Homeless Love

The day was drab and quiet. Loretta Shale wrapped her thin black sweater around her shoulders tightly as she made her way down the high school’s steps. She held a folder in one hand, and her math test in the other. She had failed it, yet again.

To save it from being plucked away by the wind that was getting stronger by the minute, she tucked it into her folder carelessly. She wouldn’t have even shown her mom if it hadn’t been for her math teacher Mr. Alphorn. He had contacted her mom to suggest for the third time that year to hire a tutor. It was clear he wasn’t letting her off the hook. She dreaded showing her mother. She was sure to go off on some speech about it, lecturing her on how her grades not only affected her getting into a good college once she graduated, but also making it out of this town. Littleton was well, little. Even though Loretta had lived here for all seventeen years of her life, she was sure it was one of the smallest towns ever with its houses that all looked the same. The odd thing was, not as many people knew each other as one would expect. Most people minded their business, carrying on with their own lives. Sometimes it was lonely, not exactly a place one would want to spend forever.

A thumping of footsteps on the sidewalk made Loretta look over her shoulder. Her friend Marisol of ten years was running towards her, her red curly hair bouncing as the hungry breeze picked it up. Marisol was petite with her long face and thin frame, lean enough to make it look like the wind was about to knock her right over.

Marisol stopped directly in front of Loretta, her bag slung over her shoulder, grasping her math test in both of her hands so tightly that it creased the paper. She had a wide grin on her face.

“I passed! And no, you don’t have to tell me you failed, because I already know.”

Loretta rolled her eyes and walked around her. This was Marisol; always joking around. It was hard for her to take anything too seriously. They may have been totally different from each other, but they were the best of friends.

“C’mon Loretta. Why don’t you ask NerdLord to help you study for your next test?”

Marisol poked her in the side jokingly. She knew Loretta didn’t like the nerd of senior year. Sure, he was smart and kind, but he got on her nerves. It wasn’t as if Loretta was mean to him though. She was in fact one of the few that were nice to him, which was probably why he stalked her so much. His real name was Wilbert Landlord, and he had been transferred to senior year, even though he was supposed to be in the ninth grade. That’s how intelligent he was. And unfortunately, he liked Loretta; but she didn’t like him. She didn’t know who she liked. She had only had one other boyfriend in the past that she had dumped for just wanting to get in her pants, and a year later he had moved. It gave her enough time to forget about him.

“Hey,” Marisol stepped in front of her. “I know you’re not mad at me since you’re totally used to me shoving my victory in your face, but really, what’s up with you?”

Loretta shrugged glumly. “I’m just pissed with my grade. I mean, just because I’m in honors doesn’t mean I know how to do this crap. I should have transferred into regular math.”

“It’s your last year of high school. Who cares? Whatever college you apply to will see how good you are in all your other classes that they won’t even bother to look at your math score.”

Loretta shrugged again. The truth was she didn’t really care about her grade at the moment, or getting into a good college. What was really bothering her was the fact that the wind was tousling her long hair all over her face. She shoved her books into Marisol’s arms without asking and pulled out a hair tie. After tying her dark brown hair up into a ponytail, she took her books back and continued walking,

As they neared the end of the sidewalk, they both shared a quick hug. They lived on opposite sides of town, so this was the end of their walk home from school every day.

“See ya, weirdo,” Marisol said, leaving Loretta to wave. She made a right and turned onto Sea Lane where the street was canopied with weeping willows. As she came to the end of the walkway, she immediately spotted the library with its ancient brick building.

Ever since senior year began, which was only about two months ago, the library was the place Loretta would go to for some solitude and alone time. But it wasn’t as if she didn’t already get enough of that. Her mom worked from six in the morning through five in the afternoon, and her brother Dane, who was now twenty-five and had a life of his own, lived in his own house out of state. Loretta sometimes got bored of her place, and would stroll down to either one of two places; the library or the Beverage Counter where she ordered her favorite iced latte, whether it was the summer or in the dead of winter. It was nice to have the freedom to go where she wanted. After all, she was turning eighteen in four months. Her mom had gifted her a car for her seventeenth birthday, something she hadn't expected. It was a small old car that rattled when its engine was turned on, but it got the job done. Even so, Loretta preferred walking.

