Chapater 1

I took a deep breath. Home was close by. The place with my most likely unemployed drunk mom, smashed cigarettes scattered around, and no furniture except our beds, toilet, and sink. My mom had to sell everything to get money.  After my dad died, my mom had no more joy in life. She always hated me but acted like she loved me around my dad. Now that he is gone she beats me and keeps telling me how worthless I am.  I twisted the doorknob slowly. Hoping maybe she was asleep and I could get past her with out any bruises. I peeked inside, my mother was on the floor leaning against the wall with a beer in one hand and cigarette in the other. "How was school." She mumbled.  She didn't care so I didn't answer. "Kennedy I am trying to be friendly, answer me." She snapped.  "School was wonderful. Like home, it was a joyous place to be." I answered sarcastically.  I started my way back upstairs. "Hold up missy!" My so called my mom yelled as I heard the creak of the floor.  I started walking quicker. I didn't want to do this today. I felt a tug on my hair which made me stumble backwards. "You ungreatful little b***h." She hissed and I could smell the beer in her breath.  She pushed her cigarette on my arm. It burned but I couldn't move because, she was pinning me down. It felt like I was getting 10 shots in the same place and my arm going numb. "STOP!" I screamed feeling tears fall to the side of my cheek.  She waited a while then, took it off. I was crying so much by then. So much pain and nothing to stop it. "I try to give you things and I try to love you but it is impossible because you are a stupid, rude, and ugly twat." She screams at me.  Not too long afterwards I feel her hand collide with my cheek. It didn't hurt as much as it used to when she started this. "YOU DON'T EVEN TRY! YOU BEAT ME AND YOU SAY YOU TRY TO GIVE ME THINGS BUT IF YOU WERE TRYING THAT HARD THEN MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE A JOB!" I yelled back without taking a breath.  She gritted her teeth and slammed her beer bottle on the wall right next to me. One of the pieces left a small scratch on my cheek. "Get out!" She screamed as she pointed at me.  "I SAID GET OUT!" She screamed again as she points to the door.  I ran upstairs into my room. I slammed the door behind me. She wanted me to leave, that is what I will do. I pulled out everything from my backpack and put whatever clothes I had in it. All I had was two t-shirts, a jacket, one sweatshirt, and a few pairs of pants. That was all I had other than what I was wearing now (including the shoes.).  I busted my door open and my mom was laying against the wall passed out. I walked right past her and out the door. Now, she wouldn't beat me anymore and maybe it would be better alone. But then again, alone is all I have ever been.  I had fifty bucks saved up from the mowing job I did last week for my neighbors. I wasn't sure I would make it for the week. I wasn't even sure I would make it the first two days.  The decision of where to go was between the plaza or keep going until you reach a hospital and ask them to stay or to call for some help. I decided to stay by the plaza for a few days where supplies would be. The plaza was about two miles away. After about an hour I could see it.  I was so thirsty. Then, I remembered that I had grabbed one of my mom's beers. I knew that I would need a drink on the way. I pulled out the beer. I had never had beer before. It took awhile but I got out the cap off of it. I took a gulp of it. It burned the back of my throat. I spit it up on the ground. Little sips I thought. This time it tasted okay. I would have brought a water or a soda but all we had was beer.  I put up the beer when I finished it. I went on with my walk. When I reached the plaza, I stopped and looked around. Many homeless people were there too. I walked to the store and decided I would buy them all something. I got myself a water and a bag of chips. I got a few small kit-kats to give to them. I paid for them and before I could walk out the man at the counter stopped me. "Why are you alone?" he asked.  "I ran away." I explained to him.  "I wouldn't have done that." He told me.  I nodded and walked away. I couldn't care less. Death was probably coming my way but it probably was at home with my mom too. I passed out the kit kats to the homeless people and they thanked me. I felt happy afterwards. I decided to sit down and rest and admire the nature.  The sky was dancing with red, orange, and pink. The sun was setting and the clouds were spread out like butter on bread. I enjoyed looking at the flowers around the plaza. I went by a flower shop and saw some pale roses.  