Walking out of the vast woods, a bright light shone in my eyes. It quickly passed after a couple seconds, but it was just a car. I thought for a minute, what would I have done if it was a flashlight. I grabbed ahold of Ami's and Melli's soft small hands and looked side to side to see if any cars were coming. When we saw no sight of them, we quickly ran across the road. Looking for an area to sleep, I saw a couple of figures wondering through the woods as well. You could hear the sirens of the police from miles away, and sweat ran throughout my body as I tried to figure out an escape plan. The figures moved from tree to tree as if they were searching for something. The girls and I ran swiftly to a large tree where they probably would not look. I glanced behind the tree to see who the figures were. They were people who I would not have expected to be out this late in the woods. It was a group of boys, varying from young to young adult. One of the boys wore a black leather jacket and wore a chain with a shark tooth around his neck. He had slicked back black hair and had the greenest eyes imaginable, they were beautiful. He looked around the age of seventeen. Another boy around the age of fourteen, wore an armhole black shirt, and had a black buzz cut. His eyes were blue like the sky during the afternoon,and he had a serious look about him. One of the smaller boys, around eleven, wore a regular white t-shirt, and had longish brown hair. He didn't resemble most of the other boys. He looked like he would've been one of our brothers, with his hazel eyes. The last boy was quite young, he looked the age of ten and wore a jacket. He had big brown eyes and shaggy black hair. He was a little cutey in his small little outfit. Trying not to be seen I shifted my head towards Ami and rested my head on hers. I quickly fell into a deep sleep. Night passed in the wink of an eye. The sun was now rising and you could see the natural beauty of it. Reds, yellows, and oranges, bursted from the sun making it look like a painting. The boys were asleep, each boy's head were on the other, it was adorable. I woke up the girls and we went on our way. I pulled them to the side of the road and told them my plan. " Okay you guys understand?"

" Yeah, we pretend to be boys, so we can become friends with those boys, and yeah," Kari said in an obnoxious attitude.

" Thanks for the attitude, Kari," I said slapping her on her head.

" Anytime, sis."

We saw a men's store and quickly ran into it without being seen. It was a hard thing to do with everyone walking around. We grabbed a bag, and quickly stuffed a bunch of clothes in it, men's clothes. Though the fit was loose, it would have to do. Ami, Kari, and Melli, all pulled it off easily, but me, I still looked a bit feminine. Which would probably be a problem, but since some boys look a bit feminine, I guess it wasn't a problem. We then walked out of the store looking as if nothing had happened. We walked back to the woods to see the boys leaving. I kept walking towards them. " Okay, Melli, your name is now Mikey. Ami your name is now Alex. And Kari your name is now Keith. My name is now, Sam." I said looking at each of them.

Purposely bouncing into the boys, I said, " Sorry"

The oldest boy replied, " Its alright, just watch where you're going next time."

" You guys have a home?' I questioned.

" That's something we don't like to talk about!" the youngest boy screamed to my face.

" Calm down Jay!" the oldest boy yelled.

" No we don't got no home," a boy said looking at the floor.

" Why do you ask?" the oldest boy asked.

" Because we don't got a home either," I replied in a deep voice.

The oldest boy looked at me as if he felt sorry for us. He let out his hand and said, " Welcome to our group."

I shook his hands and said, " I'm Sam."

" I'm Aaron, this is Jesse, this younger fella is Zak, and the youngest one here is Hunter."

" Well, this is Mikey, the one right there is Alex, and the one standing with his arms folded over there is Keith."

" Nice to meet some kids, who don't got a home like us." Aaron smiled.

" Yeah, it is." I smiled back.

" Wow she is so hot!" Jesse said looking at one of the girls passing by.

" You like her?" Kari asked.

" Yeah, I do, but I don't think she'd fall for a greaser like me."

" I can get her to like you." Kari said smiling.

" Yeah right," Jesse said playing with a thin stick on the curb of the road.

