//1// You Ran Out Of Gas?

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It takes forever to get out of Texas

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It takes forever to get out of Texas.

That's the first thought I have as I drive across the Texas-New Mexico state line.

The second thought is thank God, I'm out of Texas.

I've been driving for a total of eight hours, so far, and all of those were spent in Texas.

I have a full day and a half of a road trip on my hands. I would be excited if I wasn't so damn nervous.

No sane person would try to drive for thirty-five hours non-stop. Fortunately for me, I never claimed to be sane.

I stop for gas multiple times on my trip because the gas gauge in my Beetle is broken. I never know when it's low on gas so I prefer to keep a can to fill it up when I run out and then stop at the next station.

It probably wasn't the best idea to drive to Washington, but it was my only option.

I just got out of a bad relationship. We'd been together since my sophomore year of college and I ended our three-year engagement last year. I moved across the city, switched jobs, and changed my phone number.

Thinking back, I should've left the state then, but I thought that I would be okay. I was wrong. He found me six months later, and has been harassing me since.

It's been a living nightmare.

So, one day a few months ago, I was talking to my best friend, Kiara. We've been friends since our freshman year of college, but haven't seen each other since her wedding a year and a half ago. She moved back to her home state of Washington after graduation and has been begging me to move up there with her.

I'd told her that my ex and I had ended things, but I hadn't told her why. That night, I'd told her that I needed a change of scenery and I was thinking of moving up there.

I asked her not to tell anyone because I wasn't too sure if it was the right move.

That wasn't true. I was sure. I was sure that I needed to get as far away as I possibly could from Vic. I was sure that he was losing his damn mind and that if I didn't get far enough away, that he would kill me.

I had some money saved. My grandmother left me a decent sum of money in her will. It was money Vic didn't know about. I used that money to buy a house in the small town my best friend lives in.

Then I waited for Vic to leave for a planned business trip. I knew that would be my only time to leave without him tracking my every move. He would be away for a week, so I made my move last night. I packed whatever I could fit into the back of my small car and I left in the middle of the night.

That leaves me here, finally in Washington thirty-eight hours later. I'm not exhausted, yet, but that could be the steady amount of energy drinks I've consumed.

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