"Hey, are you okay?" my mom asked as I walked in through the door. I didn't even realize I was home until she spoke.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I lied. I wasn't fine at all. My mind was racing with thoughts about Sarah. Why did she come from Oakland to CCSF? Was she trying to escape something?

I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes, trying to clear my head. My mom sat down next to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"You can talk to me, you know," she said.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was right. I could talk to her. But did I want to? Did I want to tell her about Sarah and how I felt about her? Did I want to tell her about my struggles with finding my place in the world?

"I just...I don't know, Mom," I sighed. "I feel like I'm stuck in this limbo. Like I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing."

My mom nodded understandingly. "It's okay to feel lost sometimes. It's okay to not have all the answers right now. Just remember, you're not alone. We're here for you."

I smiled weakly at her. Her words were comforting, but they didn't erase the questions and doubts that were still swirling around in my head.

"I know, Mom. Thanks," I said.

She gave me a reassuring pat on the back and got up to start making dinner. I stayed on the couch, lost in my thoughts. Maybe I just needed some time to figure things out for myself. Maybe Sarah was going through some hard times. All I knew was that I wanted to talk to her and find out.

Stolen novel; please report.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't see a girl walking and I bumped into her. "Sorry, I didn't see you..." As I was about to finish my sentence, my jaw dropped after seeing her face.

"Sarah! What are you doing here and what happened to you? You moved to New York with your parents, didn't you?" I asked her. She wasn't in good condition. She was wearing a jacket that was torn from the sides and looked like it was discarded into a trash bin.

"Ethan," she said my name with such pain in her voice. Her eyes filled with tears and she hugged me and started crying. She wasn't in a good condition.

"Not here on the streets, Sarah. Our reunion deserves a better place. Let's go to my home; it's not too far from here." She didn't say a word. She continuously cried in my arms, and after some time, she said, "I was heading to a domestic violence shelter." My heart began to race when I heard that and saw a mark on her forehead.

"Where did you get that mark?" I asked. "We can talk about it later. I just wanna leave these streets right now, please," she pleaded.

I took a deep breath, and we started walking towards my home. After a few minutes, I saw my car parked at a distance. As we were walking towards the car, I noticed that something was wrong with her leg.

"Maybe we should head for a hospital first. You don't look in good condition. It's not far from here."As I said that I could see the fear in her eyes but I didn't ask anything. We sat in the car and left those streets.