He didn't want to be lost.

The forest was deep and the ground was soft. Every one of his footprints sunk into the dirt and the pollen from the trees huffed into his lungs and tickled his nostrils.

A yell echoed through the woods, "KILL THE BEAST."

King's legs were growing tired as he weaved between trees and ducked around bushes, trying to avoid the ugly mob chasing him.

He couldn't remember what he had done to be chased down like this but it didn't feel wrong. Being chased and shouted at and called a monster. None of it felt wrong, but the forest did. The forest felt like deepness and darkness and–

King's eyes shot open and he jumped up from the bench. His eyes readjusted to the bright light from the sun and the man standing in front of him.

"King..." The man said. His eyes were sad as he made eye contact with King as King grabbed his bag.

"I'll go." King pulled his sweater back into his bag. "Sorry, Officer Tag."

The police officer sighed, "Look, King. There are places you can stay. Shelters and stuff."

King shook his head. He had enough experience with shelters that would take advantage of a kid who had just turned 18. "Sorry, Tag but I've got to get to work." He turned his back to the officer and walked out of the public park and in the direction of the only job that would hire a teenager with no home address.

He entered the small bookstore and greeted his boss, putting his backpack behind the counter and adjusting himself to check out the older lady buying her romance books at 9 am on a Wednesday.

~

Her life felt like a fucked up fairytale.

Her mom was a monster and her sister was perfect. The only thing Adora had going for her was that she didn't resent her sister and she had the majestic ability to ignore her mother.

Life might have been easier if her dad hadn't died but she's sure most semi-orphans thought that.

At least Adora didn't give less than two fucks about how most people at school think of her. She walked into school one day wearing her black pyjama pants and a striped T-shirt, and no one cared. Sure some girls might have whispered about her in the halls but Adora put an end to that quickly.

Walking down the stairs in the morning felt like a chore.

Adora would much rather climb out her window and walk to school alone but Cherry, her sister, wanted Adora to walk with her. She liked getting to spend quality time with her big sister.

Adora Darling entered the kitchen and immediately made a disgusted face as she watched her mother, Evie Darling, pour a ridiculous amount of sugar into her coffee.

"Good morning, Adored," Evie simpered as she ran her fingers through Cherry's long black hair.

Adora rolled her eyes and ignored Evie and instead greeted her sister, "Morning, Cherry." She then grabbed a Pop-tart out of the cabinet and popped it into the toaster.

"Morning, Addie. Do you want some OJ?" Cherry asked as she took a sip of her juice and handed it to her sister who placed it back on the table without drinking it.

"Nah, just brushed my teeth," Adora said, giving an excuse as she grabbed the vaguely warm breakfast-dessert and grabbed her backpack. "You ready to go, Cherry?"

Cherry nodded, grabbing her own backpack and waving goodbye to their mother.

Once they exited the door Adora sighed in relief. "How can you stand her?"

Cherry seemed to think about it for a minute. "Mom owns the house and she cares about us, why wouldn't I at least try to be cordial?"

Adora nodded, "It's just hard for me, you know that."

"I'm not trying to be judgemental, Addie," Cherry said softly. Her voice was young but strong, feeling like a ray of sunshine in the dark cave of Adora's life.

"I know. I know." Adora paused in front of the school building as she noted the throngs of students blatantly avoiding making eye contact with her or even walking near her. "Well, have a good day, Cherry-tomato."

"You too, Addie."

~

"Ce n'est pas la mer à boire!"

Camille loved that French phrase that her mother would say whenever Lille complained about the amount of work she was doing or the things she had signed herself up for.

"It's not as if you have to drink the sea!"

She was reminded of it now as she sat in a GSA meeting, her mind on the piles of homework she needed to finish when she got home. The research paper for English and the final project for Biology along with working on the painting for her mother's birthday.

It was a lot to do, even with her no longer being the public relations person for the GSA or working with Girl Up like she used to at her old school. Even right now, in her public high school, Camille felt like maybe she could be doing more.

At least she wasn't drinking the sea.

"Does anyone else want to talk?" The president, Vin, asked the group.

Camille shook her head. Sometimes it didn't feel right to talk as a heterosexual person in a predominantly queer space. Not because she felt like she was going to be made fun of but more because she didn't feel like it was her place to speak. It was her place to listen to her LGBTQ+ peers and learn from their experiences.

It never felt wrong to be there.

As the meeting broke and Camille exited the room she walked to one of the back doors and paused as she opened it. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone was out here."

The woman who stood there had long black hair and was wearing all black with a bit of white in her graphic tee. She was smoking a cigarette and sitting on the back steps, her backpack sprawled next to her. "It's fine," She said, her dark eyes meeting Camille's. "You're fine."

