I sit in a raggedy old brown leather arm-chair, well a man that I have know for all of two minutes expects me to just unleash all of my pain, and the reasons that I am sitting in front of him today. Well there is a saying I go by and it goes something like this... Trust is something that is earned and can be lost faster than it can be gained so once you have it you better not do anything to mess that up.

“Tell me your name?” He asked with the sincerest of looks upon his face.

“You should know that, you’re a doctor right?” I replied shooting down his question just as fast as he asked it. He sits there for a while, studying me like I was some kind of insect he was just waiting to dissect.

“Okay well my name is Phil Dawson, it is nice to meet you Eric,  yes I am a doctor. Eric you can call me Phil I want you to feel comfortable when you are here with me.” Saying as if that should make a difference.

“Now your mother and father told me that you were here because you have been depressed lately? They also tell me that you don’t hang out with many people is that right?” Phil conformed.

“You mean Mary and Dick? They send me to school ask how my day is and then don’t listen, never come to any of my games, and barely can remember my names at times they are so busy. Does it say in that notebook you’re holding that the man who sent me here is not my father, but only Dick?.” Eric Explains.
The look on Dr. Dawson’s face was that of a child’s that had just found out Santa was nothing more than a made up old fat man. Raking through his pompous mind try to pick out something to change my thinking. Phil is missing out on one big picture well he is going through his mind... What if I didn’t want to change the way that I am thinking. Maybe  this was the way I am meant to feel.

The hour passed, rushing out of the room faster the a black friday crowd, I saw Dick waiting for me, maneuvering right past him without saying a word determined to find his car so we could get out of this hell-hole.

“Phil how is he?” Richard asked

“He is not like most kids and how they look up to there mom and dad. Even if he is a teen he still shouldn't  be acting the way that he is. Trying spending more one on one time, that will help him come around.” He answered being as polite as can be. 

“He doesn’t believe that you and Mary are his mother and father, which no kid should believe that he doesn’t have his mother and father in his life. He is worst then you have told me this will take a lot more work than I thought.”

Dick strolled out to the car where I was sitting waiting for his lazy butt to take me to Mary’s House so I didn’t have to talk to him anymore.

The car ride was blanketed by the silences, only the pur of the car was competing with the quite  

“So what is going on this weekend?”He asks

“Like you care Dick, but I do have a basketball game.”I snap back at him
“I do care young man, I am the one that pays for your basketball aren’t I?”
“Everything is about money with you huh? You know not everything revolves around that Dick.”
“You know that you shouldn’t call me by my first name.” Dick says
“Why not? That is your name, is it not?” I asked clearing up the confusion he had. 
“But I am your dad, so call me dad.” He insisted. We pulled into the rundown, pothole filled driveway,  I started to depart from dicks car. I turn around before leaving the car and to tell him.
“Eh I think I am going to stick with Dick, see ya.”
I walk to Mary’s front door open then slam it as hard as I could just for fun. The overpowering smell of mold and wet dog would filled my nose. Walking up the ancient stairs I caught a glimpse of Lily.
Lily looked at me that of a child seeing a new puppy for the first time. Her blonde hair highlighted her beauty and her ocean crisp blue eyes. Lily was adopted like me as well so in a way we connected because of that one reason. Not everyone is a bad person and she taught me that.
I walk into my room and Mary is standing just loafing around...
“ Something is missing.” She spoke in a upset yet hopeful voice.
She continued staring blankly out the window thinking that if she looked hard enough she would be able to find what was missing. Finally spotting it,  my childhood Bear. There wasn’t a place I went that he didn’t go, Mr. Bear was cultched in her hand.
“This was your bear from when you were a kid. Do you remember it?” She asked insisting that I should. giving her a look suggesting that I  didn’t know and didn’t care she put the bear down on my bed and stormed out of the room.  I lay on the bed and I stare at the ceiling just think what a day it has been. I hope and praying no one at school will find out...
“Hey Eric there you are, I was looking for you all morning.” A high pitched yet sweet voice called out. I look and it Gabby, she was one of the few people who still even talked to me after the whole incident.
“Oh hey there.” I quickly say back
“Well you sound so happy to see me! There is something that I have to give you at the end of the day so stop by my  locker okay Lee?” She insists with a smile on her face. I look at her for a little try to get the words “No” okay of my mouth but I caved...
“Sure, locker 636 right?” I answered with a half smile. She looked at me in total awe that i half smiled.
“I haven’t...”
“Don’t get all soft on my now G talk to you later, fractions are calling my name.” I say to cut her off from what she was waiting to say.
You know that on girl that every guy wants to date and every girl wants to be? That was gabby, she wasn’t plastic like most of her friends she was real sometimes. She had a smile that could light up any ones day. She was a diamond in the rough she was perfect.
The first part of the school day went better than I thought it would, but now it is time for lunch. Most kids love lunch time, the reasoning for that is because they can conversate with their friends or as the parents call it gossip,but lunch is different for a kid like me I have no group to sit by.  Here are the groups of the school,  there are the jocks which are the people on my basketball team but they all don’t like me. Last time I sat there they all just happened to get up at the same time and find another table far from me. Then there are the popular girls which are Gabby and her friends, but I know Gabby wouldn’t want me there.

