Getaway

[12] Innocent Lie

Asking Alexandria purple monster T-shirt in hand, Leya stuffs the last of her belongings into her bag and a toothpaste tube gets squished, white and turquoise stripy cream spilling on to her jeans.

"Ah," she starts to wipe it off with a tissue, "no," and gets up to run her hands under the little wash basin in her cabin room, throwing the toothpaste away. Someone walks in. All her clothes were packed so she didn't really have the option of changing. They'd be here to get her in a few hours. She tries to remember the good times, and not to cry.

"Heya," and a face peeks round the door, "you nearly done?" She jumps at the sudden intrusion. But on turning she sees it's Raven and relaxes.

"Almost," and Leya jumps on the duffel bag to squish the clothes tighter into it so she can zip it shut.

"Blu says we're nearly there," Raven reports, being a man and taking the bag for her, as they make their way up the dim lit stairs to the top deck. "Wait," and just before Leya can open the door to the deck, he stops her hand.

"I..." he stammers, looking up in his red coloured contacts and blinking to try to block the... tears? "I... am so sorry."

Then they hug. "It's okay," says Leya sounding completely like she means it.

Raven sniffles, wiping his sweaty nervous hands on his shorts, and then quickly adds before they both step out into the sunshine for their possibly last moments together: "Here, because I'll never forget you," and Raven takes off his hoodie, and puts it round her shoulders, then presses something small into her palm. "It's yours."

---

Phoenix and Jayla are rolling around on the deck, side to side and hitting at each other in fits of hysteria. Whilst Sapphire and Aspen are sat with Blu inside the navigation box, side by side, talking with him sweetly as he smiles at them and says things like, "I know right!" and flicks his hair.

Raven and Leya take to sit, arms around each other, with his laptop before them, eyes intently on the screen, headphones plugged in. Leya with his comfy soft hoodie on, her slightly dripping just washed hair making dark patches on the shoulders of it, and both of them with a sadness in their hearts, getting darker as they know their time is drawing closer to an end.

"California," sings Blu walking along.

"California, girls," Sapphire and Aspen laugh, imitating his walk, in their white board-walk shorts and crop-tops coming up behind him.

"Yep, time's up guys," announces Blu, having docked the ship, coming out of the cockpit at last. Scratching his head with his arm bent behind his back, his skinny elbow sticks up into the air.

Sapphire and Aspen flop on the floor and try to pull Blu down with them, palm trees and a hotel are in sight ahead.

Blu's faded jeans just drop to the decks. "Oi!" he jokes slapping at them. Quickly, he scrabbles to pick them up but Sapphire proceed to tickle his sides.

"We have to act sophisticated, we're about to enter at a five star hotel," he mocks falling over on his ass.

Raven begins to glare at Phoenix's leather clad back.

Phoenix is staring again. Blu looks up, catches his gaze and blushes. Phoenix quickly shakes his head turning to see Raven. Immediately a look of guilt puckers his lips and his rosy cheeks lose some of their glow.

---

In single file the crew huddle their way down the white walled corridor of the fancy hotel in LA. The walls are lined with a gold leaf pattern and there are chandeliers in the foyer and in every floor's entrance.

Secretly, Blu got Finn to tow the boat away to hide it in their friend's warehouse in Ohio.

"Right," says Blu, swiping the card next to the gold encrusted door reading '81'.

The girls leap onto the king size bed with dazzling translucent drapes hanging from the elegant four posters. They begin to bounce like a bunch of kids on a trampoline.

Raven and Phoenix stand there laughing for a while, before joining in.

Blu continues to just stand there - a worried look on his face.

"Guys," he hisses.

Grabbing a pillow, Raven whacks Leya in the face and she bounces down onto the bed.

"Ow!" She laughs, getting up again, and throwing a pillow back at him.

More urgently now, impatient, "Guys!" Blu leans further into the room.

Eventually they all stop to look at him.

"What?" Phoenix asks playfully, laughing, feathers cresting his head making him look like a heart-throb glam-rock chicken.

Then they hear it: footsteps. Blu makes a run for it, signalling to Raven and Phoenix, who race off the bed at full speed, feathers flying from Phoenix's head as Raven coughs them out his face, holding Phoenix's hand. They begin panting for the door and down the corridor.

The girls all resume bouncing again as if nothing new has occurred.

"Leya Morelli?" a stern voice calls out, holding an ID card, and handcuffs.

Handcuffs? In a black police officer suit, and with heavy eyebrows - he does not look like someone you want to mess with.

"In the name of Ashby Carlton," The girls all stare gaping at each other. They have heard that name before. "I declare you missing. Your parents have seen the reports, seen the news, and young lady, you are coming with me."

Leya can't believe this. She thought they just wanted her safe, wanted her happy. What did it look like to them? All along she had been having fun with her friends.

"Um," she starts to get up off the bed. "I'm here on holiday with my friends, my parents know that," she explains, pain riding her now timid voice.

Jayla is trying to hold back an urge to yell.

Sapphire and Aspen exchange looks of panic with each other.

"Yes," says the officer, putting the handcuffs away in his black satchel bag, and adjusting his shiny metal badge. "But either way, your parents are worried. They want you home. You are under the age of sixteen. So I am afraid, ma'am you have no choice but to step aside now and come with me."

Leya is stifling her crying as she grips on tight to the sleeves of Raven's hoodie. It probably smells of vodka and cigarettes. She winces worried the police will say something about it.

Jayla runs up to her and lifts her off the ground hugging her.

"It's all going to be okay," she says and puts her back down, a tear streaming down her cheek.

Leya just nods, as Sapphire and Aspen get up to hug her one last goodbye. The police officers then, link her arms up on both sides and march her rigidly out of the hotel. Once they have gone, Raven, Phoenix and Blu creep back into the room, and they all peer through the window, crouching down beneath it, to see Leya being taken away to the dark windowed police car parked out front, blue and red lights flashing.

Kids in the pool, splashing about begin to stare, and one girl in a yellow rubber ducky ring runs out and points to the car Leya is in.

"This is so damn sad," sighs Raven.