Walking Away

Escape

Johnathan

I turned up the volume on my headphones, pacing around the room I'd had since I was six. That's when Kenny had started living with his aunt off and on. That was the first time I'd had to leave my house.

I'd gotten out of the car before Kenny or Raven, who for some reason had also been in the car, could ask questions. And then I had locked myself in here, trying to understand what had just happened.

After a while, the adrenaline had started to wear off, leaving me sore everywhere. My head was killing me, and there was a chance I had a broken rib.

I couldn't sleep. She wouldn't let me.

I had filled at least five pages of my sketchbook with images that wouldn't leave me. Tears streaming down her face. The hatred in her eyes. The broken plates and bowls on the floor.

All my life I had been stupidly loyal to a parent who never cared about me. I had never walked away, I had always gone back.

And now it hit me, over and over, that it had all been incredibly naive. She had never loved me.

I cleaned up as best I could, exchanging my clothes for a spare outfit I had in the closet. I found a spare charger earlier, and my phone had charged to about 60%.

That was enough. I needed to get out, to get some air. Maybe then I could find some small escape from my thoughts.

I walked out of the room, towards the front door.

Of course that got everyone's attention. Mark, who apparently had been sleeping, sat up, while Kate stayed asleep on the couch next to Kenny. Kenny was on his phone.

"Hey!" Kenny said, jumping up. "You're out." He looked worried.

"Yeah." I kept moving.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked, following me.

I made a fast decision. "To get my car. Coming?"

Hesitantly, Kenny nodded, grabbing his keys.

I stayed quiet on the drive. Kenny tried.

"Jonah," he started.

"No." I said, looking out the window. "Not yet. Please."

He was quiet after that, following the instructions on the GPS.

"Thank you for driving." I told him when we pulled up. I got out, ignoring the slam of his car door as he followed.

"Jonah. Jonah. Stop. You can't-" he grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. "You can't drive like this."

"While I appreciate your concern, I know how to drive." I just need to get away.

I walked into the store with Kenny trailing behind me. "Hey, Lucas."

Sara's brother looked up. "Jonah, hey. Your car's ready for you in the back. Sara has your keys."

"Great, thanks." I walked out and around the store to get my car, calling out when I saw Sara. "Hey, Sara."

"Jonah!" Sara grinned, bouncing over to give me a hug. She pulled back. "Are you okay? Your body language is all off."

"I'm good." I told her. "I like the new color." Her hair now had some orange shades mixed in with the yellow.

"Thanks, I did it last night." Sara replied, pulling my keys out of a filing cabinet.

"Sara, don't hand those to him." Kenny spoke up.