Escape Route

One

Staying in the same place and doing the same thing may seem mundane, but at least it's familiar. It's a sense of comfort, something I won't find out of this bubble that I'm in.

Ever since I was a child, I've always dreamed of just doing more, the totally unexpected. My  parents have always encouraged me to dream big. They loved the glow in my eyes whenever we spoke about it at dinner. Until that glow faded and life happened.

My heavy legs dragged across my bedroom floor until the soft pillow made contact with my exhausted face. I didn't even have the energy to shove all my notes and textbooks out of the way. My hair was sprawled over my face, tickling my nose, but my arms felt too much of a weight to lift.

"Riley!" A voice screamed from down the hall, which forced me to open my eyes. I even began to doubt if I really did hear my name. The shouting became louder until my door swung open revealing an irritated woman.

"Aunt Maggie," my voice groggy, my hand slowly wiping my sleepy face. "What are you doing here? And why are you shouting?"

"Girl, you promised to drive me to work today!"

I sat up slowly with a yawn and wiped my eyes. My thoughts took a while to get in place until...

"Oh shoot! It's today?" I asked, I couldn't believe I forgot. I checked the time on my bedside alarm. No wonder she's pissed, look at the time! "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ti."

Her dirty look was the only response that I got and I understood every word.

"Just let me get dress and I'll meet you by the car." I said hurriedly, walking to my closet.

×

The car ride was a bit quiet, until the sound of a phone ringing broke the silence.

"It's your friend, Harmony." answered Aunt Hillary as she stared at my phone attached to the holder on the dashboard. I answered the call with one swipe.

"Hey Riley!" sang Harmony.

"Morning." I said concentrating on the road. "Why you so cheery today?"

"There's a party tonight. You up for it?" I could hear the excitement in her voice. "Come on it'll be fun!"

Aunt Maggie was trying to catch my attention by waving. I turned only for her to mouth: "Go."

"Ah"- I closed my eyes for a brief second- "Harmony, you know I'm not into the party scene and I have to-"

"S T U D Y." she dragged out the word. "Yeah, yeah." she huffed. "That's all you ever do nowadays, besides it's vacation. Live a little."

"Yeah, but not right now, okay." I responded, feeling a little bit guilty. "Maybe another night."

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later."

I felt my heart sink the moment she hung up and I didn't even get to say goodbye. I pushed the feelings away again as soon as they came. I was doing the right thing, I knew it. They would never understand.

I parked the car near the airport entrance and turned off the ignition.

"What's wrong with you, child?" asked Ti. "Why are you determined to be so boring."

I turned to look at her. "What do you mean? You know I have things to do. Goals to achieve."

"But when are you going to have some fun? You know, live a little as your friend said." she sang doing a shimmy.

I simply just rolled my eyes.

"You know, when I was your age, I had some good times. Went out, had fun and made a lot of memories."