Meet Claire.

Claire Chamberlayne-Pierce

What's there to say about me? My counselors say I don't know how to trust anyone. Why would I? My life is all about being dumped.

My parents loved cocaine and money more than they cared about me. That's what landed them in prison and got me dumped on grandparents who didn't want to share their money with a "bastard kid". Which got me dumped into foster care, where someone lied that I assaulted them and I got dumped into juvenile detention.

The only thing that made life bearable was drawing. I have some dreams about what I'd like to do in life, but I won't tell them to anyone. I won't even write them here, because if anyone finds this sketchbook and my notes they'll just laugh at me. You can't trust anyone not to dump on you.

My case workers and counselors have told me I'm too wary, too afraid to open up. Whatever.

Now I'm in this Lost Lake program, and this kid - Dhani - thinks he likes me. That's a big NO. Opening up and believing someone can ever really like you is a huge mistake. Not going there.

I'll stick with my drawing, even if it's all I have for the rest of my life. I can keep my distance and just observe people and things. Keeping everyone at a big distance is how I feel safe. And you get to know a lot about people if you watch them carefully.

So here are my thoughts about these people I'm stuck with for three years. Oh, and my thoughts about this place, which is incredibly wild and beautiful.