Vega- Lindsey Meadows- Kis- — -runaway Love - Alexis Love- Veronique

The Nevada sunrise painted the mountains in shades of orange and pink. The bus crested a hill, and below them lay a valley with a rambling, honest-to-goodness ranch. A sign read: Second Chance Stables – Help Wanted.

Alexis looked at Veronique. Veronique looked at Kis. And for the first time in a very long time, all three of them smiled. The Nevada sunrise painted the mountains in shades

The bus doors closed with a pneumatic sigh. The engine growled to life. Alexis looked at Veronique

The "Runaway Love" wasn't a romance. It wasn't a boy with a fast car or a promise of forever. It was the fierce, desperate, unspoken love of survival. It was the way Veronique saved the last apple for Kis. It was the way Alexis taught Veronique how to hot-wire a hairpin lock. It was the way Kis threw herself in front of a swinging fist meant for Alexis. The bus doors closed with a pneumatic sigh

“Alexis! Veronique! Don’t you dare!”

Through the rain-streaked window, Alexis watched Lindsey Meadows shrink into a furious, pink speck. The bus pulled out of the station, past the strip malls and the pawn shops, toward the dark, open highway.

Kis stared out the window, watching the city lights bleed into the desert dark. She didn’t smile, but the tension in her shoulders eased.