Camille took a breath, not realising that she was staring. Something about this person felt strange. Not wrong, just strange.

"Can I sit?" Camille asked. Feeling in her soul as if it was the right thing to do.

They nodded.

"I'm Camille, she/her."

The person breathed out nicotine smoke and then said, "Adora, she/her."

Camille nodded softly, taking her tarot cards out of her bag. They were gifted to her by her mother when she was 15. The set was mismatched and found in a thrift store. Every card was in a different style and Camille loved it, spending hours of her summers learning the art of interpreting the results of the cards.

Right now, the cards felt warm. They were ready.

"Will you cut the cards?" Camille asked, reaching out and handing the cards to Adora whose eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Camille was worried that Adora wouldn't do it but a strange look came over the woman's face and Camille watched as Adora cut the cards and handed them back.

"Pick three," Camille said softly, feeling as if her voice was growing quieter but also stronger. She knew what she was doing, even if it felt awkward or strange.

Adora did so, laying them on the concrete between them with her left hand as she stubbed out the cigarette with her right hand.

"Flip them. Left to right." Camille waited until Adora began flipping them to pay attention to the cards again.

The tower. Upright. Symbolising chaos and upheaval in life. A Major Arcana card.

Three of Swords. Reversed. Releasing pain, optimism, and forgiveness. A Minor Arcana card. This was reading well.

She flipped the last card.

The moon. Upright. Anxiety, illusion, intuition. A Major Arcana card. The reading was complete.

Camille nodded. "Your life has been in a state of upheaval but you are learning to forgive. In the future, you will get to a place where you must use your intuition to break the illusion you are trapped in, trust in your anxiety and intuition and you will make your way through it."

"Seriously?" Adora said the first thing she had said since her name. "You're joking right?"

Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe Adora didn't need this. Maybe Camille had just seriously fucked this up. "No? I'm not joking. That's what the cards say."

Adora rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her bag. "Just... leave me alone." As she walked away she knocked over the deck of cards. Camille grabbed the cards and froze, the only card that had fallen face-up was the Death card. The card of transformation and rebirth.

Camille nodded. Hopefully, Adora would change for the better.

~

Jan Valdez was 18 and tired.

They had a lot going on in life, with their Dad finally getting divorced from their step-mom, Jan had an English paper due in three days, his best friend hadn't talked to him in two days and he hadn't slept in what felt like ages.

So he ran. Jan ran around and around the track. Their legs burning and their music pumping in their ears. His heart beat aggressively as his breath flew in and out of his lungs.

Feet against the pavement.

The smell of sweat and spring.

Sensations of wind in their face and sun on their back.

It was more calming than sitting at home and listening to their dad yell at lawyers. Or working on an English paper that he didn't care about. Or staring at the texts between him and Mia that hasn't been updated in aeons.

His eyes were open but it didn't feel like it. Jan felt as if the world melted away. As the world became a bright place where Jan could make what he wanted from it.

Their family would be exactly as he wanted it to be.

Nobody would yell.

Nobody would feel hurt.

Everybody would be happy.

Like a fairytale.

~

He liked being thought of as Nia's brother.

All the third graders and lower schoolers would see him parked in front of the school building and say, "Woah, it's Nia's brother." "Someone go get Nia." "It's Nia's brother."

Knox Martin was Nia Evangeline Martin's brother and he liked it that way.

So when she asked to go to the park and his parents were out at work and Knox didn't have anything to do that afternoon Knox did his duties as Nia's brother and walked her to the park.

He sat on the bleachers by the track while he watched Nia play with a few other local kids on the playground just past the track. Knox liked to stay calm. He had his headphones in and was listening to that lo-fi music that people used to do homework too but that Knox liked because it was predictable.

A loud noise echoed around the bleachers and Knox sat up.

A metal water bottle had smacked into the metal of the bleachers and Knox turned to stare into the dark brown eyes of Jan Valdez, one of the few loners at school that everybody knew.

"Oh, hi," Knox said, pulling out a headphone.

Jan just nodded, taking a sip of water from his bottle. The boy across from Knox was covered in sweat and his eyes practically vibrated from the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

It felt weird being in the vicinity of someone else and not talking. But Jan didn't seem to want to talk and

Knox didn't know what to say and therefore they sat in silence. Of course, there was lo-fi music in Knox's ear and some other type of music in Jan's ear but it still felt like silence.

"Knoxy!" Nia's voice rang out as she ran towards him with a friend behind her. She had her friend share her parent's phone number with Knox so they could schedule playdates and the friend called Knox Nia's brother and it felt more real.

When they ran back to the jungle gym Knox felt a little more at ease. He felt like breathing and conversing and all those things might be easier, even with Jan, a kid he had never talked to and didn't know.

