It was 3 a.m. in Amsterdam, Althea was slightly tipsy and on day 15 of ignoring Valeria's calls.

Althea was trying her best not to spiral, but she knew from experience that she should not be left to her own devices. So, she thought of ways to distract herself that didn't cost money or mean that she had to leave her weirdly cheap hotel room.

She was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when she got a DM from a familiar-sounding name.

kaia_llarsen

hey, i'm kaia larsen and i think we went to school together for a few months. remember me?

The name sounded familiar enough to Althea, but she couldn't tie a face to it. She'd gone to so many foster homes and ran from town to town her entire life, so she'd never been at one school long enough to form any real connections.

Still, if this girl only knew her for a maximum of six months, then the least she could do was check out her profile.

She scrolled through pictures of a girl with warm brown skin, a kind smile and silky brown hair. Eventually, Althea stumbled across a post with #throwbackthursday in the caption. It was a picture of two young girls, one with a huge grin and brown curls with an arm wrapped around a girl with golden brown hair.

She remembered that vividly.

She ran away the next day.

That foster family was shit, but going to school with Kaia was nice. She was a sweet girl.

She typed out a response:

altheahot

yeah, i remember u!
how r u?