Misconduct

Chapter 1

My phone was ringing.
I sat up in my bed, my heart beating a mile a minute.
Something was wrong. So horribly wrong, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
You know how some people say that you can just tell when the person you love is gone? That You can feel them leave your soul? I used to think they were crazy. I was very wrong. You can tell when they've left you.
The only difference was that I wasn't feeling absence, I was getting my soul sucked out by a dementor from Harry Potter.
I could feel it in my gut. Feel a hole punched through my chest.
I started to shake I was so nervous, and the phone rang again.
Hastily, I grabbed it off my side table, and glanced at my alarm. 4:23. In the morning.
The screen was illuminated with a number I didn't recognize, but I answered it anyway. (This was extremely out of character for me, I was usually very cautious and if I'd been myself, had blocked the person calling and gone back to sleep.)
"Hello?" I called softly.
For a second all I heard was a loud, grateful sob, and then a small voice on the line.
"I-I didn't know who else to call..." The voice trailed off.
It was AJ. Her voice was unmistakeable, yet powerful.
The power inside her was gone. I could tell that much.
AJ worked so hard to hide the vulnerability in her, so I knew if she was this distraught .I got up out of my bed and grabbed my keys off the nightstand. I headed to my car, still in sweats and without shoes.
My bare feet made a slapping noise on the hardwood floor, and I hoped Carla, my foster mom, wasn't awake to hear me run off.
"AJ, tell me what happened. Where are you?" I demanded, trying to hide my worry so she wouldn't flip.
"I'm calling from a gas station pay phone, somewhere on the outskirts of town... I-" her voice broke and I heard her sniffle on the other line. I plugged my left ear so I could hear her over the roaring engine of my car.
"I don't remember!" She cried.
"I can't- Delaynee, I can't talk about it right now. I'm on a pay phone- I had to steal some money from the register."AJ admitted guiltily.
"AJ! Why would- How could you- you- be so damn irresponsible?" I was pissed. She was so fragile that I couldn't lash out at her, which made me even more mad.
"Delaynee!"
I sighed. "Where are you?"
She gave me the address quickly.
"Dee- I think that-"
"If you would like to continue your call please insert 25 cents." A monotone voice informed us.
The line went dead.
***
20 minutes later I was in a gas station parking lot, running inside after seeing AJ through the window.
Aj was talking to a gas station employee as he stocked the shelves.
She sprinted towards me and threw her arms around my neck. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the smell of coconut, freesia, bubblegum lip smackers, and laundry detergent. Her scent had a cool and icy edge, like she was Alice Cullen.
AJ buried her face in the crook of my neck and let out a cry.
"Aura.." I murmured as I stroked her tangled, thick dark hair that fell past her waist.
She looked up at me. Even with the red rims around her eyes she was breathtakingly gorgeous.
Her almost translucent skin in contrast with her chocolate brown eyes and black hair was stunning, even under the fluorescent lights.
My memory drifted back to junior year when Carson Smith had gotten a black eye for telling her she was the prettiest girl he'd ever laid his eyes on. Yuck. Since then, no one who valued their eyes didn't compliment her, including me.
It was probably the fact her "raccoon eyeliner" had leaked down her cheeks, and her piercings were out that she looked so... So... Exquisite? Beautiful? Stunning? No. Words could not describe her beauty.
A pang of jealousy-and a moment later guilt ran through me.
She must have been crying for at least two hours. The rims around her eyes, her smeared makeup, the blush on her cheeks... What had happened to her?
That's when I'd noticed what she was wearing.
Old sweats and a flannel. Definately guys clothes.
I have my thanks to the employee in passing, and was grateful he didn't recognize me. A miracle in a town like this. I didn't have time for small talk and gossip.
I decided not to ask her what happened until we were in the car.
Once we were driving back to Carla's home, AJ spit out "I can't stay here."
"Huh?" I demanded, confused.
"Delaynee let me come with you. I can't stay here in this town anymore. Get me out of Iowa.I want to travel, too." Her eyes bore into mine.
"I'm leaving in two days...And I only have the money from Fae and money from the diner " I trailed off. I couldn't say no to her.
"I can pay for myself."
"You aren't wasting your college fund on getting out of here. Look I know you're stressed-but if I had my druthers-"
"I'm coming." She added, cutting me off.
There was no changing AJ's mind.
"Pack light..." I trailed off. One bad thing about having her as your best friend. No changing her mind.
AJ nodded. "I need to go tonight. You can catch up with me in a few days but I can't stay here and think about what happened." Her voice broke on the last word.
"Aura I don't want to pry, but what exactly happened exactly?"
She huffed, exasperated.
"I was being.. Irresponsible, met a guy, found out he was a creep, got stalked for the rest of the night, and... Woke up in an alley a few blocks away from the gas station." She gnawed on her lower lip.
Angry tears appeared in my eyes and I knew they were going to be red and puffy later.
"Look, I'm sorry, really I am, but there's nothing to do about it now, and I can't stay in Kingsley anymore. A town with a population of 1,245 isn't for me. I've wanted to go for a while. Now is my chance! Take me to New York with you to see Justin. Give me 20 minutes to pack and let's go." She begged.
My mind drifted to our friends. We had to say bye first.
Perceptive little Aura Jane gives me one of her platinum white, blindingly perfect grins. It didn't reach her eyes.
"Call them. It's almost 6." She told me, looking at the digital clock in my car.
I pulled up at her home. Small and old, it had a sort of charm that represented Kingsley, IA. I wasn't gonna miss this place. I would visit my friends soon enough, and I would write to Fae, the sassy old lady that lived next to my parents and let me live with her until she moved into a rest home after my parents died.
"And Ludo? We have to bring him! Carla will take him to the pound!"
"Bring him. Call our friends, pack your necessities, and be back here in an hour. I'll find us a flight out of here." AJ ran to her house, on a mission. Aura and her challenges.
The rest of the night was a blur of stuffing things into suitcases, shoving Ludo into his kennel, blubbery goodbyes with friends, arguing with flight attendants, waiting in the airport (since we were flying standby, we were moving slower than molasses running down a hill in January.),checking to make sure we had everything we needed, and small talk. Lots of small talk.
Both of us pretended that we didn't know what had most likely happened to Aura. I knew she knew. It just hurt too much to admit. I was stupid enough to think that Aura would be okay. That somehow she would heal. She did, psychologically, but neither of us were prepared for the baby. We didn't see her little kicker coming for a while.
End of chapter one.
    Note from the authors:
(That's Aura Jane at the top)
    Tell us what you think!
Updates or releasing it all at once?
         Kisses!!!!
             -Taryn and Madeline