"So what are you doing here?" Knox asked Jan. Feeling awkward about it but more at ease than he was five minutes ago.

Jan shrugged, "Running."

Knox nodded, not for any particular reason, just because it felt like the right thing to do. "Sounds nice. Have you ever tried Track and Field or Cross country running?"

"No."

Okay... Jan Valdez wasn't a talker. Good to know.

"If you like running you might enjoy that," Knox said, standing up to go to his car. This interaction had begun awkwardly and it seemed that it would end just as awkwardly.

Jan nodded, "I'll check it out, thanks."

That was a different type of sentence. The first full sentence that Knox had heard in Jan's voice so far.

"Yeah, if you're into running long distance Cross Country Running might be better but if you sprint then probably track," Knox said, settling back down and readjusting himself to be more comfortable.

"Hmm. It might be too late to join the team," Jan said, his voice just as quiet but just as purposeful as Knox had pictured it to be. "But I could try."

"I'm Knox, Knox Martin."

"Jan Valdez, they/he pronouns," Jan said, reaching up to run their fingers through their sweaty hair.

Knox smiled, "Oh, I use he/him pronouns. Thanks for telling me yours. I always forget to include them when I introduce myself."

"Well thanks for not being a dick about it," Jan snarked in his quiet voice.

He nodded, feeling maybe a slight bit foolish until Jan smiled to show that he was joking. "Yeah, I mean I would never be a dick about it. That's just... wrong."

"Well, good." Jan stood up, "I have to go. Bye, Knox."

Knox stood up too, "Oh, yeah, same. Bye then, Jan."

As Knox walked across the track field to grab Nia he felt something deep within him. Something he hadn't felt in ages, the feeling of being Knox Martin and not just Nia's brother. He wasn't sure if it was something he wanted to feel again but it was nice to remember.

~

Jack was sitting on his girlfriend's bed staring at the white ceiling as Juliet painted soft pink clouds on the corners of her room.

He was lucky that she was so sweet and caring, letting him stay in the guest bedroom whenever her parents were busy, which was most of the time as her mother travelled a lot for work and her Dad was on tour with his band right now.

Jack Anderson had never known his parents. Actually, he never knew his mom. He has vague memories of his dad, a tall blonde man with a strong deep voice and blocky warm hands. Jack remembers being cradled in large arms when he skinned his knee and being kissed on the forehead by a mouth that smelled like liquor. He remembers when his dad fell down a rabbit hole of drugs and Jack was taken into foster care and eventually, he ended up on the streets.

But his mom was a whole other person that Jack had never met.

His dad had told him about her brilliant smile that Jack had inherited and the searing blue eyes that were inset into Jack's head. It was weird having never met a woman and being told that he has her eyes and her smile and walking around like living proof that she had existed.

"Should I use more dark pink as a shadow?" Juliet asked as she turned around and placed her paint-covered hands on her hips, getting the pale pink paint onto her already paint-stained jeans.

Jack looked over towards her, taking in the soft clouds she had painted on the ceiling. He tilted his head and made sure that he could see it well, even from his angle. "I don't think you need to," Jack said.

Juliet nodded. "Kay, then I'm done. Lemme get changed and then food? I'm hungry."

"Sounds like a plan, babe," Jack said, sending her a quick smile as she stripped off her pants and walked away to throw them in the laundry. He sat up, walking downstairs to start scavenging through the fridge for something to make for dinner.

~

Life would be so much better if older brothers didn't exist.

Noah Pan ran down the stairs and tripped at the bottom, hitting her chin on her brother Asher's hiking boots. "Goddamnit, Asher. Move your shoes!" She screamed out through the house right before Asher's twin, Jason ruffled her hair as he walked past her to the kitchen. "You all suck," Noah deadpanned.

Her mom stood by the kitchen table pouring bowls of cereal for her kids. "So do you, darling, you're not special," Her mom, Cara, joked.

"Yeah, you're annoying too," Jason said, stealing the bowl of cereal their mom was handing to Noah for himself.

When Asher finally made his way to the kitchen he looked at Noah and said, "What happened to your face?"

"Your fucking shoe." She pointed at the shoes which were now on Asher's big fat feet. "Which I tripped on and then hit the other. Move your shit away from the stairs."

"Do you want me to drive you to school?" Asher asked, bribing her to shut up.

Her answer was painfully sarcastic, "Oh no, I'd much rather walk. No one likes being driven to school. Goodness me, Asher Nicole Pan."

"That is not my middle name."

"Yeah, well," Noah shrugged, taking a bite of her food. "It's not like I can be bothered to remember what it actually is."

"It's Evelyn," Jason said, laughing a bit.

Asher rolled his eyes, "Yours is Lindsey. Don't throw stones in a glass house, Jason Lindsey."

