The Phoenix

Wake Up

Lucy looked at the clock on her nightstand: 11:00. Still no sleep. Aaron had been right. Emily would ask a lot of questions when she found out she hadn't been sleeping. Thinking of Emily, she was still wasn't home yet, which meant she probably wouldn't be until the next morning.

The lack of sleep clouded her thoughts but they were dark, becoming more and more self-destructive as the minutes ticked by. Without even thinking, Lucy threw the covers off of her. Throwing on her boots and grabbing her wallet and keys, she got in the car. Now 11:30 she had about 8 hours until Emily got home so she had a few options: Charlotte, Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Atlantic City, and New York were just a few of the cities she could think of. She eventually decided on New York on account of it being her happy place and 3 of her old dance friends, Pixie, Lauren, and Kelsey, living there. They had all gone to Juilliard, their dream school. Out of everyone in their dance and theater companies who had applied they were the only ones who got in.

The drive to New York didn't feel very long, probably since she was zoned out most of the time, which was dangerous, but true. At 3 a.m. everything was dark, but Lucy tried to make her thoughts not match it.

The sun is shining somewhere, I just have to get there.

She arrived in New York around 4:30, driving to the harbor. It was one of her favorite places in the city, right behind Central Park and the Turnpike Theater, where her companies performed.

She stepped out of the car, immediately smelling the Hudson River. Her head tilted back, looking at the sky. It was impossible to see anything except the moon due to light pollution, and it was big and bright at the moment. Lucy climbed up the front of the car and laid on the roof, staring up at the glittering giant. She couldn't remember when she fell asleep, but the awakening was rude, and the sun was ever so slightly peeking up over the horizon.

A car pulled up next to hers, her half-asleep brain in control as she slid off the side, walking around to the front while tightly grasping the switchblade she'd hidden in her sleeve. If The Outsiders had taught her anything, it was that everyone in the sixties was cute and that switchblades were great for self-defense.

Out of all the people she'd expected to step out of that car, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Oprah, none were less likely than Aaron.

Lucy let out a long breath of relief, closing the knife as he approached her. She folded her arms over her chest, refusing to look at him.

"Do you have any idea how worried Emily was about you?" he asked.

"I really hope you didn't four hours just to lecture me."

"Alright, fair point."

"So, how'd you find me?"

"I asked Hannah to have someone hack into your GPS," he explained, earning a small pissed off laugh and side glare from her. "Come on, Lucy. New York? What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's New York City. The city of endless opportunity, where no one knows who you are. You don't have a reputation. There's more here for me, Aaron."

"You have a sister and a boyfriend in D.C. What could you possibly have for you here?"

She turned away from him again.

"I still can't sleep." she muttered.

"You said you'd be able to once Emily got back."

"Her being here only makes it harder."

Aaron sighed.

"Lucy, come back to D.C., please."

She stared at him with a pathetically defeated look on her face.

"Make sure Leo knows I'm alright, and that he's not supposed to come looking for me. Oh, and take care of my sister for me, okay?" Lucy softly begged, turning around to walk back to her car.