Life -life With — A Runaway Girl- -rj01148030-

“I can’t go back,” she said, her voice cracking. “He said he’d find me. He always finds me.”

I didn’t say it’s okay or go back to bed . I just shifted over, leaving a wide margin of empty futon between us. She lay down, fully dressed, her back to me. But after ten minutes, her breathing evened out. She slept. Life -Life With A Runaway Girl- -RJ01148030-

The story doesn’t end with a grand finale. There is no villain being dragged away in cuffs (though he was charged, eventually). There is no triumphant graduation speech. The healing is in the margins. “I can’t go back,” she said, her voice cracking

I didn’t look. I just turned a page. The scratching of the pencil was the most beautiful sound I’d heard in years. I just shifted over, leaving a wide margin

“You don’t have to go back,” I said. “Not if you don’t want to. But we need to be smart. We need help.”