Fallen Angel

Runaway

Alex showed me around, offered me food, said anything that was his was mine. We chatted for a little while and I later found myself on the couch, covered with that soft brown blanket with no remembrance of getting there.

I was still dazed when I woke but I was able to pull myself up. I had no idea what time it was. It still felt dark, but I think I could see faint light coming in through the cracks of the blinds. I felt uneasy. I was scared. I felt inclined to snoop through Alex's things, but there was nothing anywhere indicative of who he was. No pictures on his walls, nothing. I went to his room to find him, the door ajar and creaking just slightly as I opened it. He jolted awake, but it wasn't him in that bed. It was Caleb.

I remember my chest burning the same way it did earlier that night. I wasn't coughing, but I couldn't breathe. I couldn't scream, speak, cry, anything. I was paralyzed. And then he began coming toward me. Closer and closer until I woke up on that yellow couch once again. It was still dark. I couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour or two.

I caught my breath once I realized that I was just dreaming, that I was finally away from Caleb, that I was safe. I took myself to Alex's door, peeking in to check if it was really him in there. It was. And thank God he didn't wake up because I don't think I could manage another ounce of embarrassment for another few decades or so. Plus, it'd just be weird if he saw me watching him while he slept, which is not what I was trying to do at all. I went to the bathroom and fell asleep on the couch again.

I woke up during the day, which I never do, with a guilty feeling in my gut. Did I make a grave mistake running away? I cowered as this feeling swept over me. I looked around, noticing that the apartment looked a lot different during the daytime. I think I liked it better at night. There was a piece of yellow paper on the table, so I read it. The handwriting was nearly impossible to read, tiny scribbles in blue ink.

Morning. Hope you slept well. I will probably be at work when you read this. I'll be home at 6. Come down and get some grub. Alex

Now that I thought about it, I was pretty hungry, and I figured I'd at least try to get myself looking nice before I went down there. I looked at myself in the cracked bathroom mirror, wondering how I had landed up here, my face dry and blotchy and my hair a tangled mess. I never let myself look like this.

I put some water in my hair and pulled my fingers through. I hoped we could head to the store later so I could grab a couple things. I had just under 200 bucks from my last paycheck, plus about a thousand in my savings. It wasn't a lot, but it would be enough to keep me alive for now.

I got myself looking as presentable as possible before I went downstairs, but that didn't really mean a whole lot when I didn't have the means to make myself look nice. I just hoped I didn't smell. I didn't think I'd be able to cope with that because looking bad is one thing, but smelling bad is another.

The downstairs was decent. It was a big space with a bar and black tables and chairs. There was a giant chalkboard on one wall with the specials of the day.

"Hi!" I was greeted by a red-haired girl from behind the bar. I thought she was pretty. "Have a seat wherever you'd like and I'll be right with you."

"Hi, um, is Alex here?"

"Are you Norma?"

"...Yes?"

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Christine. Let me go grab Alex for you. You want something to drink?"

"Um, just water, please. With a lemon, if you have it. I don't need a straw."

"Sure thing," she smiled as she ventured back into the kitchen. Alex came out with a dirty apron and a black t-shirt. He had a net on his head, which I thought was kind of funny since he didn't really have much hair in the first place.