Spin

Chapter One

LILAH

PRESENT

"Move!" Noah gestured to the corner of the room with his pistol. "Face the wall!"

The trembling cashier did as he was told, slowly turning to face the wall. Though, not quite fast enough. Noah hopped the counter and grabbed him by the neck of his grease-stained t-shirt. He shoved him into the corner, the kid barely catching himself against the wall. He was pimple-faced with ginger hair and looked about three seconds away from pissing himself.

"Don't even think about trying anything. If I even see you blink...," Noah's voice trailed off, letting the kid's imagination fill in the blanks. Satisfied that he wasn't going to try anything, we wasted no time. We made a mad dash out of Bob's Convenience Store but not before I caught a glimpse of a photo hanging on the wall.

It was the pimple-faced kid and an older man, who I guessed was his father from the strong resemblance. They stood arm in arm in front of the Convenience store, smiling. Both had on Bob's t-shirts and it suddenly hit me that they were the owners of the establishment. A family run business. Great.

A loud crash brought me back to the moment. I looked ahead and saw Noah had accidentally knocked into a display rack in his hurry. The sound of showering sunglasses followed us the whole way out the door, but I didn't dare look back.

I didn't have to. I already knew what I would see.

Chaos.

The scene had grown familiar over the last few months, seared into my brain, like déjà vu. Didn't mean I would ever get used to it.

So far, the summer nights in Virginia had been hot and muggy, and tonight was no different. The pale moonlight was just enough to light our way as we ran heinously through the deserted parking lot towards Noah's old Mustang. It was parked along the road, hidden in a patch of overgrowth, and I instinctively ran towards it. Towards freedom. I clutched the straps of my now-full backpack, loving the way the adrenaline coursed through me like hellfire.

Noah was a lot faster than me and I had a hard time keeping up. More accurately, Noah had a hard time slowing down so as not to leave me behind.

The muggy air was like running through an invisible film, but I didn't care. I was free. I was invincible, and we were painting the night.

The crickets cheered us on like spectators as we sprinted past. My heart bass-boomed against my ribs, painful, but in a good way. The way that makes you feel alive. I was on a high like no other, my skin, bubbling with electricity.

The entire universe was zoomed in on just the two of us, and we were stretched out to infinity. All of the chaos teeming around me was suddenly still. The noise, silent. It was in fleeting moments like this that my world became absolutely clear.

I was here. I was alive. And, I was with Noah. Nothing else mattered.

My lungs burned their appreciation when we reached the Mustang and Noah rounded the driver's side. He tossed me his backpack and I shoved both of our bags into the backseat. I expertly leaped in through the open passenger window, ducking into my seat in record time. Seconds later, Noah had the engine running and the pedal to the floor. I flew back instantaneously as the car ripped out of the overgrowth, spraying dust and gravel all over the tall weeds behind us.

As soon as the tires hit pavement, my eyes went into overdrive, frantically checking the mirrors, looking for any sign of angry owners or flashing lights. I prayed silently to the moon-or anyone who would listen-begging, please let us get away, willing it into the stars.