Once a rumor started that me and her were dating, it wasn’t true but I didn’t mind people thinking I was dating the it girl of the school. But it was short lived, soon after she had found out she tweeted that we weren’t dating and anyone who thought so must have been crazy. Then the bad kids, the kids that thinks it cool to talk about drugs, the almost populars and the outcast.

Then it all comes back to me, I go to the lunchroom get something from the snack line and walk out and sit by my locker. Everytime I walk out to the lunchroom I look at Gabby and she is always give me that look that says come sit here.  I give her the look that says I can’t and that is all she needs to see to know that i’m not ready.

I’m sitting at my locker eating like I do everyday and Mr. Mathis walks by and looks at me

“Eric? Why are you sitting out here and eating lunch, shouldn’t you eat lunch with the other kids like normal.” He rudely asks.

“That’s where you are wrong Mr.Mathis. You should know that I am not a normal kid, but then again you are all about falsifies. In your last class didn’t you say that we are like seeds and when we are young we need to right amount of water and the water is friends and learning right?” I ask him the the same manner he asked me.
“Yes I did say that but...”
“But? you can not take back your word after you say them, you said that if I can recall 2 weeks ago  on the 1st of November didn’t you.” I ask cutting off his very thought.

“Yes, I did.” He replies.

“So this was my plan to make the most of my learning and focus on the and my basketball. I don’t need friends because the more friends you have the more you have to make them happy, the way that I see it is that if I don’t have friends There is no need to impress anyone.” I Tell him. He shakes his head with interest in what I had just said.

“Well I will see you in Class Eric.” He says as he walks to the office.

I sit there with just me and my thoughts. The thought of have a friend lingered in my head.

A tear dropped from my face. I wiped it up as fast as it fell...

The end of the day every kids bread and butter... I walk to my locker, on my way there I walked past Liam...
The next second my body felt one with the ground with Liam right on top of that, laughter and humiliation. I touched the back of my head, looked down and saw a pool of red. I attempted to get up, the room was spinning faster than a ferris wheel.I had to make my way out of there I had to make it to the bus before I finally collapsed.

Sitting on the bus I take out my phone could barely see the numbers but I had a short cut to the only one person I could trust with this... Lilly.
When I got home she was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs but the last thing I remember is falling off the last stair and Lily try to catch me.
I woke up to a loud high pitched beeping in my ear. I looked around and I was in the place that I hated the most the hospital. I overhear Mary and Dick talking in the halls.
“There is always something wrong with him. Lilly is the easy one she does what we say but he just comes back with comment that half of the time I don’t know what to say to him.” Dick said.

“So what are you suggesting?” Mary asked him

“I’m just saying adopting him didn’t turn out the way that we planed.”

“Nothing goes the exact way that you plan it Richard, especially parenting. ”

“I don’t mean raising him, I mean the soul reason why we got a second kid was to save our marriage but now we got divorced 3 years after we got him.” Dick say with no regret on his tongue.

After hearing what he had said my stomach sank, having  no idea what to do, ranking my brain for the options I had to chose from it became as clear as could be what had to be done...

They walk into the room and by the time I hear Mary scream I am what feels like a mile away. Roaming around the dull colored streets, recalling that grandpa Dean had told me that smart men keep a few bucks under the soles of their shoes. I might not have followed the olds mans rule all pulling out the two hundred dollar bills that each had their own pungent odor. Stopping I realized that I had made my way back to favorite childhood park.

Hope filled children ran from the annoyingly over filled sand box to the the monstrous blue swings, those swings brought back the times when is was easier when no one judge me. Making my way the the swings to rest my tiresome feet a ball rolled into my walking path. A little boy scurried to retrieve his lost ball. He gave me the look that every kid has the one that suggests that they want you to be their friend and come play with them. This child called for the boy in a sort of panic and he ran back to his mom and they departed from the park.

