You ran. You didn't know where you were running to but you just had to get away. So you ran. Your legs wouldn't stop moving. You didn't know what else to do therefore you ran. Tears started streaming down your face as you sprinted down the street, passing strangers as they stared and whispered among themselves. You didn't care. They could stare all they want because you were never going to see their faces again so they can judge you until they felt satisfied. Nothing mattered anymore. Why? Because your parents no longer loved you. They no longer wanted you as their child anymore.

Your vision was becoming blurry and it was getting difficult to see. After wiping your eyes on your shirt, you realised you were at the local playground. The same playground where you spent most of your childhood at with your mum and dad. The same mum and dad who now hated you. You stopped running and looked up and saw the playground you always loved as a kid and remembered how the tunnel underneath the slide was your secret hiding place. It was that one place where you always sought comfort in whenever you were upset because this was where you first met your best friend, Carlos Garcia. You were only 8 and he saw you crying one day in that exact tunnel and asked if you wanted a bite of his cupcake in an attempt to cheer you up. From that day forward, to this day, another 8 years later, you guys have been closer than ever. You always thought that the tunnel was some magical castle that was unseen from the outside because it was hidden so well, so you always felt safe and even safer with Carlos there.

You ran towards the tunnel, desperate to feel that same security and reassurance you had felt as a kid.

You climbed in, surprised that you could still fit inside after so many years. You sat in the middle and looked up at the roof of the tunnel to see the drawings you left when you were 7. You and Carlos had drawn the two of you holdings hands while standing under a rainbow with the words 'Best Friends' underneath. Above that picture was one you had drawn yourself. It was a drawing of you and your parents playing at the park, smiling. Next to the picture you saw your own handwriting.

"I love mummy and daddy and they love me too"

You started sobbing uncontrollably as you realised that it was a lie. A stupid childish hope. Your parents didn't love you, at least not anymore. You squeezed your eyes shut as the conversation started replaying in your head. You tried to fight it off but it was too late. It already consumed your mind.

"Sweetie, can you come down for a minute?" your mum was calling for you from the living room.

"Mum later! I gotta finish this stupid assignment" you yelled back, frustrated at the task in front of you. You had a stupid science practical assignment due in two days and you haven't even started it the expected one week experiment.

"Please just come down, it's important."

"Argh fine" you mumbled.

You stood up and walked out of your room, slamming the door behind you. Why couldn't your mum just leave you alone so you could finish the stupid assignment?

"What now mum?" you said angrily as you walked into the living to find both your mum and dad sitting on the sofa with strange looks on their faces.

Your father gestured towards the chair, wordlessly asking you to have a seat.

You walked slowly to the seat in front of you and sat down "What's goooinnng onnnn?" you asked dragging out your words, confused with their expressions.

"Look sweetie", your mum began. She bit her lip and looked as if she was about to cry. Your dad was about to speak up when your mum put her hand on his chest and whispered to him "Let me do it, I can do it".

You didn't understand what they were talking about. It was only less than 2 hours ago that all three of you were sitting at the dinner table laughing and smiling while talking about everyone's day, enjoying lunch. What could have happened in those short two hours?

"Mum…"

"Look sweetie" she said again "You know that we have recently been having some...financial problems right?"

"Um yeah, you owe the bank a bit of money, that's all." You said, smiling, thinking it was no big deal.

"Well darling, it's a little bit more complicated than that. See the thing is...we owe the bank A LOT of money, more money than we could possibly afford to pay right now."

You stopped smiling, and looked into your mother's eye as they showed fear. "Okay…." You slowly replied, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"And right now me and your father are finding it hard to get enough money to take care of this family and keep the house and….." your mum let out a soft sob. Your dad wrapped his arm around his wife, giving her a tight squeeze in an attempt to comfort her.

"And what mum?" you whispered with a hint of anger in your voice. Why couldn't she just get to the point? Why was she crying? You grabbed the pillow next you and poking and pinching it, trying to distract yourself. "What are you trying to say?"

This time, it was your dad who spoke "honey, what your mother was trying to say was that with our current situation with the bank…we can't afford to take care of you."

You feel into shock. It took you a few seconds to completely comprehend what just came out of your dad's mouth. "You can't afford to take care of me?" you whispered as your eyes started forming tears.

"Sweetie..." your dad said while holding your crying mother.

You stood up and threw the pillow you were holding across the room. It hit a vase, breaking it. "What is that suppose to fucking mean?" you yelled, not caring if you swore in front of your parents "you can't afford me! What am I to you? A freaking dog! I'm your daughter and you cant afford to take care of me?"

"Honey that's not what we meant!" you dad stood up and grabbed onto your arms, trying to calm you down "Just let us explain! We have almost no money, you mother and I. You mean the world to us but we can't provide for you anymore and so that's why…..that's why we're putting you into the foster care system so you can be in a family capable of taking care of you."

You stood completely still. Foster care system? They…they were gonna practically give you away. You tried to talk but you simply couldn't. Your whole body was numb, your brain was empty. You couldn't think properly.

"A social worker is coming to pick you up tomorrow…." Your dad whispered, looking down at his feet before turning his head towards your still crying mum. "Your mother and I love you, which is why we're doing this. We can't take care of you anymore. We want you to have a good life"

"No" you said quietly at first, before you screamed out "NO!"

