Runaway

Chapter 1

I shivered against the icy breeze, and cursed my thin sweater. Maybe I overreacted with the whole situation. What if dad got so drunk that he ended up killing himself? I don't think I could live knowing that. 

At the same time, I had spent a good portion of my life trying to avoid getting killed by my sorry excuse of a father. Leaving him alone was going to be a good change. Unfortunately, I had no place to stay at the moment, so I really should have thought of a plan before I left.

I continued to trudge unhappily up the sloping street, the lamplights casting a dark shadow behind me. There were houses with their lights still on, their laughter reaching my ears, filling me with a strange sense of happiness. It was hard to envision a time where I felt happy with my family. 

I quickly pulled myself out of the stupor I was sinking into, and began thinking. Where would I go? How would I survive? I had to go to school, and paying for food and other necessities would be really difficult. I walked further into the street, and heard a loud, steady beat filling the air, quickly washing over the silent neighborhood.

 As I got closer to the enormous house, I noticed a large group of people: teenagers. It was a party apparently, and an extremely loud one at that. I also noticed the empty bottles of liquor littering the grass in the front yard, and there seemed to be a circle of teens passing around what looked like a bong.

 My stomach suddenly groaned, indicating that it needed to be nourished. I looked at the house, then looked away.

It would be weird for a random girl to just walk in a stranger's house. 

But there's so many people here that the owner might not even realize. 

If you get caught-

My stomach growled again, causing me to lurch forward, which propelled me to enter the house. Whoever lived in a house like this obviously had a lot of money to spare. When I crossed the threshold,   the scent of marijuana washed over me like a cloud of toxic gas. I grimaced, and kept searching for food. I finally found the kitchen and grinned. 

When I opened the fridge to make a sandwich, a tall, lanky boy entered. 

He narrowed his eyes at me, and asked, "Who are you?" I froze, not knowing what to say.

"Uh-I was tired of the party, so I came here to eat something. I was invited here by the host." I said quickly, just wanting him to leave. He took a step towards me, so I turned around and continued to make my sandwich, hoping he would lose attention and leave. I heard his quiet footsteps advancing towards me, and quickly slammed the bun on top of my sandwich. I began to retreat, when he grabbed my arm and yanked me back. I looked up indigently, disliking him immediately. 

"What do you want?" I asked peevishly, staring him right in the eye. 

He merely glanced at me lazily, and said, "I don't know who you are, or what you're doing in my house, just don't make a mess and get the hell out before 7 a.m." Then he dropped my arm and walked out coolly, not looking back. I sighed, mentally thanking him for not kicking me out.

I took a bite out of my sandwich, relishing it while walking around the house. It was crammed with the writhing bodies of teenagers who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. I wandered through the many rooms, noticing that every one of them were filled with couples doing whatever couples do. I shook my head-how stereotypical. 

I was in a high school party filled with hormonal teenagers who were smoking weed and drinking alcohol in a fruitless attempt to be "cool."

Taking a swig of my obviously spiked drink, I decided to go where the night lead me. I crashed onto a comfortable looking couch, and sprang back up. 

Ow

I rummaged around the bottom of the cushions, and came across a beer bottle. I rolled my eyes and tossed it away, before settling down on the couch again. I would rest just for a few hours, and then I would leave. After all, I had until 7 a.m. and it was only 9 p.m. 10 hours would be plenty of time to rest, get up, and leave. 

Tomorrow is another day. I'll definitely find a place to stay tomorrow. As of right now, though, I really needed to rest.