I can't live without facebook

Last night after leaving the pub, I headed over to the Perth train station to meet up with my couchsurfer. It was about 11pm, and I had a bit of time before he would arrive so I grabbed a local newspaper and propped myself up on the railing. 10 minutes later, this boy walks by and says hi and asks me how my day was going. He had just missed his last bus home.

I watched him light a cigarette and inhale the fumes. He smoked like he had done it a million times, yet it looked so awkward, as if the cigarette was too big to fit between his teenage fingers. Only when we stood up did I notice he was the same height as me. He had a young face, beautiful eyes, and curly brown hair with blond streaks. He had not eaten for 2 days.

I decided to walk over and sit on the ground beside him. Michael was 15 turning 16, still in high school and had already done more drugs than I ever had. He had just come from his best friend's funeral. She hung herself because her classmates had been constantly making fun of her.

"I'm gonna get back at every single person that did this to her."
"How?"
"By beating their heads off."

I tried to find the right words to say but I honestly could not come up with a solution. Put me in his situation and I probably would've shit kicked everyone in that school.

For my creative writing class, I'm currently working on a piece that discusses the dreams that kids have and that we lose as adults. Suddenly realizing that I was sitting beside a 15-year-old, I asked,

"What are your dreams?"

He didn't even hesitate when he answered "I want to be a singer". I asked him to sing me something and he agreed. I asked him if he wanted to study music and his eyes lit up. But when I started talking about university, he looked down and said there was no way he could afford it. I told him I was pretty much living paycheck to paycheck, but I'm still able to do what I want because I wanted it so badly.

"Are you on Facebook?"
"Yeah"
"Add me on Facebook. I can't live without Facebook."

WHAT?
I could hear myself going no, please no, oh my god no.

I tried to convince him that there was a world outside of the internet, outside of Perth, that was just waiting for him to discover. He asked if he could go home with me. I said I couldn't take him, but walked him over to the police officers. We said our goodbyes and I went to catch my train.

I only spent an hour with this kid but I can't stop thinking about him. I hope he's okay.