I wished I had so much money to waste so I could buy some to lay on my father's grave. His grave was full of lovely flowers and small cards from many people around town. My father was a great man and was loved by many. "Excuse me." I heard a voice say.  I turned around and saw a old lady next to me. "I was wondering if your mother was near by." She said as her voice had a shaky tone to it.  "I'm not with my mom." I replied.  Was this how it was for every homeless child. People kept reminding you of how lost and poor you were. "Oh, here is a few dollars, I am sorry but that shirt is very 1954." She chuckled then, handed me a 20 dollar bill to buy a new shirt.  I laughed even though this was a little hurtful. I thanked her and she waddled away. "Begging for money, aye?" I heard a voice from behind me say.  I turned to see a girl there. Her brown hair in a braid and her clothes had dirt stains but still looked decent. "No, people are just handing it over." I explained to the girl.  She looked up to the sky. The girl looked sad. "That used to happen to me , back in the early days." She told me, sounded like she was about to start a story.  "I was young and ran away, had fresh hair and clothes but they still knew I needed money." She said.  She looked down at me. Then, put her hand on my shoulder. "How long have you been out?" She asked me.  "About and hour or so." I answered.  "It isn't always this easy." The girl said.  "I'm sorry who are you?" I questioned, I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers but I needed a friend and my mom wasn't here to yell at me if I did talk to them.  She grinned at me. "I'm Sarah, Sarah Hale. What's your name?" She answered.  "Kennedy, Kennedy I would rather not tell you my last name." I informed her.  She laughed. "I think you would fit in with us!" Sarah randomly exclaimed.  I asked her confused," Who is us?"  Sarah grinned and started running away. I was debating if I should follow or stay here. I wasn't going to make it on my own. But I also didn't know if she was a crazy killer. So, I decided if I was going to die anyway, might as well follow. I ran quickly after her. She looked back every once and a while, making sure I was still there. Soon, we reached a fence. Sarah climbed up it so fast like she had done it many times before. She jumped off when she got to the top and then, ran again. "Hey! Wait up!" I called after her.  I examined the fence. It was about 10 feet tall. I'm not a big climber but it was worth a shot because, by now I had no idea where I was. I stuck my foot in the first gap. But soon I was going quick. Everything just happened. I never climbed a fence or really anything before. It all worked out for itself. It was odd. Once I got to the top, I froze. That was a pretty long way down. If Sarah made it then I could, right? Maybe not. It was a risk I had to take. I leaped from the top and fell on the ground. I felt a sharp pain on my elbow. I rolled on the ground, clenching my teeth. It hurt like hell. My elbow was scraped a little but it wasn't really bad. "You okay kid?" I heard a man's voice ask.  That definitely wasn't Sarah. I looked up startled to see Sarah next to a guy that looked about 15. "I'm not a kid. I'm 14." I told him defiantly.  He chuckled. "Im 18, sorry I'm gonna call you kid." He said using improper grammar.  Good kid. He wasn't a perfect person who used proper grammar or really thought before they said something. "Whatever kid." I laughed as I patted him on the back.  Why did I do that? Why did I feel so comfortable around him? I expected him to turn around and punch me in the face. All her did was shrug and say, "Good one.".  Maybe this wouldn't be that bad. Sarah and this boy seemed cool. "Kennedy I do not know your last name, this is Jason I know his last name." She giggled as she introduced us.  "Hey." We both said in unison.  We both laughed and then, Sarah led me into the building behind the fence. When we entered it, I knew it was abandoned. The windows still had shutters but they were ripped and half way open, the only light was from the window or the few lanterns in the room. The bottom room was huge. Sleeping bags and a few baskets were spread around the room. There was a light breeze in the room which I assumed came from open spaces in the walls. The building was built with bricks and the ground was old dusty wood. "Welcome to my home." Sarah welcomed me.  "What a beautiful home you have." I said sarcastically.  "Let's let you meet the others." Sarah smiled as she skipped off.  I followed her this time without any hesitation. We walked into a room with a small fire. I saw two girls sitting next to it. "Kennedy this is Rosella and Gwen." Sarah told me.  I waved to them and they waved back. "Oh my goodness she is so short!" Gwen exclaimed.  She stood up and ran to me and patted my head. "You are like a little elf." Gwen chuckled.  "Don't listen to her, she is just a super sarcastic moron." Sarah said rolling her eyes.  "That would be me." Gwen agreed while putting her hand under her chin with a big smile.  Jason shook his head. "She seriously is a moron more than anything." He informed me.  "Jason, will you take her to meet Lance." Sarah asked him, it was more of a command.  He nodded and walked out of the room with me. Back into the big room. I finally took a good look at him in the light from the windows. Jason had beautiful hazel eyes and brown hair which was a little spiky on the top and the shaved on the sides leaving some hair. His cheekbones were kind of defined so it was perfect. He had gauges and was wearing a green t-shirt and some ripped jeans. I literally almost died with an overdose of cuteness.  Here I am with brown hair, gray eyes, white shirt with a black heart on it. I'm not really pretty. Some people told me I was but I couldn't really trust people after the many things that have happened. Like the pajama party dash. Someone told me to wear pajamas to the senior party I was invited to. So I did. Everyone was dressed up in dresses and nice clothes. I was the fool. Don't forget the puke date. Someone put some kind of thing that made me puke in my food during my date. Of course, it was my date and he didn't even like me. No wonder I have trust issues.  "So how do you like it so far?" Jason asked me.  "Oh, I haven't seen much but you all seem like a nice group." I told him as we walked up the stairs.  "Yeah, our 'group' has a name." He replied.  "We are The Runaways." Jason said as dramatically as he possibly could.  "Nice original name." I smiled.  "Very original." I laughed as he playfully punched my arm.  I whimpered. Somehow he managed to punch the spot my mom burned with her cigarette. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.  "Nothing is wrong." I lied.  I didn't want to tell them my past. But now there might not be a way out of it.  Jason shrugged it off but I knew he would ask later. When we finished walking up the steps we reached the second floor. The hallway looked exactly like the big room but slimmer and no windows. "This is the difficult part." He told me as he opened the first door to the left.  A big gap in the middle of the room. Who I assuming was Lance was on the other side. "We have a trick." Jason said.  A small part in the side of the room was the walk way. He showed me how to get through. He shuffled through it and made it. "If you even barely slip I will catch you." Jason reassured me.  I nodded and walked to the small space. I stood on my tip-toes and slowly tried to go across the small wood piece. My back was pressed against the wall and I looked down. I saw Gwen and Rosella by the fire. How did I not notice the huge hole in the ceiling. This was a long drop. My hands were sweating. Why did I agree to do this? My foot slipped for a second but I regained my balance. Finally, I was almost there. But right under me was the fire. If I fell, I would die. I scooted. So close , I thought. Then, My foot slipped and this time I didn't regain my balance. "NO!" Jason yelled.  I started to fall.

Reviews

[Spotted Hyena]

First of all, break up the story into paragraphs. It's very intimidating to see a wall of text.
What does it mean when the narrator says "my most likely unemployed, drunk mom"? How does she not know? Even if she and her mother don't communicate, she would be able to notice whether her mom leaves for work or stays home all day and at least be somewhat aware of her financial situation and whether it gets better or worse.
There seems to be a lot of telling. Telling people what's happening instead of showing them makes them feel less involved in the story. Try having Kennedy go through a typical day and revealing the situation gradually using details, etc.
There's a few grammar errors, try listening to your story in Google translate to find them.
Start a new paragraph every time someone starts speaking.
She got paid fifty bucks to mow a lawn? I'm not sure what the usual pay for that job is, and it may be a big yard, but it still seems a little much for just a week.
Telling random people that you ran away is a good way to get caught.
"Using improper grammar" is not necessary, it's already obvious in the dialogue.
Describe all the characters, not just the main character and the love interest. And the phrase "I literally almost died from an overload of cuteness" is a bit overboard.
The scene with the "big gap" could use more description. I wasn't sure what the walkway was; a beam? A catwalk? A tightrope?
The story is interesting; you have a good framework, you just need to work on the rest of the house. I like the language and the personalities of the characters, and I would like to learn more about how they all came together.