Music In Me

Chapter Four

They've been on the run for four days, using the psedonyms Dani and Eli Russo, no one suspected the two tourists from Alaska would actually be two troubled teenagers who had no choice but run away from everything.

   It wasn't till then, Lauren noticed something wrong with Mason. She didn't know what but something was wrong. "Mason," she whispered. "Are you okay?" 

  "No," he said. He stared straight ahead and never looked at her.

   She blinked. "Mind talking about it?"

   He looked at her and smirked. "Cuts run deep, Lauren. I hope you know that."

   She grabbed his hand and squezzed it. "Of course I do."

   He let go and lifted his right sleeve up. There were three or four scars on his arms. Lauren couldn't believe it, Mason self-harmed? 

   "They're old," he muttered. "I was depressed and upset. I'm happy I have a friend like you."

   She stopped walking on the sidewalk and gave him a surprise hug. "I'm glad you told me about this."

   Lauren gives good hugs, he realized. When she hugs, she buries her head into your neck. It feels nice.

  For some reason, what she said next made him feel good about himself and made him regret his scars even more.

  "You're amazing, dude." She whispered in his ear, still holding him in her arms. "If anyone tells you different," she let go and stared in his brown eyes. "I will punch them in the face."

  He grinned and  messed up her hair. "Please do."

  They walked another few yards when Mason pulled her into the bushes. 

   "Dude, what the fu-"

   He cut her off. "Police officer at three o'clock." and pointed.

   She shut up.

   The police walked into the Starbucks next door and they didn't see him again. 

   "Okay, let's go." Mason said, grabbing Lauren's hand. "This way! Once, a friend of my brother ran away for a day and he took a shortcut from Starbucks to a cheap two star hotel, we could hang there for a few hours."

  "Sure thing, hotshot." Lauren muttered, following the trail of dirt and sand.

  This went on for about ten minutes and they finally saw the one level, white building with tearing wallpaper.

 "Nice hotel..." Lauren muttered again.

 "Okay, I kinda lied," Mason confessed. "This isn't a cheap, two star hotel... it's a place with a t.v were teenagers go to get drunk and make-out."

 "How'd you know about that?"

 "My brother-"

 "Edd?"

 "No, Jerrid. The 911 Operator Jerrid?"

 She smirked. "Oh, I liked him."

 "Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "When he was fifeteen, he had this hot, British twenty-three year old babe named Angie take him here.."

  She covered her ears. "I don't wanna even know."

 "I don't wanna tell you. Trust me, didn't end well." He shrugged. "The good news is, no makeouts aloud until ten p.m. so we can go here, rest, have some sodas, watch the news and then go on our way."

  "If we get kicked out, I swear to God-" She stood up and almost shoved him as she walked up to the door.

  He was a few feet away from her, taking his time, thinking about life.

  A week after meeting her, he felt something different. Usually, he'd have anxiety attacks three days a week at a minimum and he used to do horrible stuff to himself. 

  He came from a happy family with a decent amount of money, a decent school history, a great three level house, and he was probably the fifth most popular kid in the eighth grade. But, he wasn't happy at all. 

  But at the Fourth of July party at his neighbors house, when she saw that beautiful, sarcastic, probably ADHD girl with the pink streaks in her hair and spiked bracelets, he felt... happy. 

  When he saw her, even though he didn't even know her name, he saw himself. 

  She was a tortured soul who went through many emotional trauma as a child, yet she would always be smiling and teasing. She would live through the pain and smile and laugh with everyone else, and that's what made her special.

  "Yo!, Yo!, Oh my freaking God! Earth to Mason!" Lauren sarcasticly groaned. 

  He blinked. "Yo, what?"

  "What kinda soda do you want?" She asked. staring at the, um, very young "bartender".

  "Oh," he shrugged. "A mountian dew, I guess."

  "Kay-kay." She glanced at the child behind the counter. "That and a Dr. Pepper."

   They got their drinks and right when they turned to leave, the kid said, "If you wanna karaoke, the door is at the left."

   They looked at him and kinda made a grunting noise as they went through the left door.