Anything for you.

Found

“Large caramel frappe, please. Extra caramel.” I asked at the til. I knew the guy was eyeing me up, but I had no intentions of paying any attention to him. I was on a mission. I knew this town like the back of my hand, so getting past the pack unseen was extremely easy. I know Graham didn’t want me to intervene in any of his plans, not that any of his ‘plans’ were good anyway, but he needed the help desperately. I glanced around looking for the blondie my brother was in love with, finally spotting her in the far corner, a large bag next to her chair. From what I could see from a quick glance, she looked healthy. Maybe that place wasn’t too bad after all. I couldn’t imagine being in an orphanage, I was so lucky and grateful that Graham was old enough to look after us. Just imagining being torn away from my brother broke my heart. 

Finally my drink was placed on the counter, and with a quick thank you I headed in her direction. Surprisingly the cafe was quite full, so I had the excuse to ask to sit by her table. 

“Excuse me?” I asked. “Is this seat taken?” 

“No, no. Take it.” She seemed shocked. I noticed she looked around, but calmed slightly when she’d realised there actually wasn’t a free table. Pulling out my phone to look like I wasn’t deliberating, I watched her through my sunglasses. She was sketching something in a notebook by the looks of it. 

“You’re pretty good.” Her head shot up instantly, cheeks turning red, clearly embarrassed by my complement. It seemed to confuse her though, that I’d even payed attention at all to what she was doing. 

“Th-thanks.” She was hovering on saying something else, I could tell by the way she opened and closed her mouth a couple times. “I’m Cassie.” 

“Margo, nice to meet you.” I held out my hand and she shuck it gently, weary still of my attention on her. It wasn’t the first and definitely won’t be the last that someone was shocked at my outgoing personality. I wasn’t one to hold back, I just spoke as and when I wanted. Lift was to short to sit quietly and let the time pass by. 

“Are you new here? I’ve never seen you about.” Cassandra was clearly puzzled, by my question, her eyebrows scrunched slightly before she shuck her head as an answer. 

“No - Well yes. Kind of. I suppose you can say that. I guess I’m a run away? Is that was they say?” 

So she didn’t want people to know she’d came from an orphanage. I suppose I wouldn’t really want people knowing either if I were in her shoes. I’d have to play along with her story, since I already knew where she’d came from.

“Really? That’s crazy. I’ve never met a run away. So do you have a plan?” 

“A plan?”

“Yeah like... What’s your next move? Where are you going to go? Do you have somewhere to stay?” 

She definitely didn’t look like she had a plan. Just be the sheer look of horror in her eyes at my questions I knew she hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose she had only been out of that place for the matter of hours. Did she have any friends? Did she actually have somewhere to stay? 

“Um... Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to stay at a friends. I’m meeting them around here soon.” She was lying. I always knew when someone was lying, it was like a hidden talent of mine. I could smell the worry coming off of her, and thought I best not freak her out anymore. 

“Oh good, for a second I thought you were going to sleep on the streets! It’s pretty brutal out here at night, especially the weekends. All those hard case partiers, the drunks and druggies wondering about. Definitely not a place to be alone.”  Yeah, I thought I shouldn’t scare her but I couldn’t help it. If I frightened her enough I was hoping she’d admit she really didn’t have anywhere to go. I wanted to offer her refuge in my home, but I wouldn’t until she admitted. It would be to weird for a stranger to tell another stranger to come sleep in their house. But Cassandra didn’t crack. 

“Oh no, definitely not. I’ve seen these street before, not a chance would I be alone in them at night. I barely go in them during the day!”

God damn it, Cassandra. You’re making it really hard. Just tell me you need help! I know I’m usually super outspoken, but this is something I shouldn’t even be doing. I shouldn’t be here talking to her. If my brother found out, god he’d probably kill me. His temper could be quite fierce sometimes, I’d hate to see what he’d be like protecting his mate. 

“So, why’d you run away?” I dared to ask. Maybe if I could get some details from her I’d be able to know if she was hurting inside? I saw the burn up her arm while she was drawing until she hid it back under the table, did she get that in the orphanage? 

“I... I wasn’t living in a nice place. There were some horrible people. So I left.” Cassandra shrugged like it was nothing, but it wasn’t nothing. I could tell she was hurting as she spoke. Who were the horrible people? Did they hurt her? I thought I should tell Graham about it, but decided against it. If he knew I’d spoke to her, he’d be furious, especially since he told us all to stay away from her and let her find her feet in the real world. She had to find her path herself, but I couldn’t help but pity her. She needed help. Though she’d already helped herself by leaving, not that she had a choice since she’d turned 18 and was no longer allowed to live there, but I knew she didn’t know where to go or what to do. I really wanted to help, but I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. 

