"Shit. I need to get out of here," I mumble as I quietly grab my things. The last thing I need right now is to be caught up with DCF. Once I have everything, I scramble towards the back door. Luckily, I'm able to slip out of the house without being seen or heard. As I peer around the corner of my house, I can see Karen walking towards her car. I wait for a few minutes just to ensure that she's gone and then I quickly make my way to Luca's house.

*Luca's POV*
I lay on my bed aimlessly scrolling through my phone when I hear someone knocking aggressively on the front door. My mom opens the door and I can hear someone panicking. I recognize the voice. I quickly run downstairs to find Sophia struggling to catch her breath. "Soph, what's going on?" I ask. "DCF showed up at my house. I got careless and fell asleep. I think I was able to get away without being noticed, but there's no way I can go back there," she rambles. "You won't because you're staying here for now on. No more going back home unless it's absolutely necessary. If it comes down to it, either Aaron or I will go get your stuff for you," my mom interjects. My dad and I nod in agreeance. Sophia is my best friend which means that I can't let her end up in the system. The last thing I want is for her to end up in a foster home across the state where I can't see her.

"Do you guys mind if I take a shower? When I was running over here, I tripped and ate it hard on the pavement," Sophia says showing us the road rash on her hands and knee. "The guest room shower is all yours," I tell her. She nods and heads upstairs towards the guest room.

"There's no way we're letting her get caught up with DCF. She's been through too much," I tell my parents firmly. "Don't worry we're not going to. She's going to lay low here, and we're not going to draw any added attention. If it comes down to it, we'll claim guardianship so she remains here," my dad reassures me. "And we'll pick up some stuff this weekend to redo the guest room," my mom adds.

A little while later, I head up to the guest room to check on Soph.

*Sophia's POV*
I hear a soft knock on the bedroom door and someone saying my name. I yell out that I'm in the bathroom. I see Luca peer into the bathroom while covering his eyes. "Relax, I have clothes on you dork," I laugh. "Hey, it can't hurt to be apprehensive," he smiles. "Yeah yeah just help me finish cleaning up these cuts," I say as I hop up on the vanity. "You know for someone who plays soccer, your coordination is shit," he laughs as he carefully cleans my knee. I only manage to punch him in the shoulder in response.

Just as we finish up, we hear Luca's parents call us downstairs. Once downstairs we see them standing next to the kitchen island and they tell us to sit down. We sit down to find a gray and maroon Adidas bag in front of them. Luca smiles as if he knows what's going on while I'm completely lost.

"Well..." Pam starts. "We know you've had a rough day, Soph," she continues. Aaron nods and says, "We were going to wait until your birthday next week to give this to you, but we thought now might be better." I smile thinking about how nice it was of them to get me a birthday present. Luca slides the bag towards me and I begin to open it. Inside the bag is brand new cleats, shin guards, and a size 5 soccer ball. "Luca told us your gear was pretty beat up so we thought you could use an upgrade," Aaron says. "You guys didn't have to get me any of this for my birthday," I say hugging them all.

"Everything in this bag is from us, but we also have something from your parents," Pam says slowly. My heart slightly races at the mention of my parents. How could they have something from my parents? Pams slides a wrapped present with a card attached to it across the island to me. As I open the card, something falls out of it onto the island. I pick it up and realize that I have two tickets to the upcoming USWNT game in my hand. I'm in disbelief. I can't believe that my parents actually bought me these tickets. I proceed to open the wrapped present and as soon as I see the color red, I know what it is. I remove the rest of the paper to see an Alex Morgan jersey before me. This was a jersey from one of the kits that the team wore during the World Cup. "Your parents asked us to hold onto these for them so you wouldn't accidentially find them," Aaron tells me.

I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed. Suddenly, I feel a few tears slip out and fall down my cheeks. I reassure them that they were mostly happy tears. I didn't know how much I needed this until it happened. I was truly grateful and it was the perfect way to end the night.

Now begins the count down until game day!