The homeless boy woke up to the sound of revolting screams of agony. This was his life now. A man a couple beds down had just woken up puking on to the ground, no one attempted to intervene the situation. Dart sat himself straight staring, then he calmly tucked in his earbuds - listening to another struggling reality.

Mr. Radioman through the earbuds: The Governor's projects in the south have begun. Expected completion date is in the summer; while the west is still planned to be completed late January. Traffic is increasing beside the percentage of pollution due to the construction, to which the governor responds with his, "this is only a phase" speech. Though the people say the destruction is getting out of hand-

"I know already," Dart huffed before exiting the building.

Chapter 13

Part 1

Here we go Again

I should probably get my other stuff while I still can. The clothes Panda got me are still in my room and I don't want those to go to waste. The weather is also getting shaky, I'll thank myself later when the time comes for layers and layers. Now to carry all of that... I could probably get myself one of those shopping carts- oh but then, the churches won't allow me in for the night. Man I feel like I'm just putting down any hope I bring up. My mind's been doing that a lot lately, I'd try to convince one side, yet only to be convinced into another idea. What a useless pain.

My locker is a possible option to stash my stuff, I just don't know if it'll be enough... Ha. There I go again constantly changing my mind. I find myself sighing, "my head is just all over the place."

For right now Dart, just do; don't over think anything. Alright? Alright.

The first bell doesn't ring until 7:30 which gives me a little less than two hours. That should be enough time to drop by my house, settle down, and prep. My body was stiff walking through the pinching low wind and the morning clouds were heavy. The weather had lost it's warmth, though the cold was bearable so I continue to walk through this miserable- no, daily life of James Pit Icarus. In the end I guess it was always like this, not much has changed.

"I'm really alone…" I sigh and you're probably wondering why I'm still going. What is the reason for me to struggle? To keep my sanity? What's my reason to live?

Pandora
Phosphora
Ashe

:O :O :O

Aaaand we meet again, stupid tall fence. Just like last time I look over my shoulder before climbing, and as I land I noticed the machines coughing in the distance. "Caution Dart…" I whispered to myself and hid behind a stack of wood planks. There I plan my route to my apartment and my escape if anything goes bad. From my view, I pointed out a weak point in the fence; the weaved metal was torn from the pole just enough for someone like me to get through. "As for the path to my stuff…" Lucky for me, a lot more trucks arrived from last time and I should be able to sneak my way across. If anything I could hide under the thing and behind one of the huge wheels. "For the stuff, for the stuff, for the stuff…" I repeat the little encouragement, counting down till my senses kick in.

I run from my spot behind the planks to the closest truck. Though my steps were swift and powerful as they should be, my body felt different. It was strange but right now isn't the time to be worrying about that. As soon as a group of workers chat themselves away, I make my move to the next truck. This time I had to go under as another jogs towards to haul something off the vehicle. I listen until I run again. As I make it to the stairs, I just hope the day's in my favor and no one looks this way. Only grabbing what is necessary, I stuff my clothes, hygiene needs and knicks from my room into a lone garbage bag I picked up from the kitchen. Then I exit breathing heavy, trying to calm the nerves that're trying to get the best of me. This is nothing to be scared of.

"HEY KID!" I hear as I make the last step down. Looking up I see a few workers stop what they're doing and look. One in particular begins to make his way over - he's not at all happy. "What're you doing thief?"

Just that last word gets to me, thief? Are you joking right now? I look back at my apartment for a final goodbye then, "You've cornered the poor and left me homeless, yet you call me thief?" I say and break into a full out sprint to the weak point. The garbage bag weighs me down and voices yell after me, my heart's pumping and my anger feeds my energy. The weak point was smaller than what I perceived; the bag took a big kick for the thing to go through. And as I crawled through the tight space, my arm scrapes over the broken fence, the sharp torn metal slicing into my arm. "Teh!" I hiss a breath out but push pass the stupid thing. I don't think about anything else, I just run for the park.

:O :O :O

Oh this is great, perfect. Here I am breathless at the park, sitting on a bench bleeding out. It's early and there's no one here for miles! I don't- "Er, you alright son?" The voice is old and echos through the open sky.

I jump and clenched my beating arm, there was a man sitting on the bench across from me. I didn't even notice him until now, mistaken the guy for a statue or something. "What?" I pant out, then watch as he steadily makes his way over.

"Your er, arm there," the man chews on something as he speaks, by his attire I can tell he's homeless too. Holed socks for gloves, a dirty sweater under a thin coat; one his boots are missing laces, and the man carries a backpack over his shoulder. He kneeled by me and pulled out a roll of... Duct tape? He beckons with a hand, a face knowing he had done something similar before. I hand over my arm and grit my teeth. The man rips a length off the duct tape roll and wraps my arm with it. Once he's done, he nods in approve. Me on the other end, I say nothing- I just stare at my duct tape arm.

The man notices my stuffed garbage bag, "er you still steal that son?"

Giving up already, I too lean back on the bench casually stating, "it's mine."

"Ah," he says in understandment. "If I had a quarter for every time someone said that to me... I'd have, one, quarter." Then he winks.

"You're crazy."

"Aren't we all?" He laughs with his white whiskers.

And we sit in silence enjoying the breeze.

:O :O :O

I think I'm about an hour and half early to school. The doors were open with some early bird teachers roaming the halls but other than that, basically no one. First things first, I go to to my locker and arrange everything. Thank the goddesses no one saw me, it would be a little difficult to explain. I folded all of my pants and stacked them at the bottom; huh, pretty neat considering I don't fold my clothes at home heh. It doesn't matter if hoodies are wrinkly and sweat pants barely even show it. Anyways I put all my bathroom gear on the single shelf on top and hang my hoodies on the hooks. Everything practically filled my locker to the edge. Woo at least it fit.

Grabbing a set of clothes plus my bathroom stuff, I head over to the athletic department and into the boy's locker room. I don't think anyone used the showered- like why the heck does a middle school even need one? Well whatever. I carefully unwrap the tape and endure the pain washing out the blood then clean the rest of me. I replace the tape with paper towels, just temporary till I go the the nurse's office once the bell rings.

By the time I was already pulling over my hoodie, I hear a ringtone.

"Hey idiot pick up the phone... hey idiot pick up the phone... hey idiot pick up the phone..."

End

"I hope I can find her."