Finding Onyx

Chapter 4: Running Is Harder Than It Looks

**Onyx's POV**

I heard the bell ring at the end of the day and managed to sneak out of the school with out being seen. I walked home, no one knowing what I had done. I was happy to finally get home, but my parents didn't look happy. After about an hour of them yelling at me and me explaining what had happened, I was sent to my room. I wasn't allowed to have my phone, but I didn't care. I laid on my bed, then checked my clock. It was already 4:30. I decided to work on some homework...even though it would never be turned in. I only got 2 questions of my homework done.

"Onyx! Time for dinner!" I heard my mom call and left my room. I walked through my hallway, silently and slowly, and emerged into the light of the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" I asked her and took my seat.

"Just some meatloaf," my mom replies and I groan. She knows I hate meatloaf...guess that's my punishment.

"And you're not leaving the table until you eat everything on your plate," my dad adds and I glance down at my plate. Mashed potatoes to one side, corn on another, and on hunk of meatloaf. I decided maybe try and eat that first, just to get it out of the way. I sighed and continued to eat the disgusting meatloaf.

I eventually finished the meatloaf, then quickly ate the mashed potatoes and corn.

"Done!" I shout and run to my room before they can say anything else. I quickly get dressed into my PJ's and lay down. I heard my door creak open, and I pretended to be asleep.

"Honey, I know you're not asleep," I heard my mom say and I turned to look at her.

"What?" I asked. I just wanted her and my dad to go to bed so I could finally run away.

"Good night," she said.

"Good night," I mumbled.

"I love you," she said it like I was a little kid.

"Whatever," I mumbled and she left my room.

I waited for at least an hour, then I heard my dad snoring. I left my room and saw that they were upstairs in their room. I smiled to myself and ran silently to my room. I grabbed my black book bag, emptied out the contents and threw in a blanket, a sleeping bag, a pillow, a multi-tool, some extra pairs of clothes, some money, and ran into my kitchen. I grabbed some Cliff bars, granola bars, 5-hour energy and threw those in my bag. I didn't have much food, but since I've been saving my money for so long, I had 356 dollars. I would probably have enough money to buy food only when necessary. I threw on a black t-shirt, black leggings, and a black hoodie. I smiled to myself, hung my book bag off of one shoulder, and walked out of my room. I walked silently to my front door. As I opened it, it creaked a little. I walked outside and silently closed the door behind me. I started to walk to my backyard, then heard a car driving by. I hid behind my mom's car, hoping they wouldn't see me. After there was no noise, I crept back out behind my mom's car and kept walking. I finally got to the forest lining my backyard. I stalked into the forest and smiled to myself.

"Alright, just gotta go this way and that and just don't get out of the forest. This is my new home," I said to myself as I continued to walk away from my house. I wasn't sure how long I had been walking, but I was starting to get tired. I didn't want to stop, but I had to get some rest. I sat down on the ground and thought of maybe eating a Cliff bar, but I decided against it. I sat there for a while, until I felt my eyes getting heavy. I decided to get some sleep.

"But maybe walk a little farther?" I asked myself. I got up and started to walk. It was more of a shuffle I was so tired. I shuffled a few more feet, but realized I couldn't walk much farther. I turned back around, and saw just the chimney of my house. I started tearing up, but then remembered what they did to me and I wiped away my tears. I pulled out my sleeping bag, my blanket, and my pillow and laid down. For some odd reason, I felt at home here. There was just something about the forest that made me feel right at home.

"This is where I belong," I whispered to myself before I drifted off to sleep.