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Found

Surviving on five dollars is impossible and I don't have anymore money than that. I try thinking of all my options. I could get a job. No someone would recognize me. I could... I can't think of anything else. The farthest I can get on a bus with five dollars is just out of town. That will have to be good enough, I guess.

I sit on a chair outside of the gas station. I swing my feet back and forth carelessly. I try to avoid the fact that once I leave town I have no clue what to do. I have thought about turning myself into the police, maybe testify against my dad. It doesn't seem like a good idea in the long run though. I mean from there I would go to foster care or a group home. That is something I will try to avoid at all costs.

The bus pulls in to the drive and the doors squeak open. I walk up the stairs and find a seat in the back. I set my backpack down and stare at the ground. I look up and see an older women staring at me. She looks right at me never looking away. I makes me uneasy and I shift from side to side. She pulls out a phone and starts talking to someone still looking at me.

"I am sure it's her....yes on bus 32....." I hear a few more parts of her conversation before I stop l listening. It's getting me nowhere. As we pull to the next stop she gets up and has a conversation with the bus driver. They point and stare at me. I am just about to get off the bus when the driver walks over.

"How old are you?" He says in a no nonsense voice.

I sit up strait and say "18 sir."

"Don't lye to me." The bus drive calls out louder than what is necessary.

"I am 19. I mean... uh .... 18." I know I messed up right after I say it. He nods and walk to the front of the bus. He pulls out a phone. I finger my bag. I can feel sweat building up on my hands so I wipe it on my pants. The bus driver walks back to me.

"We know you are a minor by the name of Ella. We also know you ran away. I have already called social services and they are coming to pick you up." He walks back to his seat and sits down. He adjusts his mirror so he can see me. I let his words soak in. I am found and their is no way around it.

• • • •

When social services get here I get really nervous. Am I in trouble? I can't be, all I did was avoid a harmful situation. As I think this I look out the window. A tall, pale skinned, brown haired women is talking with the bus driver and the older lady right outside the bus door. She is wearing jeans and a blue top with a social work logo on it and her hair is in a ponytail. As she enters the bus I stand up.

"Hello, my name is Amy and I am from social services." The women says in a voice that reminds me of how a preschool teacher would talk to her kids. This annoyed me, I am almost an adult you know. I know she expects me to say something but I don't. I stare her right in the eyes with a stern face.

"We'll then." She says breaking our stare. "We are going to head back to my office now to fill out some paper work would you follow me?" She says not really asking.

I follow her till we get off the bus then I turn the opposite direction and run. I barley get half a block before Amy catches up to me and grabs my arm. I try to twist loose but she just gets a firmer grip. She pulls me back to the car easily. She puts me in the back seat of her car and walks around to her seat. I try to open my door but realize their are no handles on the insides of the doors. I hit my hand on the car door with frustration. I look around and can't help but feel like I am being arrested. The car is set up like a police car. It even has a divider between me and the front of the car. I look at Amy through the glass divider. She doesn't look happy at all. It's odd but she doesn't look mad either. It more of a depressed look, maybe sad. Why would she be sad? Does she feel bad for me?

Amy places her hands on the wheel, and I think she sighs before stepping on the gas. The car starts moving and I look back at the bus driver. He is already back in the bus getting ready to pull out. It's amazing he may have just ruined my life and he goes on with his like he would any other day.

We drive for a while. I recognize where we are. We are by the court house. Before I can stop it tears spring into my eyes. I wipe them away only to find more building up. I give up and start crying. Why should I cry? I mean the only thing I did at the court house was sit and listen to them prove my dad innocent. He wasn't innocent everyone knew it and he didn't even have a good lawyer, but their wasn't enough proof. Those were the exact words of the judge.

Amy notices I am crying and pulls to the side of the road. She turns around and opens a section of the divider.

"What's wrong?" She asks and for some reasons I believe she actually might care. I can never open up to people though so instead of telling her the truth I tell her that I am worried that I might go to jail. I know who would believe that, but she must have because she spends the next ten minute reassuring me that I was not going to be thrown in a jail cell.

After I told her I was no longer worried we started moving again. It took another five minutes but we finally got to our destination. It was a tall, skinny, brown brick building with a small sign in the window saying Evergreen Social Work Company. Right when we walked in I felt uneasy. They tried to make it comfortable by adding light colored walls and soft couches, but it still had that feeling. A feeling of unhappiness and depression. The feeling you only find in places that have ruined children's lives. A place that has broken up families. A place that is about to make me one of those children.