Chapter One

Chapter 1

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and dug out whatever was still in there. I had just enough time to grab a few dollars and a photo of my mom in them before I left. My eyes burned from the tears still drawing lines on my face. I had to get out of there. I kept running after I counted 80 dollars in cash in my left pocket. I had nothing else to bring on such short notice. I knew they were coming. I had just barely leaped out the back window when their black car pulled up in my driveway. Social services were moving me to who knows where. A foster home? An orphange? I ran down another block leading me downtown. My gold hair was pulled back in a ponytail whipping side to side in time with each stride of my run. The sun was beginning to set and I could already taste the cool night air hitting my face. It was a bad night to be wearing shorts and a T-shirt but I had little time to consider the weather. Reaching downtown, I already felt safe. Cars were more busy on the streets, people were all over walking on the sidewalk and the streets. The street lights were beginning to turn on as dusk fell upon the city. I started to walk slower at a steady pace, still keeping warm but not as noticeable. I tried to focus on what was ahead of me and not behind. I didn’t want to remember I was being followed. They only made me think of why I was being followed. Why I had to be taken. Why my mom couldn’t be there anymore. I wiped my face to remove the tears, and tried to find a place to hide for the night. I glanced around to gather in my surroundings and found a nice looking hotel not one block away from where I stood. As I walked toward it I felt my confidence growing. I could make it on my own. I didn’t need a bunch of strangers deciding what was best for me. I was practically 16.  
I opened the shiny glass doors and walked right up to the woman at the front desk. It looked a bit fancier up close and I was worried eighty dollars wouldn’t cut it. The room was covered in gold and white wallpaper with dark brown paneling. The windows were long and narrow, spread out across the front wall every five feet. A chandelier hung from the ceiling with glass dangling at every point. I could only see a few people in the lobby. There was a boy, maybe a few years older than me, reading a magazine. An old man was walking around with a cane and hat. A little girl and her father were signing in to their room at the main desk. I waited for them to finish, watching the little girl laugh and smile happily. When she saw me, she frowned.
“Why are you crying?” She asked in a small high voice. The man holding her hand heard her and turned to look back at me.

“Are you alright?” I nodded and smiled a little to reassure them. He smiled back and took his girl over to the elevator.

“Anything I can do for you, Miss?” The lady behind the counter asked. She eyed my face and choice of clothes, probably thinking I was some hoodlum.

“Yes, I was wondering how much a room would cost here?” I asked taking a step toward the table. I could see out of the corner of my eye, the boy looking up from his reading.

“A single room is about seventy dollars.” The lady replied, she was chowing down on a piece of gum and playing with her rings tiredly.

“Alright, I need one room for tonight.” I replied confidently, she looked at me curiously again and stopped her chewing momentarily.

“Ok, I’m going to need to see an ID, please. We don’t allow minors to stay here on their own. If you know what I mean. Runaways, gang bangers, we can’t be responsible for them.” She looked accusingly at me. I wasn’t sure what to do. The only ID I had was my student ID, and my drivers license tucked away in my back-pocket. Both would prove I was a minor and I’d be denied permission to stay.

“I don’t have it with me.” I lied, knowing it was no good. Something to my right caught my attention. I noticed the boy that had been reading a magazine walking toward me.

“Well, then I’m afraid I can’t give you the room.”

“Come on now, Deloris,” The boy sighed, standing a foot away from me. He was only a few inches taller than me with brown spiky hair. Red streaks ran through it in a stylish manner. His eyes were glowing brown with flecks of gold and I could see his mouth curved into a smirk. He had perfect features and wore an expensive athletic jacket. He slid his arm casually on the desk.

“She just flew in from New York, you really think she had time to worry about her ID. They need her for the photoshoot tomorrow. Now you're not gonna make her wait for her room are you?” He spoke smoothly with a cool drawn out voice. The woman looked embarrassed for a moment.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t informed. Will she be staying with you?” She began to type something on her computer. The boy I still didn’t know the name of, glanced back at me and smiled. Now was my turn to be embarrassed.

“Yeah, sure. We have room for one more.” I drew out my breath at the word we. Still not sure what was going on, I tried to see what she was typing. I wasn’t sure what to say. I had no idea what this guy was talking about and why he was helping me, but I wasn’t about to ruin it all by asking questions.

“Alright, It’s all set, I suppose you can show her to her room?” The lady asked the stranger.

“Yep, come with me.” He motioned for me to follow. Having little options, I risked it and did as he said. We walked to the small elevator and as soon as the doors closed I blurted out:

“What just happened?” he laughed softly as he pushed the button to the top floor.

