Silver

Chapter One

     The first time I ever slept outside was when I was in first grade. My friend and I set up a tent in the backyard after my mom said he could sleep over. We had set up my dads laptop and watched Disney movies all night, well until my mom came and took the laptop inside when it came to be around 11 pm and told us to go to sleep. I remember it being humid, and how happy we were just to be able to sleep outside. How much joy something unusual can bring to a kid. Now, sleeping outside was a living hell.
     Everything came crashing down about six months back. My parents got into a car accident. I remember the last words we exchanged. My father told me to be safe when I left for work that horrible Tuesday morning. Little did he know, he should of looked both ways before running a red light. After their deaths, I went into deep depression, causing me to lose my job. Being 19, I couldn't be put up for adoption, so I was basically on my own. My family sure wouldn't take me in, they didn't even speak to my parents. The funerals put me in debt, as I used the little money that was left for me and then some. I lost the house, I lost my car, I lost everything. That's why I'm laying in an alley behind a shut down bar against a dumpster waiting for a second chance, that with my luck, isn't going to happen.
I have no luck. It left me that Tuesday morning.
      I remember when I was 14, I wanted to run away. Not because I had a bad home or anything, I just wanted the sense of adventure and living off of the little money that you had saved in your bank account from when your mother deposited it from your 3rd birthday. I wanted to feel alive, that's the only way I could explain it. I lived for that rush of adrenaline. Now im living outside and I don't even have that little money from my back account that my mom deposited when I was 3 because I had to use it towards their funeral, which ironically also took place on a Tuesday morning.
         Night is probably the worst. You could hear gunshots sometimes, and I know they aren't fireworks because this is Chicago and gunshots don't echo. It was even worst when it rained. I cant remember the last time I had a full meal after I started living on the streets. No one felt bad for you either because you were 19 and suppose to be in collage, and people think you got hooked on drugs and kicked out of your house. That's most cases, but not mine. I had straight A's and never touched a drug or drop of alcohol in my entire life. Not even at Christmas when we were aloud to have wine, or at church because I never made my Communion, its not like our family went either. I didn't have a girlfriend, or even friends for that matter. The only person I could really talk to is my Dad, because guys understand what teenage boys go through. I wish he was here to help me out of this now.

        It finally turned night, but there were no gunshots or even the screech of tires that would usually wake me up around 1am, because some drunk 25 year old would be attempting to drive home from the bar. Everything felt completely off, the world was silent, not the peaceful kind, but the eerie kind. I didn't feel safe at all, not like I ever did, but I felt more exposed and vulnerable. Kind of like when a gazelle knows its being stalked by a lion, but doesn't know where its going to jump out from.
I held a bottle that was broken in half to my chest, it was my only form of protection. I carefully eyed both openings of the alleyway. Soft footsteps echoed through the streets, making my heart pound and adrenaline pump through my veins. As the footsteps got closer I hold the bottle tighter, ready for anything that could be taken down by a 19 year old with a smashed bottle.
      At the east opening of the alleyway a girl with flaming red hair walked by, darting her eyes down the alley, checking her surroundings, probably scared she would get jumped. When our eyes meet, hers widened and flashed a silver lining. I felt even more off after that. She couldn't be more then 15, maybe 17 at the most and that's pushing it. It was weird for a teenage girl to be out after 11 around here, because of all the violence that goes on at night, plus parents are usually way over protective. I could be wrong though, but honestly I don't usually care about things like this, it sort of scared me in a way. I am always worried about my self or if its going to rain or if the cameras are pointed towards the door at 7/11 because that's usually where I get my food. I swear ill pay them back one day. I still couldn't shake the 'off' feeling, so I stand up, leaving the bottle on the ground and walk towards the east entrance of the alleyway. I peer around the corner of the shut down bar, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl once more, seeing where shes going, if she has a ride, if shes partially safe, if anyone is following her. Because you're never really safe around here, even if you have a car to get into right after you leave a restaurant, even if you have a house with a garage that you parked your car in, you were never really safe. The world could end, the apocalypse may come, and having a car and a house wouldn't matter, because you'd be as dead as the rest of us, well unless that car or house could supply you with oxygen and fly you somewhere safe, but I doubt that.
       I used to doubt a lot of things, I still do. But I don't doubt that that girl is off like the rest of the world right now. I don't know what it is, maybe the planets are aligned, maybe the Earth is slowly roasting and tonight is the day the world ends. I guess if that's the case, that car still wont help you.
When I look around the corner, I see a small bundle of red hair, very far away now. I can tell she picked up her pace. I slowly walk down the street, also looking into different alleyways, making sure I don't get jumped, even though I don't have anything and it wouldn't matter, but being stabbed is the last thing I need right now. I start to pick up my pace, knowing ill eventually lose her, with her at that speed and me at mine. I feel off myself, I wouldn't usually follow a girl just to see if she gets home okay, or to where ever shes going.
      After a half an hour of walking she turns a corner and I lose her. I don't even know what street she turned on. I continue walking, deciding not to go back 'home', as long as I'm in walking distance of a 7/11 and I don't get rained on I'm fine. I guess I'm fine right now, its not raining, so it could be worst right? At least I didn't get stabbed yet, you know? Even though that car wouldn't help me in a crisis, it sure would be nice right now, just to turn on the heat.
Unlike that first night I was able to sleep outside, it was chilly, not the cold soup chilly, but more like the middle of September, right after school starts and the summer is winding down. I always hated that time of year, and I guess I hate the weather now. I keep walking, nothing seems familiar anymore and things are starting to feel more and more off. I could see my breath in the icy air, drifting up towards the sky like tiny puffs of smoke coming from a cigarette. As I continue walking, steps boom behind me. I decide not looking back is the best opinion, I rather get stabbed in the back than the chest. A strong arm whips around my body, holding my arms against my sides and a thin hand covers my mouth roughly to keep back my screams. I'm pulled into an alleyway. I drag my feet on the pavement and twist my body around attempting to break free of the grip that restrains me from moving. I'm dragged up against the wall of the building, where my back hits it straight on, causing me to flinch at the pain a bit. The arm moves from around my body and goes to my throat, forearm pressing against it, cutting off my breathing slightly. I open my eyes, expecting to see some douche bag trying to get some money for another bottle of liquor that he doesn't need, but it was the girl with the crimson hair and metallic eyes with the silver lining. I let out a small sigh of relief, knowing I'm not getting mugged. Her eyes search mine frightened.
     "Why are you following me?" Her voice is angry and a bit confused, but surprisingly gentle. She removes her hand from my mouth and right before I'm about to speak a bottle crashes to the ground across the street, sending both of our eyes in that direction. "We have to go." She grabs my arm, pulling me away from the noise, out of the opposite end of the alleyway into a dimly lighted road.