Milk and Cigarettes

Chapter 11

Only slightly could you hear the sound of steps pressing on the crunchy grass. It was cool outside, a silver light lit the world up enough that we could see where we were going. I followed behind the quiet, black converse that trailed the way.

"Be careful." A small whisper was let out and I payed attention to the warning as I stepped over the squeaky dog toy that was laying beside my house. We approached my bedroom window and I gently pulled the cold frame up just as my trusted partner instructed me to. I felt nervous but excited all at the same time. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I felt the rush because so many people would view it as wrong. With Leo, all I ever thought about was the moment we were in. Never did I think about what would happen next or any 'what ifs'. All I could focus on was the way he effortlessly made me feel so alive, and in that, made me love the second I was breathing in.

"How much should I bring?" I turned to ask my protecting sidekick who waited for me outside my window. Taking handfuls of clothes from my drawer and shoving them in my duffel bag, he mouthed 'as much as you can', so I did. I quickly grabbed a scratch notebook paper and scribbled a message.

Hey mom. I love you. I gotta go, a lot of reasons why. I need you to trust me. I will be fine, even if you don't think so. I love you. I love you. Please don't worry.
-Wendy

I left it on my bed and slowly moved my leg outside the window and to the ground as I left my house. Looking back, I could've made that letter less horrendous. No wonder my mother was such a nervous wreck. But, I was only 17 years old, and I was running away.

"You did great." My partner laid his hand on my shoulder as we sneakily walked between the faintly lit streets towards our next destination. My breathing picked up as we quickened our steps and my adrenaline kicked in. I noticed his breathing too and looked over. He was so unaware how wonderful he really was in my eyes, and if he were to look over and catch me watching him, maybe then he would've seen it in my eyes.

I kept thinking to myself, I can't believe we're doing this. This has got to be a dream. Oh, god. And if in some weird, parallel universe that was all a dream, I'm so happy I never woke up.

My accomplice and I approached his house and I chose to stay back, on the sidewalk, and wait for him. I was afraid to go near the home, just in case his uncle woke up and caught us. I sat down with my bag on my lap and waited for him to come back with his own. After a while, it seemed like 10 minutes had passed and I became worried. Fiddling with my thumbs, I continued to remind myself, He's fine, he knows what he's doing. We'll be out of here in no time. Don't panic. I hummed the tune of 'I've Got You Babe' by Sonny and Cher to myself, it always would comfort me in stressful situations. Soon, I was back to normal again and had almost forgotten that I was in the middle of running away.

Grassy footsteps grew behind me and I felt a hand grab my elbow and pull me to my feet and I began trotting along with their pull. "Wendy, we gotta go! Hurry!" My ally hurriedly whispered. "He's awake, come on!" I followed behind him quickly down the road until we reached the back of the old store to his car. Shoving the key into the ignition, I jumped into the passenger seat. We pulled out of the back lot and I saw Mr. Parker looking like he had just woke up and his dog running towards us like it was programmed to. The tires screeched and nearly hit the post that held up the speed sign. We were finally on the road, leaving, gone.

"You okay?" My partner turned to look at me, worried at first before his expression relaxed into a shock filled smile.

"I can't believe we did that!" I said, holding a similar expression to his. "Let's get outta here!" I raised my arms up and closed my eyes.

"Where to, partner?" He asked as I giggled, because I thought of him as my partner in crime that whole evening.

"The stars." I answered and rolled down my window and let the wind try to pull me back to Spokane.