Part 3.

School resumed.  Carmen applied herself to her work.  Naturally she still used the library a lot for research.  Surprisingly she was getting decent grades again.

On Valentine's Day, Carmen met Johnny at Hogan's Burger Joint for not-quite-a-date.  It might have been obvious to anyone, except maybe them, that the pair liked each other.  They just didn't really know what to do about it.  The whole situation was compounded by their inexperience, their precarious living situations and the fact that the end of the school year might easily see them on different paths.  Carmen, who had big dreams, was particularly commitment shy.  She'd been doubly jaded by the actions of her Uncle, which lent a dark aspect to love.

At the end of the evening, in a fit of gallantry, Johnny declared that he must walk Carmen home.  There they had their first kiss.  It was as awkward and sweet as the whole outing had been.

Amused and emboldened by Johnny's shocked reaction to the kiss, Carmen sashayed off.

And of course the whole thing became grist for the gossip mill on subsequent girls nights.

The gang celebrated Carmen's eighteenth birthday at Hogan's.  There was a cake, with candles and much hilarity.  Although technically still at school, Carmen was pleased to consider herself a 'young adult'.

Months passed and the weather became warmer.  The Fourth of July saw Carmen, Yuki and Luna enjoying a swim.  They dared each other to various acrobatics off the rocks which had served as a diving platform for generations of teenagers before them.

And of course the water was a great place for sharing secrets and confidences.  Quite naturally, the talk turned to boys.  Yuki admitted that she hadn't found any of the local boys that interesting and was waiting until college.  Luna had been on a date or two, but never gone past first base.  Carmen confessed that Johnny had been known to spend the night, although they hadn't slept-together slept together.  With a certain amount of twittering, the girls demanded how Carmen's parents had allowed even that much.

The whole story came out.  Well, most of it.  Carmen took Luna and Yuki back to her campsite.  She told them she had been living on her own, but not why she had run away from home.  And she didn't say a word about Johnny being homeless too.  She swore them to secrecy, though ultimately she couldn't be made to live with her Uncle anymore and school had finished a couple of weeks ago.  Carmen was just waiting for the final results to come in (she'd changed her postal address with the school to a private post box some time ago) and then she'd probably look for permanent work.
"You'll totally get A's" Luna said "But, what?  You don't go to college?"
"Maybe not right away" Carmen stated.
"That's a waste" Yuki chimed in.
"Yeah, I can't believe we didn't know you were living here" Luna shook her head "We could have helped.  Is there anything we can do now?"
"I've been okay" Carmen tried, somewhat lacking in conviction.  "I've been out here most of a year you know."
"Wow" it was Yuki's turn to shake her head.

Part 2

After the tourist season, Carmen found a cheap fishing rod abandoned in the trailer park.  Like the chilly bin and camping chair, she took it for her own.  Sometimes one mans junk is another mans treasure.  Or in this case, potential food source.  Unfortunately Carmen had little luck with fishing, she was also somewhat squeamish, but on those rare occasions when she did manage to catch a meal she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Carmen's friendships with both Luna and Johnny progressed to the point where they would hang out after school.  Carmen secretly dreaded the times when the activity of choice for the afternoon was "Let's go grab a bite".  At Hogan's, Carmen stayed away from the more expensive pizza and burger options opting for a sandwich instead.  Luna's friend, Yuki, regularly joined them.  Yuki had brightly coloured hair and was into music and computers.  Mostly, Carmen worried about probing questions and the impossible necessity of inviting her schoolmates to come around her place.  She found herself making a lot of excuses.

Because, she didn't even have access to her own toilet.  It was awful when she'd wake busting in the night and have to find a spot to squat in the (scarce) bush.

