my face I didn't want the surveillance

cameras to catch any footage of me

otherwise my cover will be blown and my

parents will know where I'm hiding while

I was waiting in line to pay I looked at

the TV that was behind the cashier and

heard the reporter reporting about a

missing girl me she had shown my picture

and asked people to cooperate if they

knew any information that could help

find me I got nervous I paid for what I

bought and got out making sure not to

make any eye contact with anyone in the

supermarket I headed to the place where

I was hiding

Mrs Jenny's house the old lady who lives

next door she's been away for a while

visiting her son who lives in another

state and I snuck into her place it

turned out to be the perfect hiding

place neither of my parents nor the

police thought of searching it I got to

the house and went through the kitchens

back door I made sure not to turn any

lights on so no one would notice that

someone was living here I slightly

pulled the curtains and checked our

house everything was normal for now at

least oh you're asking why I'm doing

this it all started a month ago at my

high school suddenly being popular was

about having expensive stuff and buy

expensive I mean really expensive things

only my friend Tess could afford because

her dad was a millionaire she bought

this designer bag that costs $20,000 and

brought it to school all the girls

wanted to take a picture of it and all

the boys wanted to flirt with tests

because they thought she would shower

them with gifts

you know since she's got the money and

it worked Tess started dating James the

most popular boy at school I was jealous

actually all the girls were jealous so

they started doing the same buying

expensive stuff and showing them off

hoping it'll catch a guy's attention or

any attention for that matter but I

couldn't do the same my parents were far

from being rich they worked really hard

and barely made it for month-to-month

I knew I couldn't do anything about it

yet one day while we were in the sports

class Ana an old enemy of mine called me

out

so Karen how come we've never seen you

bragging about something are you

homeless I was caught off guard by her

nasty comment I felt all the girls

turned their heads to look at me my face

turned red I wasn't sure if it was from

anger or pure embarrassment but I

managed to say I choose not to I've got

standards you know Anna laughed

sarcastically yeah right mother Theresa

we

no it's because you're poor you've got

nothing I should have just let her

comment slide and not make a big deal

out of it

but oh no she woke the Giant in me I

couldn't keep my mouth shut so I

responded oh yeah just watch me and I

responded oh I will homeless girl I went

home feeling defeated what did I just

get myself into how will I prove her

wrong I literally got nothing I tried

convincing mom I begged her to get me

$200 to buy a fake designer jacket she

looked at me as if I was the craziest

person in the world $200 for a jacket

are you insane

do you know how many hours I worked to

get that money and before she finished

her lecture about working hard and

appreciating every penny I get I went to

my room slamming the door behind me she

didn't understand how hard it was to be

a high school student she knew nothing

about the social judgment there the next

day I pretended to be sick I didn't want

to go to school and face Anna or

tolerate her nasty comments mom left me

in bed she was too tired to argue with

me in the morning

later I went to get some breakfast and

just as I was about to open the fridge I

saw dad's credit card on the kitchen

counter my eyes popped out and my heart

started beating fast I hesitated at

first dad would kill me if I bought

something with it but I couldn't stop

myself from thinking couldn't it be a

sign that I should use it I mean my dad

never forgot his credit card before the

timing was strange and perfect at the

same time maybe the universe knew the

suffering I've been going through and

decided to offer some help

I took the credit card and went online I

logged into a site for secondhand items

and after so much scrolling I made up my

mind to buy this $300 designer handbag

it looked unique with that owl picture

sewn on its back with these shiny

colorful beads I filled in the billing

information and pressed confirm and oh

my god just like that it was mine the

website assured me that the bag will be

delivered in two days I was ecstatic

finally I would be like most of the

girls at my school and I wouldn't pick

on me anymore I put the credit card back

in its place and went on with my day but

something strange happened the next day

while I was getting ready for school I

got a message on my phone saying the bag

you purchased is not for sale

cancel your order right now you'll get a

refund I looked at the number it was so

strange it had way more digits than it

should and too many zeros

must be a joke I googled the number and

got nothing tons of people buy stuff

online every day maybe it was not for me

if it were they would have sent me an

email wasn't they so I just brushed it

off my mind and I went to school with so

much pride looking into Anna's eyes like

I was a beast now just you wait two more

days and I'll make sure you wish you

were dead

however later that day I got another

message it said be ready to face the

consequences it's your choice

we'll come to your house and take the

bag my blood ran cold was it a real

threat if they know my house who knows

what they can do to me or my parents

I kept thinking while going hysterical

in my room I heard the doorbell and I

freaked out I went to answer it I looked

through the doors eyes and saw the

