Our journey was a series of bus trips and train rides all the way to New York City. We did end up living on the streets for a couple weeks when we got there. It wasn’t so bad. We were smart to leave in the summer when the nights weren’t as cold. The homeless people we met were nice too. One even took us to a shelter for LGBT teens after they found out why we left home. It was the turning point in our lives and I’m grateful for everything the shelter staff did for us.
Aside from giving us a place to stay, the counselors there helped me and Kalil find jobs, apply for college, even hunt for a real apartment. Many of them commended us for saving up before we ran away. Only a handful of the other kids had that much foresight. Most were there because, like Kalil’s father, their parents preferre