" Hey, I'm Keith," Kari said putting her hand out to shake hers, " Nice to meet you, you may think that since I'm a greaser have no life, but I'm not a bad person and neither are my friends."

" I'm sorry but my father says I'm not allowed to talk to men like you," the young girl said walking away from Kari.

As Kari ran up to her she said, " That young boy over there has been itching to talk to you because he thinks you're so pretty like a sunset. But if you don't give him a chance, how will you ever find Mr. Right?"

" That's true, but how would I meet him. My father is always watching me." she replied.

" Meet us here tonight at 8, and you might find Mr. Right," Kari said smiling as she walked away.

" So.....?" Jesse said.

" She's coming here tonight! You might actually get her to be your girlfriend!" Kari yelled as she gave Jesse a high five.

" Thanks man!" Jesse smiled.

" What happened?" I asked.

" Your brother here got me a date," Jesse said, " he's amazing."

" I bet she...I mean he is," I said walking to the other group of boys.

" How did you guys become orphans?" Aaron asked.

" Long story," Melli said.

" We witnessed our mother getting beat by my father, I hesitated and I killed him, shot him straight through his head." I said.

" It's a time all of us would like to forget," Ami included.

" Sorry for asking," Aaron said rubbing me on the shoulder.

" It's alright, " I replied as I got up and walked away.

Aaron came racing towards me as if he wanted to be my friend. I slowed down so he could catch up with me. And when he did, he apologized. I told him it was alright and that I would like to know what happened to him, but it wasn't any of my business. But being one of my friends and all, he told me. " When I was five, my parents kicked me out because they didn't want me anymore. But my other brother's loved me alot so they joined me and we've been living on our own ever since. It hurts me knowing they didn't care for me, but I'm pretty sure they didn't want the others as well. I could tell by the way the treated us, they would beat us, and hardly give us anything to eat. It was like they didn't care for us."

" I'm sorry to hear that," I said, " is that younger boy, um Zak, your brother?"

" No, we found him like we found you, he was abandoned a few years ago." Aaron replied.

" Oh okay, just wondering," I said looking at him.

" Aaron!" Hunter screamed racing towards him, " Something's going on with Keith!"

" Kari?" I whispered. I'm coming sis, I thought to myself.

Kari was lying down on the hard cement, her head to the side, and her body straight. I leaned down to hear if her heart was sill beating, luckily it was. I got her up and layed her own the grass, it wasn't the softest thing, but it was softer than cement. I shook her and her eyes opened and stared at me. " Thank goodness!" I whispered to myself.

" what happened?" Kari asked rubbing her head.

" You fell.." Hunter said with a bit of nervousness in his eyes.

" Is that what really happened?" Aaron asked.

" Yeah, well I accidentally nudged her a bit, but that was it! I swear!" Hunter replied.

" Okay?" Aaron said.

" I'm going to the river to take a quick bath, be right back okay guys," I said as I looked at Aaron.

" Yeah, okay," Aaron replied looking back at me with suspicion in his eyes.

I walked slowly toward the river and kept looking back to see if anyone was watching me. I reached the lake and took my clothes off, piece by piece. The fresh air felt good on my bare ivory skin. I let my amber hair out and walked slowly into the cold water.

The water was calm and clear. You could see little fish swimming from rock to rock. I let myself float for a while but then lost my balance because of a rock I slipped on. My hands began swaying above the surface trying to get my self above the water. Bubbles came out of my mouth as I tried to scream for help. But then suddenly everything went black. I was lying down near a warm and crisp fire with a soft cotton blanket on me. I struggled to open my eyes, but when I did, I saw Kari. My eyes opened wide and a bit of fear slowly crept up my cold wet skin. " Sami, you know you can't swim." I was speechless, no words entered my mind, or came out of my mouth. I wrapped my body in the blanket. My legs were shaking and my amber hair covered my face. " I'm sorry."

Kari then sat on a log near the fire and said angrily, " What if one of the boys heard your scream, they would obviously find out you were a girl."