“Relax, my names Todd.” He shoved his hand in my direction.

“Charlie.” I said, taking his hand.

“Charlie?”

“It’s short for Charlotte.” I explained, trying not to roll my eyes. “What was it you said

about a photoshoot? And why am I staying in your room? How did you get the lady to-.” He cut me off by putting his hand over my mouth.

“I told her you were the new model they hired for a photoshoot tomorrow.” He smiled smugly, probably predicting my reaction.

“What? I’m not a model, I could never even pass for one.” I tried to avoid looking at myself in the mirror. Why have mirrors in an elevator, anyway?

“It doesn’t matter, she’ll never know. You don’t have to do anything, you just looked like you needed some help. How old are you anyway?”

“Sixteen.” I muttered, hoping my age wouldn’t change things.

“Oh, cool, same age as me.” He smiled.

“No way, I thought you were closer to nineteen!”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“So, how did you get the receptionist to-”

“Get you in? well, this hotel is one of my many homes.”

“You live here?”

“In a matter of speaking. I have homes all over the country. With my job you get used to travelling.”

“Oh? What’s your job?” He grinned at the question.

“I’m a model.” I should have known.. With the talk of photoshoots, and pretending I was a model. Not to mention his incredible good looks.

In a matter of seconds, the doors of the elevator opened to reveal an open terrace with a full view of the skyline. I took in a deep breath. The air was clear and the world looked so big. I walked to the edge to have a closer look.

“beautiful, right?” Todd asked, I nodded slowly. I felt secure being up so high. I knew by being up here I was putting that much more space between me and the social workers. I felt safe for the first time since the night that everything went wrong. My mother would’ve protected me. I would’ve never had to run if she had been there. But she wasn’t.

I turned my face away from Todd, trying to think of something else, so I could forget. My eyes still stung from the dried up tears. My face was probably still red and splotchy. I tried rubbing my eyes free of tears and turned back to the elevator.

“Come on, the rooms over here. I’ll have to introduce you to the others.” Todd said, motioning for the small door I hadn’t noticed before.

“Others?” other models? other people? Your family? He smiled back at me and took out a key. He opened the door to reveal a large room filled with bright furniture and carpeting. On the wall facing the same way as the terrace, there was a large window that went from the floor to the ceiling. Cream carpet covered the floor. In the center of the room sat a blue couch and a red couch, which surprisingly, matched quite nicely. cushions covered both couches and more sat on the floor. Beautiful lamps stood close by, just within arms length of the couches. A bookcase stood on the opposite wall of the window, along with a desk and computer. On the wall across from myself, was a white spiral staircase leading up to a loft. There were two white doors, and below those were three more. Todd was still smiling next to me.

“What do you think?” He asked, his eyes dancing with pride.

“It’s amazing. You actually live here?” He nodded, just then a head poked out of a door on the loft. It was a girl dressed in sleek pink sweatpants and tank top. She had long hair that went down to her hips. It was wavy but perfect. She brushed it back carelessly.

“Todd? Who’s that?” She pointed a finger in my direction. She sounded angry, obviously not pleased I was there. Her voice was loud enough for the door next to hers to open. Another head poked out and another girl walked towards the railing. Todd rolled his eyes.

“Charlie, meet Cassandra.” He said, crossing his arms. The girl next to Cassandra squealed with excitement.

“OH! Who’s this? Another model?” She ran down the spiral staircase, right over to me. She was the same height I was and had perfect blonde hair running past her shoulders. She had an impish face with big green eyes. Her smile reminded me of a cute little girl, even though she was probably around my age.

“Hi! I’m Daisy! Who are you?” She hugged me around my waist and I stumbled backwards, startled by her friendliness.

“Yes, Todd, who is this?” The girl named Cassandra had made her way down the stairs, looking more aggravated than before. More heads poked out of the first floor. Two guys made their way to the center of the room. One was way taller than the rest of them with black hair cropped into a spiky fohawk. He looked quizzically at me next to a blonde guy. The blonde guy was expressionless but looked friendlier than the other. Both of them looked like what some girls would classify as gorgeous.

“Tyler, Ryan, so glad you could join us.” Todd said to the newcomers. “I’d like to introduce you all to my friend, Charlotte.”

“Umm, Charlie.” I corrected. The one with black hair and Cassandra both started laughing.

“Charlie? That’s soo cute! Can I be Charlie too?” Daisy exclaimed excitedly.

