The punishment for a seventh-grade dropout runaway is probably pretty harsh, but Ash Barker doesn't care. She can’t waste time or emotions on anyone but her brother, Matt. They were placed in separate foster homes, so Ash runs away to find him. If she fails, she’s headed back to juvenile detention. Everything is going right on schedule until two kids, Dayna and Kevin, barge into her hideout -- which just happens to be in their house. She ditches the pair fast, but can’t stop thinking about those bruised, skinny kids. Dayna and Kevin live with abusive parents who force them to stay in their room most of the time. If they go to the authorities for help, they’ll be split up, too. Ash knows how that feels, and she goes back to help, taking the two with her. With any luck, they’ll all help each other along the way. Meanwhile, as Matt waits for Ash, he can’t resist telling his foster brother and best friend, Jon-Allen, about the plans. They stash food, earn money, and keep watch for the night Ash appears at their bedroom window. Ash is so happy to be reunited with Matt and to discover she’s falling in love with Dayna that, at first, she doesn’t worry about what they’ll do next. But life on the road begins to take its toll -- they have to resort to shoplifting and scavenging to survive. Ash feels a growing sense of guilt at the disaster she’s made of everyone’s lives. Can she somehow keep her newfound “family” together despite hunger and sickness? Or will she be able to find the strength to reach out for help?

No Turning Back

Dayna had a feeling they wouldn’t move on until she completed her mission with Jon-Allen. But every time she tried to tell him, she didn’t know how.


“Wait Jon-Allen,” Dayna called. “We need to talk.”


He sat beside Dayna, and Ash joined the other boys in playing tag.


“What do you want to talk about now?” he said resolutely.


Dayna smiled as she realized he had reached his breaking point, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings any more than she wanted to hurt his. Every time he tried to do anything with the others she had told him they needed to talk, but then never said what she had meant to say.


“I was thinking,” she said. “Just because we really like each other and have a connection doesn’t mean we haveto go out, does it?”


Jon-Allen raised an eyebrow and smiled. “No.”


“We can still be great friends without being boyfriend and girlfriend, can’t we?” she asked.


Chapter 156