How We Pay

Chapter One

I tapped my foot impatiently, watching the woman in front of me hand the cashier coupon after coupon. There is a special place in hell for these people. The woman heard my tapping and looked back at me, giving me a scowl. I raised my brows at her, wanting her to say something.

She didn't.

After five more minutes, I gave up and took my three items to a self check out line. I hated these things because of the camera that was pointed right at you. I tried hard to not be in front of anything that someone could see or recognize me on.

It's been two months since I left Stefan, Melanie, and Ox in the warehouse. I have been on the run, literally, ever since. Stefan took out a fucking missing persons report on me. I've been taking temp jobs requiring minimal identification and being paid under the table to stack up enough cash to switch from city to city to stay hidden from him.

I dyed my long blonde hair brown and now looked like a completely different person. I've thought about that day over and over again. Part of me, the very loud and obnoxious part, tells me I was wrong for running. I had gotten past so much with Stefan but ran over one small piece of information he had kept from me. The other part, the one who's quiet and needs to speak the fuck up more, says running was the right thing to do.

My entire life has been one big lie. It's been done trying to impress people who were all lying to me. Cyrus, Dex, and even Stefan. Stefan fell in love with me from afar. He didn't know me. Hell, I didn't even know me. The things he knew were basely even real. Instead of freeing me by giving me all the information, he kept it all from me. He'd reveal things, little by little, only telling me the facts when he was forced to because I realized or someone else told me first. 

It wasn't fair.

Everyone in my entire life lied to me. I was hoping, maybe a year from now, I could settle down someplace and set up new roots. Until Stefan realized I was really done, I would have to keep moving and starting over, running from the shadows of him and my past.

I swiped each item over the scanner and bagged them. I paid with the cash I had in my pocket and grabbed my receipt. I walked out and started walking back to my apartment building. I had a roommate, Kate, who I met by chance. 

I had just gotten off the bus in the brand new city and she was pinning up a 'Roommate Wanted' ad at the station. I introduced myself and that was that. She even got me a job at the bar she worked at. Terry, the owner, was like a father to her so he hired me without question or documentation. 

When I got back to the apartment, Kate was sitting on the couch flipping through channels. Our apartment was big and spacious, modern and completely renovated. Kate barely charged me anything to live here. She didn't need the additional income but just simply wanted a roommate. I lucked out, big time.

I sunk down on the couch next to her and watched her perusal through the guide. I pulled out the two drinks and bag of chips I bought. I had lost rock, paper, scissors and had to go get our lunch. 

Kate chose a serial killer documentary and we both watched it mindlessly while we stuffed our faces. We had to work tonight, but this is what our days looked like before we went in everyday. In all honesty, I would need to leave in a week if I wanted to keep Stefan far behind my trail. The less time in one place, the better. I would miss this though. It was my third city but had been my favorite so far.

My last two temporary homes were God awful. I was completely homeless in the first one, having nothing to my name. I made a few homeless friends, all who gave me tips on surviving on the streets. I slept in abandoned buildings and would wait outside of restaurants for their trash at closing for food. The second was a little better, but my studio apartment had dozens of leaks and I slept on the old stained couch that was left by the previous owner. The landlord was a creeper but he let me rent it for a few weeks without an I.D. or me needing to sign anything.