The young girl sat on the cold cement, knees drawn to her chest as if she were afraid to let go, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, if on anything at all. The rags covering her wiry body seemed grimy and far too large for her frame. Yet there was something about her. But what?

"Yo slick, are you listening to me?" Alex was jolted out of her staring by her best friend.

"Fuck Nichols. What?" She turned and looked down at her wild haired buddy. "Do you even own a brush Nick?"

Nicky chuckled as she tucked her arm into the taller woman's elbow and pulled her into the bar. "Did you hear what I said? Hell hasn't frozen over after all. All along I thought Mommy-Dearest was cutting me off but there's a chance. Praise the Lord. Grab a seat. I'll get the brewskies."

Alex pulled herself up on a barstool. Her eyes were automatically drawn down the street to the homeless girl they had passed earlier. The rocking motion had seemed to stop, but she was too far away to make out her features. Alex couldn't shake what she had felt as they had passed by. She drawn to this girl, and her eyes kept flicking back to her.

Soon Nicky was back with two beers and a couple of shots. "Here's to trust funds and good times. Salud!" The friends clinked shot glasses and downed the burning tequila.

"Damn Nicky. Fuck. Why do you always get the cheap shit?" Alex sputtered. "You are loaded. Can't you at least afford better booze?" Alex quickly chased the nasty shot with half her beer.

"Love me, love my drink. Besides if you don't like what I pick out, buy it yourself."

"Good point. So tell me more about your mom not cutting you off."

"So you know how she's always calling me selfish and ungrateful?"

"Well how many times has she had to bail you out of jail and to keep you from going to prison? I think she's probably pretty accurate in her description. How often do you think of others? And when was the last time you thanked her for her lawyers?"

"Shut up. I thought you were my friend. Anyhow, she told me that it's not always about me. Ha! Imagine that. No but seriously. She's given me four weeks – a month to find some way to help somebody or some cause that's greater than myself. If I can prove to her that I can put others before me, my trust fund and inheritance stays intact."

Alex drained her beer and slipped off the stool to retrieve another round. She spoke over her shoulder while waiting on the drinks. "That's the question of the year Nicky? Are you capable of putting others before yourself?" Upon her return, she looked at her friend in the eyes. "Are you?"

Nicky grabbed the bottle and put it to her lips. "Am I what?"

Alex sighed. "Up to the challenge your mother set for you? That's a pretty tall order."

"Well my friend, that's where you come in…"

The rattle of a supermarket cart shook the ragged girl from her daydream. With no stores nearby it wasn't a sound she was used to in this neighborhood. Squinting, she saw an old, rusty cart filled with tin cans, greasy paper bags, and various other odd pieces of junk. It shook and rattled as it passed over the uneven concrete slabs. She recognized the shriveled old man pushing his belongings. Matt.

She tucked her head into her arms and acted as though she was asleep. She had quickly learned to stay isolated in every possible way despite being familiar with some of the homeless in the neighborhood. The harshness of the street made people react in unpredictable ways.

"Hey." Matt stopped his cart. "Hey you. Who are you?" He gently prodded the girl with his foot. "You can't be out here, you know." He waited for a response. "It's going to get cold tonight missy. You don't look warm enough." Matt began to rummage around in his cart.

After a few moments, the girl felt something drape over her shoulders. Peeking through her eyes, she realized that Matt had given her a shelter blanket.

"That should help some missy. There's a good shelter over on 32nd and Rand if you are hungry. They might even be able to find a bed for you." Keeping her shoulders hunched and head buried, she acknowledged Matt with a shake of her head and a mumbled thanks. "I'll be on my way then. Stay warm."

Nicky and Alex were tossing ideas back and forth and were on about their fourth beer. Alex's body tensed as she saw an old man with a scraggly white beard pushing a shopping cart approaching the girl still hunched on the side walk. She felt a protective streak surge through her as she watched the silent interaction between the two obviously homeless people.

Alex unconsciously stood when the man started rummaging through his cart. Her eyes narrowed when the man pulled out a thin blanket to drape over the girl's shoulders then walk off. Relief coursed through her that the girl had not been hurt.

"Hello…? Stretch? So are you game?" Nicky shoved her friend out of her daze.

