Disclaimer: "The Pretender" and its character don't belong to me they belong to their creators and owners and are being used without permission. Please don't sue because I have no money.

Author's Note: This story takes place before she knows that Raines killed Mrs. Parker.

Photo Album

Miss Parker dropped her keys on the table besides the door and then took out her gun and put it away. She took off her shoes and made her way towards the couch and sat down. It had been a grueling day of trying to find Jarod once again. They of course found his lair, but of course he wasn't there. They began packing his things and took them back to the Centre. She was so angry with him. Just this once couldn't he just stay put, so she could capture him? She closed her eyes as she rested and then opened them back up to look around. She looked at the bookshelf and stared at the photo album. She had been a child when she first looked through it and never bothered to look at it again. Her Mother had given it to her before she died and told her to keep it hidden until she was on her own.

She got up and picked the album up carrying it back to the couch. The book was light pink in color and even had a pink bow surrounding a picture of her as a child with her Mother. She smiled and very gently ghosted her fingertips over the photo. She then opened it up and started looking at the photos inside. Some of were with her father, some of them were with her mother and some were with her by herself. The last couple of pages were of her and Jarod together. How did her Mother take those one's she thought to herself? Both of them were smiling at the camera. She didn't remember Jarod ever smiling, but here he was smiling at the camera. There was another one where he was smiling at her. Then there was another one where they were smiling at each other.

She sat there and looked at the photo. Where did it all go wrong? When did she start hating Jarod? Clearly they had been happy together and she had forgotten that happiness. How could she forget that? She saw another photo that had them playing together. It was of them putting a jigsaw puzzle together both of them concentrating on putting it together.

She closed the photo album and stared into space. It was her father that had made her turn against her friend. He told her lies about Jarod and would never let her see him again. During summertime she wasn't allowed to go to The Centre. Her father had told her that Jarod's father was the reason why her Mother had died. Her father also told her that Jarod didn't want to see her. What if he was wrong? What if he said that to get her to hate Jarod? She had been trained to hate Jarod by her father and she was so eager to please that she turned her back on the only person who made her happy. She didn't know what to do about it, but she knew that she would eventually figure it out.

The End