Kicked Out at 17 With $12 and a Trash Bag — Now They Want to Live in My House

a twenty-four-hour convenience store on the edge of town, sleeping in the storage room on flattened cardboard boxes when the night manager wasn’t looking. I finished high school by sheer force of will, showing up to class with the same clothes I’d worn for days, ignoring the whispers and stares.

But the worst part—the part that hollowed me out and left continue reading …