The Protection Program

TPP : Chapter XIV

"i cant believe this is gonna happen. Like i can believe its gonna happen, it just came up so fast and...i just..wow."

She was a bit staggered at the fact that it had come up so fast, tonight at midnight, so technically tomorrow morning, they would be leaving. They would be running away and the only reason Nina complied to Rashads request was because it was Rashad asking. It was his idea and of course she would go with him, they were deeply in love and she couldn't ever be able to see them apart. She grabbed his drawing journal before laying back on his bed next to him, in only a few hours this wouldn't be his bed, it wouldn't be his room and they wouldn't be here and it was all so surreal to think about it. Her parents didn't know, they thought she packed a back pack because she was going to stay at a friends house, but they didn't know that she packed the bag because she was leaving. A few tears fell from her eyes when she said goodbye to them and they didn't understand why, but she wouldn't dare tell them. Not only would they have not let her leave but they would never let her go near Rashad again, it was the last time she would ever see them and it was hard to say goodbye without spilling the beans on what goodbye meant for her. She flipped open the drawing pad and ran her fingers over the first page drawing. She didn't know why he wanted to go to Houston, there was nothing there for them just like there was nothing for them here, they were just two high school drop outs who had nothing going for them in life but each other unfortunately. Her parents held a grudge on her for dropping out but they got over it because she threatened to move out if they couldn't except the fact that it happened, that was Rashads idea too. Nina was a straight A student but as soon as her and Rashad got together he was all she could think about, she quit the cheer team and her grades began to slip. Finally during junior year they dropped out together and from there it went on.

Her parents didn't like Rashad, they thought he was a terrible influence on her and she could see why. For god sakes she was about to run away, all because of him. All because of the man she was head over heels in love with and was determined to spend the rest of her life with.

"You should be a tattoo artist."

"You tell me that every time you look at that journal."

She rolled her eyes playfully, it was true but she had her reasoning, it was nothing but the truth. He was a great artist, he told her if he had finished high school and went to college that he would have majored in something artsy, something that had to do with being able to draw. He loved drawing, the same way Nina loved cheer, but they dropped out and those hobbies both ended. The journal she held in her hands was from freshman year, the year that Rashad asked her to homecoming and from there the relationship grew more and more. They were the power couple of high school and it devastated everybody to watch them ruin there lives by dropping out, but they didn't care because they had each other and at the time that seemed like all they needed.

"What time is it?"

"10:00"

two more hours. two more hours and they would be leaving Beverly hills and heading to Houston. Rico, Rashads best friend said his cousin lived in Houston and he was gonna help them out, he was gonna give them a place to stay and some money to borrow until they could get on there own two feet. Rico told them that he was planning on leaving too, but they would have to wait a whole year because he had to earn up the money for gas because the drive was pretty long and sweeping floors in a barber shop didn't pay much. They thought everything was gonna be just fine.

key word... thought.

She felt him touch her before she heard him, she felt his strong arm wrap around her, she opened her eyes and then she heard him. As if she used her eyes to hear, she pulled away from his embrace as he smiled down at her. They had been driving for a long time, well not a long time, maybe a good 45 minutes but it all felt like 45 seconds because she fell asleep. She didn't know where they were and she was kind of scared to find out so she didn't ask questions, she unbuckled her seat belt and sat up to look around. The yard was muddy with little to nothing grass, it looked like a house that you would find in the ghetto side of Houston, where her and Rashad were first introduced to BlackStreet Gang. She sat up a little farther furrowing her eyebrows before turning to look at Aubrey

"Where are we? .. are we in-"

"were in Canada, i know the drive was far but were still in Canada."

Her face said calm but on the inside she cracked a little, she hadn't ever been here before but not only did she get a rush of nostalgia but a little bit of deja vu, as if she had been here before. It was scary how much the places looked alike, when she woke up she would have expected to be hugged by Rashad. The resemblance was ridiculous and it made her sad because she still had two and a half months before she would get to feel this and be 100% okay with it.