“Look, I don’t want to sound like I’m barging into your privacy or anything, but if you ever need a helping hand...” I quickly scribbled my number down on a napkin before pushing it in front of her. Giving her a quick warm smile, I stood and left her to be. I prayed she’d call. To tell me she’d actually needed some help. A place to sleep, someone to talk to. She must’ve had some money to be able to have bought a coffee and sandwich that were still untouched on her table, but it would eventually run out without having a job. 

Gods and goddess above please look after her. 

                   *****************************

I watched out the window as the red headed Margo walked past sipping on her frappe. She seemed nice. I hoped I’d meet her again, though at the same time I didn’t. I lied, I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t have a place to stay. I had £15 to my name and once it was gone that was it. I didn’t know how I was going to eat, or where I would sleep. She was right though, a Friday night in the city could be pretty dangerous alone. Sunderland was beautiful and terrifying. As much as I wished I knew what I was doing, I was clueless. How on earth to the homeless do this? How do they go day by day knowing that they were in constant danger, that the night would come and they didn’t know if they’d wake up in the morning. March weather was still bitterly cold here. All I had was the coat on my back and a little blanket I’d took from the orphanage to keep my warm at night. 

I reached out and took the napkin she’d left. I didn’t even have a mobile phone. I reminded myself to keep some change just incase I needed to call her. 

After what seemed like just an hour, the barista came to my table telling me they were closing up soon if I wanted anything else. 

“Sorry, could I ask the time?” I asked. 

“It’s 7:50pm” 

God, I’d been there for almost 7 hours! I hadn’t noticed the time passing while I sketched in my book. Now was the troubling moment. What next? Where do I go? After packing my belongings away again, I placed my plate and cup on the counter, hearing a thanks from the man behind the till before leaving. 

To be honest, I didn’t really know the city well. I’d only been out a few times, and it was only to the shopping centre. On our birthdays, Marcus, one of the runners of the orphanage, would take us to buy something. We only got £20 but it was more than anything to us. We had nothing any other time. Marcus had have me the £20 before I had left, which surprised me, as I didn’t expect anything due to having to leave. He was the better of the three. There was Marcus, who could be mean at times but usually a nice guy. Then there was Tracy and Samual. God they were evil. How they were ever allowed to look after children was behind me. They didn’t care for us at all, making the older kids cook for the younger. All they done was buy in the food and make sure we didn’t die. 

I ended up walking down some streets, in search for a decent place to hide away for the night. Maybe I should just call Margo? But I didn’t want to seem needy. Sitting in a park at 8 o’clock at night wasn’t really what I had planned. Not that I had anything planned. I pulled out my notebook from my bag and read my check list over and over again.

find somewhere to stay.Get a jobGet an apartment Get AlexBe happy 

It was day one and I hadn’t done any of those things. I didn’t think this through at all. All of a sudden I felt awful. Unless. I couldn’t even find a decent place in a park to sleep never mind anything else. How was I going to get a job? Where was I going to stay until I got enough money to get an apartment? Until I got any money, how was I going to eat? I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. How foolish was I to think I could make it alone. I’m an absolute idiot. There was no way I was making it even a week without any help. I had to do it. 

I left the park in a hurry, not actually sure of where to heard, but just kept walking. The sky was pitch black, only the street lamps lighting the way. I could hear the music and the shouting just down the road, probably the clubs and pubs full of partying people. 

“Hey there pretty lady.” A voice came from behind me. I spun in shock, wondering who the voice belonged to. A group of men, clearly drunk stood there, beer bottles in hand, staring at her like a piece of meat. 

“What is a sexy little thing like you doing out here all alone?” 

“I’m meeting a friend round the corner.” With that behind said I turned to walk away again, much faster than before, but I could hear them following still. Margo wasn’t wrong when she said the city streets were not a place for someone to be alone in at night, especially on a weekend when it was full of disgusting drunks wanting to let out some steam. 

“Hey, where you going? Come party with us! We’ll show you a damn good time.”  One of the drunks slurred. They were getting closer by the second, almost running to catch up to me. I needed to find people, anyone, someone to get these people away. I glanced back quickly only to find one was ready to reach out and grab my arm, I assume to pull me into the group. I swung an arm to push him back before running full speed into the night. I had no idea where I was running to but I knew I couldn’t stop. I needed to find the crowds and get lost in them. I needed to find safety. 

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of running, I found a pay phone near one of the clubs. With the change in my pocket, I clicked in the numbers, holding the plastic phone to my ear. I felt by whole body shuddering, from the cold and the tears still flowing. 

“Hello?”

“Margo? It’s Cassie, I need help.”