Run While You Can

I widened my eyes and took a quick gasping breath. I quickly sat up in my uncomfortable bed. For a second it had felt like my heart had stopped, and maybe it had. I looked down on my left forearm and stroked over my skin with one of my fingers, while seeing the green numbers ticking backwards. 51 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 56 seconds. The seconds just kept ticking backwards.

I stood up and pulled away the curtins, lettting the sunshine shine into my little room. I looked out the window. Grey. The same boring grey. The same boring ghetto.

I walked up to my mirror. It was little, dirty and almost broke but at least it was something. I tried to wipe some of the dust, or what it now was, away but it didn't get any better so I just stared into the mirror seeing the reflection of my face which was surrounded with long light brown hair loops. I thouched my cheeks, my nose, my lips. My eighteenth birthday. I'm eighteen. This is how I will look like for the rest of my poor life.

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I had put on some clothes and walked out to the little kitchen. Everything was little when you lived in the ghetto.

A boy, or maybe I should say man, stood in the kitchen and was cooking. After all he had turned eighteen two weeks ago. A boy I had known since I was a little child. Hunter Thompson.

"Good morning."

Hunter turned towards me and smiled, but not a real happy smile. Was you ever really happy in the ghetto? Maybe, maybe not.

"Happy birthday Sky." I liked when he called me Sky, his nickname on Skyler. Everything, in a weird way, felt much better when he called me that.

"How did it feel?" He gave me a toasted sandwich that I started to chew on.

"Like if my heart stopped." I shuddered.

"It's creppy." Hunter also started to chew on a toasted sandwich.

"If we only could live in New Greenwich! I don't want to have to wake up everyday and work, just so I can hope on survive another day." I said and sighed.

"I know, it sucks." Hunter sighed too.

I sighed once again and then glanced down on my clock. I gasped and held up my left forearm so Hunter could see it. "My one year! It's gone! I only have 48 hours now!"

Hunter started to wash something in the little sink. He didn't seem worried or anything. "It's called bills, remember that we pay with time as well, dork." Hunter laughed. We didn't laugh much in the ghetto. "If it makes you feel any better, I got them too."

"But why? You only live with us, you're not a part of our family."

"Yeah, but it's not we who decide things."

"Damn it." I murmured. "I just wanna be free. Just a few more days, is that too much to ask?"

"Apparently it is." Hunter dried his hands and turned towards me. "But what do you say? You don't have to start working until tomorrow. Do you wanna go out and celebrate or something?"

"What's there to celebrate?" I slowly shook my head.

Hunter opened his mouth but I interrupted him. "What the hell! Now when I can, I don't say no to a couple of drinks." Hunter and I smiled at each other.

When we talked about drinks and celebrating I immediately started thinking. "Where is she?"

"She's in her room."

"As usually." I murmered.

"I have to go to work." Was the only thing Hunter replied. But I couldn't really blame him, it wasn't easy to have Vivian in your house.

"See you tonight." Hunter said before he walked out the door.

I waved slowly after him. "See you."

After Hunter had gone I slowly opened the door to, not mine, not Hunter's room, but to Vivian's room.

The door struck against an empty bottle. I can't believe that she have survived to the age of eighteen five times, or twentyfour if you wanna say so. I didn't even care to look what kind of bottle it was, probebly some whiskey. She drank a lot of that.

When I walked into the room my eyes were drawn directly to Vivian who was laying in her bed, sleeping, or maybe she just had passed out. It wouldn't be the first time. Then my eyes were drawn to her bedside table. There was a little mirror with some white pouder on it. I sighed loudly and then quickly walked up to her window and pulled away the curtins. The dark room lit up by the sunshine outside and Vivian immediately woke up.

She looked at me with sleepy eyes. "Which day is it?" She stumbled over the words.

I stood with my arms crossed and stared at her. "It's tuesday."

"Oh!" She smiled at me, trying to get up from her bed. "Happy birthday sis!" She still stumbled over her words, but I had gotten so used to it that I understood what she said.

I struck out with my hands in the air. "I can't believe that you don't even can be sober on your baby sister's eighteenth birthday!" I yelled.

Vivian grimaced. "Please, can you be a bit quiet. We have neighbors, you know." She blamed our neighbors, but the real reason why she told me to be quiet was becuase she had an hangover. A big one.

Vivian held out the mirror with the white pouder on, towards me. "It helps me! You should really try it." She looked at me with puppy eyes.

"Yeah, I can really see how it helps you, just like it helped you when mom died!" I didn't care about her hangover or our neighbors, I kept on yelling at her.

She slowly pointed at me. "That's not fair.., I think." She frowned.

I shook my head and snorted. "Gosh." Then I walked out from her room and slammed her door shut. I got disgusted just by being in her room.

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