Chasing Freedom (Book 2)

Chapter Forty-Five: The Best Part Of Leaving (Skylar)

Chapter Forty-Five: The Best Part Of Leaving (SKYLAR)

One year.

Twelve months.

Three hundred sixty-five days.

It doesn't matter how you measure it, it all equaled the same thing... how much time I'd spent away from my friends.

How long it'd been since I walked into my old house, claimed I wasn't staying, packed up, and left all over again.

It was wrong and I hated myself for it, but at the same time, it was selfless and so right.

I didn't exactly travel the world like I hoped, just most parts of The United States. I stayed a week in each place; I was alone most of the time, other than the few friends I made along the way, who after leaving, never saw me again.

But that was the beauty of a road trip, of travelling all together; sometimes you met people that made leaving that much easier or so much harder.

I never saw people I knew, people from Belmount.

Except for one.

I was in Minnesota at the time, and decided to stay a little bit longer and watch the northern lights. So I located a bar close to where I learned you could see them best and bought a case of beer.

I paid for it and planned to park my car in one of the many vacant parking lots while drinking and watching the stars but as I was leaving, someone called out my name...

"Skylar?" the voice said, sounding surprised and vaguely familiar.

I freeze in my spot, overwhelmed with a strange sense of déjà vu and turn around slowly, clutching the beer in my hand.

He smiles when he sees me, grinning in disbelief. "I knew I recognized that pretty blonde head when I saw it."

"Cameron," I chuckle, moving to hug him, talk about a blast from the past.

Cameron was my ex boyfriend, prior to when Derek and the twins and my father came to Belmount and it was just the two of us.

"What are you doing here?" I ask in astonishment.

"I think I should be asking you the same question," he steps closer, staring at me openly. When he notices my discomfort he shakes his head, "sorry... its just-it's like seeing a ghost. You just disappeared the day of graduation and never came back. We all thought you were dead."

I snort; you have no idea.

His eyes flicker behind me as he takes a look around, "what about that boyfriend of yours? How's he been? Where is he, anyways?"

"Oh," I say, growing awkward. "I-he... uh, Derek's not here, with me. I came on my own. I guess he's still in Belmount or something."

"Oh," he repeats, shooting me a sheepish look, "I'm sorry, I'm being an idiot, it's just that-I just assumed-" then he cuts himself off, "I mean, you guys were so in love. I remember walking the halls and seeing the two of you and thinking: man, these two are gonna last a long time."

"Yeah..." I trail, "I remember that feeling," then shrug in the worst kind of indifference, "what can you do, right?"

He nods his head slowly, almost as if he didn't agree. "Some things don't just work out, I guess."

I nod in agreement, thinking that I couldn't have said it any better myself. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Oh me?" he asks, relieved for the topic changer, "I live here, now."