My mom pulled up onto the driveway and I got out. Slamming the car door behind me.
I walked inside the house and threw my bag on the floor. I walked over to the couch and sat down.
My mom walked in a few seconds later. She stood in front of me.
"Cameron, what are you going to do for a month?"
"I was planning on going out."
She raised an eyebrow at me.
"You're suspended from school for a month. Did you really think I would let you go out?"
"That's what I was hoping."
"You're grounded."
"Okay, cool." I said sarcastically.
"For two months."
"Two months!?"
"You're always getting into trouble, grounding you is necessary."
"Whatever."
I hate having arguments with my mom. I love her, but I just can't stand how uptight she can be.
"Go to your room."
I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs. I walked to my room and locked the door.
"I hate my life." I said to myself.
***
"Cameron, dinner is ready!" My mom yelled from downstairs.
"Not hungry!" I yelled back.
It was 7:04 pm. My mom's favorite TV shows come on at seven.
They last two hours.
I'm sneaking out.
My mom will be too distracted with the show to hear me. And she'll be too tired to check on me when the shows are over.
Perfect.
I quietly opened my window and crawled out. Haven't done this in a while.
I slowly walked on my roof, to the side of my house. There were bags of potting soil for my mom's garden.
I always try to land on those.
"Here goes nothing."
I jumped. And I landed on the bags of soil. I brushed myself off.
"That was easy."
I got up and started walking on the sidewalk. I know my way around town. But there still some places I want to explore.
I kept walking. It was getting kind of cold. I put my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.
I kept on walking. Until I was a few blocks away from my neighborhood.
I'm not really that scared of walking alone when it's dark. If anything, it makes me feel brave.
I kept on walking. Taking a turn every so often. I was just thinking the whole time, I wasn't really focusing on my surroundings.
Then I took out my phone to look at the time. 7:18 pm.
I've gotten pretty far. I don't really recognize the place I'm in.
I don't know how I didn't notice. But I was right in front of the woods. I looked behind me. The closest row of houses were around two blocks away.
I looked back at the woods in front of me. These woods probably weren't big enough for you to get lost in. But big enough to make you think twice.
I walked into the woods.
I looked around. Pine trees. That's all there was.
Then I looked down at my feet. A pinecone was on the ground.
