Run

Raylee

Fire. All around her there's spiraling pillars of smoke. She can't breathe. She chokes, soot coats her hair. Her eyes burn as She cries out, suddenly someone grabs her hand. She twists and sees a pair of green eyes shining through the darkness. She stifles a gasp as this boy in front of her materializes, before She can truly look at him he opens his mouth and yells,
"Ray!"
"Ray wake up."
"RAY YOU HAVE TWO SECONDS TO GET DOWN THESE STAIRS." Her mother screamed. She groaned and threw a pillow at the slightly opened door.
"I'm coming!" She yelled back. Pulling on her signature outfit, black yoga pants and an oversized sweater, Raylee Matherson slinked down the stairs and skirted past her mother kissing her cheek lightly. Her mother was of medium height and build and always wore a pant suit. She was a very big lawyer in the neighboring city and was always just heading out when Raylee woke up.
"Now remember, I won't be home for dinner and your father won't be home until tomorrow night from his business trip. You are to come right home after school do you hear me? There's a frozen casserole in the freezer that you can cook, I'll be home at 11." Her mother always chided her about coming straight home, like she had anywhere else to go. Her parents forbade her to have any contact with her classmates and it was taboo to even speak of going to a school function in her house. She gave up fighting her parents a long time ago she knew they would never let her go.
Raylee finished drinking her orange juice and grabbed her bag, she ran outside of the large colonial house and headed to wear she parks her one and only prized possession, her 2007 Ford Taurus. It may see like a junker of a car but to Raylee it was to only freedom her parents ever allowed her to have.
"Now Ray this is only to commute back and forth to school if you ever drive anywhere else we will revoke your license." Her father had said, but Raylee had barely heard him as she was just so caught up in the moment of having a car.
Pulling out of the driveway Raylee took a deep breath, autumn was just setting in and the smells of the damp earth filled her lungs. Something lurched inside of her, startled she grabbed her chest and look wide eyed around. Low in her chest she felt herself growl. She shook it off as to having skipped dinner the night before to cram for Mrs. Wild's pop quiz. Shaking off the feeling she continued her short drive to Hawkins High where she parked in her usual spot away from everyone else. Grabbing her brown backpack she trudged towards the school. The hallways had their usual musty smell and kids constantly rushed past her pushing her into the lockers. She ducked down a lesser traveled side hallway and quietly made it to her locker. Turning the dial to the blue rusty locker she stowed her heavy books and cluttered folders among the various other books and folders. When suddenly someone jumped her almost spilling her to the ground.
She whipped around and saw Veronica, her secret best friend laughing.
" Wow spaz much?" She giggled. She was tall, the second tallest girl in the twelfth grade; Lena Dawson was taller by an inch. She was thin where it counted and thicker where guys wanted it. She was perfect to say the least, unlike Raylee who was pudgy. Not fat but not skinny either, she had mousy brown hair and boring brown eyes unlike V who had beautiful green eyes and perfectly bouncy blonde hair.
" Hey did you hear? Well of course you wouldn't have you don't talk to people, well anyway Kyle Garrison is throwing a huge going away party for his girlfriend who is going to Paris for the year anyway everyone who's anyone is going and we should go too." V was always trying to get Raylee to go out but Ray always said no because her parents would flip.
"V you know my parents will kill me if they find out." Ray started towards first period when Veronica grabbed her shoulder.
" Come on Ray just this one itty bitty little party, isn't your dad still out of town and your mother always works late I'll have you back before you know it we'll just stop in for a second ok?" Veronica had a way of convincing Ray to do just about anything. Finally Ray relented and said she'd think about it while she hurried towards her first period class.
Mrs. Wild was as ancient as teachers come, she had even taught her dad and even he remembered her being old. She always wore a long thick woolen skirt and a sweater it didn't matter if it was the middle of July. Her gray straggly hair was always up in a bun with two knitting needles through it. Her thick glasses covered most of her face and her beak like nose coined her the name Mrs. Bird.
The teacher shuffled around the class slapping tests on everyone's desks. Sighing the class was soon filled with the noise of coughs, throats clearing, pages turning, and pencils dropping.
But to Ray the three ring circus might as well have been going on. Every cough and sneeze vibrated her skull.
What is going on? She wondered but even thinking was sending her now, unbearable migraine into a tailspin. She nervously glanced side to side,  every page turning was like needle going through her brain until she snapped. She stood abruptly and the whole class turned to look at her. Nervously she pushed her way through the rows of desks and slapped her half completed pop quiz on Mrs. Wild's desk.
"I have to go to the nurse." She choked on the words as her brain felt like it was being squeezed she ran for the classroom and ducked into the first bathroom she could find. She ran cold water and splashed her face, she pulled out her cellphone which her parents didn't know she had. While her mother worked late Ray had gotten a secret job delivering newspapers after school. It didn't give her a lot of money but enough so she could afford her first phone.
She sent out her text and within minutes Veronica came bursting through the door which made Ray flinch at the sound.
After Ray explained what happened in the Birds classroom V put on her best therapist face and said,
" sounds to me like you were overwhelmed with the pop quiz that you had a panic attack their common." V was studying to become a psychologist one day and she loved putting her limited knowledge to some use.
" what you need is a skip day, come on." V led Ray down the nearly empty halls and through the janitors room.
Billy was in his late twenties but looked way younger. He dropped out when he was 16 and this is the only job that would hire him that didn't drug test so there they were standing in Billies office. It was really just two supply closets that were merged.
" Billy?" Veronica called out and Billy ducked his head in through the side door where the mops and cleaners were kept. The smell of weed wafted in through the now ajar door.
"Oh shit uh one minute," he coughed as he waved his hand around to disperse the smell.
"What do you want?" Billy eyed us, he didn't really like people but it was clear to most he had a softer spot for Veronica. She nonchalantly pushed her already pushed up boobs and batted her eyes.
" your secrets safe with us we were just wondering if you could help sneak us out, Rays having a bad day and we were just gonna spend a little girl time together." Billy eyed her chest and nodded dumbly, Ray rolled her eyes.
Billy led them out through a maintenance door and told them to forget they ever saw him and he locked the door behind him.
The girls quickly made it to Rays car and slipped in.
Veronica twisted in her seat and looked at Raylee.
"Ok, where too?"