Street Life

November 5th 10:00 p.m.

The young teen yawned as she walked down the street bored out of her mind. She had that morning raided the donation bin full of clothes for the winter, eaten for the most part and gotten clean and she had to wait until nightfall to start her pick pocketing. Surviving on the streets wasn't so bad of course she had barely started her survival but it was working out so far and she was hopefully forgotten on the news. Of course she stayed in the bad areas so no one would really care anyway but still she had to be careful.

" Nothing to do today almost makes me wish that I stayed in school but that would mean I would be insane." Mel laughed to herself not wanting to go back to her old life of jumping from foster home to foster and schools. Still for this time of the day it seemed like the streets were pretty quiet.

Silence.

That's what Alysson preferred. This morning was just lovely. A bit chilly, but the calmness made it more relaxing. Without too many people around, she was able to comfortably walk about without too much worry. People made her nervous. Ever since Emily.......she'd tried to avoid them. Plus, she had the horrible fear that she was being searched for. She was a runaway, after all. She'd been in hiding for two years now. Perhaps they'd given up? Maybe they thought that she'd died. She didn't quite mind that. She never wanted to go back there.

She noticed a girl nearby. She was talking aloud, but there didn't seem to be anyone near her. Odd. She stood in the shadows, watching the girl curiously.

As Mel continued to walk down the street she was starting to feel like she was being watched and she didn't like that. She narrowed her eyes as her eyes quickly darted around looking for whoever or whatever it was that was watching her. She even stopped on the sidewalk figuring it wasn't dangerous if it was she would really feel uneasy.

" You better come out whoever you are. I know I'm being watched and you wouldn't want me to find you." Melissa said loudly while hoping that the person or animal would come out.

"Why? What'll you do if I don't come out?" Alyss replied, her voice small and almost whisper-like, however still loud enough to be noticeable. She didn't move from her spot. She didn't find Mel to be any sort of threat, at least not at the moment.

 "Besides, you shouldn't be so loud. It's unsafe, you know. Even in morning, it's not safe. It's never safe."

" It's safe right now there's no one around just us really. Being paranoid doesn't do anything but make you go nuts and I'm not gonna do anything. I was just saying that to get your location." Mel explained as she entered the alleyway that had another girl in it that was her size.

" And I've found you. So why were you watching me? For all you know I could be part of the Purple Dragons and you're lucky I'm not." The teen pointed out.

Alysson took a step back.

"Wasn't watching you! Was just curious, is all. And, you don't look like a Dragon. Not intimidating enough. Wasn't worried."

She looked at Melissa curiously, seemingly scanning her with her large blue eyes. She
was rather curious about her. She hadn't really talked to anybody in a while. However, she wasn't ready to trust yet. Just talk. Trust would come later, if it even came at all. She wasn't even sure she could trust. She'd only really ever trusted once.

" Yeah you were watching me. So what are you doing in this part of the city?" Mel asked the other girl now curious about that. Talking was fine by her and if they went their separate ways that was also fine but becoming friend was something entirely different. Friends would stab you in the back if they wanted to she learned that the hard way.

"What am I doing here?" Alyss replied, tilting her head slightly. "Why...I live here. What 'bout you? I don't think I've ever seen you before."

Ah, now this was interesting. This girl appeared to assume that Alyss was weak. Now, in all honesty, Alyss was not very tough. However, as a girl who'd been surviving out here for this long now, she wasn't weak either.

" So are you a street kid? And I live in an old abandoned warehouse not far from here. Ran away from a foster home." Mel told the girl not worried in the slightest about this person she could handle her if she had to. But this girl seemed to be skittish like a cat which could either help or hinder her survival.

Now, this was also interesting. This girl ran away from a foster home? Alyss suddenly felt a hint of jealousy. She'd never gotten into foster care. Nobody wanted her. Apparently she was considered to be a 'problem child'. She got into too many fights with the other orphans. Didn't speak much. Was frequently ill. Was generally disliked by nearly everyone she ever knew.

How could this girl run away from something so wonderful? She could have had a family! Alyss couldn't understand why she didn't want that. This girl must be crazy to have abandoned the opportunity to live a happy, normal life!

"How long have you been living out here?" she inquired, trying to move the conversation along.

" For a few weeks had to get out of there. Why?" Mel replied figuring this girl had done the same and escaped from a foster home. They weren't all that great and she hated every single one she had been in and was practically on her own anyway so why not really make it true.

"I see," Alyss answered. "Was just curious, is all. I guessed right - you are new out here."

Why would this girl want to leave?! That question floated throughout Alysson's mind, bothering her. Why, just why? Alyss would have given anything to have parents. Now, she didn't want anybody. But she did. It confused her. She didn't quite know what she wanted anymore. She didn't quite know what this girl wanted either. Everything was so confusing.

