Broken Runaways

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jessica

I seemed to have a problem with waking up. Getting out of bed. Everything. The simple weight of human emotions seemed to keep me tied to the warm bed. Finally deciding to open my eyes, I realized that I was not in my attic, but I was still in Jeffrey’s room. Based on the rumpled sheets next to me, Jeffrey was already awake. My vision was blurred, making me assume that Jeff had taken my glasses off in my sleep.

Having horrible sight, I had to wear contacts. I always took them out when I got home, so I could comfortably put on my glasses.

Sitting up, I squinted my eyes, reaching in random places to locate my glasses. Suddenly, I felt the cold plastic wrap around my ears, my vision cleared. Looking around the room, I saw Jeffrey sitting in a recliner across his room, staring at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I questioned, feeling self-conscious under his intense gaze. For a moment, he didn’t answer me, just continued staring at me. As if I was one piece of a large puzzle he couldn’t seem to fit anywhere.

“You just look nice in my shirts, is all.” Looking down, I noticed that I was no longer in my grey skinny jeans. I was now in one of Jeffrey’s t-shirts, a pair of boxers over my underwear being used as shorts.

“You changed me while I was asleep?” I felt ashamed. To have been in such a state of unchangeable dormancy, that I allowed him to remove my clothes, replacing them with new ones, essentially embarrassed me. Jeffrey nodded. “What time is it?”

“Almost eight-thirty.” He replied nonchalantly, without having to even glance at some type of clock.

“Shit! Were late for school!” I exclaimed, rushing out of his bed.

“No we’re not. We don’t have school.” Jeffrey said in a monotone, unmoving.

“What do you mean? It’s Thursday!” I told him, rummaging around his room for my clothes.

“I know, but we’re not going. I told my mother that your grandfather died last night and I needed to be here for ‘moral support’, and all that bullshit.” Jeffrey said getting up from the chair. “Oh, and I put your clothes in the wash, so you won’t find them anywhere in here, so don’t bother looking.” Sighing, I threw myself backwards onto the full sized bed.

Jeffrey came and sat laid next to me, not saying a word. Sometimes his silence said more than his words. The amount of space before each breath. Which one was louder than the other. The vague beating of his heart when he thought of something that got him nervous. The small movements of his fingertips. It gave away small bits of what he was thinking.

“I’m leaving you know.” Jeffrey said suddenly, breaking the uneven silence.

“What do you mean by leaving?” I said sitting up, looking a down at him. Did he mean he was going to try and commit suicide again? I cringed at the word again. Was he going back to the hospital because he wasn’t properly stable yet?

“When I turn eighteen. I’m going to leave Georgetown. Too many generations have been here for too long. I hate it here. Too many bad memories. I just want to go somewhere where no one knows my name. I want a clean slate, to start over. You know what I mean?” Jeffrey questioned.

“Yeah.” I told him breathlessly.

“You should come with me Jessica.’ Jeffrey said, sitting up suddenly. “Come with me. We can be crazy, fucked up, and broken. Together.” He said, hope now clear in his tone and blue eyes.

“What do you mean? We can’t just... run away together. We’d have nothing to support us, no place to live even!” I exclaimed. It just wasn’t logical, running. We wouldn’t have anything. Plus I have a steady job here, I have a roof over my head. Leaving just wasn’t an option. I had to stay for what I knew still remained of my parents, for the protection of Kellen and Kimber. They were pretty much the only reason I’m still breathing. Without them, I’d have no purpose.