"LaTrice and Travell did good," Edward said as Tyler reviewed the new resident's file.

"I just wish that this poor kid didn't have to go through all that," Tyler said, putting the file on his desk. "How did the entrance interview go?"

"I didn't do it," Edward said, sitting on Tyler's desk. "I thought you should."

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, for one, you went through what he's going through not too long ago. I have a feeling he'll open up to you more than he will to me."

"And second?"

"Second, I might be going on a honeymoon in the near future. Which means that you'll be holding the fort while I'm gone. Might as well start practicing now."

Tyler found the new kid sitting by himself in the multipurpose room. He looked exhausted, scared, and out of place.

"You must be Robbie," he said, sitting next to him. "I'm Tyler Drake. I work here at Haven."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"What do you want to happen?"

Robbie began to cry. "I just want to be a normal kid."

"And who said you weren't?"

"My dad. He was going to take me to a place. Try to change me."

"You know there's nothing wrong with you, right?"

"Yeah. That's why I left."

"Me too."

Robbie looked up at him. "Really?"

"Well, I wasn't in high school. It was this year. I just knew that to be myself, to truly live my life, I had to come here. To Chicago. And if it weren't a bit of luck, I would be right where you're sitting. So I'm here to tell you, nowhere is as bad as where you were. Right now, you have complete control of your destiny for the first time. You say where you go next."

"I almost got killed last night."

Tyler chuckled ironically. "Yeah, that almost happened to me too."

"Did they ever find who did it to you?"

"Yeah. And then she found you."

"You mean... ?"

"People have the immense ability to change. Or surprise you. Or both. You just gotta let them. I know humankind must seem to suck a helluva lot right now but you're gonna make it. There are good people out there, if you find them. And you can have a life."

Edward peeked his head in. "Sorry to interrupt. Tyler, you've got a visitor."

"Can you ask them to wait? I'll be... "

"He's... quite persistent."

When Tyler came out, Alex was waiting impatiently in the hallway.

"Oh. Hi. What are you... ?"

"God, this is awkward," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, to be fair, you asked for me... "

"Whatever. I need your help. There's this kid that's missing... "

"A lot of our residents are runaways. Some of them are leaving really bad home lifes, their anonymity... "

"Yeah, I don't know what all that means, can you just put this flier up or whatever?" Alex handed him a flier. "There's a Facebook page. Or you can tweet me if... "

"Who is this kid?" Tyler asked, studying the photocopied face staring back at him.

"It's a kid at school. The one with all that drama with Mr. Parker. He ran away from home."

Tyler opened the door to the multipurpose room and looked at Robbie, comparing his face to the flier. It was the same kid.

"Thanks. I'll let you know if I find him." Tyler went back into the multipurpose room and approached Robbie quietly.

"Is everything ok?" Robbie asked.

"I need your help."

"Absolutely! Anything I can do. I can clean or cook. I can earn my keep."

"I should rephrase that. My friend needs your help." Tyler placed the missing flier on the table in front of Robbie. "His name is Charlie Parker."

The color drained from Robbie's face and he stood up abruptly. "I can't. My dad will kill me."

"Charlie's career is on the line. He goes into his disciplinary hearing tomorrow. He could lose his job."

Robbie began to cry. "I've ruined so many lives."

"It's not too late to fix it. You can still... ."

"I can't face him, Mr. Drake. I can't face my Dad."

Tyler put a comforting hand on Robbie's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll be right there with you." Tyler spent the rest of the day up to his neck in paperwork. He emailed Robbie's file to the on-call social worker. He texted Charlie that they'd found Robbie, that everything was going to be ok. He texted Brad that a quiet night of pizza and DVR sounded great. He caught LaTrice on his way out.

"Hey LaLa, do me a favor? Keep an eye on Robbie. He's pretty shaken up. I'll check in with him first thing in the morning."

LaTrice looked at him puzzled. "Boo, he ain't here. He ain't been here all day."

The color in Tyler's face drained. "What?"

"Yeah," she said digging in her purse. She pulled out the flier. "When Travell came to open up the study hall, he found this just sitting on the table. We thought y'all found who was looking for him and set him loose."

Tyler gripped the crumpled up flier in his hand. The photocopied face just stared back at him.

###
Just joining us? Catch up here:

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 3 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 4 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 5 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five


###