"SITTIN' ALL ALONE, MOUTH FULL OF GUM, IN THE DRIVEWAY"
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ARIELLA MERMADA has never had a great or "normal" life. The teenaged girl lives on the streets as an orphan, all alone and talking to no one. She doesn't mind though. Being lonely and silent...
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One year later...
Ariella played around with the fabric of the light lavender shirt. She twirled the strings on the bottom around her finger, gazing at the golden beads stuck on the bottom. They glinted in the shining white lights. Ari liked the look of them, but definitely not on the shirt. She wondered if she could pull them off without anyone noticing. Ari looked around cautiously and saw a store worker observing her with slight suspicion. She stuck her hand in her jacket pocket and pushed back a piece of brown hair. She wished she had money to dye it and buy better clothes. She was trying to save up for a makeover, but it was hard.
She was biting her lip in contemplation and rubbing the beads when someone bumped her shoulder.
"Go for it, I'll cover you," he whispered. Her fists clenched up, and her body tensed.
Ari looked in her peripherals carefully and saw a boy with ocean eyes winking at her, then strolling casually to another rack of clothes. Ari wondered who he was and how he knew she wanted to steal the beads. She glared at him and decided she would just walk away. He looked like a street punk anyways. She pulled her thin jacket around her and left the section.
Ari hated clothing stores like this one: loud and blurry music, clothing that grandparents would buy on sale, and bored employees. The only reason she went to these kinds of stores was because of her money, which was close to nothing unfortunately.
She wasn't poor (she had her mother's old jewelry and savings to thank), but she could only afford to spend on food and mediocre clothes. She wished she had enough for a full makeover, fashionable clothes and dyed hair. She had been saving up for about a year, but it was difficult when food and other necessities were so essential.
Speaking of food, Ari was about to go out of the store to get some when she heard a loud cry. She turned around to see an employee sprint to the section she just was in. What happened... she thought. People had started crowding around the area, and more employees rushed over. Ariel's interest was sparked, so she went back, just to check.
The scene was hectic. The blue-eyed boy was on the ground in a hot fever, groaning in pain. Ariel's eyes widened. A store worker was asking if he was ok and if he could hear her. He just kept rolling around, sweat on his brow. Some people had started filming. People these days. Ari remembered she had small cloth in her bag. If someone had an ice pack, it could be useful.
She pulled it out and went over to the worker. He looked up at her.
"What's this for?" he asked. Ari wanted to roll her eyes. She pointed at the boy on the ground. The man grabbed it and patted it around the boy's brow. For one second, the boy opened his eyes and winked at her. It was so quick that Ari almost missed it. She narrowed her eyes.
"He's ok, folks!" said the worker. He put his hand on the boy's forehead. "Yep, he's cooling down now. I'll call the hospital but you all can leave." The crowd of people shrunk slowly. The employee went back down. "Is there anyone you know? Anyone I can call?"
