Chapter 2: Sadie

Mindy cried and cried and couldn't stop. She had never felt so alone before. Suddenly, she heard someone step in front of her.

"Hey," a voice said.

Mindy's sobs subsided. "Who are you?" she asked the stranger.

"The name's Sadie," the girl answered. Mindy could tell it was a girl by the way she looked.

She had blonde hair, like Mindy, but lighter and longer, flowing all the way down her back. Her eyes were a light blue. She looked to be about 13, a year older then Mindy, tall and thin and beautiful.

She wore on her body a t-shirt with a sleeveless jean jacket, and also an extremely short pair of shorts.

Sadie held her right hand out to Mindy, either to shake Mindy's, or to help her up (Mindy didn't know which).

"Who are you?" Sadie asked.

Mindy hesitated a bit before answering. "Mindy. Mindy Harris."

Mindy took Sadie's hand and Sadie helped her up.

"Nice to meet you, Mindy," said Sadie.

"You too," Mindy replied.

There was a moment of silent awkwardness between the two girls. Then Sadie couldn't put up with it anymore, and got another conversation rolling with Mindy by asking, "So, Mindy, how'd you end up out here with those bags and everything?"

Mindy told Sadie everything that had happened that night and was in tears again by the time she finished. Sadie paused. She looked saddened, as if she were remembering something painful for a moment. Then she spoke.

"Oh. Wow. I-I'm sorry that that happened to you."

Mindy felt guilty. She shouldn't have told Sadie all that stuff. It was obviously way too personal for Sadie to handle.

"I have a place where you can stay," Sadie said. "At least until you feel good enough to be on your own."

"Oh, you don't have to do that for me, Sadie," said Mindy.

"I know! I know!" Sadie said, and suddenly bounced back to her perky self that Mindy had met. "But I want to!"

"Well, okay..." Mindy said. "I guess I can stay for a few days."

"Great!" Sadie said happily. "Let's go!"

Mindy glanced back at her suitcase, hesitant to follow Sadie. What if she couldn't trust Sadie? What if this was all just a trick? Mindy couldn't risk being deceived into loving someone again.

Sadie stopped walking. She was several feet ahead of Mindy.

"Well, come on! The place ain't gonna wait for itself!" Sadie called.

Mindy decided to trust Sadie. She was silly to think this girl would ever try to hurt her. So Mindy picked up her bags and ran to catch up with Sadie, who ran down a dark alleyway until they reached a dumpster.

"I actually forgot to mention," Sadie said. "I live here."

In a dumpster? Mindy thought.

Sadie pushed the dumpster aside with all her might, revealing a small opening in the wall.

"Come on!" Sadie waved her arm to Mindy. They crawled through the opening, Mindy dragging her luggage behind her.

Sadie finally stopped, with Mindy close behind. Once she crawled in and stood up, Mindy looked around the place. It was an actual small room with a bed, a desk, an uncomfortable looking couch, and a small kitchen area.

"It's not much, really," Sadie said. "But it's usually enough to hold me over."

"It's actually really impressive," Mindy said.

"Thank you," Sadie replied.

Mindy set her luggage down and realized for the first time all night how tired she was. All the crying must have tired her out. She yawned and went to go sleep on the couch.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sadie asked.

"Well..." Mindy said, gesturing to the couch. "I'm the guest, so I figured I should-"

"Oh, take my bed," Sadie said.

"What? But it's-"

"I know it's my bed, but you're the one who was out in the rain," said Sadie.

"That's a good point, I guess," replied Mindy.

Sadie chuckled. Mindy got undressed.

"Oh, and don't worry about putting on your PJ's," Sadie added. "We usually like to laze around in our undies all day."

"What do you mean 'we?'" Mindy asked.

"Oh, my friend usually likes to come hang over here," Sadie replied.

"Oh," said Mindy. "Are they nice?"

"Yeah," said Sadie. "I think you'll like him."

"Okay," Mindy said, yawning again. She climbed into Sadie's bed and Sadie plopped down on the couch.

"Sadie, will I ever be happy again? Will I ever...heal from this...?" But before Mindy's question could be answered, she fell asleep.

The next day, Mindy woke up feeling well-rested and completely re-energized. She was still depressed from the previous night, but now she was ready for a new life with Sadie and whoever her friend was.

She sat up and stretched. Sadie, who had obviously been making breakfast, turned around and looked at Mindy.

"Hey, Mindy," Sadie said.

"Good morning, Sadie," Mindy replied, as she got out of bed and walked toward the small coffee table and sat down on one of the pillows used for chairs.

"Here," Sadie said, as she slid a plate of pancakes in front of Mindy. "I hope you like pancakes."

"Oh, I do!" Mindy exclaimed. She picked up her fork and knife and began to slice the large pancake into a smaller, individual piece.

"Hey, uh, Mindy?" Sadie asked as she sat down across from Mindy.

"Yeah?" Mindy replied with a mouthful of pancake.

"Remember that friend I told you about last night?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's coming over today."

Mindy stopped. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, baby!" Sadie said. "He should be here in about an hour."

Just then, someone pounded on the door and shouted, "Hey, yo, Sadie! Open up!"

"Already? Jesus, he's early!" said Sadie, as she got up and crawled through the opening. Mindy heard her push aside the dumpster and say, "Hey, Josh!"

Then she heard a deeper voice reply, "Heya, Sadie!" She heard a series of slapping hands doing what she could only assume was a secret handshake of some sort.

"Come on! I got someone I want you to meet!" Sadie said excitedly.

"Okay..." the voice said suspiciously. With that, Sadie reentered the room with a boy.

He was tall, and looked to be about 14. He had short, brown hair, and wore a blue t-shirt, gray jeans, and black converse.

"So, you wanted to introduce me to someone?" the boy asked.

His voice was deep and attractive. Mindy tried her best not to swoon.

"Oh yeah!" Sadie said. "Josh, this is Mindy. Mindy, Josh."

"Hiya Mindy!" said Josh.

"...Hi," Mindy replied shyly. Even she knew how pathetic she sounded.

"How'd you end up here with Sadie?" Josh asked. Mindy started to tell the story, and when it got to painful to continue, Sadie finished it for her. Mindy was grateful to have Sadie around when that happened.

"Wow, Mindy," Josh said when the girls finished. "That's intense."

"Yeah," Mindy replied sadly. Sadie prevented a painful silence by saying, "So, Josh, what's up?"

"Well, the police closed up my place, so I kinda need a place to crash for a while," Josh replied.

"No prob," said Sadie. "You know where the sleeping bag is."

"You're the best, Sadie!" said Josh.

"Aw, you're just saying that!" Sadie replied teasingly.

"Oh no, madam," said Josh, with a rather bad French accent. "You are magnificent!"

"Thanks, Josh," Sadie replied, and turned back to Mindy. "So, Mindy, if you're done with your breakfast, are you ready to PARTAY!?"

Minutes later, the three were dancing around like complete idiots in their underwear to dubstep. And Mindy enjoyed every single second of it.

Over the course of the next few months, Sadie taught Mindy all the tricks she at least knew on how to have a thicker skin to survive the coldness and harshness of the world. And even though some of the concepts were hard for Mindy to get at first, she eventually learned them. Mindy's crush on Josh also got bigger, too, especially when he had his shirt off, which was almost every second of every day. But whether she had a crush on Josh or not, Mindy was happy. She was happy to have such good friends who cared about her. And she was one of the happiest people in the world, she thought. At least...for now.