"I can't remember the last time I had any, really, I guess," she mumbles with a little shrug. "Even before I got sent away, I couldn't really get along with other children my age." She glances at him, smiling. "I know I'm a lot to handle. It's always been that way."

It was fine, though. Annabelle didn't feel sad or lonely. But truthfully, she had been lonely. She didn't realize she had been lonely for all her life until she'd met Lauren and Susan, really.