I look at my watch 3 hours has gone by it has felt longer, a long wale sounded from the center of my body, it was time to stop somewhere . Out of the corner of my eye I see the flickers of the nearby Simon’s bar and grill. Loud crashes and shouts leaked out when every the door had snuck open.
“ What can I get for you honey bear?” The waitress asks me.
“A table for one please!” I relay back to her in my most confidence of voices.
“Will do Mr. MochMan.” She walks me over to a table it is close to an exit. She hands me a menu and says.
“I’ll be right back sweetie to take your order,” She told me like you would say to one of your own defenceless kids. I was not a little kid I am smarter than most kids my age, but she will never know that.
The waitress a face of someone who was out of place, the way that she talked and the way she presented herself was not that of a waitress. Oh no, their was something else about her maybe it was the hot-chocolate warm smile that she had or maybe it was her motherly personality.

“You know what you want darling?” She asked.

As she is asking me that my eye could help but to be caught towards the front entrance of the restaurant, causing her to turn as well. Fear filled her face .The two broad set men examined the place, final laying their eyes on her, they wave on of those evil waves and laughed. I glanced at the woman's face it was frozen in the same position.

“Mamm? Are you feeling okay?” I kindly asked. There was no reply.

“MAMM! Do you want me to get someone to take you to your house!” But still no reply. Without a moment to think I get up and walk to the bar

“I’m sorry to bother you but one of your emoppies is not feeling too well do you think someone she knows could drive her home?” The busboy looks at me for a while and then says...
“Yea, Here are her things her car keys and everything, just tell her the she owns Jim one for covering the end of her shift again alright kid?”
“Thank you, I will make sure to tell her that. ” I say with a chipper sound to my voice. Walking to the lady the men followed behind me. I hand her the thing the busboy gave me and said that I would gladly accompany her home so she got there safely and then I would be on my way. She gave me a nod of gratitude and grab her keys.
Turning to see where those two men were I feel one of them push me aside, my face hit the tacky beer filled bar floor. A scream came from the woman. Then I see in the man’s hand there was a glock 19. Her face became gosht white her eyes screamed out save me  from what is about to happen.
“I told you that I would find you baby girl!” The strange man laughed.
“Now do you have what I want or are you coming with me?”
This event that was unfolding before my eyes reminded me of a saying Dick has. “You only need 20 seconds of wicked courage to make a difference.”  I didn’t know this woman but I felt like I had to do something, like this is the one reason that I ended up in that that bar that day. So my 20 seconds clock started.

“I don’t know what you want but leave her alone, you should threaten a woman or anyone with a gun like that .” I say as I walk in between her and the gun. I didn’t know what was going through my head, Maybe Dick was right about something for once.

He put the gun down not wanting to He explained to his partner that he doesn’t feel comfortable threatening a kid.

“You got luck that this insect was here to save you this time, the boss doesn’t like when we hurt kids.” The man mentioned. They turned and proceeded out the door.

“Do you want me to tell someone about what just happened?” I asked

No, no keep this between us okay boy?” she snapped back.

She walks out the back back door into the dead of the night, following her I look around and see that we are in some kind of back alley that you see in all of those murderer movies. Her blood red car was almost impossible to see in the alley but I follower her to her car.

“What are you doing?” she asked
“I am making sure that you get home safely, therefore I am going with you.” I insisted . We start the speedy trip to her house.

“Thank you for what you did tonight, without you here I would have been who knows where. My name is Lexi.” The lady says like she owes me a debt of gratitude.
“It was nothing you seem like a nice person, nice people don’t deserve to have bad things happen to them. Garnet it does happen, but when I can stop bad things from happening to anyone I will.”I respond. She looks shocked that I could have said something like that to a perfect stranger.
“Now off to your house where do you live?” Lexi asks
“Umm if you don’t recall I did say that I would escort you to your house and when i knew you were safe and only then I would be on my way!” I told her making it very clear what was going to happen.
“Okay Okay, But it is too late for a boy of your age to be walking the streets of Santa Barbara alone! You are stay by me for the night and then you can go after I make you a big breakfast!” She states.
We then got to her house and she lived on this hill that overlooked the ocean. She parked her car and I couldn’t help but just run into her house and when I got into her house the inside fit the look of the outside. Spectacular White furniture all throughout house I was amazed at how a waitress could own a house of this class.
She then walks in and ask what I think of the house...
“This is the nicest house that I have ever seen, if you don’t mind me asking but how does a waitress live in this nice of a house?”

