Outlook on Life

Chapter 1:

Elena threw her black duffel bag onto the green graffiti covered seat as she slumped down exhausted into the chair next to it. She let her eyes shut and rested her head back against the dirty window as thoughts swam in her head.

Jenna's dead!

Elena's last living family member is dead. It was another car crash and she couldn't believe her families luck - death surrounded them. Except now she was all alone...then again she had been since she was 4 years old.

'New York city station' the muffled voice sounded through the carts of the train and Elena grabbed her duffel bag and quickly darted out the doors, pushing her way through the crowd. She was hoping to start fresh in this city, she liked the feel of the city atmosphere. Most people feel like blending in and getting lost in the crowd was a reason to hate it but she found it calmed her.

Reaching the gait to the station Elena eyed the security guard and stayed hidden in the crowd. She watched closely and assessed her escape plan. She had no money and by this point in her life, jumping the station gates to evade paying was like an art form. One which she had mastered.

Finally deciding on her moment Elena went for it. She swiftly pushed through the crowd and held her weight on one hand as she pushed herself over the large blocks that were in place to prevent her from doing just this. With her expert timing she was over the gate before the guard even noticed and Elena took off in a hurry to escape as she saw him realise what she had done.

"Hey" the schlubby guard bellowed "stop" he called after her giving chase but Elena snickered to herself at the pathetic sight. He was a chubby guy but surprisingly he put in a good chase. She managed to dodge him for the most part but he was gaining on her when people didn't move out of her way.

Elena ran straight around the corner nearing the exit of the train station and safety. Glancing over her shoulder to look for the guard, Elena ran straight into a hard chest and bounced off off the person landing on her ass.

"Hey" The man frowned looking at where he now had spilt coffee on his suit. Elena rolled her eyes, she'd seen men like him. Fancy rich people in their designer suits he was probably a lawyer or a banker she snickered to herself.

The man looked up at her and instantly his face softened from the scowl to one of interest. She knew what that face meant and she knew she had to get away from him, and fast. He was looking at her with lust filled eyes letting his eyes roam her body. Elena couldn't deny the man was attractive with his jet black hair and his crystal blue eyes, but that didn't mean she appreciated his appraisal of her. Life on the streets was hard. When her parents died she went into foster care at age 4. Bounced around from home to home and found that the story of foster kids you see in the movies was dead wrong.

There was no happy ever after for her. Mostly she found that family's let the government place kids in their home so they could collect the benefits. Well it was that, or they were sick fucks who wanted to get a scared kid alone. In the 14 years she was in and out of the foster care system Elena had mostly found herself In the worst of worst situations. And as a result she knew to always trust her street smart gut that steered her clear of most men.

"Hey" the sound of the guards voice boomed behind her within seconds of getting off the ground and Elena jumped into action slightly shoving the blue eyed man in front of the guard.

After successfully making it out of the train station without being arrested Elena headed for the nearest pay phone. Dialling the number Elena prayed Tyler still religiously kept his old burner phone.

Tyler was a kid who ended up in the same foster home as her and she taught him how to live on the streets when they ran away. It was his first time in the system, his dad died and the two got along okay. If Elena hadn't of spent most of her teenage years around violence she might have been scared of Tyler's temper, the kid was an angry teen.

On the sixth ring Elena was about to hang up when his wary voice sounded through the phone "Who is this?" He barked knowing he never gave out this number to strangers but he didn't recognise the caller

"Ty" Elena let out an anxious breath. She wasn't entirely sure this was a good idea but what other choice did she have? She just hoped he remembered her. "You still in the NY?" She asked him hearing a chuckle on the other end. "Yeah...you round?" his smug voice sounded through the phone "Yeah" Elena confirmed and after a slight pause she got to the point of why she called him "I need a place to crash"

There was a minute of silence that followed and she had to check he didn't hang up on her. Elena was about to ask if he was still there when she heard him rattle off an address and a few directions to get to his place.

God was she was relieved when she knocked on the door and he answered quickly pulling her into a hug. Tyler and her had only known each other for a few months but she taught him how to survive on his own. He was a few years older than her but his dad had been wealthy and had provided him a stable life; a life that dies alongside his dad. To say he had a few adjustment issues in the beginning was a serious understatement.

"It's good seeing you" she smiled and walked into his apartment checking the place out and looking around. It was a small apartment with one bedroom and a kitchen. Off to the side it had a small bathroom and a lounge room that currently had a mattress laying on the floor. The place smelt like crack but was relatively clean.

"Thanks for this" she turned back to him and he smiled at her again before going into light conversation about where they had been these past few years. Neither were ones to open up to people, but between all foster kids it was like you all could share that slight bit more.

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