delivery man the bag has arrived I

opened the door got the bag and signed

quickly while looking left and right to

see if anyone was watching then I closed

the door and went upstairs to check it

the bag looked like a normal bag I

opened it and looked inside flipped it

over check its pockets but nothing came

out why would they want it back

however the messages wouldn't stop

whoever was sending them kept

threatening me that he'll do something

to me so I decided to disappear oh no I

didn't want to send the bag back

I just got it and I fell in love with it

and it would take two days for them to

get it and I didn't want to tell my

parents the truth dad didn't notice that

his credit card was used

he wouldn't know about it until the next

month why would I expose myself he would

ground me I'm not ready for it plus I'm

already curious I need to know why they

need to take the bag at midnight I had

already made up my mind to live a while

with mrs. Jenny's I packed some of my

things and left the house as quietly as

possible I made sure not to make any

sound and I barged in mrs. Jenny I knew

she kept the kitchen door open for her

dog and that was two days ago I turned

off my cell phone so no one could call

me and kept watching the house my

parents freaked out and I saw the police

arrived at our place to run an

investigation but I remained still the

first day went by while me check in the

house nothing strange happened except

for my parents not going to work which

pissed me off

I mean I was hiding to observe and

protect them but now they're making it

harder for me the second day was boring

as hell I kept on watching my parents

were still looking for me but the whole

situation seemed calm I was getting

really hungry

mrs. Jenny didn't really have the kind

of food I would eat so I put on my

hoodie and cap and went to the

convenience store to get some

snacks and that's when I saw the news

report I made myself a big bowl of ramen

noodles and sat behind the window I took

out the phone in my pocket and turned it

on it's been two days since I opened it

the minute I unlocked it I got tons of

notifications missed calls messages and

mentions all over my social media

accounts I had it on airplane mode and

turned off the Wi-Fi I checked Twitter

first and a new hashtag caught my eye

it was hashtag hope you are safe I

started scrolling through the tweets and

saw that many of my classmates had

pictures of me with captions like our

heart goes out to you scarlet praying

that you are alive and well whoa I

didn't know that I mattered that much to

them test that maybe 200 tweets asking

people to help I scrolled down some more

until I got to Jonathan's tweet Jonathan

was my lab partner we only talked in

class and did our projects together and

that was it but to my surprise he

confessed his love in his tweet he wrote

I didn't have the courage to say it

before but if you ever come back I'll

let you know was he kidding two days of

me missing and now I have a secret

admirer like some kind of Hollywood

actress why was he hiding I was

overwhelmed and kinda happy with all the

attention I felt so I decided to stay

away for a little longer I mean the

person who threatened me hadn't shown up

yet and I secretly wanted to see where

this was going I stayed a week at mrs.

Jenny's house I watched my house but I

got obsessed with checking social media

I wanted to read every post they had

about me yet surprisingly it all started

going down on day six people started

going back to their lives they stopped

posting and it was like they forgot

about me then one morning I saw my

mother coming back to the house she

looked tired and lost a ton of weight

she had dark circles around her eyes my

heart was broken to see her looking like

this have I gone too far with the whole

thing i sat down on the couch I was on

the verge of tears I wanted to cry my

lungs out and I couldn't stay still I

got my things and went home I knocked on

the door and waited patiently for my mom

and dad to open it up my mom opened it

and when she saw me she almost fainted

she started hugging and kissing me she

was worried sick I can't believe I had

the heart to do that to her dad came

after he hugged me too and we all sat in

the living room they were eager to hear

my story I started talking and explained

the whole bag and messaged thing I

showed them to my mom my mom looked at

my phone for a while she was staring at

the number

then she turned to my dad and said oh

don't tell me it was you who sent them

did you use your business number the one

your company has an app for I was

shocked I looked at my dad he was

sweating and his face started turning

red wait did he really do it mom had a

scary look so dad had to confess oh

honey she used my credit card to buy a

$300 bag I had to teach her a lesson I

didn't know she'd take it that serious

and run out of the house mom was pissed

she started yelling at my dad while he

tried to calm her down and out of

nowhere I started laughing I laughed so

hard at this it was all one big lie then

they joined me I couldn't remember the

last time I saw my parents looking happy

like this two weeks later the buzz about

me went down dad told the police that I

came home safe and sound the police made

sure not to leak any other information

since I was not 18 yet but I learned my

lesson my parents wanted me to keep the

bag but I insisted on returning it back

I didn't want to get any fake attention

at school Tess my only friend was

thrilled to see me mom told me how she

came to visit them every day while I was

missing to ask about me Ana stopped

bugging me and Jonathan turned out to be

honest he truly had feelings for me

he asked me on a date and I said yes