Eight.

I was pretty much awake during the last bit of the ride to the motel. I could see Sage's hands twitch on the wheel from exhaustion and watched as he furrowed his brows squinting at the road. Looking back at Jayden, who was slumped over in the corner, earbuds stuffed in her ears and her bejeweled ipod in her hand, I felt myself wishing she wasn't here. I slipped a hand onto Sage's thigh, and gave him a soft smile. I would behave this time, I wouldn't mess up again and accidentally bring another person into the mix. It was him and I, just like always. "How are you feeling?" I asked him. He smirked, "Like shit, but it's okay." I nodded, trying not to pry. We'd both been surviving off of gummy bears and flat sprite, and well, I really can't remember the last time Sage had slept. It was noticeable too, bags had started to form under his eyes, but still, he continued. "I hope we get there soon." He said, after letting out a sigh. I took my hand off and messed with the radio, trying to turn it on. "Do you think we'll get there? To California" I asked Sage, trying to study his reaction. "Yeah, we should. If we get money, don't die or get arrested in the process, we should make it to California." He seemed sure. "And what then?" I asked. He shrugged, "We change our names, get Jayden out of our hair, and live our life." I thought about what he said, our life, we could live our life. "Yeah, we could." I sat in silence for a bit, staring absentmindedly at the empty land speeding by in the dark.  I wondered what California looked like, was it like the woods and grass fields of my hometown or the dry desert that we were in now? "What does it look like?" Sage's face hardened a little, "You saw the picture on the magazine." I gazed back at the faded palms trees that decorated the front page. "Is that it?" I asked. Sage's grip on the wheel tightened and he let out an exasperated sigh. "Look Eight I don't know. I've never been, as you fucking know, so I don't understand why you're asking me all the stupid fucking questions."   I became quiet again after that. I should have known not to press him too hard, he was tired after all. Hopefully when he get to the motel, and he sleeps a bit, we can talk about it more. I didn't even know I had fallen asleep until I was awoken by Jayden poking me in the ribs from the back of the truck. "Pssst." She whispered. I looked back at her still half asleep. "What?" She shrugged and started to pack up her things. "Just wanted to wake you up. We're here." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked out front. I smiled, Sage had found us a motel. It was placed in the middle of nowhere along the highway, with a broken neon sign at the entrance of the car park. Warm yellow light glowed from inside the nearest window, and the rest of rooms all sat next to eachother in a horseshoe. "Where's Sage?" I asked. Jayden chewed on gum, while wrapping her earbud wires around her ipod, "He went to check in. I gave him the rest of the money I had." She said it so nonchalantly, as if it was nothing. "Doesn't this scare you?" I asked her. She looked up at me, dead serious, and then smirked, letting out a big laugh. "I've dealt with scarier shit dude. This, this is just a road trip." I raised an eyebrow. "A road trip?" She shrugged, "Yeah, into a new life." She raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, I didn't kill anyone, the police aren't looking for me I'm all good. As long as you and your loverboy get me to Cali we're good." I loved the way the word Cali rolled off her tongue, like she was all cool and knew everything in the world. "He's not my.... lover boy." I said. She rolled her eyes, "And I'm not a hooker on the run with two murderers. C'mon, let's go, Sage said he'd meet us at front desk." I tried to gather my words before saying "Wait". Jayden closed the door again. "What's it like, being, you know." She cocked an eyebrow. "A hooker?" I nodded. She frowned. "How old are you kid?" "Eighteen." She pursed her lips, "Me too, I'm actually a Gemeni but that's not the point, the point is, imagine being forced to have sex on your birthday, because some greedy fuck in your family needed the money. Does that sound appealing?" I shook my head. Jayden began to open the door again when I almost yelled, "Wait." She sighed, annoyed. "What?" I gulped, "Why do you wanna keep doing it still then, apart from us needing the money, I mean, we could find another way." She stared at me before saying, "That's none of your business", and closed the car door behind her. I gathered what little shit I had, magazine, backpack and snacks and followed her inside. Sage was waiting there with the keys in his hand, tapping them against the wooden counter. Behind it sat an ancient old lady who glared at both Jayden and I as we walked in. "No funny business" she said as the three of us walked back outside. "How much was it?" Jayden asked. "30 a night." Sage said. I followed the two of them down the curve of the wooden deck, until we reached room number eight. I took this as a lucky sign. Jayden didn't say anything about what we had said in the car, and Sage, well, by the time he had opened the door, he was already asleep on the bed, clothes and all. So there I was, curled up against Sage's nearly unconscious body on the bed, listening to Jayden snore on the other bed. I looked up to the popcorn ceiling, and sighed. I could already feel the nightmares that would come as soon as I fell asleep.