Runaway Love

Peter

I really don’t know how long I’ve been walking. It seems like forever. I’m pretty sure I was still in Florida, the scenery told me that. The worst part was that it was night and the fuckin’ mosquitoes are brutal down south. I was getting pissed about the constant itching, so I grabbed my backpack and took a black hoodie out of it, also grabbing my iPod. I blasted Panic! At the Disco, the voice of Brendon Urie calming me down. If only someone as perfect as him could whisk me away from all the hurt in my life. That’s what I needed; a prince charming.

I walked past a poster of some family movie that was out, and immediately thought of my mom. She died in a car crash about 6 months ago, leaving me and my dad on our own. But after my mom died he found out I was gay after walking in on me making out, and he just exploded with rage. I didn’t know if it was because mom’s death or the fact that he might be a huge homophobe, but he started beating me. He claimed he was ‘beating the gay out of me’. Yeah right. I’d rather him have made me go to some church where they drown me with Holy water to ‘cleanse’ me.

I ran away a couple months ago after he almost broke my arm, giving it a small fracture. People at my school were also starting to notice something was wrong with me. Before the beatings, I barely wore black and listened to Justin Timberlake for Christ’s sake, but now I only wear dark clothing and listen to bands like Black Veil Brides and Falling in Reverse. I’m a seventeen year old runaway with suicidal tendencies. I just couldn’t get a break.

I found an alley that wasn’t gang-ridden and walked into it, hoping to get some sleep. It looked like someone might’ve lived here before, but I really didn’t care. I haven’t had a proper place to sleep in weeks, and I was really happy to see a pile of clothes that I could make into some sort of makeshift bed. I laid down and didn’t even bother taking my headphones out, wanting the blaring music to drown out the outside world.

~

Dawn

“You got the stuff?” Lenny asked, looking antsy.

“You got the money?” I shot back.

He nodded, taking a wad of cash out of his pocket. He handed it to me and I counted it, making sure that he gave me the right amount of money. I pocketed the money, taking out the bag of heroin that he asked for. When I handed it to him, he snatched it and ran off, probably to inject it into his arms. I scoffed, not knowing how somebody could do that to their body. I never complained about it, though, because it gets me good money. I started walking back to my alley, just wanting to sleep.

Since I was a runaway, I had to make sure I always protected myself. I always carried around the pocketknife that I pick-pocketed off some street thug. When people met me, they thought I was a bitch, but it’s not my fault. When I was fifteen, my Dad raped me, so now I don’t trust men and am a lesbian. My mom was always too high to notice anything, so it’s not like I could tell her what happened. Plus, he threatened me to make sure I never told anybody. My only escape was to run away, so I did. I’ve been living on the streets for about a year now, only looking out for myself. I make sure not to trust anybody, and not to let anybody in.

I walked into my alley, seeing a sleeping form on my bed. I looked closer and saw that it was a teenage boy, who looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. The girl part of me was sorry for the kid and wanted to make sure he was okay, but the hard-ass part of me wanted to throw him the fuck out of my alley. I did a combination of the two, waking him up but not kicking him out. He stirred awake, the headphones coming out of his ears. When his hazel eyes landed on me, they widened. Out of shock or fear, I don’t know.

“You’re in my alley, kid.”

He looked around, taking in the grungy alley.

“You don’t need to leave, I’m just telling you that you’re in my alley.”

He looked confused for a moment, going to say something but I beat him to it.

“When’s the last time you ate something?” I asked, taking in his skinny frame.

“I don’t know, a couple days ago, I think.”

I nodded, holding out my hand for him to take. I really don’t know why I was being nice to this dude, probably because he reminded me of myself. I started walking to the diner that I’ve been going to for all my food, motioning for him to follow. I heard his footsteps behind me, but then they quickly fell into step with mine.

“I’m Peter,” he held out his hand.

“Dawn,” I said shortly, taking it.

“Are you a runaway?”

“No, I sleep in an alley for fun.” I replied sarcastically.

“Oh, sorry.”

“You’re gonna need to toughen up, kid. There’s no way you’re gonna survive on these streets acting like a pansy.”

He nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Fuck, this kid is really gonna need my help.

“Just stick with me, kid. I’ll make sure you don’t get shanked or somethin’, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, thanks Dawn.”

“Don’t mention it.”

We made it to the diner, and I let him order whatever he wanted while I just got a veggie burger. I could tell that the kid was starving because he shoved the food down his throat really fast. I had to tell him to slow down about ten times, or else he would barf. He didn’t really listen to me, though. Whatever floats his boat. I just hope he didn’t get attached, because I have a tendency to let people down.