Runaway Man

Chapter 34: Escape

 Chapter 34: Escape

"Are you actually kidding me?" The bare foot Joey chuckled. I face palmed, remembering that we'd left our shoes downstairs. Hushing him, I crept to the door. I could have a check on everyone's whereabouts at least. 

"Okay," I whispered back, "I could distract my parents and you could go out of the front door that way if that's easier? Or when I have dinner?" His blue eyes didn't leave me, even when my bedroom door ripped open. 

Dirk closed his door, which was opposite mine. He gave me a faint smile, obviously oblivious from what was going on the last few hours.

"Hey Flo."

I nodded at him, acknowledging his presence. Joey coughed from my bedroom. Sweating, I forced a cough out of my own body to cover it up. Dirk gave me a weird look but I ignored it. Hopefully, he wouldn't peek in my room to investigate further.

Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he just went downstairs to see what stage dinner was on. By the smell of it, it was almost finished. Joey needed to be out by then.

When he was out of sight, I eyed the shoe rack. My father's brown work shoes were neatly arranged next to Joey's shoes. Mentally, I face palmed. Although, there was a high chance that he had just mistaken them for being a pair of my older brother's, I still couldn't help but find it ironic. Joey's feet were a similar size to his, just a size or two bigger.

Quickly, I picked them up and went back upstairs, keeping myself to myself. After that, all that was needed was to sneak him out through the door. Putting that into words, it didn't seem that complicated but it was. I had two doors he could leave through... and a window. The window seemed like a very unlikely option because I doubted that the slim branches would support his body weight. It barely held me and I was without all the muscle that he had.

When I entered my room, he was perched on my bed, holding something. I couldn't make out what it was until I got closer and when I did, I snatched it from his hands and threw it across the room. My diary. Complete and utter embarrassment. 

"It's rude to snoop through other people's things," I sneered to cover up my shame. Gently, I chucked his shoes beside him and the bounced on the mattress. His expression was blank, it taking him a moment to register what I had just said. Joey slipped them on, tying the laces into perfect bows.

"What did you read?" I asked. My diary had a lot of hidden secrets about me, ones that even Diana didn't know. It seemed that he was reading it in chronical order but it had been so long since I had started it that I couldn't actually remember what was at the beginning. Whatever it was, it had forced him into this mode. Maybe I should have refreshed my mind on what I wrote rather than him telling me. But it was cringy and something I would rather not recap, considering how long ago it actually was.

He snapped out of it within the shake of his head, "Nothing much, just about some of your school experiences." Slowly, I nodded. It was probably about the guy who nicked my favourite pencil or how Linda tried to dunk my head down a toilet. But now wasn't the time to talk about, especially since my parents didn't know about his presence and I needed to get him out of the house as soon as possible. I could interrogate him later, when time wasn’t pressurizing me.

"I'll distract my parents and you sneak out the back door," I reminded him, "This could be risky but we haven't got much of a choice. I'll go first." Surprisingly, he didn't bother to argue with me. Instead, he pushed his weight onto his heels and followed me.

I placed one foot on the stairs, making a loud creek. Then, Joey copied me. His body was so close to mine that I could feel his heart palpitating and his heavy breathing on my hair. But I tried to keep cool, otherwise the entire plan could be thrown away. The whole idea of my dad or even my brother catching Joey lurking around seemed awful.

Just as we neared the bottom of the stairs, I heard my mother's voice from nearby.

"I'm going to pop out for a mo, dinners in the oven," she explained, her voice gradually getting louder and louder, "I'll be back soon." Panicking, I tried to figure out where I could hide Joey. He was significantly taller and wider than me. There was no way that my mum was not going to see his big physique behind mine.

I was screwed. Hell, it was too late to do anything and within all of the panic, my mind went blank.  I cringed as her blonde head appeared from the corner, with her red lipstick perfectly drawn over her lips.

Three.

Two.

One.

Ironically, she went straight to the front door. With a raised eyebrow, I watched as she adjusted one of her high heels. Judging by her outfit, she wasn't going to be out for just a moment but for the evening. She wore a pastel pink shirt, which fell halfway up her thighs, and a white tank top to match it.

Don't turn around, don't turn around.

Sweating, I prayed that she would go directly out of the house. The aroma of roast chicken floated out of the kitchen, causing my stomach to purr.

Everything from then on went in slow motion, she shifted her body around so that she was facing me. 

She eyed her reflection in her pocket sized mirror, toying with some mascara in her hand to enhance the length of her eyelashes, "Flo, I'll be back soon." Rolling my eyes, I positioned myself in a square position (my hands and feet touching the walls). She looked upwards, cocking her head to the side in confusion, "What are you doing?"

My body collapsed and I didn't dare to look behind me. My mother didn't say anything either about it, which was weird. Slowly, forced my head to see that Joey had disappeared. WHAT?! 

Pretending as if nothing had happened, I forced out gibberish, "Have fun mum, love you lots, bye." Smiling, she unlocked the front door and left, probably thinking to herself that I was bonkers. When I couldn't hear the car's engine roaring any more, Joey appeared from the top of the stairs. He was biting his bottom lip, trying his best not to laugh. I rolled my eyes at him, which only made it even harder for him to conceal himself.

“You are never coming to my house uninvited again,” I harshly whispered through gritted teeth.

And just like that, I hooked my fingers around his wrist as if I were an eagle catching its prey, opened the front door and pushed him out. He was gone as simple as that. No goodbye - he was just kicked out. The door slammed and I locked it, sighing. My pocket vibrated so I pulled out my phone.

Smooth way to kick me out - J 

Laughing to myself, I wandered into the dining room. There were three plates arranged on the table neatly: one for me, Dirk and my dad. I sat down in front of a plate of chips, picking up my fork like nothing had happened while Dirk was already half into his steak.

My dad rubbed his bald head gently, sniffing the atmosphere, "Hey Dirk, I like the smell of your new cologne."  Dirk raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"But I didn't get a new one."

Sh*t, that only meant that-

I could potentially have some explaining to do.

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I am so sorry that I haven't updated in what feels like forever. I caught up with what I had pre-written and because of my mock exams and stuff, I just didn't get the time/motivation to do it. I kind of rushed this chapter but I didn't want to go by another weekend without updating!

Thank you for your continuous support. <3

Also, could y'all check out this story called "Don't Underestimate", it's a Sherlock fanfiction by @sciencededuction and it's super awesome, plus I helped proof read it a tiny bit. I've dedicated the chapter to her so it will be easier to find, haha. Please, check it out, you won't regret it.

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