“Anyway,” Todd began, trying to speak above the laughter and Daisy’s squealing. “I said she could stay with us for a night. She needs a place to sleep.”

“Todd.” There was no doubt in my mind, Cassandra was the definition of ditz. She put her hands on her hips and looked accusingly at Todd. “You can’t just bring in street kids and expect us to take care of them. We’re not a charity business, we’re models.” Normally, I’d be insulted by someone calling me a street kid but I couldn’t take anything she said seriously.

“It’s just one night, okay?” He replied, trying to keep his cool. He rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“Ooh, ooh! Can she stay with me? I have another bed, please, please!” Daisy giggled, raising her hand to volunteer. Todd smiled at her.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” She grinned, and I had to take a step back for fear of being trampled. She leaped at Todd and threw her arms around his neck.

“Thank you! I always wanted a roommate!” What? Was I her birthday present or something? Todd just smiled and set her back down on the floor. The others were staring at me either with interest or distaste, I couldn’t tell which. Of all the people I had to get mixed up with, it had to be a bunch of airheaded models. But who was I to complain? Beggars can’t be choosers, so I decided to ignore the intimidating stares and followed the only person eager to help me. Daisy grabbed my arm and started dragging me up the stairs.

“Come on, this is my room!” She opened the door to reveal a world of pink and fuzz. I took off my worn out tennis shoes and walked hesitantly into the room. The carpet was hot pink and soft between my toes. I saw assorted frames hung on the wall with pictures of beaches and cities. Daisy’s bed was gigantic and covered in pillows and blankets. A pink canopy hung over it with rhinestones dangling on the bottom. The room was quite garish and too pink for my taste. Daisy flew onto her bed and laughed gleefully.

“Do you like it? I designed it myself!” She explained, hugging one of her large fuzzy pillows. I blinked and tried to smile.

“Umm, yeah. It’s great.” I replied, hardly matching her enthusiasm. However, she seemed satisfied with my simple reaction.

“Yay! Ok, you can sleep over there.” She pointed to a smaller bed that looked similar to a sofa. It, too, was piled with pillows.

“You really like pink, don’t you?” I asked walking over to sit on the bed.

“Who doesn’t? Anyway, you should probably change into your pajamas, we’ll go to bed a half hour after dinner.”

“Wow, why so precise?” She cocked her head and stared at me, then burst out giggling again. I laughed, awkwardly, along with her, as if I knew why. “umm, I don’t have any pajamas.”

“Why not?” She asked.

“I uh, didn't have time to pack.” She smiled again, and motioned to a white door in the wall.

“Thats, okay. You can borrow from me!”

“Uh, no I’ll just sleep in my clothes.” She grimaced and shook her head as if that were the nastiest idea. She walked over to her door, and revealed a large closet, stuffed with clothes. She pulled one of the doors open and brought over a pair of sweatpants and a black T-shirt with the words: “sweetie pie” Written in bold across the top. Not exactly my style.

“Here, put these on. There’s a bathroom next to you.” I turned to see another white door leading to her own private bathroom. Not wanting to upset her, I took the clothes and went in the bathroom.

I wasn’t surprised at all to find the bathroom decorated with pink and white tiles. Thankfully, the toilet, tub, and sink were all the standard white color. A large mirror stood next to the sink. It went from the floor to the ceiling and filled most of the wall. “models,” I muttered under my breath. Glitzy lights were all over and a special table stood in the corner, holding all of Daisy’s cosmetics, another thing I didn’t care too much for. Just give me a little mascara so I don’t look dead in the mornings. I quickly changed into the tight fitting T-shirt and sweatpants. Feeling slightly self-conscious, I peaked out the door to make sure no one else happened to stop in while I was changing, but not even Daisy was left. I walked out and glanced around, thinking she was hiding. Still, no sign of her.

“Daisy?” I said softly into the vacant room. When there was no reply, I walked to the front door. I nearly jumped when a knock came just as I touched the handle. I cracked the door open to find Todd standing with his arm on the door frame.

“Hey-uhh.” He eyed my outfit curiously.

“What?” I asked, trying hard not to blush.

“We’re ordering room service. What do you want?” Room service? That must’ve been what they lived on. I wondered if they ever had a home cooked meal in their lives.

“No, thats ok. You’re already giving me a place to sleep. You don’t need to feed me too.”

“We get it for free. It’s not a problem” I hesitated, “When did you last eat?”

“Noon.” I grumbled, trying to ignore the pains in my stomach. He nodded.