Their mom sighed as if this was a normal topic of conversation, "Those were male names early on. Also quit it, having a feminine middle name means nothing. Also, also, names are not feminine or masculine you're just being ridiculous."

"Yeah," Noah said. "But also it's only funny because they hate it."

Being driven to school by her older brother at the age of seventeen was always a blow to Noah's ego. She could drive, but Asher worked by her school so there was just no point in her driving herself when he had to be at work five minutes after school started.

As Noah jumped out of the car and flipped off her brother jokingly she walked towards the school building. At the front door, Noah stood for a moment, waiting for what she wasn't sure.

Behind her, a voice said goodbye to his girlfriend and then Jack Anderson stood next to her. "Whatcha waiting for?"

Noah shrugged, "I don't really know yet. We'll see."

Jack nodded in response. "I'll wait with you." It felt strange. Their new-found friendship. She was mostly known for defending nerds and geeks from their rude jock counterparts and Jack was known for being the class clown, always ready with a sarcastic barb or a well-planned prank to boost spirits.

Noah was just as sarcastic and that's how the friendship formed. She snarked at him and he sassed back and they spent their time patrolling the halls and he got used to her weird danger-sense and she got used to sneaking him in through her window when Jack's girlfriend's parents were home. It was a friendship of convenience and mutual unpopularity.

A yell from their left alerted Jack and Noah to a younger kid, probably a freshman getting shoulder checked to the ground. Their backpack spilt open and Jack rushed over to help them get all their things together while Noah made eye contact with the person who had done the shoving.

"Kane." Noah's fists balled as her eyes locked with her mortal enemy.

Kane grinned condescendingly, "Noah Pan. How are you doing?"

"It would be better if you stopped picking on freshmen for no reason," Noah said, her voice loud and sharp. "I'd have a lot less to do."

Kane shrugged, "Why should I?"

Noah stepped forward. She was shorter than him and it might have looked funny, a five-foot-five girl staring off against a six-foot-two teenage boy. "People aren't toys. You can't knock them down to make yourself feel better."

"But I did," Kane said smugly and then turned to walk away. "You know, Noah, it's not your job to watch over everyone. You're not an Arthurian knight, let people deal with their own problems."

She wanted to punch his smug face but Noah was on the cusp of getting suspended and violence on school grounds might finally get her sent home. So Noah was forced to watch as Kane walked away and the freshman scurried into the building, their head held down.

~

I am thankful for my English grade. I am thankful for my basketball team. I am thankful for Lara.

Gianna laid her journal down next to her bed and turned off the light. It was two am and Gia didn't need to be awake anymore. Her grandad was home and her grandma had gone to sleep.

Grandad PJ worked in the factory and got home pretty early and Grandma waited up for him so they weren't around much in the mornings. It was Gia's job to wake up her sister, Alara, to get their lunches ready and get the two of them out to the bus to get to school.

It wasn't the worst ever but sometimes it was exhausting. Alara was fifteen though. She could get herself home.

Gianna fell asleep with the feeling of being crushed by the expectations of her family and school.

After school the next day, Gia walked into town. Alara rode the bus so Gia could pick up a book for English class from the local bookstore.

Entering the building felt like being transported to another era. The walls were dark wood and the bookshelves were covered in books and papers and house plants. At the desk was a teenager, their hair wild and slightly matted but tucked behind their ear as if they were trying to seem more presentable.

Gianna walked to the back, scoping the shelves out for a book that would be fun to write a report on.

Someone behind her cleared their throat.

Gia spun around quickly, almost dropping a book. "Yes?"

"Are you looking for something?" The teen from the front asked. No one else was in the store and Gia was a little nervous that this feral teenager was going to stab her or something.

"Not really," Gianna said, trying to keep her voice level.

They tilted their head almost animal-like, "Okay..." They then turned and walked back to the counter.

Gianna grabbed a random book off the shelf and walked to the counter, eager to leave as soon as possible. "Ah, I found something good."

"Cool." They grabbed the book and scanned it. At this point, Gia noticed the badge on their neck that read, King (he/him). "That'll be 15 dollars."

Gia handed over the cash and reached for the book but King pulled it away from her. "What?"

"You... remind me of someone," King said, his voice sounding a little fainter than the strong and confident voice he spoke in before. He tossed the book at her and turned away. "Do you want a bag for that?"

"No?" Gianna said, confused. It felt as if King wanted to say something but was refraining from it. "Who... Who do I remind you of?"

King looked back over his shoulder at her, "Just someone I dreamt about. It has nothing to do with you."

That... might have been a good pickup line if Gianna was at all interested in feral individuals with wild hair or if feral individuals with wild hair looked at all interested in her.