Now as she came to the front entrance, she stopped. Through the glass doors, she could just make out Wilbert by the printers, waiting for something to slide out. She groaned inwardly, instantly regretted not stopping by her house before coming here. But instead of heading back, she quietly stepped over the cracks in the sidewalk, heading for the back entrance. She made her way there, her shoulder brushing the bricks of the building ever so slightly. That’s when she heard a grunt. She spun her head to the side, seeing him for the first time.

He was huddled under a big shady tree, wearing ratty jeans and an oversized sweater around his broad-shouldered frame. He sat with one leg up, the other stretched out in front of him, his right hand resting on his knee. Despite the small amount of dirt that creased his face and the shadows that fell across his face, he looked to be Loretta’s age. As soon as she looked at him, he bowed his head, his long black hair falling into his eyes.

Loretta picked up her pace on instinct, not wanting to start a conversation with him, and avoiding eye contact. But as she came to the back door pathway, she glanced back. He was looking down at something, a wallet of some kind, black and tattered, and was counting what looked to be money. She turned away from him and raced into the building.

Once inside, she let her shoulders relax and headed for the seating area. It was where she usually went as soon as she got there if she wasn’t picking out a book. She greeted the librarian, Allie, whom was usually there, and walked down the small isle, bag in hand. She sat down at the table at the far end of the room and pulled out her math test. What did she do wrong this time? She wasn’t too bad at algebra, but when it came to calculus, she failed miserably, no matter how hard she tried.

At the same time though, deep down she felt like she wasn’t trying hard enough. Ever since senior year began, she couldn’t seem to focus on her schoolwork. Her other classes weren’t much of a problem, but math kept slipping from her grasp.

She had no one to hate but secretly blamed her dad for leaving. Her mom was constantly trying to fit in time to help her out and time to date between her busy work schedules. Loretta had applied to a deli when she was sixteen and had worked there for a few months, but it had gotten in the way of her schoolwork, so she had quit, unlike Marisol who had been hired at the one and only local grocery store and had been working there ever since.

Maybe it was time for a job.

Thinking of money, her mind wandered back to the man outside. He couldn’t have been more than a couple of years older than herself, if not the same age, so what was someone so young doing out on the streets?

She brushed the thought away and went back to focusing on her work. Taking out a pencil and a new sheet of loose leaf, she rewrote the problems she got wrong on the paper.

~

It was four o’clock when Loretta decided to pack her stuff up and go home. After waving goodbye to another librarian- she was pretty popular here- she stepped outside. That’s when she remembered the guy.

She cautiously walked over to the edge of the building, glancing around for him. But he wasn’t there anymore. Instead, in his place, was graffiti art across the wall he had been leaning on. Except this was nothing like the graffiti she had always seen scattered on brick buildings. This was unlike any kind of art she had ever seen before. It was a big letter ‘C’ that looked like it had been made from thick charcoal pens. Wisps of grey, dark blue, red and orange drawn smoke eradicated from it, billowing out all around. She reached around her neck and grasped her loyal camera, snapping a photo of it.

She couldn’t help wondering what he was doing all alone out in the near winter season. It wasn’t too uncommon for homeless people to be walking around Littleton. But they were usually old and if they weren’t hauling around big, tattered bags full of stuff, they were pushing a shopping cart. But this guy had nothing, and he was young.

What would lead him out onto the street? Maybe he was a runaway.

When she reached her small house identical to all the others in the neighborhood aside for the chipped paint and dilapidated gate, she let her sweater slide off her shoulders. Every house in the neighborhood had been made to look exactly alike, but when Loretta’s dad lived with them, he had painted theirs blue by her mom’s request. All the exteriors were made of the same oak wood, with two windows along the top, and two along the bottom. There was a small porch in the front that Loretta used a little bit too often during the summer.

She made her way up to her room on the second floor, plopping her bag on the bed. Pulling out her phone, she typed in Marisol’s number before taking a seat at her desk. She picked up on the second ring.