Sane (PAUSED)

Chapter 28

As soon as she felt like there was enough distant between her and Zac, she collapsed onto a bench, clutching her bag and, for the millionth time in the last 24 hours, tried to remember how the hell to breathe.

What is she going to do now?

Where is going to go?

She did not plan for this to happen, and she now sees how stupid she was.

So beyond stupid.

How could she trust a stranger like that?

But then again, based on what experience was she supposed to know that bad stuff like this happen and that bad people like Zac exist?

But this was no time for blaming and drowning in regrets. She needs to get her crap together to fix this.

First, she will not go back home. No. she already made her mind on this.

So now, she has to find a plan B.

Her dad has definitely noticed by now that she is gone and they're probably searching for her right now. So, if decision number one was to be fulfilled, she needs to get off of the streets and probably into some other town.

She had no idea what the town she lived in was called, no idea where to go to next and no idea how.

So, first, she just needed to get off of the streets.

She grabbed her bag, stood up, and walked, looking around, wondering how the hell to get out of here.

The only thing her dad did right was allow Luna to have all the books and movies she wanted. She spent days upon days sitting in bed, reading or watching, observing the outside world from behind screens and through words. She would pause the movie to stare at the streets and shops or reread paragraphs that made her feel Outside, between people. So, over the years, she became what she called "Outside Information Collector". She was on a mission to know as much information as possible about life Outside. And she did. She actually knows enough to get the hell out of this town.

Now that she was Outside, she actually knew how to navigate around, kind of.

She walked down the street, not really knowing where she was going, but a plan was starting to come together inside her head. First, she had to count the money. Now, yes, she didn't know much about money. She knew what it looked like and how to count it, but if you say a price she can't really tell if it's expensive or not, they're just numbers to her. But she has seen people kill other people for those pieces of paper (in movies at least) so she had to be extra careful.

Also, she felt an urgent need to change her appearance. Now, she may be over reacting or being a tad bit dramatic but she wanted to do it anyways. She has grown bored of staring at the same reflection in the mirror for years upon years. Its time.

So, for the first time since she got out, she started to actually look around and take her surroundings in. There were so many shops around; grocery stores, drugstores, barber shops, and shops filled with clothes and accessories. She really wanted to buy a few stuff first so she figured it was time to count the money. But where? She needed to be completely alone.

A bathroom. She needed a bathroom.

But, again, where...?

She's seen numerous actresses use restaurant bathrooms to freshen up their make up on their dates, so she figured she had to look for a restaurant. She kept walking until she saw one. It wasn't particularly big or fancy but it should do.

But, now that she was standing in front of the restaurants entrance, she realized she might have to talk to people, like talk to people.

She could count the humans she has interacted with on her fingers. She had zero experience with this. What was she supposed to say? Do? What if she said or did something wrong? What if this goes horribly wrong and she ended up getting arrested like those teenagers she once saw in a movie?

But what other choices did she have?

None.

She mustered up the little energy she still had and all the courage inside of her and walked in. The air conditioner hit her with a gust of cold air, surprising her so much she jumped a little. A waiter rushed to her as soon as she entered.

"Hello, where would you like to sit?"

For a second, the sudden human interacting acted like an eraser that just wiped out every single word in her mind, her brain just went blank as she stared at that waiter.

Get. Yourself. Together.

"uh- ca- can I use the bathroom before please?" she managed to say.

"Yes, of course, it's right there," he said pointing towards two green doors, one with a male sign and the other with a female sign.

She hurriedly walked to the women's bathroom, opened the door and stepped in. Luckily, no one was in there. She had the bathroom for herself. She walked to the mirror, set her bag down and stared into her reflection. Funny, how fast things change.

She turned the tap handles, letting the water flow out. She then put both of her hands under the row of cold water, feeling it crash on her hands, trying to focus on the feeling and temperature of the water. She wanted to ground herself, to get herself back to reality. She stood there for a second, with the water flowing, the sound of it hitting the sink filling up the silence of the bathroom. She then turned the tap handles around and dried her hands with the tissues.

She grabbed her bag and chose the furthest stall and entered, locking the door behind her. The stall was tiny but well lit. She closed the toilet seat and sat on it, carefully opening her bag up. She grabbed the box and put the bag on the floor.

Let's hope this is enough money to keep me alive before I know what to do.

She removed the duct tape, this time carelessly and completely and opened the flaps of the box.

She gasped.

It was more than she thought it would be. Hell she didn't even have to count.

But then, a thought crossed her mind. Zac. Zac will want this. There is a chance he will come after her after he notices that the money is gone. She needed to get out of here as fast as possible.

She decided not to actually count everything because the number might burden her heart with guilt, an emotion she had more than enough of inside of her. Instead, she took out a few hundred bills and put them in the front zipper of her bag. She closed the cereal box again and replaced it into her bag.

Time to face the world again.

****

i hope Lucy and Albert are okay