Paper Airplanes (DISCONTINUED)

Un

I sighed as I unpacked the last and final box of my room. Finally I thought. No more unpacking, no more bringing boxes from the living room up into my room, and more importantly, no more being hunched over taking things out and setting them up. But now what is there to do? Then suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. I can finally go have a look around. I grab my from its previous spot of hanging on the back of my bedroom door along with my Fujifilm camera off my dresser. I peeked my head through the door in search of my mother. Once I saw that the coast was clear I ran to the steps, quickly making my way down. I stopped at the bottom and peered around in search of her ginger red hair. Finding the living room empty, I made a dash for the door, and just as I thought It was a free home run, her voice comes out of nowhere, scaring the hell out of me.
"Where do you think you're going?" I release my grip on the door knob and slowly turn to face her.
"Out?" I say, the word coming out as more of a question rather than a statement.
"Out where?" She asks, jutting her hip out and folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm just going to have a look around town, you know, since I didn't get to do that all week because we were unpacking." I say, a bit more confident in my words.
"Well alright. Just be back by dinner." She says before turning on her heel and marching up the steps.
See, I have the protective mother, but not the 'over-the-top-protective' mother. My dad walked out on us when I was only two, so I never really knew him, but since then, my mother has been terrified of the thought of me walking out on her too. She gets all worked up whenever I'm leaving the house. She tries to give me my space, but not too much space.
What would happen to her if I did leave though? I wonder. I shake away the thought and walk down the pathway out of our driveway. I've decided to walk today because I want to see everything up close and not just zooming by in a blur as I speed down the confusing streets. That is also part of the reason why I brought my camera with me, to capture the beauty of the city. I walk for a bit, coming into the center of the small town that stood literally just thirty minutes away from London. I stopped and held my camera up to my eye, capturing the scenery, before letting the camera drop back onto my stomach, it being held by the string that was wound on the back of my neck. I spotted what looked like a cafe, and decided to go in it.
Inside it was dimly lit, tables filling one half of the room all different sizes and heights. The other half of the room was filled with couches and what looked like recliner chairs, pulled off into different sections. There was a fireplace in the back, a couch residing in front of it, probably there so people can sit and enjoy the warmth of the crackling fire. I walked up to the counter and let my eyes skim the menu that stood high above the register.
"Hi, how can I help you today?" an overly preppy voice questioned.
"Umm. . . . I think I'll have a slice of wild berry pie and a raspberry tea." I say, satisfied with my decision.
"Is that all?" I nodded. "You're total is £7.43." I pulled my wallet out from my front pocket and handed her the amount asked for. She thanked me and told me that my stuff would be called.
I spotted an empty table and started toward it. Shrugging my coat off, I laid it out on the back of the chair -the warm room making my body temperature raise- and sat down. I pulled my camera from around my neck and placed it on the tabletop and pulled my messenger bag onto my lap to scavenger through it in search of my copy of the book 'Divergent'. Finding the book with the cloudy sky on its cover, I pulled it out of its hiding place and placed it on the table, just as my food was called. I got up and grabbed my items, -thanking the girl who's name I found out was 'Mindy'- and headed back towards my seat, only to stop in my tracks. There was a girl with long brown hair, reading my book, her right leg crossed over the left, looking more relaxed than ever, like she wasn't touching a stranger's belongings. I cleared my throat, catching her attention.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I just always wanted to read the book and I could never find it anywhere." She rambled. I shrugged.
"Eh, its fine. I'm Piper." I said, setting my stuff down and sticking a hand out for her to shake. She smiled and grabbed it.
"Cara." I sat and began digging into my wild berry pie which, may I add, tasted heavenly.
"You're new here, right? Cause I've never seen you around before."
"Yeah, I'm new. I start school at Leicester High on Monday." I said.
"That's awesome! I go there too! Well now you'll have met at least one person that goes there." she said as she grinned like a madman. "But wait. Why are you starting school so late into the school year? It's been like, two months since the first day of school."
"My mum moved us out here saying because she got a better job offer and something about how we needed a fresh start." I say nonchalantly, taking a sip of my tea.
"Well that makes sense seeing as how. . ." She started to say, but was cut off by her phone ringing. She gave me a look that said 'sorry' but I waved my hand, indicating for her to answer the phone.
"Hello?" She answered
Silence.
"Well yeah bu-"
Muffled yelling.
"Mom I told you-"
More muffled yelling.
"Fine! I'm coming right now, damn." Cara uttered.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. My mom's an overprotective lunatic." I chuckled.
"I know the feeling. My mom's overprotective too." She picked up her bag that was strewn across the back of her chair. Standing up, she said,
"So. . . I'll see you Monday?"
"Yeah, and here," I handed her my book. "you can borrow it. I've no use for it. I've read it over a dozen times." She nodded frantically.
"Thank you! I'll have it back to you by Monday. That's four days from now." Her phone buzzed again, causing her to roll her eyes and me to chuckle.
"I better get going before she has a heart attack."
"Bye." I said, giving her a smile. She backed up toward the door, giving me a salute before turning around and leaving the cafe.
I finished my tea in peace and shrugged my jacket on, hanging my camera back around my neck and throwing my bag over my left shoulder diagonally, so the strap confined my body, the bag hitting the side of my right leg with every step I took. I exited the cafe. The sun was setting, coming to a beautiful twilight. I decided it was time to head back, not wanting the same reaction from my mother that Cara got from hers. As I was walking, I passed an alleyway. I backtracked and looked at the scene before my eyes. It was so beautiful. The way the setting sun hid behind the trees that were missing leaves at the end of the long alley. I always found beauty in the weirdest things. I picked my camera up and held it to my eye, my finger in position to snap the picture. But there was something moving in the corner of the frame.
I removed my face from the camera to see what was disturbing my shot, only to be mortified. There was a boy, who looked to be about my age, beating up a defenseless man who looked to be in his late twenties, early thirties.
"Where's my money?!" The eighteen year-old asked, kicking the guy in the stomach who lay helplessly on the ground. The guy coughed, blood sputtering from his lips.
"I-I don't have it yet. If you just give me a little more time I-" The boy cut him off.
"A little more time? A little more fucking time?! I gave you more than enough time." He thundered, his voice sending shivers down my spine.
"I'm sorr-" He cut him off again, giving him another kick to the stomach.
"Did I fucking tell you to speak!? I want my money by Tuesday Micheal. And if I don't get it. . . It'll be way worse than this." He said, before kicking the guy in his face, rendering him unconscious. But the horrible thing about that last kick, was that it scared me so much, I flinched so hard, that my finger accidentally pressed down on the button for my camera, and snapped a picture of the two men. The boy's head snapped up toward me. It was then that I saw his face. He had tattoos running up his neck, a pierced lip and eyebrow as well. His eyes were a vibrant green, and the way he looked at me made me want to run away. And that's exactly what I did. I made a dash for it, running down the streets.
After a while of running, I was sure I had lost him. I leaned my back against a brick wall, breathing heavily. I watched as my breaths came out in small clouds of fog in the cold night air.
What the hell did I just do?