"Yeah, well let me think about it Nick. I might be able to help you run a good con, but I'm not sure how I would feel running one on your mom. Let's talk about this tomorrow." Alex threw some bills on the table to cover her part of the tab and headed out the door.

The girl pulled the blanket tightly over her shoulders thankful for the warmth it provided. She listened for the rattle of the cart and as it got about half a block away, she lifted her head from her knees. The warmth of the blanket allowed her to not hug her legs quite so tightly. She was wearing a several layers of clothing but apparently not enough to keep out the cold Chicago wind.

Laughter and music poured out of one of the bars down the street as someone opened the door to head home for the evening. She could only imagine the warmth of a bar… or a house… or a shelter. She didn't ever recall being this cold before.

When the person from the bar walking her direction suddenly stopped a few feet from her and crouched down, the girl jumped back a bit in fear and gave out a surprised shriek. She curled back up into a ball, hugging her knees with her face buried under the blanket.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." The woman's voice was deep and raspy. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you." Something about it made her sound kind and honest. The woman made no attempt to move towards her.

The girl slowly peeked out at the woman stooped a few feet away. From what she could tell despite the woman being wrapped up in her coat, scarf, and beanie, the woman was quite beautiful. Her green eyes were strikingly stunning paired with her pale skin.

"Aren't you cold?"

The girl shrugged.

"I guess that's a stupid question, huh. It's 29 degrees out here, plus Chicago's infamous wind. Of course you're cold. I'm cold and I have a proper coat. Let's try a different question. What's your name? I'm Alex."

The girl just looked at her.

"Do you have any place to stay tonight?"

Silence.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Silence.

Alex got a strong feeling that she wasn't going to make any progress with the young girl. So she decided to not press her luck. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her wallet and withdrew $40. She slid the two bills over until they were under the young girl's knee where they wouldn't blow away.

"Get yourself a warm meal hon and find someplace to sleep. It's only going to get colder. Bye now." Alex slowly got to her feet and turned to leave when she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Piper." Alex turned to face the girl. "My name is Piper."

Alex nodded and walked away, her mind spinning about the person she had just interacted with. There was something… she just couldn't place her finger on it.

Piper grabbed the money, folded it tightly and slipped it safely into the depths of the many layers of her clothing. Once she was sure the woman had disappeared from the street, Piper got up and tugged the shelter blanket around her as tight as it would go. She started walking in the direction Matt had gone with his cart.

It didn't take long for her to find him curled up sleeping in the stoop of a vacant building sheltered from the blustery gusts that chilled one to the bone. His cart was loosely tied to his leg with a frayed rope. She gently tucked the money the woman had given her into his loose hand and covered him with the blanket he had just given her not less than an hour ago.

"Good night Matt." Her voice was barely a whisper.

From another layer of clothing, she withdrew a small bag of change and picked out a few coins. She walked over a few blocks and stood to wait on a bus to a different part of the city. The people at the bus stop gave her a wide berth which was fine with her. She knew what she looked like and certainly what she smelled like. When the bus stopped, Piper went to pay her far and get on.

The driver held up his hand to stop her, shaking his head. "Off." He pointed down the steps. "Off my bus now or I'll call the cops." His voice was gruff and menacing.

Piper showed him her coins. "I have the fare man. You can't keep me from getting on the bus if I have fare. I'm going to 65th street then getting off. So fuck you if you don't like that. Call the cops if you have to. But I'm not getting off."

Her powerful voice startled the driver. He glared at her as he looked her over again, checking to see if she was serious. Piper held the coins up in her fingers and arched her eyebrows, questioning his authority to keep her from riding public transportation. As he nodded to her, she dropped the change in the machine and found a seat at the back, away from all of the other riders.

Piper exited the bus thirty some odd blocks later and walked to the 65th street shelter. She hoped she wasn't too late and beds were still available. She had never been to this shelter before and hoped the people were kind.

As luck would have it, Piper was able to get the last open cot. She settled into the small space that had been allocated for that bed. After a fairly decent meal, she dug in her bag and withdrew a pad of paper and pen. Flipping open the pad, she began to write about the day's events. She had only been on the streets for a week but already had come to one huge realization. Being homeless sucked.