" I Know," I said still traumatized, " I'm sorry."

" I know you are, you just gotta be a little more careful, ok sis."

" Ok," I said breathless, " Thanks Kari."

Struggling to get up, I picked up my clothes, put it on, and tied my hair up. Why do men's clothing have to be so baggy and loose, I thought to myself. I then started to walk back to the group of boys. I took a second to look at the moon, it was the most beautiful thing in the world, whenever I look at it, I remember Mama. Even though she never shined to Papa, she was always shining in my eyes. The group was sitting in a circle and a large fire stood in the middle. Aaron was siting next to Melli, Melli was next to Zak, and next to Zak was Hunter, then came Keith, and then Jesse, next to him was Alex. I plopped myself in between Aaron and Alex, because it was the only spot available. Aaron looked at me for a few seconds and then turned his head to Jesse. " Hey Jesse, don't you gotta meet that girl tonight at the men's store?" Aaron asked Jesse.

" Oh man!" Jesse said as he slammed his soda pop to the ground, " Yeah I do, now I gotta run to make it there."

Jesse got up, put his jacket on, and then started to run as if he was in a marathon or something. After Jesse left, the group started to tell jokes and laugh, but when they were doing that I was thinking about how we were supposed to live while we were on the run from the police. So may thoughts ran through my mind. But before I knew it, I was asleep. A few hours passed and I got up slowly. I yawned then looked around to see if Jesse was back, but he wasn't. I walked over to Aaron and screamed in his ear, " WAKE UP, Jesse's missing."

I was surprised it didn't wake the whole gang up, but Aaron woke up and groaned, " What do you want now?"

" Well, Jesse's missing," I replied as I looked through the woods to see if I saw him.

" That kid is going to get himself in so much trouble one day," Aaron said as he got up.

I woke the girls and Aaron woke up the boys. " What's going on?" Hunter asked.

" Jesse's missing." Aaron replied.

" Again?" Zak questioned.

" Again," Aaron said as he rolled his eyes and sighed.

" Maybe we should look by the men's store, where the girl was supposed to meet him," Kari stated.

" Good idea," I said.

We then went on our way to find Jesse. When we reached the store, a whole group of people surrounded it. " What the heck is going on?" Aaron asked.

" Looks like bro got himself in a fight again," Zak shook his head.

" Yeah and it looks like he's losing!" Hunter laughed.

Aaron then walked through the crowd, and jumped into the fight. He swung his fist hitting the elder man hard and maybe knocking some teeth out. The man pushed Jesse to the ground and knocked him out. Jesse's face was covered in blood, his mouth was busted up badly and scars were left on his knuckles. Aaron finished the man off by punching him three times in a row and then pushing him to the ground. My only guess was that the man was the young girl's father. " What are all of you people staring at!" Aaron said as he wiped blood from his mouth, " Go AWAY!"

He then went to see if Jesse was alright, but he was scarcely breathing. I helped Aaron and the boys lift him up and we carried him back to the woods. I sent Ami to fetch a bucket of water from the river. And I told Melli to rip Peirce of her clothes for me. When Ami came back with the water, I wet the Peirce of cloth from Melli's clothes and cleaned up Jesse's face. Aaron got a spoon and took some of the water and shoved it down Jesse's throat. " Aaron, he's your brother, be a little more gentle," I said.

" Gentle?" Aaron asked, " Jesse's always picking fights. And the thing is, he always loses."

Jesse slowly opened his eyes and said, " What's going on?"

" You lost bro, Aaron finished the guy for you," Hunter said.

" Who was he?" Zak added.

" The girl's father. She showed but he showed with her," Jesse said, " He threw the first punch, not me!"

" I believe you. Just be a little more cautious of what you do," Aaron replied.

" Yeah, trust me, I will."

As the group was leaving, I heard the sound of sirens. But that wasn't the only problem, blood was gushing out from Aaron's stomach.