Found

Chapter One

                                                   ~An Adopted by Lin-Manuel Miranda Fanficiton~

Amelia's POV:

I was exhausted, bone tired. I hadn't had any real food in weeks and my body was starting to pay for it. I had no energy, was skinnier than I had ever been since when I first started living on the streets, and the hunger pains were getting to me.

It was time again, as much as I wished it wasn't. But I needed food, real food, not scraps I find in the trash or small samples from Costco once a every few weeks. 

I needed to steal. 

Stealing became a necessary part of my life when, about two years ago, I started living on the streets of New York. I did my best to do it as infrequently as possible, but every month or so I had no choice. I never stole money or clothes, only ever food. 

That's why I was standing in the grocery store parking lot. I stood in front of a car window and stared at my reflection. I needed to look decent so as not to draw attention myself. No one could know I was homeless. No one could know I was an orphan. It was better that way. 

Before I had gotten here I had changed into a semi-clean outfit. I didn't have access to a laundry machine so when it rained I left out my clothes then let them air dry, sometimes I would also use soap from a public bathroom. 

The outfit I had one was one of four. In my fairly large backpack, I had those, a sleeping bag, a toothbrush, a hoodie, an extra pair of socks, and the last bits of food I had. Half of a granola bar and a few dried cranberries in a little plastic bag. 

Those were all of my possessions, other than the gold locket around my neck. My mother had given it to me for my tenth birthday, it had a picture of the two of us inside. While I had left everything else behind when I ran away, I kept this. To remember her. 

I ran my finger through my tangled, dirty hair. I didn't look great, but it was as good as it was going to get. 

I sighed, wishing as I always did, that I could just live a normal life. I missed what that was like when my biggest problems weren't finding food to survive, but my mom not letting me go to a movie with my friends that she thought was too inappropriate. This was the year I was supposed to be starting high school, but instead here I was. 

I shivered in the cold winter air and reached into my backpack to grab my hoodie. I pulled it over my head, welcoming the warmth it brought. Granted it wasn't a lot, this hoodie was old and thin, but by now I was used to the cold. 

I stepped away from the car and started towards the grocery store, when I saw a man getting out with his young son. The man had tan skin, probably Latin American, and black hair pulled back into a ponytail. I felt my heart clench at the sight of a happy family. I quickly blinked away tears and watched as the man grabbed his son's hand and left his parking spot to go shopping. I couldn't help but notice he accidentally left his car unlocked. 

It was the perfect opportunity and I couldn't waste it, so I sighed and told myself that i was just going to see if he had food. He had a young son, so chances were that there were probably at least some snacks. 

I looked around making sure nobody was looking and jogged over to the man's car, easily opening the door. As usual I felt guilt run through my whole body. But bingo, there it was, in the backseat a small container full of snacks. I felt my stomach grumble at the sight of food and I immediately grabbed as much as I could carry. 

A lot of the stuff I left, because it was just junk and my body was already unhealthy as it was. I saw some crackers, carrot sticks, some raisins. I also couldn't help myself and grabbed a small candy bar.