Nomad 101 (Completed)

Chapter 4

The support for this story has been amazing! It's making me a little nervous now. Just a little. Thank you for all the lovely comments. During NaNoWriMo I was in a love/hate relationship with this story but I'm slowly starting to love it again because of you guys! Here is the next chapter, let me know what you think.

I would also like to point out that I did do research on homelessness to make this as real as possible, but I still took liberties of it being a fiction story, like statistics. Those are made up.

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**| Sang's POV |**

The boys talked among themselves as they followed me to the library. We were only about a ten-minute walk from it. I didn't bother trying to listen in since I had no intention of talking to them. I didn't like to talk as a general rule. I was too awkward, never knowing what to say or how to respond, and talking also opened up to questions I didn't want to answer.

I was also distracted, my eyes flickering around, looking for signs of Jade. I wouldn't put it past her to go find Rocky or to bring others for a little payback. She's been known for ganging up on others, mostly women. She thought herself the queen of the streets and any other female was seen as beneath her.

We stopped at a crosswalk and I ignored the homeless man sitting at the corner, holding up a sign asking for money to buy food. I noticed the boys staring at him. I briefly wondered what kind of bubble they lived in if they weren't even aware of the homeless problem in Charleston despite there being over five thousand people without a home and only thirty percent of them sheltered.

"Stop," I said.

They turned to me, the weight of their gaze settling heavily on my shoulders.

I let out a small sigh. "He isn't going to use any money for food," I whispered, not wanting him to hear me. "He's going to use it to buy alcohol. He has a sad sob story and it'll stay sad until he's ready to get clean and move forward." And maybe be able to see his little boy again some day.

I tucked my hands into the pockets of my faded jeans to hide their shaking. Having three people focused on me was a little too much. I was used to being unseen.

The light signaled us to walk and I practically ran across the street. We went up two blocks before I circled around the huge building until we reached the entrance.

"What are we doing at the library?" Luke asked.

I smiled at him. "Learning. I don't know about you, but I left before I could finish high school. Public libraries are the best source and it's is free education."

They just stared at me like I sprouted a second head. "And how does that help you survive?" Marc asked.

"Well, it can keep you off the streets during the day and you can learn new skills to help you find a job. I don't plan on staying on the streets for the rest of my life."

I walked in and smiled at the librarian. She smiled at me but it turned down when she saw the three behind me. She knew well enough to know I didn't bring others here with me.

"They are here for tutoring too," I said.

She just raised a brow before a little kid came up to her with a big picture book he wanted. While she was distracted, I led them inside and towards the area where I wait for Wil. I grabbed the usual table, knowing Wil would be here any moment. He had a class that ended about half an hour ago and he needed extra time to get here from across the city.

I settled down and the three boys sat down around me.

I leaned back, staring at them, taking them in and watching how they acted.