Somehow, the majesty of the city's managed to escape Riley. If not for current circumstances, she would probably be marveling at everything — she enjoyed first arriving in San Francisco when her family arrived, after all. Big cities are just jaw-dropping. But leaving San Francisco to try to go back to her small town in Minnesota, and ending up in ANOTHER BIG CITY ... the anxiety has wrapped her up and prevented her from really enjoying anything.
And there are so many people. So many. It's difficult to get around without being noticed, people are always running into her, and it's so loud even at night. Riley's been here for maybe a week ; she's struggled the entire time. People probably look at her and can tell she doesn't belong. But everyone's so concerned with their own problems, no one has time for a runaway kid who's got something really, really off about her.
That's for the best, kind of. Trying to lay low, to stay out of sight, has served her fairly well. That magic almost-not-quite-invisibility has just popped like a bubble, though. She could kick herself for running into someone like that.
Not only that, this woman looks ... scary ? Not scary, exactly, no, more like SUPER INTENSE. Something about her eyes and the way she's looking down at Riley makes the kid feel like this woman knows literally everything about her. She's tall and looks really strong and her gaze just sort of pierces right through Riley.
Even the casual way she's trying to speak isn't helping to quell the rising agitation. No matter what Riley does, she can't just shove it down. Her heart thuds in her chest, big blue eyes staring up at the woman as she asks questions. She knows the right question at the very end, at least, because this kid is ... clearly not good.
Honestly, until now, Riley hasn't been actually perceived by anyone like this. It's uncomfortable. If she opens her mouth, she's positive that she'll confess that she just stole something, and stealing is against the law. In her mind, if this woman knows she stole something, then Riley's gonna go to jail.
So. After staring at her for a minute, as soon as she feels like she's no longer rooted to the spot in terror — Riley pulls the sandwich she just stole out of her pocket, tosses it onto the ground, and pushes past the woman. " — I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SORRY !!! " She's running as fast as her legs can take her, with the hope that maybe if she leaves behind what she stole, this woman won't come after her.
Of course, she's headed for the nearby alleyway. The one that's a dead end. She's not gonna get very far.