Chapter 1

"What have I gotten myself into this time?" Andrew muttered to himself as he pushed open the foster care center door. It's not that he didn't like community service, but something always seemed to go wrong. He definitely was not happy about this project. He was already trying to get his big service project done that was required to make Eagle.

He and his two brothers approached the front desk.

His older brother stuck out his hand, "Hi, I'm Jeffery Marshall, and these are my brothers, Craig and Andrew."

"Nice to meet you," She said, "How can I help you three?"

"Well, our Scout leader sent us here for a service project, we were wondering if there was anything we could do to help out here."

"Ah, Scouts, ages and ranks please?"

"Um, I'm 17 and I'm an Eagle Scout. Craig is 16 and finishing up Life. Andrew's 15 and is still Life as well."

"Alright," She typed something into her computer, "well, how would you like to spend time with a child? Have you heard of the Big Brother Big Sister program?"

They nodded.

"Well, this would be pretty much like that, you would spend time with a child and be someone they can look up to."

Jeffery's sea-blue eyes twinkled, "That would be wonderful."

"Okay you'll start tomorrow."

"Great! Whose the lucky child?"

"Heather Letty."

"Excuse me?" Andrew raised an eyebrow, "Did you say 'Heather'? As in the girl's name?"

The woman looked over her glasses, "Yes, is that a problem?"

"Oh no," Craig interfered, "we were just expecting a young boy, because we're boys."

"She's the only child left, besides, I think she needs someone more than anyone else. The poor girl has had a rough life."

"What happened?" Jeffery asked.

The woman gave him a sad smile and then turned back to her work.

"Come here tomorrow and I'll bring Heather here."

"Alright, thank you ma'am," Jeffery said as they headed towards the door.

"Have a nice day, boys!" She called as they left the room.

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"Rise and shine, Boys!" Mrs. Marshall called from down stairs, "You don't want to be late to the foster center!"

Andrew shoved a pillow over his face and took a deep breath.

"Andrew, get up!" Jeffery chucked a pillow across the room at his brother.

Andrew sat up and ruffled his rust-brown hair, "I'm up, I'm up!"

Jeffery was already fully dressed and Criag was down stairs.

"You darn early risers," Andrew muttered, "I can't believe we're getting stuck with a girl! That's no fun!"

"She's only thirteen, it shouldn't be the end of the world, besides, you heard the lady, this girl needs us."

"She doesn't need us, she needs someone."

"And we just so happen to be those 'someones', now stop your complaining and get down stairs."

Andrew changed quickly and ran down stairs for breakfast. His mother made pancakes.

"So, you guys are spending time with a thirteen-year-old girl I hear," Lily, their thirteen-year-old sister teased. She shared Andrew's sparkling gray eyes, but her dark brown hair was in no way similar to his hair.

"Yeah, you wanna come, you two could have a play date," Andrew said bitterly.

Jeffery reached over and bopped him upside the head.

"Don't mind him Lil, he's just sore," Craig winked at his younger sister and she laughed.

"Well, you guys enjoy yourselves, Andrew's just gonna love it." Lily said as she walked out of the room.

Andrew swung around in his seat but Craig placed a hand on his shoulder, "Give the girl a chance, she can't be so bad."

"If she's anything like Lily, she can."

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Seated in a chair at the foster care center was a young girl. Honey colored loose curls that hung just beneath her shoulder blades, flowed down her back. Sitting on top of her head was a cow girl hat.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" The woman who had helped the boys the previous day asked.

"Just fine, Mrs. Connell. What about you?"

"Good. The Marshall's should be here any moment for you, hon."

Heather nodded. She wasn't too thrilled to be hanging around a bunch of boys, she was really hoping for a girl, but the foster care center was making her spend time with them.

The bell over the door jingled as three boys stepped in.

"There you are!" Mrs. Connell exclaimed excitedly, "This," She pulled Heather towards the boys, "is Heather Letty, she lives with a foster family just across the street."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Jeffery smiled and stuck out his hand, "I'm Jeffery, but you can call me Jeff, and these are my brothers."

Heather shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, too."

The other two introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Craig."

Craig elbowed his silent brother, "Name's Andrew," Andrew said, uninterested.

Heather nodded.

"Okay, well you kids go have fun!" Mrs. Connell called.

They walked out of the center and on to the sidewalk.

"Alright," Heather said, "let's be honest here, you don't want me as your 'buddy' because I'm a girl. Correct? Thought so, so I'm gonna make it easy for you and just head home." She started walking towards her house.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jeff said as Craig grabbed her sleeve, "You're not going anywhere."

"The girl obviously wants to go home, we might as well let her, then we can leave," Andrew pointed out.

"Nobody is going anywhere," Jeff reiterated.

Heather looked at the boys, "Why? Don't take pity on me, I'm used to not being wanted."

"By who?" Andrew asked.

Heather shook her head, "Never mind who. I just mean, I'm alright, if you don't want me, just say so."

"We don't want you," Andrew answered shortly.

Jeff stared daggers at his brother.

"Then it's settled," She said, "Enjoy your day." She turned and started back to her house.

"Heather!" Jeff called.

Craig started across the road after her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up and carried her back.

"Hey! Put me down!!" She yelled.

Craig set her down in front of the others.

"Alright, alright! I'll spend the day with you! I was only trying to be polite."

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Good," Jeff smiled, "Why don't you tell us about yourself?"

Heather cleared her throat, "There's not much to tell, I'm here."

"What happened before you came here?" Craig asked.

"Yeah! What happened to your parents? Why'd they get rid of you?" Andrew remarked.

"Andrew!" Craig yelled and Jeff hit his brother.

"I'm so sorry for our brother," Jeff apologized, "you'll have to excuse him."

"My parents didn't 'get rid of me'," She muttered, "you have no idea what I've been through."

"What was that?" Jeff asked.

"Oh," Heather smiled, "nothing."