The Homeless Boy

four.

  It was even colder than the day before.

  Earlier, he had tried to find some type of clothing or a long cloth in the dumpsters. But all he found was a sweater with moth holes. He wore it anyway.

  Anything was better than nothing.

He curled into a ball, using his blanket as a barrier against the freezing air. Closing his eyes, he tried to remind himself to keep breathing. No matter how much it pained him to.

A familiar sound filled his ears but he was too cold to look. The sound became louder and sped up. It seemed to be coming towards him.

"Oh, no. Are you okay?"

His eyes opened immediately when he recognized her voice. "Uh, yes. I...yeah, yeah."

  "No, you're not, " she took off her furry white coat and put it over his shoulders. Her fingertips grazed his cheek; she gasped. "You're freezing. We have to get you inside."

  She helped him up and lead him to a small cafe across the street. He tried to stop her, return her coat but she insisted he wear it. Her red velvet, long sleeved, dress felt warm enough so, he gave in.

  Once they entered the cafe, he immediately felt out of place. There were only three or four people but they all wore nice clothing and looked like decent. While he had been wearing the same pair of jeans for more than a year.

  "I'm going to buy you something warm. Coffee or hot chocolate?" she asked him as she pulled out her wallet from her white clutch.

  "You really don't have to..." he trailed off but she shook her head vigorously.

  "No, I insist. Besides, I haven't had hot chocolate for months."

  He chuckled lightly, nodding. "Okay. Hot chocolate, please."

After a minute or two, she brought over the hot chocolates and set one of them in front of him. He tried his best to drink it slowly to not appear bad mannered but he desperately needed the warmth.

"Good, right?" she smiled at him. "This place has the best hot chocolate, I swear. I've always wanted to invest in it. Hopefully, one day I will."

"Well, I don't know anything about investments but judging from this hot chocolate, I'd say it'd be a pretty good one."

She let out a joyous laugh and he couldn't resist joining her.

Then, the air around them seemed to become tighter as she formed the question he had long been expecting. "Why are you out on the street?"

"It's complicated. But long story short: I lost all of my money and everything that came with it, " he sighed, staring down at his steaming mug.

"What about family? Friends? There isn't anyone you can stay with?" she furrowed her eyebrows with worry.

"No, " he whispered. She wanted him to explain but once she noticed the sadness in his eyes, she decided to change the subject.

"I'm kind of hungry. Want to share an apple pie?"

He smiled softly and nodded.

As he watched her ordering the food, a strange feeling built up in his stomach. Perhaps it was hunger but something deep down inside him told him otherwise.

Whatever he felt was way better than hunger.