The Runaway Life

CHAPTER 3: How To Get By

CHAPTER 3:

I live in North Carolina, and have been living here all my life.

Usually I just sleep on the beaches. I love to take walks along the shore at night. The best part of living at the beach, is watching the sunset over the ocean. The view is amazing. I can't describe the perfect mix of colors in the sky, because the sky is just so amazing.

During the day, I walk around town. But I try to not look homeless, even though it's true.

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Today I walked into Starbucks. I saw that they had an opening for a job, and I applied for it. They gave it to me instantly, since they were pretty desperate. They only had two people working there!

I rang a lot of people up at the cash register that day, so you may think that I have forgotten what they all looked like. You're wrong. This one guy had dirty blonde hair, just like mine! He asked me where the homeless shelter was, after he got his bagel. (That sounds weird but just roll with it).

I really wanted to know what happened to him.

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I finished my first shift today, and promised that I would be back tomorrow.

As I opened the door to leave, I could still see that same guy with the blonde hair, on the sidewalk. He was just sitting on the ground, eating the same bagel I gave him earlier.

I walked over to him.

"Hi" I said.

He replied, "Hi".

"I'm Hayley"

"I am Josh Logan".

After we introduced ourselves, I asked him why he wanted to know where the homeless shelter was, and he told me it was because he was homeless.

"No way!!!" I said. I'm pretty sure I scared him...

"Ummmmmm ya." He told me.

"I ran away from home when I was eight!"

He said that he got abandoned by his parents when he was 13. He told me that one night he was sleeping and when he woke up, his parents were gone. He said that they left a note saying that he had a foster home to stay at for a while. When he went to their house, there was some cash on the front porch, but he got the message that he should just leave. He said that he was living off the streets ever since.

We both agreed to stay around each other, for a while, so we wouldn't be alone.