“Mom, I really want to help someone. I figure this is the best way,” I sighed.

She had asked me this question over and over ever since I had decided to volunteer at the Home for Troubled Teens. You know, suicidal, abused, molested. That kind of thing. It took reading an article in the newspaper to realize how real the whole situation was. It had taken a couple days for the Home to do a background check and make sure I was okay.

“Well, I’m outta here. I’ll be back by dinner!” I hollered into the kitchen where my mom and little sisters were cooking lunch. I wasn’t hungry and had decided to head up early. I found my keys in my jacket and was soon on my way. It wasn’t very far to the Home which disturbed me because all the years I had lived in Tulsa I had not known anything about the Home.

“Hi, I’m Phoenix Morrow. I volunteered,” I said to a blonde lady at the very entrance of the building.

“Oh, great. Okay, go in that door and Miss Hampton will set you up,” she directed me to a double door painted this ugly shade of green.

“Miss Hampton? I’m Phoenix Morrow,” I held my hand out to the lady in front of me.

“Well hello there, and welcome. We really appreciate you volunteering. We don’t get many anymore,” she said kind sadly.

I understood what she meant. And that was another reason I was doing this. Hoping, as a celebrity, that I could give my fans the gift of awareness. I knew there were clubs of fans out there already doing charities. In fact, I had spent the last couple days writing personal letters to each club saying how cool I thought they were for helping people and explaining what I was doing.

“On the phone you said you would like to work one-on-one with someone. Do you still want to do that?” Miss Hampton began to sort through a pile of papers on her desk.

I answered, “It doesn’t matter to me as long as I am helping someone.”

Miss Hampton smiled at me, “I wish there were more young men like you.” I looked down to hide my smile at the comment. She continued to search until she came across a paper that pleased her. “We actually could use your help one-on-one.” Handing me the paper, she continued, “Last week a sixteen year old came here with a baby. She doesn’t talk at all. We don’t know if she’s mute or not. Probably not since some of the other teens have said they hear her humming to her baby. We don’t know the baby’s name or where they’re from. Who the Daddy is or who the family is. Only that the baby is four weeks.” I scanned the empty sheet and sure enough, all it said was sixteen: mom of baby: Baby B. Day- February 1.

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked, afraid that I would fail my first attempt at helping someone.

“I honestly have no clue. I guess just be her friend. See if you can get her to talk. But you have to tell us anything and everything she says,” Miss Hampton made that very clear.

I nodded, “Okay. Where is she?” Miss Hampton shrugged. She was beginning to frustrate me with her no-help answers.

“She’s the only one with a baby.” Miss Hampton sat down and began to read more papers and I sensed that our discussion was over.

Back outside it was a little more active as I guessed people began to wake up more. I saw no sign of any baby and began to just wander around. The teens didn’t look or act any different than me. And each seemed to have a little group they fit in with. The Home was actually quite large which disturbed me. It shouldn’t have to be big.

“Well, I am doing all I can,” I told myself and continued my search. After what must have been ten minutes I saw an out of place object. A baby carrier. On closer inspection I saw that a baby was in it and a girl was sitting all by herself moving colored pencils across a pad of paper.

“Hi, I’m Phoenix,” I sat down across from her. She looked up at me and then back down to her paper. It was obvious that me asking questions would not make her talk so instead I asked, “What are you drawing?” She handed the pad over and I looked at the drawing. It was the sun setting or rising, take your pick, over the ocean. It was very well done, especially with nothing but some crummy art pencils and no eraser.

“Wow, that’s really good,” I complimented her. You can never go wrong with a compliment. I looked closer at all the different shades of color in each different section. “Can I have a piece?” I asked, handing the pad back. She didn’t answer, just ripped a sheet off and handed it to me. I helped myself to the pencils which I found to be even crummier than that they looked.

“I like to draw. I can’t draw landscapes though. Atleast not like that,” I pointed to her picture. “I draw cartoon people the best. They’re my favorite to draw because I can make them anyway I want them to be.” She just listened without saying a word. I decided right then and there that I would never make her talk. She could listen to me and if she ever chose to talk I would listen attentively.

Even though she was only a year younger than me she seemed like some little girl about Trinity’s age. I decided to tell her about my family. Having a baby she might appreciate hearing funny stories.

