Run Away

Chapter 24

Saturday morning, Evie wandered down the stairs dressed to go for a run. Sandra and Brian sat with their coffees at the table talking quietly amongst themselves, stopping when they heard Evie coming.

"Off for a run again?" Sandra smiled up at Evie as she entered.

"I won't be long," Evie answered walking towards the front door with a wave.

"We may not be home when you get back," Sandra called after her, following her half way to the door. "We're taking Kelly and Melissa to the movies and thought we would catch one while we are there." Sandra paused then asked, "Would you like to join us?"

"No thanks. I've got exams coming up I want to study for."

Sandra beamed at Evie's interest in her studies.

"We'll bring dinner home with us," Sandra commented as Evie waved goodbye again and headed outside.

She had already stretched in her room, so Evie started out as soon as she got out of the house, warming up with a gentle jog. It had been a week since she had begun running again. Already Evie was feeling more athletic and found it easier.

After ten minutes jogging, Evie moved into a faster pace, her feet pounding on the footpath concrete. She focussed on her breathing and began to relax the further she ran. There was a type of euphoria in running, releasing endorphins that gave Evie a high every time.

Before Evie had become Evie, when she was a normal teenager, Evie had loved running. Casey, her best friend, had always groaned when Evie would suggest that Casey join her on her daily runs, but still she would tag along, all the while complaining.

Evie smiled briefly at the memory of Casey's complaints. She would have given anything to hear Casey whinging about a stitch in her side or a cramping leg muscle just one more time. A tear ran down Evie's cheek, which she hastily wiped away and pushed through her emotions.

Her thoughts changed to those of Owen. He had been acting differently around her lately and then to say he wanted her to go to his party. Evie was confused. She liked Owen, he had been kind and looked out for her, but she knew he was only doing it all as a favour to his mother, so why would he say he wanted her to go to his party? Evie could only guess his mother had told him to say that.

Feeling dismayed by her assumption, Evie wished that Owen had asked her because he really did want her there, as an actual friend. The realisation of this thought scared her. She couldn't develop any strong feeling for Owen or anyone, reminding herself she would soon be leaving and they would all just become a memory like her family and Casey were. At least this time, the Taylor's' would be alive.

It wouldn't have mattered if Owen had wanted her at his party anyway, Evie thought, it wasn't safe for her to be out socialising. What if someone took another photo of her and posted it online. It was bad enough there was one out in the internet universe already. No, Evie couldn't take that risk.

Thirty minutes into her workout, Evie slowed down and just walked along, trying to catch her breath.

Looking around she noticed she had gone further from the Taylor's home than she had ever run previously. With one hand on her side to support herself, Evie turned around on the spot to take in her surroundings. She had been so focussed on her breathing and the many millions of thoughts scrolling through her mind, she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and, in that moment, didn't know where she was.

Evie wandered along the footpath, hoping to recognise something or anything that would tell her where she was. Nothing. It was foreign to her. Houses for as far as she could see.

Heart pounding, Evie began to panic. Sure, she had lived on the streets for so long, but in those many months of running, she was prepared, she had her backpack, she was on a path.