Jade sat down on the closet bench she could find, exhausted from searching through the boardwalks many trashcans. She looked down at what she had gathered. A half-eaten apple, a quarter filled water bottle and a stale piece of pizza. It wasn't much but she figured that it could be worse, after all this was the best meal she has had in days. As soon as Jade finished off your meal, she laid down, putting her arms under her head for a little comfort. After she got situated, she stared up at the dreary, cloud filled sky. "I should have just kept my mouth shut." Jade thought thinking back to the day she was kicked out of her home. "I should have never told them I was gay!" She rolled over to look out at the ocean, and tear started to roll down her cheeks. Another one came and soon the view was blurred out by the ocean she had created in her eyes. Jade turned her back to the world you continued to sob, until something touched her shoulder. She jumped in fright, nearly falling off the bench. When she had recovered from the scare Jade looked over to see a boy starting to sit down beside her. His hair was black and curly and he wore a red shirt with a big yellow star on the front. He looked back at you, his eyes full of concern with a frown spreading across his chubby face. "I would do anything to be chubby right now." She thought and just as she started to get up to leave the boy started to speak. "What's wrong?" "Huh? Oh nothing." Jade tried to fake a smile but it was useless. "Something must be wrong…or else you wouldn't have been crying like that." She managed to give a small smile. "You got me there, little boy." He frowned. "I'm not little…I'm fourteen!" He paused for a moment. It seemed to her like he was actually thinking about what he wanted to say. Something that almost no one did these days. She had just started to go into deep thought on the matter when he started to speak, each word coming out slowly and carefully. "Well…It seems to me…. that you haven't had much eat nor a bath in several days….and your clothes are really dirty. Would you like to come to my place? I'm sure the Crystal Gems won't mind…. I think." "Crystal Gems?" She wondered this out loud. He then gave the skinny girl a dirty look and went on to explain them. Jade nodded absently, wondering if she were dreaming or even hallucinating. 'I knew I shouldn't have eaten that pizza! Ugh!" She willed herself to wake up from the strange dream she was having but it wouldn't go away. The boy stared at her for second, as if he was waiting for an answer. Jade blinked, confused. "Did he just ask me something? Fuck." She was just about to open her mouth when he cut her off. "Well, I take that as a no." He started to walk back up the beach, but stopped and turned around. "By the way, my name is Steven! I hope to see you around sometime! Bye!" He turned back around and started his way back up the beach. She sat there dumbfounded. She was now confused and exhausted. Not to mention freezing. "Fuck my life!" Jade screamed up at the clouds. She looked over to where she last saw the boy. He had stopped walking and was looking back at her. He put his hands in his pockets, shook his head, and looked at the ground. She suddenly felt a burst of energy course through her body. She leaped off the bench as fast as she could and ran towards him. When she finally reached him, Jade was unable to speak because she was panting too hard. Steven, looked up at her and scratched his head. "Is there something you want?" He shuffled his feet in the sand, making deep indentations with the tips of his red flip flops. "Yeah." She said as soon as she caught her breath. "I wanted to know what you asked me." His eyes instantly lit up and lips formed a wide boyish grin. "I asked if you wanted to spend the night! You could take a bath and get something to eat and, and…" He started to list off all the things she could potentially do at his house. Jade smiled. "I would like that." He started to bounce up and down. "Come on then! This is going to be great! You're going to get to meet all the gems! Amethyst and Pearl and even Garnet! If she is back from her mission, of course." He grabbed Jade's hand and started to run up a hill to a small beach house. She stumbled but caught herself and started running with him. As she ran she thought that maybe, just maybe, her life may not be as fucked up as she had originally thought.