The Runaway

Chapter 2

*Perrie's POV*

I shivered as the rain poured down on me. It felt like thousands of needles were piercing my skin. I had been wandering around for about 3 days now. My legs are killing me and I feel woozy because I haven't been able to eat or drink much since I'm trying to conserve water.

I blinked my eyes that still seemed glazed over. I learned that sleeping in fields or under trees isn't very restful. I slapped my arm a few times, trying to force myself to stay awake. I prayed that I'd find some sort of shelter soon because I don't know how much longer I can survive in this harsh weather; not to mention the fact that I ran out of food this morning and I'm nearly out of water.

My legs started to shake and I could no longer hold myself up. I fell into a heap in the brush. Losing the fight to keep my eyes open.

I painfully blinked my eyes open and slowly adjusted to my surroundings. My eyes widened in confusion when I found myself in a dank and dirty room, the concrete cold against my face and arms.

I painstakingly sat up and cringed when I realized that I was in the basement at home. Did he find me?! i cringed when the door shot open and my Step-Dad stepped in; a sinister smile on his face.

"You thought you could get away bitch?!" He mocked me as he pounded my side relentlessly with his steel-toed boots. I felt my skin shredding, and blood starting to run down my sides, seeping through my shirt until I was lying in a puddle of my own blood.

I closed my eyes, wishing I was anywhere else. I gasped in surprise and pain when I felt a sharp pain in my side. I sluggishly blinked my eyes open and saw him holding a shiny, sharp pocket knife, my blood dripping from the blade.

He slashed down again on my stomach, carving out the word worthless. "You are a waste of space, and that's all you'll ever be." He spat at me, throwing the knife in the corner, leaving me in the room to bleed out.

I felt my vision starting to go black and couldn't help but think I never even got the chance to try out for the USWNT, but maybe he was right, I wasn't good enough.

I shot up, sweat pouring down my face. I frantically looked around and found myself in a field. I looked and saw that though my clothes were torn and muddy,they weren't bloody. I sighed in relief, trying to push back the nightmare.

Using the dream as motivation, I slowly and painstakingly stood up, settling my backpack onto my shoulders once again.

I walked for what felt like days, and was about ready to give up. I took my last gulp of water, and looked disparagingly at the barren fields that surrounded me. If I didn't find shelter soon, I'd be toast. I refused to give in since I've already come so far, so I pushed myself to walk a few more miles.

I could feel my body slowly giving up the farther I walked. I felt my legs finally give out, my vision already blurred. I was shocked when my knees hit a hard surface and not dirt. I looked down and tried to focus my eyes, rubbing them slightly. I was shocked to see that I was on cement. I looked up to see a pristine looking building that I now realized was hidden by the trees nicely. I quickly got up, my energy restored at the prospects of having shelter.

I quickly climbed over the fence and scoped out the building. The front door was locked tight, and since there seemed to be some lights on inside I tried to be careful so that nobody would see me. I made my way around to the back of the building and grinned when I saw that this door was nowhere as new as the front door, and the lock was rusted. After a few tries I was able to jimmy it open with a long nail that I had found.

I crept around the halls, extremely scared that someone would find me and hurt me. I had just walked into a room and noticed there was a water cooler which nearly made me cry. I was about to go near it when I heard footsteps and voices coming near.

I panicked and climbed into a locker that was behind me, and peered through the vents, barely able to see anything.

"You baby horse can we please go get that pizza you owe me?" I heard a familiar voice say.

"Ugh really Tobs? I didn't think you'd hold me to it!" Another familiar voice whined, making the people she was with laugh.

"Well it's your own fault for challenging her to video games." Another voice teased.

"Oh shut up GOAT! Now let's go before coach makes us do more laps!"

They all agreed, and I winced when the locker next to me opened. I heard shuffling around, and jumped slightly when it was slammed closed.

I heard the laughter and footsteps slowly fade away and hesitantly stepped out of the locker. I glanced around cautiously, and once I was satisfied that everyone had left, I all but ran to the water cooler, grabbing a cup from the stack beside it and filling it. I greedily drank the cool water, forcing myself to take a break before I gulped down another cup. Once I had 5 more cups, I finally felt okay again.

Once I felt more stable and my vision was finally back to normal, I started to walk around the locker room, hoping to find new clothes and food.

As I went through the lockers I found 5 granola bars, 6 bags of fruit snacks, a bag of banana chips, a T-Shirt and a pair of sweatpants.I smiled victoriously and pulled the last locker open, which happened to be the one that was next to the empty locker I had been hiding in. I grinned when i saw that there was a warm looking UNC hoodie, a UNC blanket and some more snacks, and a Harry Potter book.

I gathered everything and stuffed it in my backpack, feeling slightly guilty for taking the stuff. I vowed that I'd return it all eventually. Well the clothes and the book anyway. I then explored the rest of the building and beamed when I saw that there was an indoor soccer field and showers. I also found a storage room that had old faded shirts in it, and I arranged them into a bed in a corner where I figured nobody would see me.

I found some towels and a dryer near the shower room, so I quickly washed my clothes with the shampoo and rinsed them. I put them in the dryer as I took a shower, carefully cleaning off all the mud, dirt, leaves, and blood off of my skin. Once I was finally clean I threw on my now dry undergarments and the clothes that i had found in the locker room. I had to tie the sweatpants pretty tight, and the hoodie hung a little too long on me, but I wasn't going to complain now that I was clean and warm.

I decided that I'd play soccer tomorrow once I had some decent rest. I took my now much fuller backpack with me into the storage room, making sure to off any light that I had turned on. I headed into the storage room and cuddled into my make-shift bed, pulling the UNC blanket over me.

I smiled at the UNC logo because it reminded me of one of my favorite players. Tobin Heath. I carefully pulled out my USWNT poster and propped it by my new bed, almost as if they were all watching over me.

I closed my eyes and dreamed of finally having a loving family and getting my chance to maybe play for the USWNT one day, even though I know both are impossible.