Escape

~ 7 ~

Dani seems kind. I'm still nervous, but not quite as much as before. I follow her into her living room, and I'm surprised at how big the apartments are. They aren't huge, but they're bigger than most other apartments. It's pretty nice.

We sit down on her couch. Dani turns to me. She's at least four inches taller than me, which isn't really a surprise, because I'm short. Her hair is reddish brown, and she has green eyes. I feel more comfortable when she smiles at me.

'So, I'm just gonna ask a couple questions about you,' she says.

'Alright.' She smiles again.

'So Alex, how old are you?'

'I'm seventeen, but my birthday is this coming Saturday.'

'Oh! Happy early birthday!'

We go on like that for a while, making small talk between questions. She keeps making me laugh, which is nice. I haven't really laughed a lot recently. Everything goes well until she asks what my family is doing. I tense up.

'They're in California.'

'Without you? Are you alone here?'

'They left me.'

'WHAT?! Why?1" I sigh and look down.

'They don't want someone like me in their family.'

'Someone like you?' I didn't mean to say that. I don't want her to find out about me and start hating me.

'It's nothing. They just don't like me very much.' I don't take my eyes off the floor. She reaches out and takes my hand. I jump slightly, startled, and look up at her.

'You can stay here. And it's not, like, a pity thing or something. You're nice and you seem responsible. I definitely want you to stay here.'

I look up, my eyes filling with tears.

'Thank you.' I whisper. She pulls me into a hug, then pulls back and brushes my hair out of my face.

'Why don't we go get your stuff?' she says.

'I have my boxes in the car because I didn't know what else to do with them. I have a bed too, but it doesn't fit in the car...'

'Well we can go get your boxes, and then we can take my truck and go get the other stuff.' Dani says. She stands up and pulls me to me feet, smiling at me. We go down to my car, and Dani freaks out because she loves cars, especially older ones. After she finishes spazzing and I can control my laughter, we each grab a box and take them upstairs.

~

After a little while, we get my bed back to the apartment and set up in Dani's extra room. There's already a dresser with a mirror in there. Dani said her sister had made her take it even though she didn't need it, so it was good that someone could use it.

We get my clothes and stuff unpacked after about half an hour, and then Dani gives me a dramatic tour of the apartment. She leads me around, announcing what room is where.

'And now, the tour is complete!' Dani says, throwing her arms up. I laugh, and she joins in.

'And you like pizza, right?' she asks. I nod.

'Of course.'

'Awesome! I'm gonna order a pizza, and we are going to have a Netflix movie marathon to celebrate your arrival!'

'Sounds good to me.' I say, smiling again. She grins and goes into the kitchen to call. I sit down on the couch, wondering how so much could happen to me in a less than a week.