“I have six brothers and sister. Two big brothers, a little brother and three little sisters. The youngest is five and her name is Trinity.” She just kept drawing but I could tell by the way she sat that she was listening. “Yesterday Ryan, he’s nineteen, accidentally stepped on her homemade doll house. He doesn’t weigh a lot but you should have seen the house afterwards. Anyway, to make up for it he let her paint his finger nails, just like he use to do with Laurel who is twelve now.” She switched colors and kept going. “Well, he didn’t think about the fact that Trinity is five and can’t paint anybody’s nails. So he had nail polish all over. And then he remembered that we had to go do a concert immediately and he didn’t have time to get the nail polish off.”

She was finished with her picture I guess because she tore the page out and laid it down. She had done something to make it even shinier and it looked like light was really reflecting off the water. Her baby started to cry and she stood up and picked the baby up. She checked and saw that the baby was wet. Moving the carrier onto the floor she laid down a plastic mat and proceeded to change the diaper.

I saw that the baby was a girl (don’t think I was a pervert or sicko, I just needed to know) and asked, “What’s her name?” The girl shrugged and sat back down, still holding the baby. “You mean she doesn’t have a name?” I asked as she placed the baby back into the carrier and proceeded to rock the carrier with her foot. She just shrugged again. “Well then can I name her?” I asked, completely expecting her to say no. She nodded and grabbed a new piece of paper.

I thought for a moment, “Something optimistic. Something pretty that she can be proud of. Something that makes sense. How about Hope?” She just looked up and shrugged. I looked down at the carrier, “Hey there Hope. My name is Phoenix.” Hope just yawned and waved her open hand. Almost like she was saying, “Hi there Phoenix. Aren’t I cute?” I smiled at Hope and then sat up straight again. I noticed that the girl was sitting with her knees in the chair leaning against the table with the pad resting against them. Out of my sight. She kept looking up at me.

“Now about you. I can’t just go on calling you that girl or her. We have to give you a name.” She shook her head and kept drawing with the black pencil. “No? How about a nickname that I’ll call you until you get up the courage to tell me your name,” I suggested. She looked at me skeptically. “It won’t be your real name or anything. How about Found since you’re kinda just...Found.” She shrugged and went back to her drawing.

“Okay then Found and her daughter Hope,” I picked up a blue pencil and kept working on my drawings of Charity Man. I smiled to myself, feeling I was already making great progress. And it had only been what, thirty minutes?

I looked up for another pencil and saw that Found was looking at me again. She leaned in close for a second and looked at my eyes. At or into, I sure couldn’t tell the difference. I saw her eyes, since there was no way of avoiding it. They were blue with a dark, dark blue rim around them.

She leaned back and continued to draw. I just went back to my drawing as if nothing had happened. Without even realizing it I began to hum In the Arms of an Angel. She noticed but did not react and kept drawing, every couple seconds glancing up at me. I looked down at Hope who was asleep and sucking on a pacifier Found had stuck in her mouth.

We just sat there drawing for what must have been an hour. It actually was fun. The first time I had been able to relax and draw for a long time.

Finally Found put her knees down and sat up.

“Can I see?” I asked, completely curious as to what she had drawn. She handed the pad over and I was surprised and amazed to see a sketch of...me. I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t a mirror it was so realistic. The only color on the page were the black lines, the white background and the brown for my eyes. It was even the exact right shade. “That’s what you were doing,” I figured out.

She nodded and pulled a cardboard box off the floor. It was full of papers and she had to stand up to look in it.

“Can I look?” I asked before sifting through. I could tell Found appreciated me asking before I did things. I surprised myself because I usually didn’t. “Mom must somehow be getting through,” I laughed to myself.

Inside the box were pictures. Well, drawings. Every paper had a different drawing on it. Some were landscapes, some were portraits. Some were colored and some were only sketched.

“Wow. You like to draw huh?” She nodded and added the two new pictures to the box. Some of the portraits I recognized. One was of Miss Hampton and one was of the lady at the front. One was of Hope as an even tinier baby. “You know, you’re really good. If you ever need the money you could do this as a profession,” I picked up a drawing of a sea gull and a pelican perched on those little wood posts in the ocean. I noticed that a lot of the landscapes were of things around the ocean.

