Run (d.l)

0.3

Rose - Chicago

"Ticket?" The man sighed, probably already sick of his job, yet we still had a 21 hour road trip ahead of us. I handed the man my ticket. "Seat 19A." He handed me it back and turned to the person behind me. I followed down the isle until I reached 19A and B. It was clearly marked that the window seat was 19A, yet a dark haired boy, maybe Demi's age was sitting there.

"Excuse me," I tapped the boy on the shoulder, trying to gain his attention that seemed to be elsewhere. He turned and grinned at me. I faked a smile back and glanced at my ticket once more to confirm he was in my seat; which he was. "Hi, my ticket says that I'm in seat 19A."

The boy's grin only widened. "I'm sure it does."

"..and you're sitting in seat 19A."

"I sure am." I groaned at his response.

"And what seat does your ticket say?" I tried to remain calm, but my frustration was getting the better of me.

"19B." I rolled my eyes and took his seat as the bus began to move.

"Michael." The dark haired boy in my seat held his hand out to me.

I looked at it for a while, wondering whether I should even reply to him. There was a chance he was some newspaper editor's son or something that would recognise me and tell everyone, resulting in Demi finding out that I failed at my death, again.

"This is the part where you take my hand and tell me your name." He whispered into my ear. His words startled me, resulting in me doing as I was expected. Taking his hand.

"Ro- Marie. I'm Marie." His eyes widened, but it turned into a chuckle.

"Are you sure?" He grinned at me.

"Yes."

"Well, Marie. Where are you off to on this glorious bus trip?"

"Ah, Michael. Is this a polite way of you asking me how long you will have to put up with me?" I questioned back.

"Possibly." He laughed.

"Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with me for the full 21 hours to New York." His eyes widened.

"Sweetheart, it's a little longer than 21 hours to New York."

When I was younger, Robbie had taken me to visit mom whilst she was on a business trip in New York. The car ride was only 16 hours if I remembered correctly. "Longer?"

"This bus is Chicago to New York via Indianapolis, Columbus and Philadelphia. Didn't someone tell you when you bought the ticket?"

Fuck.

He chuckled again.

"So how long?"

"A couple days, at least."

I groaned and pulled my knees to my chest.

-

"So Marie, how old are you?" Michael had a set of headphones around his neck and his sweatpants were borderline down. He had also opened a packet of barbecue chips and was in the process of shovelling it into his mouth. I sighed remembering back to when Demi had asked that question, how I couldn't lie to her.

"How old are you?" She asked in a hushed, but kind voice.

Shit. She's going to find out I'm nothing but a baby and never talk to me again. Maybe lying is the best answer, I mean I lied to everyone for months before treatment. Why was this any different?

"Fifteen.." I whispered back.

Fuck. I meant to say seventeen. Oh my god.

I guess I just can't lie to her.

"Huh."

"Seventeen."

"Ah, little Marie is just a youngen." You have no idea.

"What about you?" I questioned, trying to take the spotlight off of me.

"Nineteen in a couple weeks." He said, without taking his eyes off of the open packet of chips in front of him.

"There's not much of a difference, you know." I growled.

"Yeah, I know. But you're so puny that you might as well be fourteen."

I groaned, which he chuckled at.

➳

And so it has begun.

I feel like this should really be the first chapter but the previous two chapters are important (if you haven't felt that).

Please please please bare with me, I'm Australian and I've never been to America so please understand if I make any mistakes (I usually write about places I've been but not these books).

Thank you for all the votes and comments too! Remember that the more votes, the more frequent the updates will be.

I'll try my best for another update today, too.

Ps.

Chips = Crisps

Youngen = young person (it's not really a word but ok)