The walk was long and tiring and had involved a lot of darting behind walls, fences and cars. Paranoia that her mom would see her, or even one of her teachers, still sat over her. But beyond it, beyond the fear, somewhere in the back of her mind a spark of something was lit. She could feel it; a growing excitement. For that day belonged to her. Not the school or her mom, but to Sophia and Sophia alone.

She pulled her hoodie over her head and laughed. The sound of it leapt into the air and nested in leaf-strewn branches. She sat atop the hill like a queen, looking out over her kingdom. The wooden bench was no longer a bench, but a throne. Down below, in the streets and amongst the dull buildings, thousands of people did their duty. Marched from one class to the next, from one office to another.

Sophia wasn't one of them.

Woof!

A fluffy ball of black and white came tumbling towards her, tongue hanging out of a mouth rich with drool.

"Hello boy," she held out a hand as it sniffed her leg happily. "Where did you come from?"

It continued to sniff at her, it's nose twitching as it dug into the pocket of her hoodie. The rustling of plastic quickly followed.

"Ah ah ah. No, that's not for you."

The dog backed away, tilting its head and staring at her with wide eyes.

"Ah you're a cutie aren't you. But I don't have any food for you I'm afraid."

"Pog! Pog! Come here you idiot." A boy came bounding up the hill then, dog leash thrown over his shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he said as he drew close.

She looked up into his face. Deep dark eyes and white teeth sat either side of strong cheekbones and close-cut curly black hair that did his large ears no favors.

"It's ok," the sound came out as a squeak and she berated herself inwardly. Already she could feel her cheeks flushing and had to fight down the desire to pull up her hood. Despite herself, she had the growing feeling she wanted to say more.

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"Did you say your dog's name is Pog?"

He laughed. It was deep and not unpleasant. "Pog the dog. That's him. If he were a little bit less stupid he'd probably bite me for that one. Luckily he's dumb as a rock." The boy kneeled, ruffled the head of his dog, Pog.

Sophia smiled. "It's a good name."

"Here that boy, she says you have a good name."

Pog panted happily.

"What's yours?" From his crouched position, he was looking up at her. For a moment their eyes met.

Sophia looked away.

"Sophia."

"Sophia huh. I'm sure I know you from school."

"You do?"

"Yeah! You have homeroom with Shirtlift, right?"

Sophia nodded. "How do you know?"

"I'm with Mrs. Lancaster!"

Sophia frowned. "Are you?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Noah. Noah Williams?"

"I'm sorry, I dunno if I remember you. Are you new?"

He hesitated. "Not really. Anyway, shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shouldn't you?" she fired back. She felt pleased with herself .It wasn't the best comeback, but it was a comeback- she usually wasn't able to think of those with anyone but her mom.

Noah shrugged. "Probably. Someone has to walk this doofus though." He ruffled his dog's fur again.

"So, what are you doing up here, Sophia?"

A gust of wind whipped hair over her face. Spitting a strand out of her mouth, she took out a hairband and tied her hair up. Only after she'd finished tying it did she realize what she had done. She suddenly became very aware of her visible freckles. A sleeve fell over her hand and she pushed it against her mouth, lowering her head.

"Just wanted to get away," she said, at last. The sound of her voice was muffled.

"I get that," he pushed himself to his feet. She noticed the wind had brought hundreds of tiny little bumps to the surface of his bare arms.

"Well, I guess I need to go. Gotta get Pog home. Nice to meet you, Sophia. Hopefully I'll see you around sometime."

"You too. Nice to meet you Noah. And you Pog."

The dog wagged its tail and, as Noah attached the leash, fell in beside its owner. She watched them go. When they were out of sight, she turned her attention back to the town. In the distance she could make out the train station where at that moment a train was pulling in. Rummaging around in her bag, she pulled out her phone.

15:33.

School would be finished. A hole in her stomach reminded her that it wasn't too late to get into trouble. Even now the school might have left a message for her mom at home. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that was exactly what they had done.

She began to run.

So focused was Sophia on getting home, that she missed the five phone calls to her mobile and the one message that read: Sophia. Call back ASAP.