“Did you live at the ocean before you came here?” I asked as I studied a picture of people lounging on the beach. She nodded and I mentally wondered how she made the trip from any ocean to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ofcourse she was definatly marching to the beat of a different drummer. I smiled at the reference.

“Did you know I’m in a band?” I asked her as we piled the pictures back into the box. She pointed to a teen girl who walked by wearing my band’s shirt. “I guess there are some fans around here huh?” She rolled her eyes. I laughed, “I hope you aren’t rolling your eyes at the band.” She shook her head and again pointed to that same girl. “We don’t like her, do we?” Found shook her head.

She was now glancing from the carrier to the box with her hands on her hips and obviously trying to come to a conclusion.

“Do you want me to carry something?” I asked. She nodded and picked up the carrier. I grabbed the box and followed behind her. She led me across the big room and I noticed that everywhere we walked the crowd parted, like Moses parted the Red Sea. No one took notice of us, just scooted over to stay away. I followed Found (tongue twister, I know) down a hall with doors on either side. At the very end of the hallway we came to one last door that Found opened and let me into. Inside it was very bright; every window was open.

“You like it bright?” I guessed. She nodded and pointed to a corner where I put the box. “So you have like your own little apartment here. Does everybody have it like this?” She shook her head and walked into the little area that I guessed was a kitchen, even though there was no fridge, stove, oven or anything kitchen like. She held up a bag a chips and got a questioning face on. I looked closer. Cheetos. Perfect.

“Okay,” I answered and she threw them to me without warning. Ofcourse I don’t know how she would have warned me. Found looked through the doorway and held up her hand signaling hold on a second. I guessed she was going to the bathroom. While she was gone Hope started to cry. I couldn’t just leave the tiny baby crying so I picked her up, fully expecting Found to be horrified when she returned. Hope wouldn’t shush so I began to rock her back and forth and sang softly to her. I laughed at myself for dancing with this baby around the front room slash bedroom.

“I never thought I would be taking care of a baby but if it helps your Mommy then I guess I’m your future dancing partner,” I laughed. Hope stopped crying , I stopped dancing and I looked up to see Found watching me. “Oh, sorry,” I apologized and put Hope back in her carrier. Found didn’t do or say anything. She just stood there watching me, as if she was looking for something. I just stood there and she soon snapped out of her trance.

Found sat down on the couch and moved the carrier onto the floor infront of the couch so that I could sit. I grabbed the Cheetos and joined her on the faded leather couch. “What’s on?” I asked. She shrugged and handed me the remote. “Do you not care what we watch?” She shook her head and propped her feet up on the cardboard boxes in front. I flipped through the channels and stopped when I came to FOX. “Goody. A movie is just starting,” I turned the volume up but kept it low enough not to wake Hope up. “Anywhere But Here,” the opening screen read, “Have you heard of this before?”

Found shook her head and her pony tail whipped me in the face.

“Oh thanks. I really appreciate that,” I teased. She rolled her eyes and tightened it. I turned my focus to the screen. “Natalie Porter is pretty awesome. She’s a good actress,” I said for no reason. Found nodded her head. I got lost in the movie plot, as did Found. She only turned her attention once when Hope let her know that she was hungry. The Cheetos were very tasty, especially since I hadn’t eaten lunch.

“I hope you don’t mind me eating all these.” I half asked half stated. She shook her head but kept her eyes on the TV. I smiled and dug in. The movie ended and Found stood up and stretched. I did so too and threw the empty Cheeto bag into the trash. Hope woke up and started crying to be held. Found picked her up.

“Where is the bathroom?” I asked. She pointed in the direction. When I came back Found was waiting for me at the door. She handed me the picture she had drawn of me and the picture of the sunset.

“What?” I asked. She pushed the pictures to me. “You want me to keep them?” She nodded. “Thanks,” I folded the pictures up and stuck them in my pocket. “Now where are we going?” I asked. She shrugged, which she sure did a lot, and I just followed. Outside we just sorta walked with Found holding Hope.

“Well hello there Phoenix. How’s everything going?” Miss Hampton asked.

“Great!” I answered. Miss Hampton just walked on off. Found stuck her tongue out at Miss Hampton’s retreating back.

