Golden POV – Thinking About How Her Mom Kicked Her Out and She Was Living in an Abandoned House, Then Maddox Came to Talk to Her
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I didn’t eat lunch that day. Couldn’t.
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The tray in front of me sat untouched as I sat by myself at the back of the school near the rusted gate—where nobody ever came unless they were trying to skip class or hide. I wasn’t hiding though. Not really. I just needed somewhere I could breathe without pretending.
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My hands were freezing, even though it was warm out. I guess cold floors and cracked windows’ll do that to you after a few nights.
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Mom kicked me out again.
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It wasn’t the first time. Probably wouldn’t be the last.
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All because I had something to say about that man she was with. Another no-good dude who talked down to her, and tried it with me. When I stood up for myself, she chose him. Again. Like always. Like I was the extra in her life and not her daughter.
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So I grabbed my backpack and didn’t look back. Found my way into one of those old, boarded-up houses two streets down. Nobody bothered me there. Just dust, old memories, and the sound of silence.
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I blinked hard, swallowing the lump in my throat. I didn’t cry. Not anymore.
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“Yo, Golden.”
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His voice broke through the wall I’d built around my thoughts.
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Maddox.
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I didn’t even look up at first. Just rolled my eyes to myself. The last thing I needed was some boy with a pretty face and hood fame coming over to make me feel seen when I was trying not to be.
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But he didn’t leave.
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“You been ghost lately,” he said, his tone lower now. Like he wasn’t just making conversation—like he noticed. “What’s up with you?”
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I finally looked up at him, my jaw tight. “Nothing. I’m good.”
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He didn’t believe me. I could see it in the way his eyes didn’t move. Just locked on me like he could hear everything I wasn’t saying.
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“You don’t look good,” he said honestly, but not unkind. “You look like you sleepin’ somewhere you ain’t supposed to.”
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That made my stomach twist.
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I shifted on the concrete step, hugging my arms around myself. “Why you care, Maddox? I’m not your problem.”
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He leaned against the fence next to me, quiet for a second. “I care ‘cause I see you. Even when you think nobody does.”
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I stared down at my scuffed-up shoes, heart thudding way too loud in my chest.
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“You ever need anything,” he added, voice low like a secret, “you say the word. For real.”
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I didn’t respond.
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But something about the way he said it—steady, no pressure—settled in my chest. Like maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t completely alone out here.
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