Trapped

Chapter 6: Kicking Ass and Taking Names

"Yes! Keep going! Faster, faster, faster!" Anastasia yelled from the sidelines of the football field. Her friends crowded around her cheering for their team. Geoffrey held up a sign reading "KICK THEIR ASS" proudly, turning it when he needed to so professors and administrators couldn't read it. As Anastasia celebrated, a random movement from within the crowd caught her attention; a man with jet black hair, making his way out of the crowd. "It's Julian..." she thought as her heart skipped a single beat. But just then Lindsay tightly grabbed her arm,

"That was perfect! Go Eric!" she yelled. Anastasia was yanked out of her daydream as she watched Eric make his way to end of the field. Of course it wasn't Julian. She hadn't seen him in almost three years, since she still lived in California. She was safe here in the middle of Montana. She was frozen to death six months out of the year, but safe.

When Julian had first been arrested Anastasia hadn't wanted to leave at all, she kept believing things weren't as horrible as they seemed and wanted to stick around. But as time went on and story of Julian's arrest spread, more and more people stood up to tell their stories. It seems Julian had lived quite the life of crime, and was on the run from some crimes he had committed years ago in Boston. Anastasia didn't stick around much longer after that, as every new piece of news made her stomach hurt.

So she had decided to continue her move up to Washington state to pursue her degree, she had lost her scholarship by waiting a year but she still liked the area and found a community college that seemed financially possible. Eric talked her out of that, said that even though it was a different college Julian would be able to find her. Together they had ruled out Arizona and Texas, as those were the places he had told Anastasia he was going and might try and look for her there. Anastasia thought about Boston, since Julian wouldn't want to risk going back there, but some reason Eric had been adamantly against that. So together they had decided on Montana; Eric had picked an easy major and joined the football team, and Anastasia had pursued a major in fine arts thinking she would enjoy the behind the scene prospects of theatre.

Eric had selflessly helped her through so much, that when a year after Julian had been arrested he asked Anastasia out on a proper date, she couldn't resist being happy. And they had been together the last two years, which made everything in the past seem like a dream. Speaking of, she still had nightmares, the true version of what had happened during those weeks becoming more and more warped and terrifying as time went on. But Eric held her while she cried, and he made everything feel like it really could be ok. And times like tonight, surrounded by friends, cheering for her boyfriend, it really did feel ok.

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"Man that was awesome! We whooped them tonight" Michael pounded his fist on the table in triumph, shaking all the drinks on the table.

"I think you mean I whooped them tonight" Eric said mockingly as he continued eating his fries.

"I think I mean we whooped them while also carrying you" Michael retorted. The banter continued as everyone crowded into one booth to enjoy their victory burgers.

"Jeremy did OK too I guess" Michael added, slapping him on the back.

"Jeremy was clearly the best player on the field tonight" he said as he threw a fry at Michael. Eric was just happy for the victory, and for the burgers of course. He enjoyed having people he could just joke around with; no second guessing motives, no plotting, no hidden secrets. He hadn't had that in Boston, or even really in California. He was happy he could give that to Anastasia too, he smiled at Anastasia as she chatted away with Barbara and Geoffrey about what classes they could still take together since they were splitting off into different majors. Eric didn't want to graduate; not that he enjoyed taking meaningless classes,or the financial hole they both were digging themselves into, or the stress of working while going to school and playing football. It was because he had no clue what was next. He had finally stopped running, he could just live, and he didn't want to give that up.