Change // H.S.

1. Don't We All?

Note: This may be a boring chapter because Harry's not in it but please keep reading! It gets better. Harry will make an appearance in the next chapter. :)

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January. Five months earlier.

*Dani's POV*

I looked at the time on my watch. It was 8:20 AM.

Perfect, I thought to myself. My first class doesn't start until 9:30. I have enough time. I walked through the door of McDonald's and went up to the cashier. The cashier greeted me with a smile.

"Hi, what can I get you?" the cashier asked.

"Hi," I answered. "I'd like to order ten Egg McMuffins to go, please."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah."

"Your total is $30.55 including tax." I took out my credit card and handed it to the cashier. She reluctantly took it and swiped my card. "Thank you. You are order number 137."

After receiving my order, I quickly walked towards campus. I am a senior here at the University of Washington and today is the first day of Winter Quarter. The streets are busy. Students are out and about and traffic is moving slowly. I turned to walk down NE 45th Street and saw up ahead two sleeping bags under a tree by the bus stop. I walked towards the homeless people and looked at them. The two homeless men were sleeping peacefully despite their circumstances. It's a shame they have to sleep out here in this cold, dreary weather. I silently placed two Egg McMuffins next to each man. They shuffled in their sleep but didn't wake up. I smiled at them and quickly walked away. A few students waiting at the bus stop gave me weird looks but I ignored them and kept walking.

After ten minutes of walking, I finally reached The Ave (a street). Some stores were open but others weren't. I scanned the front doors of closed shops looking for homeless people. I finally spotted a woman I recognized and quickly walked up to her.

"Lisa," I said softly, shaking her gently. Lisa opened her eyes in shock but calmed down once she saw it was me. I can already see that she's tearing up. "I brought breakfast." I pulled out two Egg McMuffins and handed them to Lisa. Lisa sat up and took the breakfast sandwiches.

"Thank you! I can't thank you enough for what you do for me," she said. The tears were now spilling down her cheeks and I couldn't help but cry myself. Lisa is a 48-year-old homeless woman. She moved to Seattle to follow her husband after marriage. She thought all was well but quickly learned that her husband was not the Prince Charming she thought he was. Shortly after marriage, her husband lost his job and they got kicked out of their apartment because they couldn't pay rent. He became angry at his bad luck and turned to drinking and abusing his wife to deal with the pain. He abused Lisa to the point she had to run away. She doesn't have enough money to go home. Even if she did, she had no home to go to. Her family cut ties with her when she married "Prince Charming" against her parents' wishes.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. I constantly tell her to go to the homeless shelter but she never listens.

"Yes, I'm fine. I have some money on me," she replies and smiles at me. I send her a disapproving look.

"Lisa, I told you to go to the homeless shelter. It's getting cold out here. I don't want you sleeping out here in the streets," I lecture her. She nods her head vigorously like a child.

"I will, I will. Don't worry about me." She says that to me every time. I give her a small smile.

"I need to get going if I want to make it to class on time," I tell her. "Promise me you'll visit the shelter today, okay?" She nods and I walk with heavy feet knowing she won't listen to my first class. Just as I'm about to cross the street, someone calls my name. I recognize the voice and turn around to face Josh. Josh is a homeless man in his late twenties. He's a sweet guy but there's something off about him that makes me uncomfortable. He makes enough to live on by selling drugs for his boss and he also has a crush on me...unfortunately. I never meant to lead him on! I just wanted to give him food. Josh runs up to me.

"How are you doing?" he asks me, out of breath.

"Good," I say flatly. I hope he notices I'm not in the mood for conversation. I fish out two Egg McMuffins and give it to him. He thanks me and puts them in his pockets.

"It's been two and a half weeks since I last saw you," he says.

"Yeah, I was on winter break. I remember telling you it'd be a while before you saw me again," I say. Josh looked down at his feet blushing.

"I missed you," he says shyly. I'm slightly taken aback by what he said. I don't know how to respond.

"Same," I manage to say, shuffling my feet nervously. "I need to go or else I'll be late for class. I'll see you tomorrow?" I look at him and his face brightens up at the phrase 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he says, blushing. "I'll see you tomorrow." After that, I walk to class, barely making it on time. I make my way towards the front of the room and find my good friend Rachel.

"Hi," I said breathlessly. I dropped my bag on the table and quickly took out my notebook and pen. Rachel looked up at me.

"I thought you slept in," she grinned. Rachel and I are both Psychology majors. I have only known her for two quarters but we get along really well. "What's that?" I realize she's talking about my giant McDonald's bag.

"Oh, breakfast. Want one?" I ask and hand her an Egg McMuffin. She opens it up and takes a bite.

"Thanks! I didn't have time for breakfast today. Why did they give you a big bag? Did you order a lot of food?"

"Yeah. I like to order a bunch of Egg McMuffins and give them to homeless people in the morning." Rachel gasped and her eyes widened in shock.

"I had no idea. That's very nice of you."

"Thanks," I said, blushing. "I've always wanted to make a difference in people's lives. It hurts me to see homeless people in the streets, hungry and cold. I wish I could help them all."

Rachel gave me a sad smile. "Don't we all?" she said to me just as class began.

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