“How about I just get you what we’re getting?” I nodded, not meeting his eyes. “Awesome, come down in about ten minutes then, sweetie pie.” he smirked and went for the stairs. A minute after I shut the door, Daisy came running back in.

“Oh good, they fit you! You look so cute! Pink really suits you.” She smiled and walked over to me. “So how long have you been a model?”

“What? I’m not a model.” I protested, wondering how she missed the obvious.

“But you look like a model, you’re really pretty.” She smiled and I felt like I was talking to a really tall seven year old.

“Thanks, but I’m not.”

“Why are you staying with us then?”

“Because... I needed a place to stay... And Todd helped me, and told the receptionist I was a model flying in for a shoot.”

“I knew you were a model!” She exclaimed, pointing her finger at me accusingly.

“No, I’m not.” I said, trying hard not to lose my patience. She was a really sweet girl but I was finding it hard to explain things to her. “Todd lied so he could let me stay with you.”

“Oh.” she sounded disappointed, “Todd’s so sweet. Does that mean you’re not gonna stay?” She walked over to her bed and plopped down.

“Yeah, I’m only staying tonight.” She looked down at the floor.

“But can’t you stay longer? Please? We can be roommates, and travel all over together! You don’t have to leave.”

“I wish I could but, I have to.. go somewhere else.” Truth was I had no idea where I was going. I was just going. The thought sent shivers up my spine. Daisy looked at me with wide eyes. Next thing I know, she’s across the room at the door.

“Hey!” She called out through the open door, “She said she wished she could stay! Can she? Please! Can we keep her?” She leaned over the edge of the railing, sticking her left leg in the air behind her. A few seconds later, the guy with black hair appeared before the doorway. He gently removed Daisy from the rail and lifted her chin to look at him. He spoke something soft to her, I couldn’t make it out. He turned to meet my eyes with a cold stare, and reached over to shut the door. I sat still, trying hard to hear their voices, but it was all muffled and quiet. I sighed heavily. The others didn’t want me here. I didn’t really want to be there. So I sat and waited for something to happen. A few minutes passed on the kitten clock hanging on the wall above the door. Finally, Daisy came back in with a disappointed look. She went to sit back on her bed and grabbed an armful of pillows to console her.

“Tyler says you can’t stay.” She mumbled through her pillows.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” I said. I felt bad for the poor girl. She must’ve thought I was gonna be her new best friend. She didn’t seem to be satisfied with Cassandra. She didn’t say anything else.

“So.. How old are you, Daisy?”

“Seventeen.” She sighed.

“Really?” I asked, hiding the astonishment from my voice.

“Yeah, how about you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Oh, you’d be like my little sister than,” she exclaimed longingly. “Why won't they let you stay?” I didn’t reply. I just wanted this night to be over, I had been there less than an hour and already so much drama had occurred. This was probably completely normal to them. I heard a strange ringing coming from downstairs, a moment later.

“Foods here!” She jumped up, forgetting her misfortune and running toward the door. She had so much energy for a seventeen year old. She held the door open and motioned for me to follow. I got up and slowly walked to the door. A row of trays were laid out on the coffee table, along with a stack of plates and cups. Todd, Tyler, Cassandra, and Ryan all stood before the food, waiting for the men to leave. Once they left, Daisy ran down the stairs and the others began removing the lids from the trays. Todd noticed me still standing on the loft and motioned for me to come down. Cassandra noticed and glared up at me. I walked quietly down the steps and stood awkwardly in front of the food. Todd grabbed my arm and pulled me on the couch next to him. He handed me a full plate of food and began filling another one for himself. I observed the contents of the plate carefully before eating. I noticed a large portion of salad, sliced fruit, a very small lean slab of white meat, and some kind of white sauce.

“Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned.” Todd chuckled, handing me a fork. I must’ve looked helpless to the rest of them.

“So, Charlie, what made you listen to this loon?” The one named Ryan asked. It was the first time I’d heard him speak. The better question would be; what made you decide to stay in this loony bin? It was a very good question that I kept asking myself.

“He uhh.. Told the receptionist I was with him and I really had no other choice and no other place to stay.” I replied, sifting through my salad.

“Why not?” Daisy asked, with the fork still stuck in her mouth.

“Uhh, well. I’m trying to avoid some people.”

“What people?” Todd asked, raising his eyebrow quizzically.

“Social services.. They were gonna send me to go live somewhere since my..-” I stopped myself from saying more. I didn’t want to choke up in front of a bunch of strangers and I really wasn’t interested in telling them about my personal life.

“Why are you avoiding them? They sound friendly.” Daisy said, innocently.

