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I officially got up in morning at 6:30, showered, brushed and straightened my hair, said hello to Sam, ate my breakfast, got dressed, put my contacts in, brushed my teeth, cleaned my braces, and then waited by the door for Sam. Typically, I aim for being at school by 7:45 and in class by 8:00.

"Please, don't make me go! There's only one week of school left and I need a break." I begged Sam as I waited for her to put her shoes on. Even for me, that was a reach. I may be 18, but technically, I still have to abide by Sam's rules.

"Be quiet, Dan and Phil are sleeping."

"Fine, I guess I'll just go be sad at school then," I said as I raced her to the car.

While she drove me to my school, I kept thinking about how I was going to ask her if I could stay at my mom's house.

"Hey, um…" I started. She gave me a sideways glance before focusing herself back onto the road. "How do you feel about me staying back at my mom's house for a week or two?" The muscles in Sam's face tightened as I spoke.

"I don't know, Kaya. You have finals and you're going to need to concentrate to study." I made the point of Dan and Phil staying and being a distraction. While we were stopped at a red light, she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "It's not like they're going to be equal to six teenagers under the same roof, plus a constantly drunk mom. There's a reason you don't live there. If you needed some quiet time, I'm sure that Dan and Phil would either be quiet or leave, and I can't say the same for your brothers and sisters. I can't control what you do anymore, but I really don't think it's a good idea for you to stay there."

After arriving at school, almost exactly at 7:45, I went straight to my locker, exchanged my bag for my first class books, and went to go find my friends and hang out with them while we wait for class to start.

I've always hated being one of the oldest people in my grade. I'm almost 19, but most people are 17, and some just turned 18. I may be almost two years older than everyone else and they expect me be the more mature or to buy cigarettes for them. I started kindergarten a year later than everyone else because my language skills still needed work, that's it.

–-

"Hey, Kaya," Marcelo said after class as I switched out my books. He was speaking quietly, which meant we had to keep whatever he wanted a secret. "Wanna leave after third? We're going to Colina Nevada."

Colina Nevada is another smaller town only ten minutes away from Vela Ensenada.

"I dunno if I can. I'm already skating on thin ice from the last time I got caught," I said quietly.

"We'll be extra careful this time, I promise. If you wanna go, meet us at the usual spot. I'll keep them waiting for three minutes for you before we leave," he said in a low voice before walking away.

Third hour seemed to drag on and on, even though it's literally the shortest class of the day. In addition, third hour is my government class, which is my favorite. Yet the class still seemed to never end. But when it did, I jogged as fast as the teachers would let me, dumped my books at the bottom of my locker, and started running down the hallway until I finally reached the basement.

"So look who's joined the dark side," Terrell said as I descended the stairs.

"Shut up, I've been skipping class since before you were born," I said.

Esperanza loudly chewed her gum as she opened the door to our temporary freedom.

We all piled into Terrell's car parked a few blocks away from the school and drove until we reached the next town.

Dan

"Hey," Phil said as he shook me awake, "Sam is taking us to the 'mall' about ten minutes away. Wanna come?"

I mumbled out a sleepy response before throwing the covers over my head and falling back asleep for another five minutes. After a bit, I finally woke up and started getting ready.

Phil and Sam were chatting away as we walked along the busy street. I wasn't much into their conversation; I was more into looking around at the new environment. I was just a tag along.

I was fumbling around with my phone just to seem cool (despite my phone not working here in America, but nobody has to know), when somebody bumped into me which caused the phone to fall out of my hands and slide. I was about to pick it up when some guy in a fancy suit talking on his own phone kicked it away and it slid even further away.

When I finally got my phone back, I stood up and Sam and Phil were nowhere to be seen.

Oh God.

I'm in an unfamiliar town, no idea where the hell I am, and I'm lost. I have no idea how to get home or who to go to for help.

After doing a quick look-around, I started pacing between all the streets that branch off from this one. No sign of either of them. Maybe they're in one of the shops?

"Hi," I said to the grumpy shopkeeper. "Have you seen a British boy, my height, dark hair, pale, with an American girl with black hair and glasses."

"No. There's no loitering," the grey-haired man said, pointing towards the door. I'm not loitering but whatever, old man.

I tried a few more futile attempts at finding them in a few other shops. I sat down on a bench next to a fountain when I heard my name being called.

"Dan?" I heard a familiar voice say behind me. I turned around only to see Kaya. Her dark brown hair started to blow around in the wind, but she quickly controlled it by putting her hair into a ponytail.

Like most people, Kaya is shorter than me. I typically tower over most people, though, so this isn't a surprise. Her hair also isn't much darker than mine, and even our eyes are similar colours, except her eyes were prettier. Those long eyelashes lined her eyes which had a sparkle to them when she smiled.

"Oh my God, you don't know how glad I am to see you! I can't find Sam and Phil and I have no idea where I am and I don't know who to ask for help. You have to hel- wait, aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"School is for squares!" I just stared at her while she looked up at me with her big brown eyes. "Please don't tell Sam; she'll be so mad."

"Are you out here alone? You shouldn't be walking around the city by yourself. It's not safe for a young lady such as yourself."

"I'm here with some friends, but I can't find them." She paused for a moment. I couldn't tell if she wanted me to respond or if she was waiting for something to say next. "Do you wanna go somewhere? Maybe we'll see Sam and Phil on the way."

"Sure," I said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

She then took my arm and began pulling down the streets. My palms started to sweat. Not only because of the Southern Californian heat, but Kaya's soft hand in mine erupted butterflies in my stomach. We weaved in and out of pedestrians as we started to leave the "down town" area and into the suburbs. Eventually, we came to this small coffee shop right outside of the busyness of the actual city. As we walked in, the warm coffee bean-scented air hit my face. I hid my face from Kaya as I tried not to think about her. She loved coffee. Everything from her house to her clothes smelled like coffee.

"Are you okay?" Kaya asked. I nodded my head as we waited behind somebody in the queue.

Books from nearly every genre lined the pale walls. Every single one of those books had cracks in the spine from being read so much. On some books, the spine was so bent that the title wasn't recognizable. While we waited in line, I pulled down one of those beloved books to look at the front. The colouring on the cover barely resembled what the beautiful art once looked like; somebody had left this book in the sun for quite some time. I flipped the book open to the first page- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I imagined somebody sat down with Harry Potter and reading it for hours on end until the final page only to turn to the first page and start all over to experience the same euphoria all over again. I wondered to myself why this book was so damaged. Was this book the reader's escape from their home environment? Or maybe there's no deep story and it's a heavily used book from going to each reader.

I pulled down another broken-spine book from the shelf- Animal Farm by George Orwell. Then I pulled down another and another and another… Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, 1984, The Brother's Grimm, Fahrenheit 451, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Invisible Man, Native Son…

As we walked up to the counter, Kaya had a book clutched closely to her chest. The back cover was facing towards me, so I couldn't see the title.

"Hello, welcome to Juniper's, what can I get for you?" the barista said. Kaya stared at the menu and set down her book. There, I got a good look at the title. Vergeen: A Survivor of the Armenian Genocide by Mae Derdarian.

"Just this book, a mocha frappe, and whatever he wants," Kaya said.

She insisted on paying for me, but I insisted on paying for myself as well as her. Finally, she stopped protesting and folded her arms in defeat. Although, I don't see why she's all worked up about this. Most people don't turn down free stuff.