Antidote ;Sequel to Kryptonite;

Chapter Three: Rush

        "Christina, are you listening to me?" I picked at my dinner, stabbing the same piece of lettuce over and over. My ears perked at my name and I looked up to meet my mother's worried gaze. "You've been awfully silent this week..." I could tell she wanted to get to the bottom of my behavior. I had finally broke my silence after a year but after finding the letter from my father- my progress diminished. I went back to my old ways of shutting myself in my room for hours without response. But this time I wasn't crying because of Harry. Infact, I wasn't even crying. I was pulling out maps and doing my research on how to get out of this damn town and a way to transport myself to my father's house.

        My fingers had been shaking when I opened that letter, biting my bottom lip in anticipation. Maybe after all these years I was going to get my apology. Maybe I was going to get something... Anything... All I got was a check for a thousand dollars and a simple "Congrats, Christina," and a damn scribble that indicated his name. As if a solid thousand could make up for over ten years of silence and confusion. I found a cheap greyhound bus from Texas to California for a hundred dollars which would thankfully leave me with nine hundred to feed myself and stay in a motel for as long as it takes to get him to talk to me.

        "Yeah," I confirmed and sent her a reassuring nod. "Have fun on your trip," and now she was holding back. I felt a little bad because she was so concerned about me but I had my own plans the second she left. "I'll be fine, Mom. I was going to go see if I could find a job or something."

        "A job would be good. I heard sonic is hiring and you get to keep your tips."

        "Yeah, I might just go do that. Will you excuse me so I can go put in an application now. I'll come back and help you pack." When she excused me I got up and rinsed my plate, hightailing it out of the apartment and into the street. I walked ten blocks to the nearest Greyhound Bus Station and booked my ticket for two days from now. I ignored the woman's curious eyes as she tried to guess why I was going all the way out to California.

        "Running from the law?" She smiled a crooked smile; one tooth completely missing. The woman cackled with laughter at her own comment. Shivers ran down my spine as I weakly smiled back and shook my head no. The second she slipped the ticket through the window, I grabbed it in a hurry and rushed back home. I tucked it in my waistband as I walked home.

        "That was fast," my mother glanced at the clock.

        "No line or anything!" I kissed her cheek before sneaking off to my room, placing the ticket into my suitcase for now. I looked around my room and sighed- this was going to be quite the adventure. My mother was in her bedroom, ruffling through her clothes to try and pick what to bring for a whole month in a foreign country. "Take the ivory one," I took a seat in the middle of her bed watching her. Sometimes I forgot she was a mother. The only thing giving away her age was the couple of worried lines on her forehead and crooks of her eyes. Otherwise she didn't look a day over 25 and still in magnificent shape. Everytime we went out, whether it be to grab dinner or the grocery store, we get asked if we're sisters.

        "You're positive everything is going to be okay when I leave?"

        "Yes. I mean I'll only throw a couple ragers while you're gone. Can I keep your ID so I can go buy the kegs?" She rolled her eyes and laughed at the joke before returning back to picking out clothes. I did her a favor and began folding them to fit in her suitcase. "I'll be fine. I mean it."

        "Have you..."

        "Thought of him? Not recently. I'm over him, it's been a whole year. If I wasn't over him by now then I'd be worried but I'm fine." Even my own words didn't convince me but I had to be over him. I was over him. "I moved on."