Run. That’s all he thought. Run. Run where? He didn’t know; all he knew was that he had to get away. Josh Seymour was his name and he was only 14 and living with his Mom and little sister, Lucy. Lucy. He loved her, took care of her, and watched her. What else was he to do; he was the older brother, the big brother. It was his job. Now his job was to keep his blood on the inside. Run. Josh’s mind returned to the moment, he was running. He was running from the biggest guy in school, nobody knew his real name, not even his “friends” everyone just called him Pit Bull, not like the rapper like the dog. Rumor had it that he had been held back three times, not that it was true. Josh’s legs ached but they kept moving. Back at school Bull had slammed Josh’s lunch tray to the ground in front of the entire school. Of course you know what he did; he stooped down, grabbed his milk carton and chunked it at the back of Bull’s head. Bad move on his part and for a split second he felt good about himself, superior and important. All that went away as his enemy spun around and spat at him in a voice like the dog he was, “Josh Seymour!! You better wipe that grin off your face!!” This is when Josh realized that he had been smiling. Not wanting to make a scene he turned and ran. That’s where he is now, running.

Run. As Tracie Ronaldson sat in the cafeteria listening to her friends gab about the latest neighborhood boy band she watched as Bull trashed some kid’s lunch tray. Oh no. The boy picked up his milk carton and threw it at the back of his enemies head. The room went quiet as Bull spun around and shouted at him. Tracie’s closest friend, Brenda, nudged her, “Hey Trace. Did you see David today? He’s wearing a sweater vest. A sweater vest! He totally said his mom made him wear it. I asked his sister what happened, she said their mom is a model and she would never put that ugly thing on him.” Not listening Tracie replied, “Uh huh. Hey, do you know who that is?” Looking in the direction that Tracie pointed she said, “Yeah that’s Josh. Totally cute right?” Seeing Josh run out the door Tracie got up and followed. “I gotta go.” she called over her shoulder. She jogged down the hall in the direction of the screaming. What am I doing? Yet she kept going.

Tracie hadn’t grown up anywhere. All she knew was how to jump from foster home to foster home. She had now been with the Cabners for two years and she felt as if she belonged with them-they weren’t over protective or under protective, perfect for her.

She watched as Josh ran out the school and jumped the fence into the nearby alley. Instead of jumping right after him Bull turned around and headed back into the school, “I’ll get him tomorrow. He has to come back anyway.” His cohorts muttered in unison "Yeah. We'll get him tomorrow." Turning around the corner Tracie heard heavy breathing and saw Josh crouching beside a trash bin. “Hey. Are you ok?” startled Josh looked up, “Yeah. I’m fine.” He paused then added “did you follow me out here?” Tracie thought for a moment “Yeah I guess I did.” There was an awkward pause; the only thing that could be heard was the occasional stray cat walking around the bins rummaging for something to eat. “Are you hungry? I grabbed my sandwich in case you were” she pulled out a sub wrapped in plastic and gave it to him. Josh stood up; he was a few inches taller than her slim but with a nice build. He took the sandwich from her and unwrapped it. “My names Tracie. Yours is Josh right?” He nodded then with a full mouth he held out his hand, “Nice to meet you Tracie.” She stared at his hand; Josh looked down too, “Oh. Sorry.” It had candy wrapper on it so he shook it off and wiped his hand on his pants. Finally she took his hand and shook it laughing, “Nice to meet you” heading down the alley in the opposite direction of the school she added, “That was smart of you with the milk.”
“Thanks.” He replied throwing away the plastic and following her.
“So…”
“So.”
They said nothing but just walked on. The silence was broken by Josh, “So I heard you were adopted.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s it like?”
Getting annoyed, “Why do you want to know?”
“Nothing, I was just curious.” So she told him and he listened, asking questions here and there until they were at the end of the alley. Tracie asked: “What about you? What’s your life like.” “I live with my mom and little sister. I ride my bike everyday at the park really? I have a bike, we should do that.” “Ok. When tomorrow?” “Sure.” That’s when Josh was glad that Bull had trashed his lunch.