Lost in NYC

Riley moved to New York City after her dad Owen kicked her out. She’d left with three thousand dollars to her name. Less than that actually after the train ticket. She’d booked a roomette because of how long of a trip it was. She was leaving rural Florida after all. She wanted to be in her own space. Alone with her thoughts. To move through those thoughts that were leading her down a dark road of Depression.  She didn’t care that she was going to be homeless when she got there. It was a new beginning. She’d gotten lost while on her way to the Hotel she’d booked on the way there. A few kind strangers helped her find the Hotel. They even went up to her room with her so they could take her around the city for a few hours before they had to get back to their own lives. She was thankful for them being so kind to her. They vowed to be her first friends in New York. They listened to her as she shared the toxic situation she’d just left. Along with the town that never loved her. She opened up about her choice to become an openly Lesbian person. Emery and Talia were openly Trans and Lesbian as well. They connected her with a place they knew would help her in every way she needed. 

She’d become far happier in the two months since that fateful day she arrived in New York. A day where she met, befriended, and was thankful to Talia and Emery helping her the way they did. They helped her through her darkest moments. She spent more time at the Center than she did at the Hotel that first week. She’d found a job as a Barista. She’d moved into a studio nearby the week after arriving in New York with the help of emergency funds from the Center. Talia and Emery worked at the same Cafe Riley worked at. She managed to have the same days off they did. They took her around the city every day off they had for the last  two months. She’d fallen in love with New York far more than she’d thought. She’d wanted to go to New York for as long as she could remember. To connect her paternal side. To honor her paternal grandparents lives in New York before moving to Florida. 

They’d let her get lost in New York more than once. By her own choice. She wanted to find her way around on her own for moments when she would be alone and need to get somewhere. She knew it would help her remember where to go, what bus to take, what subway line to take, and everything else in between. She took some time off and spent that entire time aimlessly roaming around. She’d been able to find her own way. She’d begun living her life far happier than ever before after that. She’d found her peace as well. 

She began speaking out more. She shared her life with everyone at the Center for the first time. She wanted to speak at the next event they were having. She knew it would help someone even though it may not seem like it at first. It wasn’t something she felt comfortable at first. She put that aside knowing she was going to end up helping someone in some way by simply sharing her story. She was finally at peace with her past. With the fact her dad would never love her for who she is. Nor would the majority of the people in the town she’d grown up in. She was living her best life by simply being herself in life she currently had.