One Day Soon (One Day Soon, #1)(10)

I didn’t want to explain all the reasons that wasn’t an option for me. Sure, he had saved me from some potentially horrible shit, but I wouldn’t expose myself like that to anyone.

“I can’t,” I repeated obstinately.

Yoss looked incredibly sad. For some reason it made my heart hurt. “Then you’re an idiot. No one chooses to be out here. This isn’t a decision anyone would make if they had a choice.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I did,” I admitted quietly.

I hung my head, staring at the fractured ground beneath our feet. Broken concrete, pieces of rock, dead grass. Slivers of glass from shattered bottles gleamed in the newly risen moonlight.

Yoss didn’t say anything for a long time. And when he finally did, he said the only thing that would have made me feel any better in this crap situation I found myself in.

“Well come on then. I’ll help you find somewhere to sleep tonight. Tomorrow you can tell me why you don’t have any options.”

“Why are you being nice to me? I was a total bitch face to you earlier,” I asked, confused by why he’d stick his neck out for a stranger. A nobody.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I glanced up, startled at the physical contact. He was a good deal taller than me. The top of my head only came to his chin. I had to crane my neck to look into his face.

I wasn’t the touchy feely sort. I had grown used to the lack hugs and kisses. Mom rarely gave them and when she did it usually came with strings attached. A kiss before leaving me home alone while she went off chasing the new set of trousers. A hug as she let me know I’d be fending for myself for dinner once again.

But Yoss’s hand on my shoulder didn’t seem to come with conditions. It was comforting. That was it.

“Because I recognize that look on your face.”

I frowned, not sure what he was talking about.

Yoss smiled softly and then dropped his hand. I shivered again. “The I’m-just-trying-to-get-the-hell-out-of-here look,” he explained.

I tensed, but didn’t argue. What was the point? He was right. I probably did look like some sort of caged animal desperate for my escape.

“We’ve all been there. Just don’t get stuck trying to find your way out. There’s more to life than these f*cking streets. If I were you, I’d start figuring stuff out pretty damn quickly.” He wasn’t being condescending, but his been-there-done-that garbage rubbed me the wrong way.

“Says the kid hanging out underneath a bridge,” I snapped. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want his advice. I wanted anger. Bitterness. Mutual despair.

Yoss laughed and I didn’t want to smile. But I did. There was something about this tall, too skinny boy that was sort of irresistible.

“I like you, Imogen. You’ve got attitude. You’ll need that out here,” he said. He inclined his head toward the fire raging in the trashcan underneath the overhang. A group of kids were drinking soda out of the bottle and laughing loudly. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat. I just went to the convenience store and got some hotdogs. They’re probably cold now, but it doesn’t really matter when you’re hungry.”

“Yeah, I could eat,” I said gruffly.

Yoss smiled again. “Okay then. Let’s fill your belly, then maybe we can find you a sweatshirt or something.”

I looked down at my outfit. “It’s the middle of June. I don’t think I’ll get cold.”

Yoss didn’t say anything, but instead looked off towards the trees in the direction Tag had gone. I stiffened. There were other reasons to cover yourself that had nothing to do with the cold.

“I’m sure there’s one back at The Pit.”

“The Pit?” I asked.

“The warehouse where we all sleep. Come on, Imi,” he said softly, placing his hand lightly on the small of my back and steering me towards the other teenagers.

I looked up at my unlikely savior and wondered a million things about him.

So I settled on what seemed the most important in that moment.

“What kind of name is Yoss?”

He laughed and it was real and true and I felt it absolutely everywhere. He pulled a cigarette out of his back pocket and tucked it between his lips, lighting it. The smoke curled around his mouth and floated up into the night sky.

He inhaled deeply and I couldn’t help but watch in fascination as he blew out a ring of smoke as large as my head.

“Have you ever read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller?” he asked me.

I shook my head.

“You should. It’s a great book,” he chuckled. “Enough questions. Let’s get you a hotdog.”

So I followed Yoss to what would become my new family.

And I didn’t feel so alone.





Present Day

I ran from the ICU.

It wasn’t my finest hour.

I ran and I ran and I didn’t stop until I got to a door at the other end of the hallway. I rushed into the silent, empty stairwell just as my knees gave out and I slid down to the floor.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through my very real, very serious freak out.

His face flashed through my mind. A thousand memories collected in the span of months. I remembered the soft, kind face of the boy he used to be.

But now it was mixed up with the harsh, brutal truth of the man he had obviously become.