To young to be alone (standard:Suspense, 1845 words)
Author: Kamea	Added: May 23 2005	Views/Reads: 3845/2636	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A young girl comes to the realization that running away from home is not what she expected.

The day had started off dark and gloomy, with a steady drizzle of cold
rain that just never seemed to stop. Adria crouched in the doorway of a 
starbucks, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched against the cold. She 
knew people inside were staring at her, but she was afraid to go in. At 
first no one ever gave her a second glance, but after four days of not 
showering, and sleeping in boxes and doorways, people were starting to 
notice. She had tried to walk in a coffee shop this morning, intent on 
buying a cup, but as soon as the shop owner had seen her, he had 
bustled over, eyes full of suspicion, "you go now!" he had growled. 
"You go!" He had pointed to the door. Adria had held up a handful of 
dollar bills "But I-" he held up a hand "No!" So she had stuffed her 
money back in her pocket, and, her eyes full of tears and heart full of 
shame she had trudged back outside into the rain. She had tried talking 
to a few homeless people, but had come to the quick realization that 
most of them were running with only one headlight. They hissed and 
screeched if you came near them, a few begged for money, and one had 
actually thrown an empty wine bottle at her, which had smashed all over 
some guys new BMW sitting on the curb, setting off an alarm and causing 
her to shove past the old woman and run as fast as she could, she 
feared starving, but she feared going to jail even more. 

As the days had passed by, her money had dwindled, all the clothes she
had managed to stuff into her small duffel bag were now filthy, and she 
had nowhere to go. "Well what did you expect?" She muttered to herself, 
turning to look through the glass windows of the Starbucks. It looked 
so warm and dry...."screw it" she said, suddenly pushing open the door 
and striding inside. A few heads turned her way, and the woman behind 
the counter eyed her suspiciously, but no one screamed at her to leave. 
The delicious smell of coffee and small pastries hit her full force and 
her mouth watered, she thought she might cry when her stomach started 
rumbling in protest. She walked to the bathroom, quickly washed her 
hands and face, rumaged through her duffel bag, found an elastic band, 
and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. There, she didn't look so bad, 
she thought staring at her reflection. Her eyes were an icy blue, her 
complection smooth and soft....although the cold wind and rain was 
giving her a strained weathered look....she was begining to look like a 
homeless person. Her black wool coat which was new a week ago, was now 
matted and stained from days of sleeping on the streets. Her jeans were 
thin and had brown smudges all over them, her black boots were the only 
thing that really held up, they kept her feet dry, and thats all that 
mattered. She was hungry....she looked hungry, she could see the 
hollowness in her cheeks, just begining, but there all the same. She 
drank some water from the faucet scrubbed her finger over her teeth, 
and headed back out the door. She walked up to the counter to get some 
coffee, but the girl just stood there staring at her. "Can I get a cup 
of coffee?" She asked, holding her chin up. The girl looked down her 
perfect little nose at Adria, snorted, and tapped one perfectly 
manicured nail on the counter-top. "Yeah, right" she said, smacking her 
gum. Adria felt a streak of anger run through her, "Yeah, I want a cup 
of coffee!" She exclaimed, trying not to raise her voice. The girl 
sighed, looked around to see if people were watching, they were, and 
then said "Honey, the shelter is two blocks thatta way, and one street 
down." She pointed her slim finger out the door and to the left. Adrias 
face burned and she turned to leave, the snickers and laughter followed 
her out the door and down the street. 

She walked, ducking under doorways for minutes at a time, just to get
out of the rain, stopping to gaze into a store window at the clothes 
and jewelry being displayed. She walked for an hour, not knowing where 
she was going, just wandering, not caring anymore. Hot tears slid down 
her cheeks and melted with the rain. What had she gotten herself into? 
Was it really so bad that she had to leave? At this last thought she 
stopped walking and wiped away her tears, which was pointless because 
rain still dripped down her forhead and into her face. "Yes, I had to 
leave" she said to herself. "I had to." She forced down the awful 
memories that were trying to push their way to the surface, then, a 
tinkling sound....and soft laughter. She looked to her right to see the 
door to a small hole in the wall, twenty four hour diner swing open, 
just long enough for her to get a whiff of scrambled eggs and sausage. 
She walked up to the door as the man walked out, and suprisingly, he 
held it open for her. She paused, looked up at him, mumbled a small 
thank you, and hurried inside. She found a booth in the very back, and 
quickly slid into it, tyring not to attract any attention. She used 
some napkins to wipe the rain from her hands and face, then she pulled 
off her jacket and sweater. 


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