Adopted by Phan

Chapter 2

I climbed up onto the bottom floor windowsill and clambered up the brickwork that the house was made out of. I jumped up to the second floor window and pushed the window open, not touching the glass or anywhere near the glass to avoid leaving fingerprints. I pulled Mia and the other girl up through the window and pulled them away from the window as Jax pulled himself up.

He grinned at me and I looked around the room, it was a bedroom but it was pretty much empty so I assumed it was their guest bedroom. The door was open so I walked out into the corridor and looked down it, stepping carefully even though I was aware no one was in the house. Jax took the two girls downstairs to grab some food and I walked down the hallway, looking for bedrooms.

There were two, one for the young girl and one for the parents. I didn't find anything in the parents bedroom so I opened the door to the young girls bedroom. I was immediately overloaded with the colours blue and green, which the girl had apparently decided to base her room off, but she had gone a bit overboard with the colouring because everything, and I mean everything was either baby blue or mint green including the furniture, the duvet and sheets on her bed and everything else in between.

I opened her wardrobe and immediately spotted what I was looking for, the box of hand-me-downs. I always aimed for those sorts of things because people were less likely to notice anything from missing them if they hadn't had the chance to wear them yet or they were too small. I pulled the box out and carefully sorted through it, trying not to make a mess of the box as to not raise suspicion. I found a few things of interest including a thick black coat which I put on at once.

It fit perfectly so I decided to keep it, the nights were getting colder and the coat I had the previous year no longer fitted me and I had given it to someone else. There were also a decent pair of sneakers, they looked as though they had never been worn and they were my size as well. I tied the laces together and hung them around my neck, the shoes I was wearing at the time could go to someone else when I got back.

Most of the other clothes were dresses or skirts, nothing of my interest, until I reached the bottom of the box, where I found the jackpot. Jeans, track pants, shorts and t-shirts that were almost unused and in perfect condition were simply laying there, perfect for myself and the few other street girls whose clothes were wearing thin.

I took two pairs of jeans, one that was too small for me and the other too big to give to some of the others, three pairs of track pants, one for me and two for someone else, two pairs of shorts to be used in the summer and four t-shirts, all too big for me and granted, anyone else but we could get a lot of wear out of them. I packed the box back up with everything I hadn't taken and pushed it back into the closet, closing it carefully behind me.

I stuffed them into a cloth bag that was lying on the floor and ran back into the guest room with soft footsteps to see the other three all carrying bags of food. It wasn't enough to feed everyone but it would do for the night. I clambered out the window, dropping the haul onto the ground before helping the others out onto the solid ground.

I jumped the fence, motioning for everyone to split up and take the back roads, there was less chance of getting caught if we weren't together. I took one of the bags of food off Jax and lugged it over my shoulder, watching the others leave before I made any moves. We had made a pact to meet back at the house instead of the tree, it made a faster trip considering the tree was on the opposite side of the house.

Sticking to the shadows I slipped down the road, every now and again spotting the shadows of one of the girls or Jax ahead of me. There was only two people in sight, two quite tall guys wandering down the road at a slow pace but it didn't bother me. They were basically unaware that anything had happened, let alone what had happened.

Ahead of me there was a blood curdling scream and Mia bolted from the bushes followed by an older teenager in black clothing. I recognised him, it was one of the people we had cast out of our group because they had stolen food and clothing from the winter store but it hadn't stopped other people from trying. He started to chase Mia up the road towards me, shoving past the tow guys on the path before passing me.

Just as they ran past I stuck my foot out and tripped the guy; he went sprawling into the road and Mia turned and ran towards Jax and the other girl who were standing in the road. I ran alongside her, bolting past the two guys who yelled at us to stop. As we passed I saw more of their features in the light of the streetlight. One was pale and had black hair, and was wearing very bright and colourful clothing. The other was the total opposite with slightly tan skin, brown hair and black clothes.

"Ditch the plan, just run!" We all bolted, sprinting down the street with the wind blowing in our faces. We reached the house in record time, just under 3 minutes and threw everything in through the window before jumping in ourselves. We were greeted by silence and as we lay on the ground panting someone walked over and shut the window.

"Dear god what happened to you lot?" I could hear puffing and panting from the others but I groaned and rolled onto my front, groaning when one of the shoes dug into my boob. Beautiful image in know.

"One of the teens we kicked out jumped Mia in the bushes. He chased her down the street until I tripped him." There was silence until one of the older guys, who was about 25 clapped his hands.

"Right, let's prepare to eat!"