NOTE: Sorry that this one's a tad shorter than most of the other chapters. I'm kind of figuring out the structure of this story as I go along, and there wasn't really much ground to cover for this chapter. So...enjoy what you've got, I guess.

***

When Wednesday came, Lanie and Rachel both went to the board game club Conner had told them about. It was held in Mrs. Lin's classroom, with about a dozen kids gathered to play board games. The president was a Senior boy named Justin Kathy.

"Good afternoon, guys," Justin said when everyone had gathered. "Welcome to the first meeting of the board game club. And, well...I don't think there's really much to say for our first meeting. We've got chess, checkers, Monopoly, and Scrabble."

Conner looked at Lanie and Rachel. "Either of you want to play checkers?" he asked.

"I'll do it," Lanie answered.

"Alright then," said Conner. "Black or red?"

"Red."

"Okay, I'll be black then."

Unfortunately, Lanie's skills at checkers were rustier than she realized. She only managed to capture two of Conner's black checkers while he got all of hers. "Guess I win," Conner said when he'd jumped the last of Lanie's red checkers.

"Guess so," said Lanie. "Want another round?"

"Maybe see if Rachel wants to..." Conner trailed off when he saw that Rachel was deep into a Monopoly game with three other kids. "Okay, never mind."

Lanie and Conner played a few more rounds of checkers, all of which Conner won. "Wow, Conner," Lanie said when Conner had beaten her for the fourth time in a row. "You're really good at checkers."

"Yeah, I've had a lot of practice," said Conner. "My brothers really like checkers, so I've played a lot of games with them."

"You have brothers?"

"Yep. Two of them, and they're both younger. I'm guessing you don't have any siblings."

"Nope. I don't think Rachel counts."

"Did you have any siblings before?" Conner asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Before you went to the Orphanage For All Ages. What was your family like then?"

"Well, it's...kind of complicated," said Lanie. "I was born in Nashville, and I grew up there with just my dad. My mom left us when I was little."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My dad was an alcoholic, and he'd always get drunk and abuse my mom and I. So that's why my mom left."

"Why didn't she take you with her?"

"I don't know," said Lanie. The truth was, she didn't have a lot of memories of her mother, considering she (or, since that was while she'd been Landon, he) was only five when she left. She did remember one time when she overheard her mom saying that she wished she'd had a daughter instead of a son, but that was it.

Conner shrugged. "Maybe she just wanted to start a new life," he said. "Leave her failed family behind her."

"Maybe," said Lanie. "But then about a month ago, my dad was having another drunk fit, and he...he ended up falling off the balcony and dying."

Conner's eyes widened. "Wow," he said. "That's horrible."

"Yeah." Lanie deliberately left out the part about her being Richard's killer. She still had the hots for Conner, and she did not want to risk putting him off. "Then I got admitted to a foster home-where I met Rachel-but she and I and another girl ended up leaving. Then we ended up here in Atlanta, where Mr. Ryan found us and admitted us to his orphanage."

"How'd you get all the way from Nashville to Atlanta?"

Lanie shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"Well, at least you're safe now," said Conner.

I hope, Lanie thought. "What about you?" she asked. "What's your family like?"

"Well, my parents are both working," Conner answered. "My dad's an attorney, and my mom works at the zoo. I've got a ten-year-old brother named Melvin, and a seven-year-old brother named Kevin."

"Nice," said Lanie. "Do you guys get along?"

"Generally, yeah," Conner answered. "But sometimes I mess with them just for fun."

"Really?"

"Yep. That's what big brothers are for, right?" Conner said with a smirk.

"I guess," said Lanie.

"Didn't you say you had another girl with you?"

"What?"

"When you left that first foster home. You mentioned another girl that came with you to Atlanta."

"Oh yeah. Her name's Jenny, and she's in middle school."

"Oh," said Conner. "How's it going for her?"

"I don't know," Lanie replied. "I haven't gotten to see her since school started."

"Well, hopefully it's all going well for her."

Since Lanie was getting tired of losing to Conner at checkers, she and him decided to watch Rachel's game on Monopoly for the rest of the lunch period. At first, Lanie just watched, but then she ended up joining Rachel in managing her money and property cards. Rachel came pretty close to getting $2000 and winning the game, but before she could pass Go, Justin spoke up again. "The bell's about to ring," he said, "So it's time to start putting the games away."

"Aw," Rachel fumed. "I was so close!"

"At least you tried," said Lanie.

"And you had fun," said Conner, "Right?"

"Yeah, it was fun," said Rachel.

"Even if you kept beating me at checkers," said Lanie.

Conner chuckled. "Well, it you want a rematch, you can come back on Friday."

"I think I will," said Lanie.

***

After school that day, Lanie went down to the orphanage's game room. Since Jenny was so into video games, Lanie had a feeling she'd be in there. And sure enough, there Jenny was, playing Rocket League just like always.

"Hey Jenny," said Lanie.

Jenny paused her game and looked up at Lanie. "Hi Lanie," she said.

"Hey, I haven't gotten to talk to you for a few days," said Lanie. "How's school going?"

"Not great," Jenny said miserably. "No one talks to me, and nobody lets me sit with them. It's like I don't fit in with anyone."

"I'm sorry," said Lanie. "Are you sure there's no one at school you can talk to? Your roommate Samantha-she goes to the same school as you, right?"

"Right," said Jenny. "But I don't have any classes with her."

"That's too bad," said Lanie. "But just so you know, I'm still here for you. And Rachel is, too, if you need to talk to us."

"Thanks, Lanie," said Jenny.

To be continued...