and she got shipped off to Canada and got plunked in my foster home because my foster mother wanted another kid for the government money. I just feel so bad for her, she's such a talented performer and our foster mom never let her...well, use it. I never liked performing, I was always shy, but I do love to sing."

I nodded at Rose, smiling. "Do you at least need a ride home?"

"No, sir. I think I'm fine for now. My house is within walking distance of here." Rose said. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"When Mina wakes up...can you tell them I love her and I hope he's doing alright?" Rose asked.

I nodded, smiling. "Of course I can, Rose. Do you go to St. Cassian's?"

"I mean, yeah. I'm not sure why, because I'm not Catholic. Neither is Ximena, she's an atheist and I'm a Muslim. I guess my foster mom just wanted to drill religion into us, plus Uranium City doesn't have that many schools." Rose said, chuckling. "Well, um, I gotta go home. It's almost 3AM and that's the time the foster demon, as Mina and I affectionally call her, usually comes home. I'm toast if she realizes I snuck out of the house."

I nodded as Rose grabbed her phone and ran out the door and down the street. I was happy that she found someone safe to live with, but I wanted to let her know that she was always welcome with us.

"Oh!" Rose said, coming back in the house. She dug in her pocket and handed me a pill bottle.

"It's Ximena's. Make sure they take 2 every 12 hours." She noticed my confusion and then said "Pain medicine. Ximena has a chronic pain disorder."

"Oh, alright. Thanks for letting me know." I said. Rose smiled and then she left for good.

I took Ximena's backpack to the living room, wanting to sort through it and put some things away for them. I opened the backpack and I noticed a bunch of clothes, a journal reading "Mina's Songs and Stuff" on the cover, pencils and pens, and a pair of black high heeled boots, different from the heels they were wearing to the concert the night before.

"Jesus, she really is my kid." I said, then realized what I just said.

I wanted to adopt Ximena.

________

The next morning, Ximena trudged out of the guest bedroom, holding Mischa's hand. The poor kid was still in tights and a sweatshirt.

"Good morning, amour. How did you sleep?" I said.

"Fine, thank you." Ximena said, then noticed her pile of stuff on the couch. "Where did you get this?"

"Your friend, Rose, dropped it off last night. She said to tell you she loves you and she hopes you're doing alright." I said.

"Shit." Ximena said. "I gotta call her."

"What's wrong?"

"Now that I'm gone...our foster mom probably took her anger at me out on Rose..." Ximena said. "Especially since she probably came home late, and since Rose snuck out, she was probably drunk or high or God knows what and it would've just made everything ten times worse!"

"Hey, hey, it's alright. She got out of there, she messaged me an hour ago telling me she was okay and to tell you not to worry about her. You do know she's moving in with her grandparents next week, right?" I asked.

Ximena nodded. "I mean, that's a week away..."

"We'll check up on her. We'll make sure she's safe. I promise." I said.

Ximena nodded, digging through her pile of clothes and then grabbing a burgundy dress and that pair of high heels.

"I'm just having some friends over, Ximena, there's no need to get dressed up if you don't want to." I said.

"Oh, this is what I always wear. I hate wearing jeans and casual things. Maybe a pair of sweatpants if I'm sick or really tired, but yeah. I live in dresses and suits and fancy things." Ximena said. "Plus, I look hot in this dress."

I chuckled as Ximena pulled her red hair up into a ponytail, putting on some light makeup.

"I'm ready." they said after a while.

"Alright, why don't you get yourself some breakfast? Our friends will be here in a couple of minutes. You're gonna love them."

_______

Ximena's POV

I was happy. While I did have dance tonight, I texted Elena to let her know not to worry about picking me up- that I had a ride and was going to be a little late because of the get-together.

I heard the doorbell ring and gasped, I was so excited, I didn't even think about dance for a moment. Which was funny, because at my old house I always found myself looking at the clock, waiting for the moment I could run off to the dance studio and escape my shitty life.

Noel opened the door and four other people came in. Three girls and a boy. I waved at them, putting down my phone.

"Hi!" I said, suddenly getting shy. "My name is Ximena!"

Noel chuckled and put his hands on my shoulder. "Ximena, this is Ocean, Constance, Penny, and Ricky. Guys, this is Ximena. She's...staying with us for a while."

"Why the hesitation?" I asked, and I swear I noticed Noel and Mischa look to each other with some sort of smirk.

"Oh, nothing. Do any of you want any food?" Mischa asked. "Ximena, that means you too."

"Scrambled eggs are fine." I said, and I noticed the guy, Ricky, pull out an AAC device; the robotic voice saying "Same as Ximena."

"So, Ximena." the red-headed girl said, I think her name was Ocean? "What do you like to do for fun?"

I shrugged. "Dance, mostly. I'm a competitive dancer. I also sing sometimes and write my own songs."

"What's your favorite subject?" Penny asked.

"Without a doubt, math." I giggled. "I'm such a math nerd. Oh, or Latin!"

"You know Latin?" Penny asked. "That's so cool!"

"Thanks!" I said shyly, smoothing out my hair.

"Tell me about dance." Constance said sweetly. "What type of dance do you do?"

"Ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and tap. Lyrical's my favorite- my competition team is currently working on the piece we're gonna compete with, and I have my first ever competition solo!" I said. "The group number is called Pompeii,, it's literally about a group of people who are trying to get their lives together after a natural disaster, and my solo is to one of my favorite songs, and I choreographed it myself. I'm so excited for the group dance, I do like six pirouettes in a row in the middle of the dance and a bunch of fouetté turns."

"Woah." Ricky said, his eyes wide. "You gotta let us know when this competition is, I need to come see this."

"Me too." Ocean said. "And you choreograph?"

"Yeah." I said, not wanting to reveal any details. I actually choreographed the solo in question after a terrible panic attack I had one night, that's the source of most of my solos. Relieving the pain I was in at my old foster home.

"That's great!" Ocean said, and then I checked the time.

"Ximena, зірка, we need to go to dance. I'll have them come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright!"

_________

Dance was a lot of fun, we practiced our solos and group dance, and I actually had another idea for a solo I wanted to do. Hopefully my teacher would let me change the solo, given that competition was a few months out.

I came home, and realized that I had forgotten my dance jacket somewhere. Shit. I pulled out my phone, ready to text Elena and Joey to see if I might have left it at the studio.

And then I saw it hanging off the side of the couch, with a sticky note on it for some reason.

"How was dance?" Mischa asked as I headed over to the couch, looking to see what was on the sticky note.

"Good." I said, then I picked the jacket up, then realized something amazing.

The "Churchill" on the jacket was replaced with "Gruber-Bachinski."

"Guys?" I asked, laughing a little. "What the hell does this mean?"

Noel looked at Mischa, giggling. "Um...Ximena, Mischa and I were talking...and we were wondering if you'd like us to...adopt you."

'WHAT?!" I asked, screaming and giving Noel a huge hug, almost knocking him over as I squealed and started crying happy tears. "YES, YES, YES!"

"We love you, Ximena. You're a really good kid and you deserve all that we can give you." Mischa said.

"Ximena Gruber-Bachinski." Noel said. "How does that sound?"

"It sounds amazing." I said, happier than I've been in a year and a half.