“Ha, I’ve been asked that so many times, but truth is I also own my own music label in L.A. Hey if you want I can take you down there if you want to see how it works?” She offers

“Really, you would let me do that, I would love to that thank you.” I say meaning every word.

“It’s been a long day you should get some rest for tomorrow!” she told me. She walked me up to a room but it had a different theme to it. It was more of a modern boy bedroom it went nothing with the home but yet it made perfect sense.

“Here is where you can sleep for tonight.” Lexi explains. Sometime passes I just can’t find myself falling asleep anytime soon. So I decided to go down stairs and talk to lexi some more. As I am walking down I see her passed out on the couch, and in her hand were some papers I took the papers from her hand and was going to set them on the coffee table for her and then I saw something that I wished hadn’t seen. I saw Eric Lee Lance and I saw Mary Lance and Richard Lance, I looked at the top of the and it was adoption papers and that meant that... No it can’t be...

The ocean is a peaceful place a place that I would love to live on but I wasn’t thinking about that right now. Well I really don’t know what I am thinking about.

“I can’t believe after all of this time you finally had me just run into her on a somewhat normal day. I thought that I was ready to meet my birth mom and dad but now being here and knowing that the lady that I almost took a bullet for was my mother! This is a walk up call for me thank you for this, Thank you” I spoke with a newfound spark in my heart.

The sounds of the white caps softly crashing against the rouged sand just to be pulled back into the dark blue liquid filled my ears and brought a sense of tranquillity. The powerful yet subtle smell of salt filled my nose more with every deep breath I took. looking up in the sky, the stars burned brighter for the first in a long time it was a nice feeling.  

I walked back to Lexi’s and when I walked in she was pacing back and forth with the phone in her hand and her arms crossed. She turns around suddenly, and when she saw it was me she dropped the phone uncrossed her arms and ran over to me.

“Sorry hope that you didn’t think that I ran. I just need some air and I thought that it would be cool to sit on the beach.” I told Lexi.

“It fine, you are such a proper kid your parents must have taught you well.” She explained.

“But that’s the thing I have always learned things on my own. And I think that I have done a pretty good job so far... There is only room for improvement right? Well that how I think of it. I’m adopted and they only have time Lily.” I told her
“It might not seem like parents are teaching you things but they have there own way of doing things and Some kids might like it and others might not. But they love you and they always will. The reason that they are so hard on you is they just want to best for you.” She told me.
As we were talking, the late night news was on and the were going on the missing kids and then she heard this...
“Eric Lee Lance one of the best young basketball player is the state of California is missing if you have seen him please contact his mom and dad.” They then showed a clip of me playing basketball... It was the state game me and my team had come back from being down by 20 at the half and there was five seconds left my teammates knew that they had to give me the ball. they rolled the ball into me and I dribbled up to the three point line and and took the shot and we won.

“THAT IS YOU! YOU’RE A MISSING KID?! AND YOU'RE ONE OF THE BASKETBALL PLAYERS  IN THE STATE?” 

She say with a proud surprised sound to her voice.

“I wouldn’t say that I am one of the best I mean that goes to the pros that live in the state.”

“We have to get you home, your mother and father must miss you.” she told me. My mother and father? even people that don’t know them are calling them my mother and father. I take a step back and looked at her then said...

“We can find them in the morning but for now we both need our ”

Sun creeping in the blinds a cool breeze finds it way to my nose and in that  breeze carried the seem of waffles and bacon. Sitting up felt harder than it should but then again I did have a long day yesterday.

Walking down to get food the smell was growing even greater. Now I could see It was My mom and dad sitting in the kitchen with Lexi. They all look at me my parents look at me like what was i thinking when I ran out. I had no real reason that I left I didn’t let my them explain what they were talking about at the hospital, but quite frankly I wouldn’t have wanted to hear about what they had said about it again.

“Hello there Eric! Where you planing on staying here for the rest of your life?” My dad says.

“No I just wanted to get away for a while I was going to come back to dad but guess you already found me, oh and thank you Lexi for making that phone call for me it’s just what I wanted.”

“Hey mom can we go I know who she is and that is the only thing that I was asking is to just meet her once but I now know that she is okay without me I can go back to normal life.”  I Said

They looked at me and then the next thing I knew my family and I were my way home my only home...