New Kid on the Block *h.s [completed]

Chapter 57

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I groan and reach out a hand, fumbling for my phone. I open my eyes enough so they're slits and slide my finger across my phone screen, turning off my alarm. Last night, I set it to wake me up half an hour earlier than normal, so that I'd have enough time to make sure everything is ready for my trip.

I sit up and stretch my legs out a bit, before walking over to my desk. I unplug my laptop and it's charger and pack them into my backpack. I'll need something to keep me busy on the bus, and reading books isn't really my forte.

I also make sure to grab my phone charger and a pair of headphones, for the same reason.

I then decide to get dressed, pulling on the pair of jeans I laid out the night before, the shirt Carter bought me for Christmas from Green Day's Revolution Radio merchandise line, and a dark grey pullover hoodie. Since I'm going to be standing outside in line for awhile at the bus station and I doubt those buses have working heaters, I also shrug on a plain black windbreaker I keep on a hook behind my door.

I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and prepare a small cosmetic bag of feminine products to take with me. I skim my eyes over the reflection in the mirror, making sure my hair lays flat and the bags under my eyes aren't too noticeable. Exhaling deeply, I open the door to walk into the hallway, realizing the next time I stand in this spot will be after I come back from California.

Back in my room, I shove my toiletries into the main pocket of my backpack, and then pull out my bus ticket and the note I wrote last night from the drawer of my nightstand.

I slide the bus ticket into my back pocket, so it's secure and I'm guaranteed not to lose or misplace it. I unfold the note and skim over the words quickly. My messy handwriting doesn't take up more than half the paper, but its all that needs to be said. I smooth out the creases so it lays flat on my desk, out in the open where my parents and Carter can find it when they come home.

When I'm marked absent at school, the office will call my mom to notify her that I'm not there when I should be, so she'll already be suspicious when she finishes work since I don't have a history of skipping class.

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"Have a good day, okay? I love you."

I lean down to give Carter a hug, embracing him tightly. I breathe in the smell of his lavender shampoo, something he had to get used to when we couldn't find his regular water lily scented shampoo at any of the drug stores here in Pennsylvania.

"I love you too, Pipes." He mumbles into my shoulder, making me smile.

I give him one last squeeze and then pull my arms away. I blink away the tears forming in my eyes when I realize I won't see my little brother for over a week. We've never spent more than a day apart since he came home from the hospital.

I don't want to tell him where I'm going because I know he'll persuade me to either, stay, or let him come with me. I'd love to have a travel buddy, and I know he wants to go back to California just as much as I do, but this isn't the safest way of doing things. There could be many creeps on just the bus to Oklahoma, let alone having to wait for the transfer to California, and then that bus. I don't want him to experience that.

"Off you go, you're going to be late." I ruffle his hair fondly and take a step backwards towards the fence surrounding the property the middle school's owns. 

"See you after school." He waves and walks off to join a group of kids talking by the doors.

I make sure his back is turned to me before I set off for the bus station. I usually turn right at the 4 way stop just outside Carter's school to get to the high school a couple blocks away, but today I turn left in the direction of the bus station.

I'm not being very sneaky about this, but my eyes had told me know one was watching. Soon enough, however, I'd wish I had eyes in the back of my head.

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