Holding out for a Hero

My name is Abigail Benton, and this is what my life has come to: babysitting after school hoodlums during the day and serving up artery-clogging breakfast food at night.

Are my parents getting their money’s worth for my college education? Doubtful.

Still, I’m determined to make the best of doing community service in inner-city Clavania. I’ve struck up a friendship with an intriguing, homeless man named Eli, who smells like melted caramel and spends most of his time sweeping the community center parking lot.

He's the first homeless person I had ever met who smelled so good. Come to think of it, Eli was the first homeless person I had ever met, period.

When tension between rival gangs heats up and I get caught in the middle, Eli is the one who comes to my rescue. I want to help him get off the streets; he just wants me to stay out of trouble and leave him alone.

Why am I so drawn to him? Why do I want to be involved in fixing his life when I so desperately need to straighten out my own?