A New Life

Goodbyes

A thin layer of sweat covered the nape of Kiara's neck. Keeping her breathing steady, she pushed harder, hoping to beat her mom home and not have her find out about the detention. Her calves burned, her breath forming clouds in the air as it bit into her lungs. She could barely see a few feet ahead of her as she sprinted home. However, when she arrived, she saw the blue ford escape parked outside the house, in the driveway. Which only meant Kiara was in deep shit, and there was no escape from the unknown punishment her mother was soon to give.

Hesitantly Kiara moved to the porch and placed her hand on the knob. With a deep breath in preparation, she applied a small amount of force, pushing the door gently open, revealing her mother sitting on the couch watching Law and Order with her computer unfolded and fingers running over the keyboard fluently. Carefully Kiara made her way to her room, trying not to give her mom reason to turn her head and see her being home late. Her rose gold Adidas were silent as they swept across the floor, but with her luck, she stumbled, causing a slight squeak before she prevented herself from making a louder noise. To Kiara's fail, her mother heard the muffled noise and lifted her head.

"Where have you been?" Her mother questioned, sending a rush of panic through Kiara.

"I was at school," Kiara replied nervously, unsure of how her mother would respond. The vagueness of Kiara's response seemed to enrage her mother more.

"School doesn't end at 5:43, so I repeat, where were you!" Her mother roared as she rose from the couch and set her computer to the side.

"Really, I was at school. I had detention!" Kiara shouted in a moment of panic. When her mother heard the word detention slip past Kiara's lips, the look on her face immediately changed from anger to fury. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her cheeks turned red.

"You had what!?" The wrath she felt blinded her senses as her hand lifted from her side to the air and fiercely smacked Kiara across her cheek, causing a vibrant red mark on her right cheek. Tears welled up in Kiara's eyes as she left her mother, running up the stairs into her room, locking the door behind her.

Kiara was stunned by her mother's actions, and all she could do is break because as much as Kiara wished to keep it together, she no longer could hold it all in. The tears that were threatening to fall fell like a river until her body was too weak to hold herself up. Her legs collapsed from under her, and her arms wrapped around her knees with her head bowed down. Her chin was trembling as if she were a small child, and as she laid on the floor with her back against the door, her breathing became heavier, gasping for air that wasn't there. Her throat burned, forming a silent scream, and the screeching sobs coming from her were only interrupted by her need to draw breath.

With the acknowledgment of needing to regain control, she drew in a deep breath and let out her final few cries. She knew she needed to escape. Leave and not return, and that is, exactly, what she intended to do. She raised from her spot against the door and picked up her phone, calling Sabrina, but to her dismay, it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, Sabrina, I can't take it anymore. I'm leaving. I hope to see you again. Please tell Jason I'm sorry. Goodbye." Tears were still streaming down her face as she spoke, and as much as Kiara wished to see her friends goodbye, she needed to disappear immediately. Kiara packed a bag, filling it with only the essentials, and waited for her mother to leave for the business meeting that took place at 7:00 tonight.

When 7:00 hit, the sound of a door closing echoed, allowing Kiara to leave her room and towards her mother's study to retrieve the petty cash from her mother's journal that she stored for emergencies. Kiara then grabbed her packed bag and took off into the night, running as fast as she could to the bus station so that she would be gone before her mom got home, and the police came after her if that even happened.

Kiara had finally made it to the bus station and paid for a ticket to New York City. The dream place of her and her friends. Sabrina, Jason, and Kiara had made a plan years ago to go to New York together for college once they all turned eighteen. She knew Sabrina would catch on to her clue and that one day she would see her friends again. Kiara got on the bus and began her long journey to her new life.

All the while, Sabrina had gotten home and realized that she had received a voicemail from her best friend, Kiara. As she listened to the voicemail, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kiara was gone, and there was nothing Sabrina could do to help. The only thing she could think to do was call Jason. When he answered the call, he could hear Sabrina's voice cracking on the other line as she tried not to sob hysterically.

"Sabrina? What's wrong? What happened?" Jason asked his wailing friend, confused on what could possibly cause her to be so upset.

"She's gone!" Disbelief struck Jason instantly when Sabrina said "she," for the only person that could cause his friend so much trouble was Kiara, and it was impossible for his best friend to be gone when they saw her earlier that day.

"Sabrina, you are not making any sense. Who's gone?" Jason asked, conflicted on whether or not he wanted his friend to answer what he already knew. However, when Sabrina answered with Kiara's name, the tears that edged to fall became known in his silence.

"No, she wouldn't have left without a bye." His denial seeping in, clouding his judgment, he went down the list of reasons she couldn't be gone. Sabrina, finally pulling herself together enough to explain, did so, narrating everything that Kiara had mentioned in her voicemail. Finally, accepting what Sabrina was saying, he asked the question that was frightening him most.

"Why didn't she tell me?" His question came out in a saddening whisper, and Sabrina could tell by his tone that he was hurt. Jason had always fancied Kiara since the day he met her. No matter what she did, Jason always supported her, without question. He continuously attempted to ask her out but was stopped by his fear that she would say no and he would lose her altogether.

"She did tell me to tell you she was sorry. I guess she didn't want to hear your disappointment."

"Did Kiara tell you where she was going?"

"No. But I have an idea." The memorization of the plan they made years ago came to mind, and she knew that if she knew Kiara at all. That is where she would be. So they made a plan to honor the one they made with Kiara, and when all of them turned 18 and graduated, they would go on the hunt to find their missing friend. Jason's eagerness fought against waiting, but he knew that if they didn't wait, they would blow Kiara's cover, and that was the last thing they wished to do.After they hung up, Sabrina went to bed with the thoughts of seeing Kiara while Jason made plans of his own. Kiara's birthday is in two months, and in five, all three of them will be eighteen, and when that moment comes, he will tell her the truth of his feelings and fight for her without backing down.