Once Carmen did gather the courage to invite Johnny to her campsite, she found out something amazing.  Johnny was a runaway, of sorts, too.  He'd been living rough almost as long as Carmen.  Turned out he was the love child of the powerful Nancy Landgrabb and when the truth about his parentage had come to light Geoffrey and the Landgrabb reputation couldn't stand the shame.  After a fight Johnny's parents had bundled him out onto the streets, effectively disowning him.  They fed some cock-and-bull story to the local media to cover his disappearance and Johnny's wicked brother (well, half-brother as it turned out) Malcom, secretly rubbed his hands together in glee at not having to share the vast Landgrabb fortune with a sibling.  Malcom was the one who helped keep alive a rumor that Johnny had left home to pursue a career as a stand-up comic, against their parents wishes.

"Really?" Carmen asked, part horrified but also amused "Was that the best he could come up with?"

"Actually, I did tell Malcom once that I want to be an entertainer."  Johnny confessed.  "Though I'm more a musician than a comedian."

"Oh" Carmen exclaimed, going quiet.  Then she just looked at Johnny with a smile, smitten all over again.

"Hey, that cloud looks like a bear" Johnny pointed, changing the subject.

Christmas and New Year's came.  Luckily the desert climate stayed moderate enough for some comfort, even in the winter months.  Carmen shuddered at the thought of dealing with snow.  As the holidays approached, Carmen didn't have a lot of spare cash for gifts.  But she had acquired a fake ID and a sporadic income.  Using the internet at the library, Carmen created an alias.  She'd respond to local odd-job postings; packing boxes, moving furniture, takeout runs, gardening help.  The sorts of things that cash-strapped students sometimes do.

Carmen convinced Johnny to join her at the bar for New Year's Eve.

"Come on" she cajoled "It'll be so crowded, no one will notice anything."

Johnny, younger than Carmen by just over a year and far better known, was less certain.  Eventually he gave in.

"Alright, but just for a little while.  And you have to let me buy you a drink."  Johnny's expression changed "It might be a Coke mind, but still" he said with a grin.

"Deal" Carmen agreed.

In the event, Johnny left early.  Carmen lost track of him sometime between ten thirty and quarter past eleven.  Instead, she found herself sitting next to a blonde stranger.  The atmosphere in the bar got a little loud as midnight approached and everyone cheered as the television did the final countdown.  They sang a rousing chorus of 'Auld Lang Syne'.  Carmen thought, happily, that this was the year she would finish school and become a legal adult.  Then, exhausted, she rode her way slowly back to her tent.

As the cold weather continued, Carmen relied more often on the warmth of her campfire.  She learned the hard way about which logs would and wouldn't burn well.  Her education cost her, as one tree's branches caused clouds of horrendous black smoke.  Another time, one log went up in spectacular fashion and Carmen danced around nervously, before the flames settled again.

Part 1.

It had been weeks since Carmen had runaway.  She'd discovered a sad truth.  People, even grown-ups, especially grown-ups, don't want to get into other people's business.  Carmen attended school, knowing an education was her way out.  She kept a lower profile now and hoped the teachers didn't question the non-attendance of her Uncle at parent conferences.  Or the fact that she had basically been wearing the same clothes for nearly a month now.

Carmen showered at the local gym.  Which had a community focus and a surprisingly open door policy.  She picked up change where she could for the laundromat.  

She had a light jacket, a less-and-less white t-shirt, jeans (in decent condition), a pair of black shorts, a singlet or two (which could double as tank tops in a pinch), socks, underwear and her good shoes.

She did her homework, borrowed books from the library.  In fact, she relied on the library almost as much as she relied on the gym.  At night, Carmen slept in the tent, off the road.

She salvaged a chilly bin and a camping chair she found abandoned in a nearby trailer park.  

She made a firepit with stones.  Precious money went to matches, a lighter and occasionally sausages to roast on a stick over the flames.

Other food sources included the vending machine at the gym.  It dispensed ham and cheese sandwiches which, while lacking in freshness and flavour, at least filled a hole in Carmen's empty stomach.

Carmen lived this way.  Constantly on the move.  Concerned about strangers.  Fearful of her Uncle sending the authorities to find her.  She'd left a note implying that if he pursued her, Carmen would make sure the police knew exactly what he had done and wanted to do...
It would have to be enough.

