Gone || ✔

IV

The room is muggy and hot. In the winter, the house is either around ninety degrees and muggy or the same temperature as outside. In the other room I over hear mom and dad's conversation. 

Mom: Derek, honey, she needs to go back to school someday. 

Dad: I know, I know, but you know how hard it's been for her lately...
Mom: I understand that, but maybe if we take her to a different school..-

Dad: Take her to a different school?! Where are we going to find a different school district?! The next town and school is 15-30 minutes away. 
Mom: So, it's good enough. I will do whatever it takes to get my baby girl back into school. 

I couldn't listen anymore. I refuse to go back to school, even if it's a different school. People probably have heard about the rumors already, and I can't face another day of torture and pain, let alone four more years. 

I put new gray sweatpants on, even though it's like a thousand degrees in here, and a black spaghetti strapped tank top. I pull my hair into a ponytail and make a messy bun. I put my black Ugg boats on and grab my phone. I walk into the living room and mom stops whatever she's doing, her face expressionless. "Lainna, I can explain-" she starts to say but I interrupt her. 

"No need to explain, I've heard enough." I grab my  sweatshirt off the back of the couch and head for the door. Dad stops me in my tracks. 

"Where do you think you're going young lady?" He says, giving me the 'fatherly' look. 

"Far away so you can't find me." I say and leave before they could say anything else. I call Alexx, which is actually surprising, and she answers immediately. 

Alexx: Oh good, you called. I was gonna call you but whatever. You need to get your butt over here quickly, I have something to tell and show you.

--At Alexx's House--

"How do you think it got here?" I ask, staring at the new Ouija board that lies ahead of me. 

"I don't know," Alexx says, staring at it too. "I dug up the ashes to see if they were still there, but they weren't." 

"Do you think they disintegrated or something?" I ask and she shrugs. "I don't know. I woke up and here it was, sitting in the middle of the floor." 

"Maybe John wanted to talk." I say teasingly. She smiles and nudges me. 

"There's my Lianna Belle." She says jokingly. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you something...um...well, me and Jamison are...well, you know. Da-dat-dating." She cringes at the last word. She hates that word. 

"Oh!" I say, "Ohh. Awe, congrats." I say, fake smiling. My heart kind of shatters. On the outside, I look happy, but on the inside, I'm seriously breaking apart by each second. "I'm so proud of you Alexx." I hug her. I feel like shattering into a million little pieces and being swept under a rug. 

"Thanks," she says pulling away from the hug. "And there was something you wanted to tell me?" This startles me. I don't remember even mentioning anything about talking. I think I was going to tell her about running away and locking myself in the old hang out spot but now that I think of it, I don't want to tell her. She'd throw a big fit and I don't feel like calming her down. 

"Um, I don't think there was anything I wanted to tell you." I say confused. 

"Yes there was. You said something about Jason." She says, reminding me. 

"Oh right!" I say like I remember, but I never mentioned anything about Jason.. "Um, I think I still like him..?" I tell her and surprisingly, her eyes light up. 

"No way!" She says. "Tell me all ab-" She gets caught off by something being knocked over. It sounded like glass hitting the floor. 

"What was that?" I ask, she shrugs her shoulders. "Let's check it out." I say, starting to walk to the kitchen. She follows me. All the plates that were in the cabinet were on the floor, shattered. 

"Oh my god!" She says, walking towards it. "My mom's gonna kill us!" She says. 

"Us? There's no 'us' in this situation. This is your problem, not mine." I say. I am not taking half the blame on this. And besides, what would I say? "Oh, I was trying to reach a plate and they all just fell." no. Alexx starts stressing out. 

"Oh my god. Oh my god." I don't know what to do, so I just start cleaning up the glass, then Alexx starts to help.  "Thanks for helping me pick this up at least." She says after we're all done. 

"No problem, that's what friends do. But hey, I got to get going. I'll see you later, alright?" I say and she nods. 

"Bye." She says and I walk out the door.