“You don’t like her?” I asked. Found shook her head with a look of disgust. “She seems nice to me,” I pointed out. Found shook her head once more and then the subject was dropped. I saw the girl wearing the fan shirt glaring at us and I had to stifle a laugh. ‘Could be worse,’ I thought, ‘She could be mobbing me.’ I looked at my watch. 5:00.

“I need to go soon. I’ve got like thirty minutes,” I said to Found. She acted like she didn’t care and I wondered if she really didn’t’t or if she did and was just hiding it. I figured she didn’t really care. “Let’s go exploring,” I said to Found. She shrugged and followed behind me.

The Home wasn’t much. There was the big room where we had drawn that morning. Then there was the entry way and office hall where I had come in. Six hallways split out in different directions, all holding dorms. Found showed me an empty one and she was right when she said not everyone had an apartment. All the other rooms were just that. Rooms with bunks on either side. All the rooms were either all girl or all boy and I understood why. About six people shared each room.

At 5:30 I turned to Found, “I have to get home Found but I’ll see ya later. Okay? Bye Hope” Found nodded and watched me go. I made a stop by Miss Hampton’s office. “Hi Miss Hampton. I’m leaving now. The baby’s name is Hope and for now I’m calling her Found,” I reported.

“Did she talk to you!?!” Miss Hampton asked.

“No but she let me name the baby and she doesn’t really care about her name,” I explained.

“Okay. Bye Phoenix,” she shooed me off. I was beginning to see what Found meant. Miss Hampton was a bit pushy. I left and drove myself home.

“Well hello honey. How was it?” My mom greeted me with a hug.

“I’ll tell you at dinner,” I answered and went into the front room.

“Phoenix! You’re home!” Cameron jumped on me as I sat down. We didn’t get much chance to talk though because Jessica came in.

“Mom said dinner’s ready,” she announced.

The whole family flooded into the kitchen and took their seats. The same seats we had been sitting in for as long as I could remember. As I looked around the table at my family I couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion hit. Poor Found had no family at all except for Hope. It made me even happier to be helping. Dad said grace and then the whole family waited silently.

“Well?” Graham asked.

I smiled, “What?” I loved playing with their curiosity.

“Come on Phoenix! We wanna hear what you did!” bold little Laurel yelled out. I laughed.

“Well I am working one-on-one with this girl who’s sixteen. She came in last week and hasn’t said a word. She has this baby and the Home says she might be mute. They have no clue about anything about her. Where she is from, what happened. Nothing.” I took a bite of my chicken before I continued, “So this morning we drew pictures. I named her baby. Hope. And I gave her a nickname. Found. She has her own little apartment thingy but nobody else does. We watched a movie and we explored the Home.” I remembered the pictures in my pocket. I pulled them out and handed them to my Dad. “She drew those this morning,” I explained.

My Dad was amazed, “Oh my gosh! She drew these?”

My mom took the one of me from him, “This looks so real.” They passed the pictures around and everybody looked at them. It was agreed that Found had a talent beyond her years. Atleast that’s how my Dad put it. Ryan and Graham were impressed and even said that sometime they might want to do some volunteering at the Home.

After dinner Mom helped me find two frames for the pictures and hang them up on my bedroom wall. The evening passed in a flash and soon sleep was taking its toll on me.

“I’m very proud of you son for helping someone in need like this. Very proud,” Dad hugged me good night. Mom gave me a hug and a kiss and after all us guys in the room said good night to each other I looked up at the framed pictures on my wall.

“Goodnight Found. Goodnight Hope. Sweet dreams,” I whispered.

The next day, Thursday to be exact, woke me up very excited.

“I get shower first!” I purposely yelled loudly in Ryan’s face. He jumped up and ran for it but I got there first. “Haha!” I mocked him from the other side of the door.

“That’s okay. Your clothes are out here,” he smirked and walked off. I rolled my eyes and took my shower.

At the breakfast table I was brutilly attacked by Cameron, “Phoenix! Phoenix! I WANNA GO!” I threw him on the couch and sat down to calmly eat my breakfast. “Oh, that’s right. You want to smoochy-smooch with your girlfriend,” he teased and took his seat across from me.

