𝖜𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊

║𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 1: 𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖞║

𝕥𝕨: 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕘𝕖. 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕤/𝕕𝕣𝕦𝕘 𝕦𝕤𝕖

   My feet hitting the gravel below me are all I'm able to hear. I don't know how long I've been running for, and my legs feel like they could fall off, but I'm not stopping until that damned house is out of my sight. My heart pounds harder as I think about it, trying to compensate for both my legs and my feelings. This is the worst time to be emotional.

     I run for what seems like days, flying past buildings and people. I swear I could hear yelling behind me, but I didn't care to pay attention to it. It's not like they'll be able to find me anyways. I just needed to get as far away as possible, no matter how hurt I'd be.

     Eventually, I make it to the woods just outside of town. No, woods isn't the right word, it's more like a jungle. It was huge, almost as large as the entire town, if not, larger. I ran a good bit into the woods, and stopped, my lungs feeling as if they were on fire. As the adrenaline died down, I started to feel a bit stupid for not thinking to pack anything. What was wrong with me, not packing any food? not even a bottle of water?  My mind raced as I started to panic once again, trying to figure out what to do next, when I had a sudden realization. I reached into my sweatpants' pockets, and out came my phone. It was very late, around 12:30 AM, and I was exhausted. I decided that I could text Colt and ask if he could pick me up. He basically never slept, after all. 

     I may have fallen asleep before he came to pick me up, but when he did, I was awake for it. I hear the beautiful sound of his beat up 2000 Audi A6 Sedan that his parents gifted him last year, before he could even drive.

     "Colt! I'm so glad you're finally here, I'm, uhh, in a bit of trouble here." I practically yelled, just glad to see him.

     "Dude, just get in, I know how crazy your parents can get. You can tell me all about it on the ride to my house... That is, if you want to, of course." He replies, gently grabbing my arm and walking me to the front seat.

     His car was sort of a mess and reeked like weed, despite him claiming to clean it every other day. It wasn't too bad, though, mostly just a couple McDonalds' bags on the floor. It was stinky, but it was comforting.

     "Man, I don't even know where to start... My parents were looking through my shit again and found some old ass science project I did like two years ago and thought it was some sort of elaborate machine to use drugs. My dad started yelling at me really loudly and I panicked and ran out." I told him, feeling sort of bad I asked him to pick me up over some stupid argument with my parents. I always did this, and I was starting to feel like it was bothering him.

     "Shit, dude, wanna stay at my place for a while? Your parents are absolutely insane and I don't want you getting hurt or something." Colt offered, obviously worried for me.

     "Oh, no, it's good, man, I've probably already bothered you enough..." I said, desperately wanting to take the offer but not wanting to bother him.

     "No, you wouldn't be trouble at all! If you really wanna help, though, you could do some household chores in return for staying?" I knew I couldn't deny the offer. I just couldn't go back to my parents' house, I wasn't ready. Plus, chores were a pretty good trade-off for living with him and his parents.

     "Alright, alright, but only if I can do the dishes as well. Deal?" Colt smiled and nodded his head, accepting the deal and making it official that I was living with him, since his parents really didn't care anyways.

     Colt's house was around 45 minutes away from where he picked me up, and it was a pretty smooth ride there. I was already really sleepy, so I dozed off and eventually fell asleep.