Runaway (R.S.L)

Chapter 1

I was running, my eyes frantically searching for some shelter. The rain was coming down hard, and I was struggling to see. At the sound of thunder, I couldn't help but jump and squeal in surprise.

"Where the hell am I?" I muttered, moving pieces of wet hair out of my face. I came to a halt and scanned the area I was in. Houses were lined up on each side of a street, so I could only assume that I was in a neighborhood. There was just one problem, and it was that I had no idea where I was. 

I let out a heavy sigh as I sat down on the curb, not even caring that I was sitting while it poured. I was exhausted, and my body felt like a ton of weights were sitting on it. My jeans had a bunch of rips in it, as well as my shirt, and I was almost positive that mud was caked in my hair. If somebody saw me, they would probably think I was homeless. Oh, wait. 

I was. 

"I wish I knew where I was." I groaned, burying my head in my knees. 

With whatever money I had, I used it to buy a bus ticket to Los Angeles, California from Seattle, Washington. I didn't know why chose California to run away to, but that was the first place that popped in my mind. So, I knew where I was, I just didn't know my exact location in LA. 

My eyes were getting droopy, and I knew I was about to fall asleep. Did I care that I was outside in the pouring rain? No, not at all. I hadn't slept in over a day, and my body was fully drained of energy. The fact that I hadn't eaten anything in that amount of time didn't help either. I just needed sleep, and then I would continue looking for a place to stay. So I used the sweatshirt that was wrapped around my waist as a pillow and lied down on the sidewalk, letting my eyes close immediately. 

~*~

"She's been sleeping for a long time."

"Should we wake her up?"

"Let her sleep, boys. She looks like she's been through a lot." 

I could hear various voices, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. I still felt drained of energy, and I was really comfortable. Wait, comfortable? Sidewalks were not meant to be comfortable. 

My eyes snapped open and I shot up, my heart rate speeding up at what was in front of me. Seven strangers were basically staring me down, and all I wanted to do was run. 

"W-where am I?" I managed to choke out. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep outside. 

"You're at our house, sweetie." A blonde woman answered. She looked to be in her mid-forties, and from what I could gather, she was the mother of the five teenagers that were currently staring at me. Well, I could only assume they were teenagers. They looked like they were. There were three blondes and two brunettes. Out of the three blondes, one of them was a girl. 

"We found you sleeping outside." A nice looking man added. I believed he was the father. "Can you tell us your name?"

"Scarlett. Scarlett Haven." I murmured softly. I scanned around and saw that I was in their living room, a nice one at that. I knew I needed to leave, and I needed to leave now. "Uh, I-I should get going." I made a move to stand up, but the man placed his hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me back down. 

"Well, I'm Stormie and this is my husband Mark Lynch." The woman, Stormie, introduced, placing a hand on her husbands shoulder. "And these are our kids, RIker, Rocky, Rydel, Ross, and Ryland." She gestured to each of her kids in the order they were in. Riker, Rydel, and Ross had blonde hair, while Rocky and Ryland were brunettes. 

"Sweetie, do you have anywhere to stay?" Stormie asked.

"I'm gonna say no, since she was sleeping outside in the pouring rain." Ryland commented.