How I See It

Chapter 7 - Reunited

My heart starts to race. I couldn't believe that she was lying in front of me. "Gabby. Gabby wake up." She shakes and lift her head. She's facing the other way, so I'm hoping that It's her. She gets up and turns around. I gasp and she does the same. Her hands are on her mouth and she starts to cry.

"Noah!" She runs into my arms that I opened and give her a long hug. "I can't believe your here," she says. I hug her even more tightly. "I'm just glad you found me." She lets go and wipes the tears off of her face. "What the hell happened?" Before I told her the story, I introduced her to Gray. Gray seemed all nice and stuff, but he looked uncomfortable.

About 10 minutes passed and she's already crying again. "I'm just glad your okay. We.. We gotta tell mom. Come on, I know the way back. She won't believe I found you." I stare at her for a bit. I look down and whisper.
"I can't." She frowns. "What? What do you mean you can't?" "I mean that I can't go back. I'll just get arrested again. I can't let anybody know I'm alive." An awkward silence grows. "Please, Gabs."

She looks at me and shakes her head. "No! I just found you, I can't loose you again. Please, we'll just go to the police and ask them to release you." I stare at her. "That's the problem, Gabby. We CAN'T go to the police. They won't let me talk. Besides, they got enough evidence to keep me locked up."

She takes my hand and holds it tightly. "Fine, we won't go to the police. Me and momma can hide you in the house. No one has to know. No one." I look back at Gray. "It's fine. I'll be okay," he says. I look back at Gabby and give her a sympathy stare. "Fine. Gray, you can come too. Do you have any family?" I take a deep breath and look away. "No... umm I only had my mother." "What do you mean 'had'?"

"Cancer." Gabby walks towards Gray and give him a hug. "I'm so sorry. Please, come with us. For now." He looks at me and lifts an eyebrow. "I don't have a problem with that idea. I think it'd be the best." Gabby smiles with her mouth closed. She grabs her coat and leaves the cave.

We follow her and we finally end up at the crime scene. As we want to climb the cliff, we see two officers talking to each other. "Shit!" Not even seconds after, one of the officers looks in our direction. He talks to the other officer and he faces our way too. The can't see us, but I'm sure as hell they heard Gray. They start walking in our direction and we run back.

This time we run along the trees that ends the woods. We see the officers enter the woods and as soon as they do, we exit it. From another way out. We run for our lives, but try to keep it quiet. We climb the cliff and finally get to the top. Everyone's panting. Including me. I don't think I've ever climbed a cliff that fast before.

I see my mom's car a few meters away and feel relieved. We walk towards it and get in. I'm in the passenger seat. "Okay, so the plan is that you guys have to lie on your back the whole time. I'll tell you when you can get back up." I let my seat down and Gray lies down in the backseat. Gabby turns on the engine and starts driving.

She plays one of my favorite songs in the whole wide world. Detention by Melanie Martinez. Her album K-12 taught me life lessons and it inspired me so much. I just love the way she communicates through her music.
I sing as loud as I can and Gray laughs at me while he is nodding his head with the beat.

We finally stop and Gabby takes out the keys. "We're here." I push my seat up but before I'm sitting again, Gabby pushes me down. "No! Remember what I told you. There could be people watching us right now." She gets out of the car and we wait.

I hear a tap on my window and I turn my head.
It's my mom. She's holding her mouth and tears fill her eyes. I smile and wave. She wipes the tears and keeps a smile on her face. She opens the door and puts a blanket around me.
Gabby opens the door at Gray and she does the same thing to him. They help us out and we jog back to the front door.

We take off the blankets and I hug my mom tightly. We don't speak, only hug. "I knew you couldn't be dead. I always had hope by my side." She lets go of me and wipe the tears off her face. "Who's this? Why did you bring him with you?"

"Mom, his name is Gray. Some girl carried us out the van before the explosion. I couldn't see her face. My eyes were weak. We woke up next to each other. Alive. He'a not a bad guy. He tried to help his mother who had cancer. Now he has no one left. Please mom, let him stay. Please."

She stares at him. He looks scared. "I'm very sorry about your mother. You can stay here as long as you behave." He smiles and gives her a hug. "Thank you, mam." "Please, call me Mrs. Miller."

Gabby returns after she went to close the car doors. We all go inside and lock the door behind us. I hear a bark getting louder as I walk to the couch. Landy comes running out from the kitchen and he jumps all over me. I fall to the ground and he licks me in my face. "Landy, hey boy. I missed you too."

I get up and wipe my face off with the material of the orange jumpsuit. I totally forgot I still had this on.
"Mom, me and Gray are gonna go change. We'll be back in a bit." I lead Gray to my room and take out a few clothes for him to wear. He takes off his shirt. He has a tattoo that says 'Never Forget.' "What won't you forget?" He takes one of the shirts and puts it in.

It's a bit small, but it'll have to do for now. "My brother. He died when I was 15. He got murdered right in front of me. Some guy shot him when we were egging a house. I still don't understand why he shot him. Luckily that bastard is rotting in jail right now."

I look at him and take a deep breath. "Shit, I'm so sorry. I can't believe that happened. But don't worry, you're save now." "I know." I change into some clothes and we head back to the kitchen. We sit on the chairs and watch my mom make us some hot coco.

Bout damn time she made me that again. I missed drinking it. It got hot during the days and we stopped making it. But today is kind of chilly. The perfect time to drink some nice hot coco. "Don't forget the cinnamon, please." Yeah, I drink cinnamon on my hot coco. So what. Everyone is different. "Already on it, pumpkin."

She hands us the coco and we both thank her for it. We take the coco and sit on the couch. Landy jumps on the couch and sits on my lap. He always does that when I have something in my hand. Whether it's food or just even water. I pat his head and put him next to me on the couch.

As soon as I take a sip from my coco, the doorbell rings. Mom looks at me and shows her hand at me. The stop sign. She opens the door and a cameraman walks in, almost pushing her out of the way. "What the hell is going on?" A familiar voice gets louder and louder. John Keenan. The news reporter. "Good day, Mrs.Miller. Someone told us that your son, Noah Miller, who got arrested and 'died' in a van explosion is alive and is inside your house. Is that true?"

She looks at him and doesn't know what to do. His eyes suddenly meet mine and he gasps. He walks towards me and calls his cameraman. I'm as frozen as I could be. My mind is so confused. Who the hell would have told him that I was here? There's no more hiding. Everyone now knows that I'm alive and well.