-runaway Love - Alexis Love- Veronique Vega- Lindsey Meadows- Kis- -

Alexis shook her head, a tight, sharp motion. “There’s nothing to go back to.”

She wasn’t being dramatic. The group home on Mulholland Drive had been a gilded cage, but a cage nonetheless. Alexis had aged out of the foster system six months ago, only to find herself shuffled into a “transitional living” facility run by a woman named Meadows. Lindsey Meadows had the smile of a televangelist and the cold, calculating eyes of a loan shark. She took their government checks, skimmed their meager paychecks from the warehouse jobs she forced them to take, and called it “life skills training.” Alexis shook her head, a tight, sharp motion

“Get back here or I’m calling the cops! You know you’re not allowed to leave the property!” Alexis had aged out of the foster system

The third member of their escape was already outside, leaning against a chipped concrete pillar. Kis—no last name, just Kis—was the strong, silent type. She had a faded bruise on her cheekbone from the last time she’d mouthed off to Meadows’ boyfriend, a hulking man named Dwayne. Kis didn’t talk much, but when she did, it mattered. Now, she simply held up two bus tickets to Nevada. You know you’re not allowed to leave the property

The "Runaway Love" wasn't a romance. It wasn't a boy with a fast car or a promise of forever. It was the fierce, desperate, unspoken love of survival. It was the way Veronique saved the last apple for Kis. It was the way Alexis taught Veronique how to hot-wire a hairpin lock. It was the way Kis threw herself in front of a swinging fist meant for Alexis.