= 1 =

Jess shoved her hands into her worn jean jacket. Putting her hair back into a pony-tail, she walked towards the front door.

“Where hell do you think you’re going?” her step-father’s voice bellowed through the hallway.

She shuddered when she heard his footsteps come up behind her. Her skin began to crawl when she felt his hand on her shoulder. “I’m going for a walk.”

Her stroked her cheek and stared at her. “Why don’t you stay here with me? No one's home so I’ll be lonely.”

Good.

“Look, I’ll be back soon. I just need some air.”

He reluctantly let go of her. “Okay, but hurry back.”

She nodded as she quickly made her way out the door. She ran down the steps, hastily wiping her tears away. She went to her bedroom window, which luckily was on the bottom floor, and grabbed her bookbag and suitcase.

She looked up to the sky, searching for Oryan’s Belt. She smiled when she found. Kissing her fingertips, she blew a kiss to the star-filled sky. “I’m coming.”
 

= 2 =
 

“Last call for Tulsa, Oklahoma. Boarding at Gate 237.”

Jess ran furiously till she made it to the gate. “I’m here. Don’t leave.”

The lady smiled as she tore her ticket. “Here ya go. Have a nice trip.”

Jess smiled back, thankful that she didn’t treat her like a child. “Thank you. I will.”

She found her seat and sunk into it. When the plane was in flight, she pulled her discman from her bookbag and put in her Hanson: Middle Of Nowhere CD. She sat back and relaxed as “Thinking Of You” filled her ears.

“... thank you for flying American Airlines. Have a wonderful stay in lovely Tulsa.”

Jess blinked the sleep from her eyes and saw everyone was leaving. She put her discman back in her bag and exited the plane. She called a taxi and waited for it outside the airport.

Within the next ten minutes, she was on her way and there was nothing in this world that could make her go back.
 

= 3 =
 

Jess slowly climbed the front porch steps. Her breath came out in short gasps as she became nervous. ‘What if they didn’t except her? What if they turned her away?’ She raked her hands through her increasingly greasy hair. Every step she took, was a step towards her future and away from her past. Hopefully.

When she approached the front door, she stopped. She looked down at her wrinkled and dirty clothing. She guessed it was to be expected. Walking for three days, of course she wasn’t going to look wonderful.

She pulled a little brush out of her jacket pocket. She ran the brush through her hair, then secured it with a red elastic. Looking at herself in the door screen, she decided she was an presentable as could be.

She took the last step between herself and the door, and slowly reached for the doorbell. She pushed it quickly before she could change her mind.

Within a few moments, a tall woman with endlessly long hair and deep brown eyes opened the door. “Yes, may I help you?”

Jess could only stare. She really didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t really planned this far ahead. She wasn’t even expecting to make it this far. “Uh...”

“Are you looking for someone?”

Jess shook her head to clear all the forming cobwebs. “Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that. Um, Diana?”

Diana smiled brightly. “Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”

Just looking at Diana’s contagious smile, made her smile also. “Okay, I don’t know how to say this really, but I don’t have a choice...”

“Wait. Do I know you? You look oddly familiar.”

Jess’s smile seemed to grow as Diana recognized her. “Yeah, but I can understand that you don’t recognize me. It’s been... what? Ten years maybe? I’m Jess. Jess Roman.”

Diana brought her hands to her cheeks when she realized who the girl was. She took a closer look then gasped. Without a second hesitation, Diana stepped from the doorway and enveloped Jess in a motherly hug. This was Jess’s first step to her new-found future.