Holtz bit her lip and allowed her brain to buzz; she quickly came up with the only two possible outcomes of this situation.

1: She tells Erin there is nothing going on, Erin leaves her alone but starts to hate her a little bit, Erin wouldn't drop it, she would probably end up telling her any way she doesn't get Pringles...

2: She tells Erin exactly what is going on, her secret is out...but she gets Pringles.

The concept of getting immediate Pringles won her over.

"Okay, I'll tell you." The Pringles tube was tilted forward, Holtz stuck her hand in and grabbed a small mountain, her knuckles caught on the rim of the tube as she brought her handful to her lap.

"You don't know about me before Abby picked me up, but you do. You just haven't put the two together." Holtz started, Erin raised her eyebrows and popped the lid on the tube

"Enough with the riddles Holtz." Holtz sighed again.

"Fine."

7th September 2000

"Jillian, I'm so sorry." Jillian was packing her stuff into a backpack. Her mother helped her lever the heavy bag onto her back, Jillian teetered slightly as she tried to find her new centre of gravity. Jillian looked up at her mother, she winced at the sight of the shiner that covered her left eye.

"He just doesn't understand." Jillian closed her eyes, she missed her real father. He would have never reacted like this, he would have never kicked out his sixteen-year-old daughter because she finally came out of the closet. Frank was her stepfather, she hated him. Her mother was in love with him, Frank was stable. He had money, he had a big house. Something that Jillian's father couldn't provide, especially after he got sick. Jillian's mother was in love with him, even the bad parts. Even the parts that hurt her.

"Are you sure you'll be okay at your friends until you start college." Jillian was clever, she had a spot at M.I.T, she made up for her young age with a big brain. Jillian nodded, her mother brought her in for a hug. Jillian swallowed back a hug and walked out of the door.

She didn't know where she was going, Dana, the friend she was supposed to be staying with didn't exist. Jillian made her up to get out of the house. When Frank was being particularly horrible she would up and leave and go to "Dana`s" which roughly translated as hanging around the skip looking for new parts. M.I.T wasn't a lie but she wasn't going, she couldn't afford it. Frank was supposed to pay, he obviously wasn't now. She had told her mother she had been awarded a scholarship, that one was a lie.

Sixteen-year-old Jillian began to walk, she simply let her feet take her where they wanted. The night began to fall; Jillian slunk to the shadows and began to grow weary. She set herself up on a doorstep. She snuggled down in her sleeping bag.

When she woke up her bag was gone. She had nothing, no clothes, and no money. Nothing. Tears threatened to fall. She was stuck, she couldn't go back home. Not now, who knows what Frank would do to her, to her mother. No, she sucked her gut in and put one foot in front of the other.

She bummed around until she was twenty, she got street smart. She knew where the best place for a kip was. Where she could steal food from without getting caught. She was still wearing the clothes she left home in four years previously, she had grown in length slightly but shrunk in diameter, they still fitted. The police had started to flush people out, they were making the place look untidy.

"Miss." Holtz looked up, there was a cop standing in front of her, his back blocked the sun, a shadow was cast over Holtz`s face.

"I'm gonna need you to move along." Holtz looked around her, she had been sleeping in that cubby hole for a couple of months, she had got used to it. She didn't want to move along now. Winter was coming, good places were going to be hard to find. She pretended she couldn't hear him. The cop grew tired quickly, he brought her hands down to Holtz`s shoulder and pulled her to her feet by the straps of her dungarees.

"Listen." He hissed, he pressed his face to hers. Spit sprayed on her face. Her feet were barely touching the floor, she turned her face away from him.

"Sir." A voice came from behind him, he loosed his grip on Holtz, her toes brushed against the pavement again. There was a woman behind him, she was wearing a checked skirt suit and had a tiny bow tie around her neck.

"I'll sort her out." She smiled, her smile was radiant. The cop scoffed and let go of Holtz, he pushed her against the wall and left. Holtz rubbed her hand across her neck.

"Thanks."

"No bother, now let's get you sorted." The woman led Holtz out of the cubby hole and carried her sleeping bag for her.

"I'm Erin by the way."