For 7 years she had taken this shit from her father, but one
night she couldnt take it anymore. He had just called her grandfather an old bum
who had done a shitty job in raising her. She ran off to her bedroom before her
dad got worse. Grabbing her bookbag and throwing in  some clothes,
necessities, etc, she crept into her father's room while he slept and looked
in his dresser drawers where he kept the money. Wanting to get out, she
didn't even count the money, just took the wad that was there. After grabbing her
grandfather's coat and putting some food into her backpack, she crept out
her bedroom window and started walking. She didn't know where she would go at
first. Just as long as it was away from here. Sure, her memories of her
grandfather were at the house, but it was time to get away. And now she
wouldn't have the stress of social services getting in the way. Taking the
money out of her bag, she counted it, and discovered she had about $200.
That wasn't much. Where would she go? Then it hit her. Texas. Texas was where she
had always wanted to go for some reason. Maybe it was because her
grandfather was from there. He told her stories of the Alamo and of rodeos they had
there. It just had always intrigued her. So she walked a few miles to the bus
station to see about a bus ticket to Texas. (She was in Atlanta Georgia now. ) The
lady at the desk told her they didn't have a bus to Texas, but they had one
to Orlando, Florida. It would cost her $175. (AN : I don't know if it would
actually cost that much but it's my story, so it'll cost however much I want
it to, lol) She paid the lady in cash, and gave her some bullshit story
about losing her ID which the lady surprsingly believed.
            The bus ride was uneventful, and long. As she stepped out of
thebus and onto the Orlando street, fear struck her. Where would she stay? How
would she shower and eat? She only had $25 left. That was enough to buy some
food for a few nights if she ate at some place like McDonalds. But as she
started walking she got into that routine and put up that tough front. She
WOULD survive. She WOULD get to Texas somehow.
            Raegan shivered again and was brought back into the present.
She had been living on the streets of Orlando for 2 weeks now. She had finally
run out of most of her money. All that was left was 50 cents. She hadn't had a
real shower since she left Georgia. To keep clean she would strip and wash
in public restrooms when no one was around, usually very early in the
morning,and shampoo her hair and brush her teeth in the sinks. For 5 days now she had
been wearing the same outfit, cargo pants with a long-sleeved black shirt,
beat-up VANS sneakers, and her grandfather's coat. Sometimes she thought the coat
was what kept her sane. As far as she knew her father wasn't looking for her.
Andshe liked it that way.
            Her stomach growled as she looked in the window of a grocery
store. She thought of her only option : shoplifting. She'd never done it
before but there was a first for everything. Walking into the store, she
felt the heat and was relieved to be out of the cold. Not too many people were in
the store, thank god for that. Besides the man behind the counter, there
were 2 guys shopping. One was tall with black hair, a bit of a goatee, and a
mustache. The other was shorter with sandy blond hair and strong cheekbones.
He had a childish look about him, while the taller guy looked very serious.
Raegan looked away before they noticed she was staring. Walking slowly to
the back of the store she looked at their drink selection. She hadn't had a
Yoohoo in such a long time. Looking around for security cameras and finding none,
she quickly took two bottles and stuffed them in her bag. Then she went over to
their chip section. Looking around again for cameras and people watching,
she grabbed a few bags of chips and stuffed them in her backpack as well. Wow,
this was easier than she thought. The guy behind the counter was engrossed
in a magazine and the 2 guys were talking amongst themselves a few aisles over.