I let the warm water run down my back as I think of Erica and the kiss that we shared. Erica has always been my friend but I never saw her as anything else. I let the thoughts run through my head. "She must be worried sick about me." I shut off the water, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my waist, and stepped out. I walked up to the mirror and saw my wet slicked black hair.

"Hey, bro." The guy said walking out of the shower with a towel around his waist. He walks up to the sink next to me and starts checking himself out. "How old are you?" I grab my toothbrush out of my bag, "I'm fourteen."

"I'm fifteen about to turn sixteen." He says while combing his blonde hair. "Aren't you Danny's little brother? It's David right?"

"Yes, it's David," I said

"I'm Felix, been here since the beginning. Your brother was the one who found me and took me in."

I put toothpaste on my toothbrush, "I'm glad..." I start to brush my teeth. Felix lets me finish brushing my teeth before asking another question. "Are you a runaway?"

"Yes, Are you a runaway too?" I asked. "No I'm an orphan, but I guess I'm not an orphan no more." I put on my new clothes that Juju gave me last night. I smile and say, "I'm glad you're liking it here." I pack my stuff in my bag, "It was nice meeting you, Felix."

"It was nice meeting you too David." I walk out of the showers and to the cabins. I put my bag under my bed and watched as the kids hurried out of the cabin for breakfast. "Are you coming for breakfast?" Juju says.

"Yes, I'll be there," I said while clipping my walkie-talkie to my pants pocket. Juju smirks then leaves the cabin with the other kids. I sit on the bed and start to put on my shoes. I hear a small knock coming from the cabin door, I get up to answer the door. I open the door to see Gloria smiling from ear to ear. "Oh, hey Gloria."

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"Hey, I wanted to walk you down to breakfast."

"Okay I'm going to grab my watch and we can head down." Gloria nods. I walk over to my bed, grab my watch, put it on, and then walk out the door with Gloria. "Why didn't you come by yesterday." I glance at Gloria as we walk. "I was really tired, so I just went to bed."

She smiles, "I understand... Are you getting used to everything here?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure I want to stay." As we get closer to the school, I see Danny walking with Joey. Danny winks at me as I pass them on the path. "Why? This place is wonderful!" Gloria says confused.

I open the door for her and she walks in, I walk in behind her letting the door slam behind me. "I miss my friends and my Mom." We stand in line to get our food. "I don't know about your Mom but you can make new friends. If you love your Mom so much, then why run away." Gloria grabs a tray with oatmeal, eggs, and a banana. And I grab a tray with oatmeal and a banana, we then both grab white milk from the cooler. "It's complicated."

I find an empty table and we both sit down and start eating. Juju comes and sits down next to me eating an apple. "I see you made friends." Juju smiles at Gloria and Gloria smiles back.

"How's it going with Max?" Juju says to Gloria. "It's going okay, I kind of wish you were my leader."

"Maybe if I kick him in the balls again he'll let you be in my group." They both laugh uncontrollably. Juju looks at me then stops laughing, "You don't think it's funny, David."

"I don't think getting kicked in the balls as a male is funny." I finish my banana and put it on my empty tray. Gloria puts a serious look on her face, "We'll never kick you in the balls, David." I smiled a little but kept quiet. All of a sudden a blaring alarm fills the cafeteria, and everybody covers their ears in pain. My vision gets blurry from the high-pitched sound of the alarm. "What...in the...World..." I hear Juju say before I clasped to the ground and everything goes dark.