nobody's pov

"girls get up now! it's 9:15! breakfast is already being served!" sophie hears a familiar but annoying voice say. she opens her eyes and yawns.

"sophie what on earth are you doing in here?" virginia asks.

"she had a nightmare." lydia covers for her. "another one? this like the 5th time this week. enough of this bullshit." virginia says.

"that's not her fault. she's just a kid." ziya says. "do i look like i care? you have an assigned room sophie. you sleep there." virginia says.

"miss elizabeth doesn't have a problem with it. why do you?" sophie asks. "because you're a brat. just get dressed. all of you." virginia says and storms out of the room.

"what a lovely way to wake up this morning." lydia says and rolls her eyes. "don't listen to her sophie. you're not a brat." maya says. "oh my god i hate her so much. she's the biggest bitch in the world." aaliyah groans.

"sorry for putting her in a bad mood. i'm gonna go get dressed now." sophie says and climbs down the ladder. "we'll see you later." lydia says and sophie walks out of the room.

she walks down the hallway and into her own room. "you'll never guess whose in a mood today." she says while entering.

"ooo i know. virginia." moonee says.

"bingo." sophie says. "oh and let me guess. you put her in that bad mood." caroline says. "not intentionally. she's always in a bad mood." sophie says. "you know what you're not wrong." caroline says.

sophie gets dressed and waits for moonee to as well. "i'm done. we can go now." she says and they walk out of their room and to the cafeteria.

her and moonee eat breakfast while miss elizabeth walks around the room and hands out mail.

"sophie you got mail." miss elizabeth says and hands sophie an envelope. "for me?" sophie asks. "you're the only sophie here." she says and soph takes the envelope.

"i- thanks." sophie says. "no problem. it's your letter kid." miss elizabeth says and walks away.

"omg sophie you got mail!" moonee says excitedly. "i know. i've never gotten mail before." sophie says.

"this is so cool! open it!" moonee says. "ok ok." sophie says and wrips the envelope open. she takes out a piece of paper.

dear sophie,

if you're wondering yes it's me, your mom. i'm not even sure what to say right now because life on my end has been really hard this past year but i'm sure you've had it rough too. to be honest i'm not even sure how well you can read yet so if you need someone to read this for you that's okay, no pressure lol. first off i want to apologize for not making an effort to reach out to you in this past year. i'm not sure what you've been told by your social worker but me, along with everyone else, only spent 3 months in jail. we would've spent longer if it wasn't for cheryl's lawyer job. if you're wondering what we did after we got released that's an entire story in itself. to make it short, we're all living together in the lodge and blossom apartment. it's a lot to have all 9 of us together but it's simply the only thing we can afford. being on probation is so difficult because none of us are allowed to have jobs. thats the main reason i'm not allowed to see you. the court and your social worker say i have to get a job, make a steady income, and have an appropriate living situation ready for you. it's already been 8 months but i'm trying i promise. i very badly want to get you back and i cant even explain to you how miserable i've been without you. i miss you pretty girl and i miss sleeping next to you and cuddling every night. cheryl misses you too. everyone does. it's gonna take awhile to get you back but i swear to you i'm gonna make it happen. i really hope you're doing ok because if you're not i don't think i'd ever forgive myself. i hope you made new friends and everyone is nice to you in the group home. i know being in foster care is hard and this is all my fault and i am probably the worst mom in the world. i just want to let you know that i still love you and i am still your mom. you'll always be my baby and i cant wait to see your precious face again. no i'm not sure when that will be but i'm hoping it's very soon. promise me one thing though? promise me you won't lose the way you used to laugh so hard at cartoons that you almost peed yourself. and you won't lose the way you used to dance around the motel room in your pjs. and especially promise me you won't lose the way you used to smile so big when you were happy. oh sophie rae, you are so loved. so so loved. if you're mad at me i completely understand because i totally deserve it. i get it if you don't want to write me back but i would really love it if you did. always remember that i miss you and i love you angel, always.

-your mom, toni

"sophie? why are you crying?" moonee asks. "what i'm not...sorry." sophie says and wipes her face.

"what did the letter say? was it bad?" moonee asks. "no no not at all. it was actually good. it was really good." sophie says with a small smile on her face.

"really? aw i want a letter." moonee says. "it was from my mom." sophie says. "toni?! she finally said something?!" moonee asks excitedly.

"yea. i was actually starting to think she forgot about me." sophie says. "d-did she mentions anything about my mom?" moonee asks, her expression getting sadder.

"well she said that everyone including your mom got out of jail 8 months ago. and now they all live in the apartment together." sophie says. "all of them?" moonee asks. "all of them." soph says. "that's strange." moonee says.

"a little bit. i'm just...so happy right now." sophie says. sophie couldn't remember the last time she felt this way. it would've had to been months.

a few hours later

"are you just gonna keep rereading that all day? come on i wanna play." moonee complains.

