The Runaways

Chapter Seven

It's 10:30, Friday morning. Jeremy tells us goodbye, and he leaves for

work. Luke raids the kitchen downstairs as I study myself in the mirror, trying to make my hair and face look decent. Joining him at the table in the kitchen, I ask him what the plan is.

"Well," he says as he takes a big

bite out of a poptart, "When I ran off, my dad didn't care. He didn't even bother to file a report. How does your dad feel about you?"

I cross my arms and rest my chin on them. "He hates me, but he'll probably want me to come

back."

Luke shakes his head. "Skyler, you really should eat something. When you're on the run, you take every opportunity to get a free meal."

I crinkle my nose. "I'm really not hungry right now.."

Luke stares at me as he finishes

off his third poptart.

He throws his trash away.

Still staring.

I look at him like he's crazy. "What?"

He sits across from me."You know what you need, Skyler? You need to have some fun."

I raise an eyebrow. "Fun?"

He walks over, picks me up, and drapes me over his shoulder. "Luke! This is not funny! Put me

down! What are you doing?" I say as I try to squirm out of his grip.

He laughs as he carries me out the back door and down the wooden patio steps. The sun is shining, and it feels amazing, but I can only see the ground and the

back of Luke's feet.

"Luke! Put me down right now!" I tell him. He continues silently walking, so I sigh and stop struggling. He carries me through what I think is a small gate.

"Where are we even--" I'm interrupted when he tosses me into the deep end of a pool full of cool water. I quickly come to the surface.

"Oh my gosh!" I laugh, "I'm going to kill you!"

He smirks at me as he pulls off his shirt and cannonballs in. As soon as Luke surfaces, I splash him as much and as fast as I can.

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry!" he yells, laughing. The splashes stop, and I try to stay afloat, but I'm

getting tangled in the big shirt that I have on. Luke sees me struggling.

"Skyler, you don't need to drown. If it's bothering you, just take it off."

I raise an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs his shoulders.

"Yeah, you wish.." I laugh before I dive to the bottom of the pool.

Luke's on the lawn near the pool

when I come up. He pats the space on the grass next to him, and I join him.

"So, how long have you been missing-in-action?" he asks.

I shrug. "Maybe.. Uhm, twenty-two hours?"

"A person has to be gone for at least 20 hours before a report can be filed."

I gulp.

"What if he doesn't tell anyone you're missing? Or.. What if you tell someone about the abuse?" he asks.

"He'll definitely tell someone. He can't function at home without me. And if I tell someone, he'll kill me."

"I'm sure that wouldn't happen..."

"I'm not even joking.. He will kill me. He's tried before."

Luke doesn't question how or why, and I'm thankful because it's too traumatizing to say out loud. I clear the thoughts from my mind as Luke's arm wraps around my

shoulders. A cloud covers the sun for a few moments, making me shiver. Luke rubs my arm, and I lean my head against his. Who am I kidding? There's no way I'm going to permanently get away from Dad.

It's only a matter of time.