(Warning: This story has strong language and violence) Down a back alley, a teenage boy ran. His green eyes flashed momentarily on the large dumpster. He was looking for a place to hide from what he wasn't all that sure. Being alone on the street in this neighborhood one was assumed guilty from the start. Cops were never his friends, and he avoided them at all costs. He wasn't running from the cops tonight, although he was worried. He had two strikes against him already, and one more violation, and it was back to lock up. No, tonight he was running from something different, something he would not be able to outrun... himself. He was out of breath by the time he reached the dumpster in the nearby alley that was more like a second home. With his energy spent he slumped down in the far side of it so no one could see him. He pulled off his duffel bag from his shoulder and unzipped the side pocket. Inside was a little baggie with a few pills. He took one out and swallowed it down. He sat there in the fetal position holding his head. Pain pulsated through his brain and his face burned. "Why won't it go away?" he cried silently. "I'll tell you why," came a female voice just a few feet away. He recognized that voice and slowly rose to his feet to see a blue-eyed blonde girl wearing a pair of old faded jeans with a matching jacket and black form fitting t-shirt underneath. She had a look of disgust on her face. "Drake, you really are pathetic, you whiny little baby." "Shut up, Lea," he said, pushing past her. "You don't know nothing." "I know enough," she said, getting up in his face. "You're goin' soft on me." He said nothing, because he knew nothing he could say would change how she felt at that moment. Look at you; you get a little pain in your head and suddenly you can't handle anything." Lea's taunts went on and on, but Drake could no longer hear them. The pain in his head was too strong. "Shut up, you lousy bitch," he shouted and slammed her up against the brick wall. His hand was suddenly around her neck as she gasped for air. "I said shut the fuck up!" Almost instantly, Drake was thrown a few feet away as Lea fell to her knees struggling to breathe. "What the fuck, Drake," she coughed out. "Are you crazy?" Drake slowly walked back over to her and stopped as he was standing over her. He noticed something. Lea had some red blotches on her neck where his hand had pressed against her nearly choking her to death. Lea looked up at him seeing how horrified he looked. "What?" she asked in touch the bruises on her neck. She gasped at the pain when she glided her fingers over the wound. He looked into her reflection on some broken glass and realized that she was burned as well. "What the fuck?" "I did it," Drake said. "I'm sorry, Leah." With that he raced out of the alley and out of sight.