"sorry....we can play now." sophie says and places the letter on her bed.

serenity looks up from her spot on the floor where she's playing with barbies and looks at the letter on the bed. "what's that?" she asks. "nothing." sophie says.

"then why was you just reading it?" serenity asks. "first off it's were not was. proper english. and second off it's none of your business." sophie says. serenity looks up at sophie and furrows her eyebrows. "what?" sophie asks.

serenity gets up and takes the letter off of sophie's bed. "stop it. give it back." sophie says and tries to take it from her.

serenity giggles and runs out of the room. "serenity! you brat give it back!" sophie screams and runs after her. sophie chases her down the hallway until virginia stops them.

"what do you two think you're doing?" she asks. "serenity stole MY letter and won't give it back." sophie says. "no it's my letter." serenity says.

"sophie why are you trying to steal a letter from a 5 year old?" virginia asks. "are you serious right now?! it's my letter!" sophie yells.

"there is no yelling allowed here. shut your mouth sophie." virginia snaps. "serenity sweetie can you give me the letter?" virginia directs her attention towards her with a soft smile.

serenity hands her the paper and virginia examines it. "who even gave this to you and said it was ok for you to get mail?" she asks. "miss elizabeth." sophie says.

"it's mine now." virginia says and starts to fold it up. "what?! why?!" sophie demands. "because it's clearly causing problems within your room." she says. "no it's not! leave me alone and give me my letter back!" sophie yells.

"hey what did i say about the yelling." virginia warns.

"i don't care about the fucking yelling i just want my letter back!" sophie screams.

without hesitation virginia slaps sophie across the face.

sophie stays still for a moment before starting to cry. "stop crying. you're 7 years old. not a baby." virginia spits.

"go back to your room now! both of you!" she says and serenity runs back to the room. sophie runs right behind her before slamming the door shut.

"i fucking hate you serenity!" you are such a little bitch you don't even understand!" sophie says before sobbing into her pillow. serenity sits on her own bed and says nothing.

"um what just happened?" moonee asks. "virginia took my letter. and it's all serenity's fault." sophie cries. "i didn't mean to." she says softly.

"yes you did serenity! you act like everything is about you in this home yet you don't even care about other people! that letter was so important to me! and now i'm never gonna see it again!" sophie yells.

moonee sits on the bed next to sophie and gives her a hug. "i'm sorry about your letter." she whispers.

"what is going on in here and why are you screaming? we heard you guys from down the hall." kennedy says opening the door with gwen behind her. "oh sophie are you ok?" gwen asks after seeing she was crying. "i'm fine." she says.

"do you want us to get lydia?" kennedy asks. "i don't know i guess so." sophie shrugs and they nod before walking out of the room.

"serenity what is your problem?" moonee asks. "nothing i was just playing." she says. "no you weren't. you were trying to get sophie in trouble. why are you so goddamn selfish and annoying? i hope you know that nobody and i mean nobody likes you." moonee says and serenity starts crying. "oh my god." sophie mumbles and rolls her eyes.

lydia, ziya, aaliyah, and maya all come into the room.

"what is going on?" ziya asks. "serenity why are you crying baby?" maya asks and goes to comfort her sister. "what even happened?" aaliyah asks.

"i got my first mail delivery ever this morning and it was a letter from my mom and it was so important to me but then serenity was a brat and decided to steal it from me and give it to virginia. virginia took it from me and now i don't have it anymore." sophie cries.

"sera is that true?" maya asks and serenity nods. "serenity i know you're only 5 but why would you think that's ok?" ziya asks. "because she's a bitch." moonee says. "moonee..." aaliyah sighs. "i'm not!" serenity yells.

"all of you cut it out. you're all acting immature right now which is not helping. we need to quit calling each other names because that is so fucking pointless. we're all in the same boat here. we don't have parents so we only have each other. we have to stop turning on each other because we simply don't have a choice. got it?" lydia says and everyone nods.

"good. now can you all leave the room i wanna talk to sophie alone." lydia says. "yea." aaliyah says and leads everyone outside before shutting the door.

"fifi are you alright?" lydia asks and sits next to sophie on her bed. "no. i want my letter." sophie sighs. "and your mom gave it you? what did it say?" she asks.

"um it was just her talking about how her life as been. and that she loved me and she missed me. and she was trying to get me back. i know it's dumb but it's the only thing i've gotten from her in the past year. it was so important to me!" sophie says.

"it's not dumb. and i know it's hard. but we are going to get that letter back." lydia says and brushes sophie's cheek.

"ow." sophie says and pulls away. "what?" lydia asks. "uh nothing." sophie says. "soph did virginia hit you?" lydia asks. "...yea." sophie sighs. "asshole." lydia mumbles.

"are we gonna get my letter back?" sophie asks. "oh yea. we're gonna steal it right back from the blonde bitch." lydia says and sophie giggles. "thanks lyds." sophie says. "come here fifi." lydia says and gives sophie a hug.

A/n: tbh i need some suggestions for this book lmao. can y'all comment something and help me out? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