You broke out of your dad's hold and slapped him across the face. He was completely taken back by your action and fell back onto the sofa next to your mum who had let out a squeal.

As you walked towards the front door, you turned back and continued yelling "You don't love me! If you did you would try to fix this and make sure that we would stay as a family! But you just wanted an easy way out so you're giving me away. Like I'm fucking trash." You were completely balling your eyes out as you spoke.

"No!" your mum cried out, finally speaking up "It's not like that sweetie! We love you. You have no idea how hard this is for us."

You glared at the woman "Hard? Oh I can't imagine how hard it must be to give me away to save a couple bucks. You know what? Fuck this" you shouted, throwing your hands up in the air. "If you don't want and going to give me away to some freaking creepy family, then why don't I make this easier for you and your stupid social worker. I'm leaving."

With that you grabbed your coat and ran out of the house and down the street.

You opened your eyes as you heard someone walking towards the tunnel. You immediately stopped crying as you saw a pair of legs at the tunnel entrance. You held your breath, hoping the stranger wouldn't notice you. But unlucky for you, your cries were louder than you had expected.

"Hey…are you okay?" you recognised the soft voice that spoke. It was Carlos.

You immediately looked at the entrance and saw the dark haired boy kneeling down and peering into the tunnel.

"Ca-Carlos" you said surprised. "What...what are you doing here?"

He offered a gentle smile "I could ask you the same thing, may I come in?"

You smiled back "Of course, welcome"

Your best friend climbed in and sat next to you, putting one of his arms around you and whispered in your ear "Are you okay? Talk to me"

You shook your head and whispered back "Yeah I'm fine...it's nothing..."

"Nothing" Carlos used his other hand and lifted your head so you were looking straight in his eyes. "that's not the face of a girl who is the least bit okay. Talk to me. I know something happened with your parents."

"What? How did you know?" you asked, confused as to how he knew it was about your mum and dad.

Carlos made a face that showed a sense of awkwardness "well…." He began "the thing is, your mum called me as soon as you ran away."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Why would see involve Carlos? It had nothing to do with him! What right did she have to tell people that you were an unwanted child who was now a run-away? You were fuming mad and the Latino could see it in your eyes.

"Look before you get mad!" he quickly said, trying to clam you down "she didn't tell me what happened! All she told me was that you guys had a fight about something I don't know about and that you had run away. She wants to come home."

"Home? She wants me to come home?" you hissed as you clenched your fist in anger. "You wanna know why I ran away?"

"You don't have to tell m-"

"Its because she was going to give me to a fucking social worker and put me in the fucking foster system! So what's the point of coming home when I'm going to live with another family?" You felt the urge to cry come back as soon as you said it out loud.

Carlos' eyes went wide and his mouth dropped in shock "What? Are you serious? Why would they do that? What are they thinking?" It was now your bestie's turn to get mad. "Why on earth would they leave you with a social worker? Are they out of their fucking mind?"

He punched the wall of the tunnel in anger, making you jump slightly. You had never seen him so angry. You looked at his knuckles and could see them going red. You wrapped both your hands around his, trying to get him to relax. After a minute of silence, Carlos finally returned back to normal.

"Why would they do that?" he calmly asked, doing his best to keep his cool.

You looked down at your intertwined hands as you spoke "They said they don't have enough money to take care of me and that I'm 'better off' in the system"

Carlos shook his head in disbelief "That's just not right" he said under his breath "It doesn't mean they can just give you away. Its just not right. Its just not right"

He kept repeating those last four words over and over again as if he could change the situation by doing so. You rested your head on the 16 year old's chest as he wrapped his arms around you and gave you a tight squeeze. You felt so safe in his arms, as if he was going to protect you from everything. From all the pain.

"Carlos, I'm all alone" you said in between sobs "no one loves me."

"People love you, trust me" he placed his head on top of yours as he held you while you cried.

"No they don't. Even my own parents don't love me and want to leave me. I'm all alone" with every word that came out of your mouth, you cried harder and harder. Its was getting difficult to breathe and all of a sudden you suddenly felt like a plastic bag was placed over your head.

Carlos noticed the change in your breathing and asked if you were okay.

"I-I can't breathe, I gotta…I gotta get out of here." You choked out as you pulled away from the boy and climbed out the tunnel.

Quickly following you outside, Carlos put his hand on your back as you stood with you bent back and hands on your knees as you tried to catch your breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked again while rubbing your back.

You took a couple of deep breathes before answering. "Yeah…..I just need to go for a walk…"

You slowly stood up straight with the help of the dark haired boy and looked around. The sun was starting to set and in less than an hour it would be completely dark.

"Do you want me to come with you?" the Latino asked, with a concern look on his face as he scanned the surroundings, noticing the upcoming darkness as well.

"No its okay…I need some alone time right now." You started walking away before you felt a hand on your arm. You turned back to face Carlos.

"You're not alone. I will be here for you no matter what, okay? You're not alone" You could sense the worry and truth in his voice but right now, you just couldn't trust his words so you gave a soft nod and "mmm" before walking away once again.