A/N I'm revamping this story and consolidating some of the chapters. I beg you, PLEASE have patience with me!!!!! Love ya! Buh bai…

Prologue

It seems funny to look back at the situation now, but at the time I had felt like my entire life was over. I was born in Chicago and raised in a nice suburb not to far from the city. My family wasn't filthy rich, but we weren't poor either. We were what you might call mid to upper middle class. I'd lived all my life in the same house, a nice two story historic little piece of heaven. Ok, it wasn't a little piece of heaven. It had five bedrooms and plenty of space for two insane adults and their five kids. My sister Lisa and I each had our own rooms, as did my older brother James. The twins Kai and Jai had to share a room, but they didn't mind seeing as how they acted more like one person then two anyway.

My favorite part of the house was our backyard, we sat on close to one and a half acres and much of that had been taken over by my favorite hobby. Some people have green thumbs and enjoy the act of gardening, and then there are people like me. I live to have my arms elbow deep in rich, dark, fertile soil. I know gardening is strange hobby for a teenage girl to take up, but when I was three my grandmother came to live with my family and had introduced me to the art. Mima (as my siblings and I called her) could make any plant come to life, and for us, the love of gardening had been our special thing. I love my entire family, but Mima was one of my favorite people in the world. She loved all of her grandchildren immensely, but it was no secret to anyone that I was her favorite. We continued to work together in our garden, until my freshman year in high school when Mima passed away. It was in her sleep, peacefully, the doctors said, but I was devastated, I had lost my best friend. Working in our garden was my way of mourning, it brought me peace and sometimes I swear I could feel her next to me, correcting my mistakes and guiding my hands.

I continued on in high school, happy with my perfect life. I was a straight A student. I ranked high on the tennis team and the volleyball team. I was voted Junior Prom Princess at the only high school dance I ever attended (much to my horror and surprise). I never went on dates not because I wasn't asked but simply because I would rather be in my garden with my flowers, trees, fruits, vegetables, ferns... I know how weird that sounds, but I wasn't a complete loser, I had lots of friends and was well liked. My point is that in Chicago I was drama free and in love with my high school career and life as rare as that is.

My name is Delilah Baxtor and this is the story about how my perfect life was ripped apart, and how in the end I was left with something that was more precious and beautiful than my seventeen year old heart and mind could have ever imagined.