" I may be new but I can survive out here. Why are you out here? Escape a foster home or something?" The young teen asked the other girl stretching a bit to keep her body loose. Runaways always had one reason or another to be on the streets but sometimes those reasons were stupid like running away because they didn't get a new phone or something.

"I don't feel like talking 'bout it," Alyss replied, frowning. "I'd rather keep my reasons private, right now."

Come to think of it, why wasn't she allowed into foster care? All the other orphans she knew were a bunch of awful jerks, yet they still got adopted somehow. Alysson was a good girl, ish. She meant well. So did Emily. But nobody wanted them.

Alyss pushed away those thoughts instantly. It didn't matter anymore. It was the past, and she didn't have to care.

"Why'd you leave foster care?" She decided to ask, her curiosity getting the best of her as it usually did.

" All the foster homes I've been only cared about the money they got from the state instead of the people they were payed to take care of. I swear they're worse than my sperm donor and that's saying something. I was alone and decided I had enough and took off." Mel explained with a shrug feeling like the streets was the better option.

"So...you didn't like the foster homes?" Alyss said, her eyes widened with curiosity yet again. "I'd think they'd be better than the streets. But that's just me."

It hadn't occurred to her that not all foster homes were perfect like what she used to daydream about. The thought was childish. Still, Alyss was just a child. A naive, immature child. What did she know? She couldn't help it. She wished that she could have had just a taste of the life that  Mel had abandoned. Her childish imagination created a scenario that was nicer than what Mel had told her. With a loving mother and father. And a sister...maybe. But it wasn't real, so she cast it away.

" No I don't I hate them all I learned is that they don't give a shit about foster kids. I've been in foster homes since I was ten and none of them really did anything for me. So I decided to get out of that and take care of myself." Melissa told the other girl there were probably some good foster homes but she hadn't been in any and what ones looked nice turned to the other side within seconds.

"Do you ever get lonely? It's not fun living like this, you know. It's scary, and it's lonely, and you can't go back. Nothing's safe anymore, out here. You think it is but it's not. And...and you learn it the hard way...and then you realize you made a mistake but it's already too late!" Feeling that she'd said too much, Alyss turned and faced the other direction. She didn't want to seem weak. She wasn't a baby. But...there was something bothering her and she couldn't tell what it was.

"Enjoy your 'freedom' while you can," she said, her back still turned.

" Being out here isn't anywhere near as scary as being almost murdered by your own parent trust me I know there's no safety anywhere. And I have nothing left to lose. But it seems like while out here you did lose something and I lost something too a long time ago. But all anyone can do is move forward and survive and find that place where we belong. I don't know where that is but if I find it great I don't find it I'm fine with that." Mel said knowing all to well what loss was and what she had learned since then which kept her going.

" If you give up on that or don't learn it then your life doesn't have much of a meaning all you're doing is just living a shadow of a life and nothing more." She warned the girl.

Her eyes began to water and she had trouble avoiding oncoming tears. She understood the words the girl had said, yet it hurt her to hear. These past two years she was practically a living shadow. Avoiding people. Avoiding emotion. Avoiding fear. But all those things remained, haunting her. And now she was conversing with someone, on the verge of tears, and suddenly feeling more terrified than she had in a while. And deep down, she desperately wanted and needed a friend. Her.

Turning around, she couldn't hold it in any longer. "If...if you wouldn't mind...I don't wanna be alone anymore!! Please, can we be friends? I-I'm trustworthy, and good at stealing. I could help you! We can survive together...if you want."

She blushed nervously. She didn't mean to sound so desperate. She hoped that this girl would understand.

" Friends? Never had a friend before I have been alone for so long. I guess we could try." Mel said taken back by this girl's reaction not really sure how to react herself since she had to rely on herself for a long time without any help. It kinda made the normally tough teen nervous about i.

Alyss smiled then. For the first time in two years, she felt an emotion that she'd nearly forgotten.

Happiness.

"M-my name's Alysson!" She said, holding out her hand and stepping closer to the girl. "What's yours?"

" Melissa Andreas." Mel answered taking Aly's hand not entirely sure if she should be doing this she was on her own for a reason. Having a friend meant all sorts of changes and she wasn't sure they were gonna be good ones or not.

This time things were going to be different. She could feel it. In the past, she'd been naive and ignorant of the ways of the street. Now she had two years of experience. She wasn't going to lose Melissa. Things would be much better! At least, she hoped. This wasn't just wishful thinking again. She was determined to find her 'place'. She had one, right? All these fluttering thoughts made her sleepy.

Suddenly, she yawned. She had nearly forgotten about her lack of sleep the previous night. She'd been raiding  stores all night, and had nearly forgotten to sleep. She probably only slept one hour. The conversation distracted her from tiredness, but now she really needed to lie down.

" Someone didn't sleep last night. You can go to where I hide out I'm gonna hang out around here maybe pick pocket some people cash is always useful." Mel told Aly she was running low on cash and used it when she didn't feel like breaking into a store for food.