Chapter One

Shaina looked at the new family. She wondered how long this one would last. They never lasted long. They always developed "too many debts" or "decided to have another child of their own." She had learned long ago that these families would never be "her family."

She tuned back into reality just in time to hear the end of the "house rules." Same boring shit as usual. No drugs, no alcohol, blah, blah, blah. Shaina wondered if the "house rules" were just passed from foster family to foster family with no regard to creativity or individuality.

"Shaina!" Are you listening?" Mrs. Peterson was looking at her sternly, but with a strange softness in the back of her eyes. What did that look mean?

"Of course Mrs. Peterson. You were just saying that I will not be permitted to skip school and that you will be happy to help me with any homework I have."

Mrs. Peterson looked at her suspiciously before smiling. "Good. If you understand all the rules, then I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

Shaina pasted on what she hoped was a bright smile in agreement. Of course she hadn't listened to the blabbering on about the "house rules." She just happened to have the entire foster "house rules" handbook memorized. Forwards and backwards.

"Oh! And you still have to meet Josh! He's only a year older than you, so I'm sure you'll get along just fine."

Shaina tried to hide her grimace. That was what she was most nervous about. When she had learned that she was to have another foster brother around the same age as him, she had immediately told her foster care worker 'no'. She didn't want to have to go through the same thing again. But there had been no other choice, and she had been shoved into the Peterson family.

She shook off the past long enough to look back at Mrs. Peterson. She seemed nice enough. Maybe it would all work out.

As she listened to Mrs. Peterson go on about Josh and the family in general, she sighed. Who was she kidding? It never worked out. And nobody was ever as nice as they first seemed.

X

He was hot. As much as she didn't want to, she had to admit that. She had always been a sucker for pretty eyes, and unfortunately, his green eyes were gorgeous. But then again, she had thought that he was hot too, in the beginning. Anyway, she had realized pretty quickly that Josh's personality totally didn't match his good looks.

"Make sure you do the dishes and take out the trash before I get back," Josh was ordering her around again. He seemed to enjoy making her do all of his chores.

"Okay, I'll do them right away!" Shaina quickly replied. She wasn't overly thrilled with having to do all his work, but she preferred his attitude to his.

She started to do the dishes, only to run into Mrs. Peterson. "You know Shaina, you don't really have to do all that housework. Just ignore Josh so that he has to do his own chores once in a while."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

Mrs. Peterson frowned a bit before finally shrugging, "Well if you're sure. Just make Josh do his own work once in a while so he doesn't get too spoiled."

"Okay," Shaina agreed readily. Not that she ever would, of course. She just wanted to avoid any arguments with this new family. She wanted her remaining days here to be as peaceful as possible. Even if this family didn't last any longer than the rest of them did.

A/N: Okay so I finally got around to rewriting Finding Love. I've been wanting to for a while but college has been crazy. But I tried to read the original version recently, and it totally sucks. My writing has changed so much since then. This version will also focus more on her time in the foster family rather than the future. So I hope the readers of the first version appreciate this version just as much!