Breakthrough

Chapter 19: Hitting The Streets

From the name Rainwood, you would assume the location is thick with foliage, remote, with maybe a small village inside its parameters. On the contrary, Rainwood was a bustling city with bright lights that burst with colour at nighttime, and busy streets that made traffic a nightmare during daytime. Of course there were smaller towns and villages in the outskirts, but the centerpiece was a large city big enough to house over five hundred thousand people with ease.

Because of its size, there were no shortage of the homeless and pickpockets roaming the streets. Specifically, kids with broken families and no where else to go would hang around street corners and steal from wealthier people in gangs.

Stores and businesses were not safe either, seeing as theft was becoming a big issue, especially when it came to these street kids.

Thinking about it logically, how could you blame these people? They had no other options. For them, it's steal or starve. Life or death.

These kids usually travelled in packs, for it made stealing easier and they relied on strength in numbers to their advantage should they get caught. However, not all of them followed this unspoken rule. One fiery red haired girl who stood at about five foot and 8 inches and looked to be about seventeen had always operated on her own. Her bright hair had always been a dead giveaway, so she usually kept a hood up when crossing the streets to not draw attention.

Her name wasn't known by anyone who travelled in similar circles, maybe that was due to her isolation from others.

She wore a long coat that made her look smaller than she was, it covered her hands with the sleeves and shrouded her like a big blanket. Her jeans were ripped and dirty. Her face had dirt stains and bits of mud on her cheeks from all the harsh living conditions. Her hair was the real looker though, it's bright red ferocity had a certain gleam to it, making it easily her best feature.

It was currently 9:42pm on a Thursday. The weather was howling winds with hail and rain lashing down on the ground. The harsh weather had lead the red haired girl to take refuge within a local café, famous for it's delicious tasting caramel lattes.

Usually, she wouldn't have enough money to order a drink or even any food, but luckily for her a very rich man's wallet ended up accidently finding its way into her clutches during a rather busy moment in rush hour while crossing the road. As a result, she resolved to put the money to good use and indulge herself slightly.

The heavy rain outside pounding on the window panes made her so thankful she wasn't stuck out in that for the time being. She'd make sure to take her time finishing off her drink, after all it was either that or get a cold.

While waiting for a waitress to come over she surveyed the room, a couple of older men who looked like they had just finished work were ordering food. In the corner of the room, she sighted a boy around her age, messy brown hair adorned his head while long bangs dangled over his eyes. His clothes were dry, meaning he'd been here for awhile. How she hadn't noticed him until now was beyond her.

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress, a bored looking teenage girl with headphones, asked her.

"Caramel latte, thanks."

"Name?"

That's right. Like at your traditional Starbucks, they put your name on your cup at this establishment.

"Sophie."

The bored girl nodded and clicked her tongue, walking off behind the tills. The red haired girl now known as Sophie turned her attention back to the boy sat by himself. She hadn't meant to stare at him, but she knew almost all of the regular street kids faces, however this boy was new. He didn't look up at her once, he looked transfixed in thought. Probably best to leave him be.