Thirteen-year-old Nicolette (Nicki) Demere has been part of the foster care system for years without ever finding a permanent home: “Sticking—that’s what we call it. The lucky kids stick to their foster families. I seem to be covered in nail polish remover or something. I’ve been with five—count ‘em, five—families in five years since Grammy died” (4).

Before that point, Nicki’s mother abandoned the family, and Nicki’s father has been in prison for years. She inherited her parents’ troubled past, and her grandmother taught her to be a pickpocket. Nicki’s talent for petty thievery has earned her a juvenile record. In addition, she has abandonment issues but has made some friends while in the Foster Center awaiting a new placement. One morning, Nicki is summoned to the director’s office and assumes that a new family may be looking for a foster child.

Nicki is led to the Transition Room, where she meets a giant hulk of a man and a humorless woman. As she introduces herself, Nicki takes the opportunity to pick the man’s pocket. The pair don’t appear to be prospective parents. They’re both dressed in dark uniforms and are carrying tasers.