And as the weeks went by, it seemed there was no Amber Alert, no manhunt.  This was both good and bad, causing Carmen to feel both relieved and abandoned.  And still Carmen would alternate between the park, the library and the solitude of her campsite -in order to attract less notice.

Sometimes other kids from the school hung out in the park.  Carmen would run into Sofia, a rich girl with blonde hair who liked to gossip and (luckily) didn't have much time for Carmen most days.  Or, Luna, who was becoming a friend and had too much going on in her own big family to worry about Carmen's lack of one.

Then there was Johnny.  Johnny was exactly the kind of boy Sofia did not approve of.  Frequently scruffy.  Often barefoot.  Johnny carried around with him an air of "good enough" or maybe "just enough".  A lot of days, Johnny didn't make it to school.

Carmen liked him despite all that.  Maybe her own circumstances made her sympathetic.  Maybe Johnny was one of the only boys who didn't look away almost immediately, once they noticed it was her in her messy ponytail and same old jeans.  Maybe Johnny had the nicest smile Carmen had seen.

School was big on self-directed learning and inquiry.  Especially for the seniors.  Progress was proved through projects.  So, Carmen would be found at the library reading up on electrics, or even basic robotics.  Then assembling some kitset that had been provided to her, supplemented with bits she'd been able to recycle.

Often the whole thing had to be packed up and taken back to the campsite for completion.  Carmen dreamed of the day, not too far off, when she would graduate high school and be able to spend her time more productively.  Not to mention comfortably.

Prologue

Carmen Shapiro was twelve years old the night a car crash took her parents and younger brother.  Her Dad and Jaime, riding in the passenger side, were killed on impact.  Her Mother, driving, lasted long enough to reach the hospital.  Paramedics said she fought hard, before the shock drove her to unconsciousness.
Carmen had been staying with a friend.  The phone call came and Nicky's parents walked tentatively into the room with worried faces.  They rushed Carmen to Brindleton Bay Mercy Hospital.  There she was able to say a goodbye of sorts, but her Mother was unresponsive.  Twelve hours later, she followed her husband and son.

The next days became a blur of intense grief.  A social worker and others were involved.  An uncle was located, in Oasis Springs.  He would take his orphaned niece.


And for several years all was well, enough.


Then one night when Carmen was barely seventeen, her Uncle came into her bedroom.  His hand, almost casually, slipped a little too far up her leg and under the hem of her nightshirt.  He made some comment about how she was becoming "Such a young woman."
Frozen, Carmen gathered what courage she could before replying "Goodnight Uncle."  A dismissal in her tone, without too much unfriendliness to put him on guard.  Rebuffed, her Uncle left, turning the light out behind him.
In the dark, Carmen's mind raced.  What was she to do?  Her instincts were screaming that this could get bad, very fast.  She had not merely imagined the way her skin crawled at the touch of that hand.  Nor the all-wrong smile on her Uncle face.  Options?  She could tell a teacher.  But nothing truly illegal had happened.  Carmen was sure her teachers' hands would be fairly tied; if she could make them believe.  Carmen had no other family.  Also, weren't the adults likely to chalk this up to some sort of adolescent confusion or rebellion?  On the surface, her Uncle provided for her, loved her.  Wasn't rejecting parental figures part of growing up?  In cases such as hers, with unconventional family structures, rebellion, issues of identity and growing pains could take many forms -some extreme.  Carmen could just imagine the grown-ups offering these reassuring (to them) explanations and sending her right back to this house alone.

No, Carmen could not be certain help would come from adults in time.  She was unsafe now.
So, a new plan began to form.  The next morning, Carmen packed her schoolbag with an extra change or two of underwear, a pair of shorts, a singlet.  She kept it small and essential, so as to not alert anyone.  There was a, currently unused, one man tent in the garage.  This, Carmen carefully loaded onto the back of her bicycle at the last moment.  She went to school as normal, though she was distracted.  But, that afternoon, she did not go home.