"Jay! Over here." Ash, your older brother, yelled across the lunch room. You were the new kid at school. You had a hat on and your hair tucked into it. You were dressed in a T-shirt, hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.
You walked over to his table, he had saved a seat for you. You sat down, you only knew one of them, Jace. Ash and Jace were close. Jace came over a lot. Ash and Jace were the only ones that you knew. You have been home schooled forever now but you wanted to try a public school.
"How is your first day?" Jace asked.
"Good," you say as Ash was going through your food - picking out what he knew you wouldn't eat.
After lunch you went to your locker while Ash and his friends were in class. You had just opened your locker when it slammed shut, you thought it was Ash or Jace. Five tall guys around 11th grade had surrounded you. One took your hat, your hair fell and covered your face, Ash came out of the classroom to see what was taking you so long. He was too late. They were hitting you and throwing you around, he poked one of them on the shoulder. His name was Alex, he turned around then Ash punched him square in the face. Three teachers came out to break up the fight. The seven of you had been sent home and were not to return for a week. You and As walked home. Your mom was at work and your dad would have killed the two of you, you told him any way.
"Jessica, take that hat off," your dad demands.
"Why?" you question.
"Because I said so. And because you look stupid, now do as I say." He yells as he takes the hat off your head, your hair falls down. Your not allowed to cut it. It's really long, you had it in a braid so it would fit in your hat.
"Jay, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ash ask, you nod and follow him outside into the club house.
"Jay, you need to tell him," he said.
"Ash, not now," you said as you shook your head.
"If you want to see change, your going to have to tell both of them." He said, you were looking in the mirror. He could tell you were uncomfortable. You cover the mirror with a blanket.
"Mom and dad are going to kill me." He said as he grabbed scissors, then grabbed your hair and started cutting it. He uncovered the mirror so you could see it as he fixed it so it looked good.
"They are going to be so mad," you said as you ran your fingers through your hair. He put your braid in a box then he placed on a shelf. You both heard knocking on the door. Ash handed you your hat that you put on to hide your hair. Ash opened the door to find it was Jace and Luke. You were relieved, Ash closed the door and showed them the box. You took off your hat, they both were in shock. Jace started to play with your hair not believing Ash really cut it.
"Dude, you are so dead," Luke said as if it were a fact.
"I don't care. I want Jay to be happy," Ash explained, you hugged him. Then you door opened, it was your dad.
"What happened to your hair?!" he asked angrily.
"I cut it," Ash said, not caring if he were to get in trouble. He explained and turned, looking at you and smiled. Ash then fell to the floor in pain. Tears ran down his face. You started to yell and scream at your dad. He finally left.
"You need to go get help." You said to Ash as he was on the floor bleeding, he had several cuts and bruises. You stayed with Ash as Jace and Luke went to the neighbors house for a first aid-kit. About 5 minutes later they came back with an adult and the kit. They fixed him up.
"Do you need anything?" she asked. She had long red hair, she had shorts and a tank top on. Her name was Elizabeth. She would baby sit you and Ash when you were younger. You shook your head and thanked her for her help. Ash was laying on the couch in the club house. Jace and Luke said they would stay with them for a couple days to make sure things are OK. The four of you fell asleep.
You woke up at 6:30 and went inside to get some stuff. You didn't want to deal with your parents, so you grabbed clothes for you and Ash. You packed a bag of food and drinks, a blanket, a couple pillows, a charger for your phones, a notebook, pencils and pens, plus some other stuff. When you opened the door Luke and Jace were awake. You set the stuff on the table and put stuff away so it wasn't a mess. Ash then woke up and grabbed an apple and bit into it. You knew you could stay in the club house for days on end because your parents knew you would be in the club house and they would never look or care.
"What time is it?" Ash sheepishly asked.
"8:30," you said without ever looking at a clock. You were sitting in a corner writing in your notebook as everyone else fought over who got what. Ash looked at you. His phone buzzed, he smiled knowing it was from you. He got up and walked over to you, he sat down next to you. You smiled at him.
"Can I see what your writing?" He asked, wanting you to say yes, knowing that you would say no. You handed him your notebook and got up to get something to eat before it was all gone. He started flipping through the pages reading whatever he could read. You grabbed a bag of chips. As you went to sit by Ash, the door opened. Everyone looked to see who it was. It was Alex.
"You are no welcome here," Ash said, "now leave." You could tell Ash was still mad.
"Calm down Ash," Alex said raising his hands. You knew something was up, "I'm here to help." you look at him confused.
"Help with what?" Jace asked.
"You two need a place to stay" he asked you nodded. Ash did not like this at all and was get mad.
"You can stay at my place for a bit." Alex offered
"We're good, thanks" Ash said pushing Alex out the door. Ash then shuts the door and locks it.
"Ash, why did you do that? He's trying to help." You said. Ash rolled his eyes. You knew that your parents would not let you stay there any more and you would have to live with them or runaway. Running away doesn't sound to bad right now. You just look at Ash, you don't know really what to do. He was setting your notebook down on the floor and stood by you.
"What are you guys going to do?" Jace asked you as he looked at the ground.
"I have some money saved up, we could stay in a hotel for a bit." Ash said
"How much you got Ash?" Luke asked
"About a hundred dollars" Ash said.
"That's not a lot, you'll need more than that." Jace explained. The four of you talked about put all of your money together and finding jobs. You left that day with the others to go to the city. No one knew what the future may hold for the four of you. You looked at Ash as he watched the cracks in the ground. He was smiling for some reason. He does this, thinks to himself, sometimes he talks to himself. It's normal now. The four of you sat on the grass in a park.
"So what now? We left and we have like no money." you say, everyone remained silent.
"There is a hotel just down the road, really cheap too. We could stay there for a bit while we save money." Jace said.
"And I saw a couple places not to far are hiring right now." Luke added.
"Ash, you and Luke go check out the hotel, me and Jay will check out the places hiring." Jace stated, you all agreed and got to work immediately. You managed to get two rooms one of the rooms were free because Ash would be working there. You and Ash would share a room, and Luke and Jace would share a room. After getting rooms and food the total amount of money you had was about $20. You claimed to bed by the window. Ash did not really care he was just happy that they all had a place to sleep for a while. This was not the permanent fix, it was temporary. They would set aside some money for apartments. Ash and Jace went swimming in the pool down stairs. You and Luke were in your room watching TV.
"Are we actually doing this?" Luke asked not believing all that has happened within the couple days. You nodded. You laid down in the bed.
"We just left home, my parents are most likely freaking out right now."Luke said
"Yeah, it's worth it though." you said with a smile on your face
For the first time in forever you finally felt like yourself. You felt happy.
"Want pizza?" you asked him, he nodded. He got up to go tell Ash and Jace. What if this was a mistake?
