After a long summer with her Aunt Rose and Uncle James, Anna returns to Hartley to find Dr. Shannon more uncaring than before, Landon still refusing to speak to her, and the media as relentless as ever. As she strives to make her grandfather proud of her by becoming the perfect Hartley girl, she is on the brink of losing the rest of her true friends as she spends more time with Maxine and Shane's crew. When she overhears Dr. Shannon threatening to send her away from Hartley, Anna begins to take matters into her own hands. After many failed attempts to win her grandfather's approval, Anna decides to stand up to him and take back what little family she has left. A 6th to 12th grade series.
Excerpt
That was the breaking point for Anna. She would not allow Dr. Shannon to send her away from Hartley. There had to be something that proved that he didn’t have the right to, and she knew the most likely place to find her answer. She was going to Jamesport, 347 Clover Lane to be exact.
She didn’t have much time to lose if she was going to go unnoticed. The first thing she would need to do was steal Landon’s key before he got back to his room. She checked both sides of the hallway before taking the bobby pin out of the front pocket of her backpack. Luckily, she only had to fumble with the lock for a few seconds before the door gave way. She went straight for the metal tin on top of Landon’s desk. The key was right where he had always kept it. As she was replacing the lid, she heard the sink running in the bathroom. She ran out of the room accidentally knocking the tin to the ground and slamming the door behind her. She didn’t have time to unlock her room before Parker came running out into the hallway, so she pretended to be searching for her keys.
“Were you just in here?” Parker asked.
Anna shook her head. “No. Why?”
“I thought I heard the door slam.” Parker looked confused. His eyebrows formed an arch. “Did you see anyone?”
“No. Sometimes our door does that if we leave it cracked by mistake. I think it makes it close when the air conditioning unit turns on,” Anna answered, trying not to appear anxious.
“It’s the end of October,” Parker pressed.
“Okay, the heat then. You knew what I meant,” Anna replied. “Anyways, I’ve got to get to the children’s home. I’m running late already, but it was good seeing you.” Anna hurried inside the room and closed the door, leaving Parker standing in the hallway and scratching his head.
It would be an overnight trip so she would needs to take some items with her. Liesel wouldn’t notice, or care, if Anna didn’t come back to the dorm room that night, but she would be suspicious if she caught Anna packing. Anna emptied her bookbag and placed all the contents neatly on the desk. She grabbed the first sweatshirt and pair of jeans that she came across and threw them into the bag. Then she went and grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, and a couple of hair bands from the bathroom. She didn’t really need anything else.
She started to zip up the bag, but realized she would need money to pay the bus fare. She grabbed the wallet from her purse and tossed it in as well. That was when the door opened. Anna jumped. She wasn’t expecting Liesel to get back so early.
“What are you so jumpy about?” Liesel eyed Anna suspiciously. Anna shrugged. Liesel took a quick inventory of her side of the room to make sure everything was untouched.
“You can’t honestly think I would bother your stuff!” Anna exclaimed.
“I don’t really know anything about you anymore,” Liesel said callously.
“Don’t know or don’t care?” Anna asked, glaring.
“Don’t care,” she answered. “Where are you staying at night anyways? I know the orphanage doesn’t allow students to volunteer past curfew hours. It’s not like you are the first saint to volunteer there, but I guess you’re the first one who counts since you’re a Hartley and all.”
“Whatever. It’s none of you business what I do in my spare time.” Anna was beyond annoyed. Liesel had not spoken a word to her in weeks, and now she wanted to have this conversation.
Liesel glanced at Anna’s backpack, a smirk began to form on her face. “You always carry a toothbrush around? Oh, I get it. Are you staying with Shane? Does the perfect little Hartley girl have a scandal?”
“You don’t care remember. Shane is the last person I would stay with, but if you think that would make a good story then you should write it. It wouldn’t be the first lie you wrote about me. You know nothing about me.” Anna could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.
“I know your own brother won’t even talk to you,” Liesel replied smugly.
Anna wanted to punch her. “You know nothing about that!” Anna yelled.
Liesel sat on the edge of her bed, stunned, for a few seconds before replying. Anna had never raised her voice to anyone. She knew she had gone too far with the last statement.“Where are you going?” she whispered.
Anna laughed, replying saracastically, “To create a scandal, where else?” With that, Anna walked out and slammed the door. She could tell that everyone was staring at her. Dorm rooms weren’t exactly sound proof, but she didn’t care. Hopefully, she would have the answers she needed by the next morning. Anyways, this would create quite the scandal if anyone noticed she was gone.
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