Sophie And Lane

Chapter 21

Lane's POV

The bus pulled into New Orleans at 12pm the next day. It took us about 11 hours. It was warm here, much warmer than Oklahoma. Soph, Rose, and I grabbed our belongings and headed out. Sophie and I hung back while Rose looked around for phone. She said something about calling her sister. I pulled out a smoke and offered on to Sophie, "you think we made a mistake?" she asked.

"I dunno..." my voice trailed off, "I wonder if our brothers know that we left..."

Sophie shrugged, "they probably called them early this morning." She looked how I felt, ashamed and guilty. We didn't plan this out very well.

I felt a lump form in my throat, but I swallowed it and hardened my expression, "yeah well, they're the ones who sent us away in the first place."

Soph shrugged her shoulders, "you ain't wrong." 

I started to respond, but Rose came back, "my sister and her boyfriend are coming to pick us up.  They're gonna put you two up for a bit, but then you're on your own."  She said all nonchalant like, "but I mean, thanks for the trip here."

I took a menacing step toward Rose, "are you fucking with us right now?  We trusted you!"  I wanted more than anything to punch her the mouth, so I did and hearing the crack of my fist on her face was beyond satisfying.

Rose's head snapped to the left, "you stupid bitch!  Now you can't come with me at all!"

Sophie grabbed my arm before I could deck her again, "Lane stop!  C'mon, we don't need to draw attention to ourselves!"  She drug me away from Rose.  "Look, we know how to get by.  Now we can go to Nashville! Start new."

I was starting to calm down now, "we gotta get new names, new identities."

Sophie nodded, "come on, let's go find a spot to plan.  We need money, new clothes, and we should dye our hair."

I followed after Sophie.  I was glad Rose was outta the picture now.  Sophie and me were smart.  We're gonna figure everything out on our own.

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Third Person POV

"I'm sorry, what?!" Darry just about exploded when Mrs. Waterton stood inside the front door telling him that his sister and Sophie had run away, "you vouched for these places!  You said they would be fine!  I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU!!" Darry was quickly losing his mind.

"Mr. Curtis, I know you're upset," Mrs. Waterton spoke slowly and calmly, trying to defuse the situation, "we are doing everything in our power to find them.  Unfortunately, nobody has a clue to wear they went.  They also ran off with another girl from the Duncan facility."

"Great, this is just fucking great!" Darry was so enraged he couldn't see straight.  He didn't notice Soda and Steve had come through the back door.

"What's going on?" Steve stepped toward the door.  He recognized the social worker, "is Sophie ok?"

Mrs. Waterton took a deep breath, "Sophie and Lane ran away from their respective facilities.  We have been unable to locate them."

Soda was beside Darry in a flash, his fists clenched, "what the hell do you mean?  Ain't they under surveillance or whatever??" Soda growled through clenched teeth.

SMASH!! Steve had thrown an empty glass against the wall.  It shattered into a million pieces. "I suggest you get the fuck out of this house and find our goddamn sisters!" 

Mrs. Waterton didn't hesitate.  She set her cards on a bench and quickly exited the angry, hostile environment.

Steve, Soda, and Darry sat down on the couch.  The shock was setting in.  All Darry and Steve could see was red.  Soda, on the other hand, had silent tears streaming down his face.  No one spoke.   No one blinked.  They just stared straight ahead, broken without any sort of idea what to do.