“They were going to send me somewhere I didn’t want to go. So I ran. I was going to stay here but apparently you can’t rent a room unless you’re an adult.” I went on.

“what are you gonna do when you have to leave?” Todd asked, he looked sympathetically at my face.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you’re not staying here.” Tyler announced, “Would you guys quit acting so sad. She’ll be gone tomorrow and you can forget it ever happened.” the words stung but I tried to give little response.

“Yeah, seriously, if you do this every time you find a homeless kid, we’ll have no space for ourselves.” Cassandra rolled her eyes and stared directly at Todd.

“Calm down, no one said anything about that.” Todd replied, surrendering with his hands in the air. “Cassandra, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Oh.” I said accidently out loud. Cassandra snapped her head at me.

“What?” She asked, already annoyed.

“Uhh, I just didn’t realize you and Todd were.. you know.” I stammered. She started to burn red and I knew it was a mistake. Todd began to laugh.

“No, no we’re not together. None of us are. We’re just friends.” He said through his laughter. Cassandra snapped her head back at Todd.

“Why is that so hilarious?” She asked.

“What’s hilarious?” Daisy looked up around the room.

“Forget it.” Todd sighed. Part of me was glad I’d be leaving in the morning. These people were crazy. I set down my half eaten plate of food and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Tyler asked, skeptically.

“To bed.” I replied

“No, we’re supposed to wait a half hour, we have to digest the food.” Daisy pointed to her stomach and gave me a ‘duh’ look.

“Umm, thats okay, I think I’ll just head to bed now.”

“She’s allowed to get fat, Daisy, she doesn’t care.” Cassandra explained with an edge in her voice.

“I’m not fat.” I protested, she looked at me as if to say: ‘have you looked in a mirror lately?’

“Why can’t she be a model? She’s pretty, We have enough space for her and we could travel all over. Don’t you want her to?” Daisy chanted.

“No.” Cassandra stated flatly.

“She couldn’t pass for a model, her arms are too fat, her eyes are too close together, she has no unique features, and she’s freckled.” Tyler said, crossing his arms. I couldn’t believe how insensitive they were. So what if I wasn’t some fancy model. I was just as much human as they were. Isn’t that just what models did? Judge you by your appearance? No wonder they didn’t like me. I was ugly.

“Stop it,” Daisy yelled, she stood up and walked boldly over to the accuser. “That’s not true!” Tyler looked up at her wonderingly. She kept glaring.

“Shh, calm down.” He tried saying but she ignored him and slapped him across the face. In her fury she turned and ran for her room crying. Tyler lay stunned in his seat, his cheek already turning pink. The others looked shocked too, all of them lost for words. I decided run after her. I walked in the room and saw her lying in her mass of pillows, crying. I sat on the edge of her bed and patted her foot. I wasn’t too good at the whole ‘comforting strangers when they were crying’ thing. She looked up at me and sat up.

“I’m sorry.. Tyler shouldn’t have said those things about you. They’re not true, you know?” I smiled at her. She was so sweet, so innocent, I still couldn’t believe she was older than me.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” She reached over and gave me a hug, a long one. Once she let go, I asked, “So do you slap him often?” She looked down at the ground and shook her head no, like she was sorry she did in the first place. “I see.” The door behind me opened, I turned, expecting to see Todd and instead saw a much taller boy. Tyler walked in slowly to where Daisy and I sat. He sat down next to Daisy and wrapped his arms around her lovingly.

“I-I’m sorry, Tyler.” Daisy stuttered, and began crying in his shirt. His face didn’t change and he whispered something in her ear. She nodded, understandingly. I looked away, feeling uncomfortable staring at the two. finally, after a moment or two, Tyler spoke.

“You can stay one more night.” he sighed, I looked back at him but he wasn’t looking at me. Still, Daisy looked up at him and smiled.

“Really?” She squealed. He shrugged, apprehensively.

“Wait, what? No, no, no that's ok, I don’t need to stay more than a night.” Now he looked straight at me.

“You can stay another night.” And with that, he got up to leave. I watched him go, even as Daisy almost knocked me over, and I got it. He wanted to make Daisy happy, but he didn’t want me to be happy. Making me stay longer worked both ways. I wanted to be angry but instead, I almost felt relieved. On the bright side, I got to put off my fears of running back into the world on my own. I had one more guaranteed night of safety, so I wasn’t going to let Tyler or any of the others get to me. Boy was I wrong.

Reviews

[astronaut]

Wow! Great start on chapter one. Looking forward to more. Wonderful job. :)