“You know Phoenix, we have that barbeque this Saturday. If you want to ask her, Found and Hope are welcome to come along,” my Dad offered and took his seat at the head of the table.

I thought about it for a moment and then said out loud, “I was thinking. The Home said, well Miss Hampton said, that I have to tell them everything she says. But if she talks to me it’s because she trusts me and I shouldn’t defy that trust by telling, should I?”

My Dad held his hands up, “Sorry kiddo. That’s up to you.” I nodded and continued on with breakfast. I was more than happy to leave as today was Thursday, house-cleaning day. When I pulled up at the Home Miss Hampton was waiting for me at the door. I thought this a little odd, since she usually seemed so busy.

“I just want to go ahead and warn you Phoenix. The other teens here, especially the girls, aren’t very nice to Found or whatever you call her,” and with that she left. I couldn’t find Found in the main hall and so instead walked down the hall to her room. I kncocked soflty on the door incase Hope was sleeping and waited for an answer.

There wasn’t an answer for a moment and then the door was timidly opened with the chain still on. I guess she figured I was okay becuase she shut the door again, slid the chain off and then opened it to let me in. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that all the drapes were closed so that the room was as dark as it could have been.

“Is there a reason the lights are off?” I asked Found, wherever she was. I flicked the lights on and saw Found sitting on the couch with her elbows on her knees and her face buried in her hands. “Found? Are you okay?” I asked. I saw her shoulders shake a little and walked over to the couch. I stood over her and tapped her should. “Found? You okay?” I repeated.

She looked up at me and it almost made me sick. She had a giant bruise on her left cheek and a rather large cut on her forehead. A smaller cut ran horizontally across half her nose and her lip and been split. Her hair was all in knots and there were scratches covering her arms and neck.

“Oh my God! Who did this to you?” I almost screamed. She just continued to let the tears roll down her already stained cheeks. Her red eyes looked up at me with the most hollow look in them. I sat down beside her and wrapped my arms around her. Sure, I hadn’t known her very long but as long as I had known her, I somehow felt responsible for her. Her sobs got heavier as she cried into my shoulder.

I don’t know how long we sat there but at that moment I realized another thing. Here was a helpless teenage girl, who had come to a place to be safe and after being beaten up by somebody, she wasn’t even cleaned up or taken care of. Eventually her cries quieted until the disappeared altogether. She snuffed her nose and wiped the tears from her cheeksm then winced as her wrist hit the bruise.

“How about this, I’ll go find a first aid kit and we’ll get you cleaned up. Okay?” She nodded and watched me exit the room. In the hall I saw the girl who had previously wearing a Hanson shirt laughing her head off.

She pointed to my shoulder, “You actually let that slob cry on your shoulder?” I looked at her again. “Let me guess, now you’re gonna bandage her boo-boos. If you really wanted to work one-on-one with someone you should have atleast done it with someone salvageable, like me. She deserved that beating. Teach her to keep that snot-nosed daughter off the floor.” I did a double-take. Could this girl be the one who beat her?

“What happened?” I asked suspiciously.

“Her stupid baby was on the floor, in my way might I add. I was gonna kick the stupid thing and get it all over with but she punched me in the stomach. And that was that. We couldn’t let her get away with that,” she laughed. All I could do was let my jaw drop. Afraid that I would punch her, I just turned on my heel and left. “That brat hasn’t got an ounce of beauty in her! If you want a real woman look me up!” she hollered after me.

I soon made my way to Miss Hampton, “Why wasn’t Found taken care of?” She looked at me, shocked at my outburst.

“Excuse me? Taken care of? This isn’t a hospital,” she answered, surprised that I would even suggest it. I was shocked at her hostility and suddenly realized why Found didn’t like her. This lady had placed a judgement on Found. She figured that Found was trying to resist her and had given up. I couldn’t believe that a charity could be so... uncharitable.

“Where’s the first aid kit?” I asked, giving up and getting through to that hollow head. She pointed to the front desk. I didn’t thank her, just walked over to the desk and grabbed the white nox out from under the phone.

“There isn’t an ounce of beauty in her...” What that girl had said came back to me. I picked up the phone and dialed. Within minutes I heard an answer on the other end.

“Hey, Jessie? Can you do me a favor?” I asked.

