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Chapter 1: The one with the meeting

Intro (a/n): What up y'all. It's me - the author. I'd just like to give a few notes on the story before we begin:

1) This is my first book so I apologise for any awful writing.

2) My publishing might be a bit random, so don't worry if I don't publish for a while. I'll just be working on the next chapter.

3) The first few chapters are really slow, but keep reading; it gets better!

4) Generally ignore my punctuation. It takes FOREVER to correct every little mistake.

5) If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment etc.

Enjoy!!

Saturday 30th August.

Alex pov

It was cold. I pulled my jacket up to my neck and breathed in the weird hand-me-down smell. I stuffed my hands into my pocket and squinted around as best I could in the dim streetlights. I was lost. Undeniably lost and nothing I could do would make that any less so.

I checked my watch. It was late. I had no idea where I was or where I was going; when I ran away, I didn't exactly make a game plan.

The 'Children's hospice' was what they called the depressing, grey shack that sat at the end of a road in the darkest part of town. That was where I had run away from, but I doubted the staff cared very much that I was gone.

The hospice was such a low budget place that everything I owned was over 20 years old, including my scratched nokia brick that had just run dead. Frustrated, I flung it into the nearest gutter and slumped down on a bench.

An old man walked up to me. "Are you alright, son?"

"I'm fine." I grumbled.

"If you say so." He shrugged, dropping five dollars into my hand. I didn't protest.

I scanned the area, searching for anywhere that I might find some more money, when I saw a café. There was a posh-looking young woman smoking outside.

"Do you have any spare change?" I asked her, trying to look as poor as I could.

"Ew!" She cried and trotted off. I huffed in disappointment.

Then I noticed her phone lying on the bench. "Miss, you left your..." She was gone.

I picked it up. Examined it. It was nice. I turned it on.

Passcode required.

I tried the first thing that came to my mind: 1234. The screen lit up.

"You're kidding!" I murmured in amazement. I was about to put it in my pocket, when reason hit me.

'That's stealing.' I thought. After a second, I thought of a loophole to my crimes. '...Well...she did leave it here...It's not really stealing.'

And so I deleted her contacts, turned off her tracker and memorized her number. I was desperate, okay?!

My stomach rumbled. I looked into the warm café.

'It would be good to get food for once' I thought, wandering inside. It was quiet. I never liked the quiet before.

I walked up to the front nervously - I felt like everyone in there knew what I had just done. I didn't want to attract attention. A mop of frizzy brown hair was asleep on the counter.

"Um..excuse me," I said nervously, looking about me. I wanted to wake him, but I was afraid he'd know I stole or something stupid like that, so I mumbled as quietly as possible. It was pointless. He didn't move.