I heard her sigh, “What do I owe you now?”

“Actually I need your help with Found.” I told her what I needed help with and she agreed to have Ryan or Graham give her a ride up and pick her up later. I made my way back to Found’s room and saw her bustling around the front room. When I entered she looked up with a look in her eyes that said, “Oh, you’re back.” She looked like she was afraid of being abandoned. I had taken so long that she thought I had abandoned her.

“Found,” I caught her attention as she went back to walking, “I’m not going to abandon you. I promise.” She looked me full in the face and for a moment I could have sworn she was about to say something. But she just shrugged. “Here, sit in the couch and we’ll fix you up,” I ordered. She obeyed and I sat down on the ground in front of her.

I would have been lost with that kit if not for the awesome little handbook. Within minutes I knew how to clean the scratches that littered her arms, neck and face. I had no prblem with her arms.

“Okay, look up. I’m gonna get your neck.” She did so and I couldn’t help myself, “I vant to drink your blood.” She jerked her neck down. I apologized and tried not to laugh but I did. She placed a hand on her neck but not protectively. Almost as though she was joking back. I eventually finished her neck and the gash on her forehead. I was nervous about the cut on her nose and cheek though becuase it was right by her eye and the little tube of gel-goop specifically said not to get it in eyes.

“You’re gonna have to be very still okay?” I remembered images of the doctor saying the very same thing to me when I was five. Surprisingly enough, I cleaned it without blinding the poor girl. Her eyes began to water and her cheeks turned red. Found swatted at the gel. “Hey, don’t mess it up!” I scolded. She cleanched her teeth. “Does it burn?” I asked sympathetically. She nodded her head vigorously. I blew on the cut and that seemed to calm her down.

“Well this is interesting,” I heard Jessica say from behind me. At the sight of a stranger in the room Found jumped up and ran across the room in front of Hope’s crib.

“Woah, calm down Found. That’s one of my little sisters, Jessica. Jessica, Found. Found, Jessica,” I introduced. Found still seemed suspicious.

Jessica held up her hands defensively and said to Found’s stares, “Hey. I’m just here because Phoenix called me.”

“Found, do the other people here call you ugly?” I asked in the silence that followed. She looked at me with pain and I knew I had hit the target. “Okay, well Jessica brought her make-up kit,” I continued. Found looked from me to Jessica and back to me.

“You know about make-up, right?” Jessica asked her. Found just gave her a blank stare. “Woah, don’t tell me you’ve never worn make-up before,” Jessica was horrified by the idea which made me laugh. Found shook her head. Jessica smiled, “Well we’ll just have to fix that right here and now,” and immediatly the barrier that had existed dissolved and Found willingly sat on the couch with Jessica in fornt of her and me beside, rambling my head off about anything and everything as Jessica added her two cents worth once in a while.

When she had finished, she proceeded to do Found’s hair into some kind of ponytail, curled the ends with her portable curler thingy and gave Found some clothes to change into. When Found returned from the bathroom she was a completely different person.

“Woah,” is all I could say. Found looked at herself in the mirror sitting on the ground against the far wall. I watched as she ran her hand gingerly over where the bruise was, though you couldn’t see it because Jessica had covered it with some kind of make-up goop.

1. I can remember starting this and then losing interest and then getting it back. I was so extremely proud of this when I was writing it.
2. I went to find Found. One of the best sentences in the English language, lol. And Found’s name is..special. I love the name Phoenix, though. I’ll probably use it in another story, lol.
3. I can still see the face of that nasty girl in my mind, lol. She had thick, darker brown hair and brown eyes and a sort of round face. Isn’t that funny that I can still remember that?
4. Sadly, many of my observations about Teen Shelters are correct, though they’re luckily improving. Places like this are always looking for help, so if you ever feel the urge to volunteer (though I think most places usually only accept adult volunteers) they’d be glad for your help. That was my little Public Service Announcement, lol.
5. All together, not terrible. I was...probably about 12 when I wrote this. You can see some immature ideas in there (“Even though I’d only know her for a little while, I felt responsible for her” or whatever. Very cliché.)
6. Also, I’d like to point out how creative the title is, lol. I never used to title things when I was younger, but apparently I slapped one on here.

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