THE RUNNING - juiceofthemoon 🌘

Chapter Two

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"Thank you ma'am." I said stepping off the bus. "Take it easy, girl." She said smiling softly at me. I could tell she could see what happened to me tonight. This has to be one of the worst nights of my life. This was literally the walk of shame even though I'd hardly done anything. I was drunk, yes, but I never intended to have sex. I was literally raped. Its not like I had anyone at home to talk to about this though.
I had two blocks to walk before I made it home, to my small, grey house, with brick on the sides and an old door and smokey chimney. The air outside smelled like marijuana, but that wasn't unusual. It usually smelled like that. When I walked up the rickety wooden stairs to my house, I fumbled in my dark green clutch, for my keys. As soon as I pulled them out the door snapped open, and I saw my mom's steamy face. I didn't expect her to be home at this time...it was 1am though so I guess she wasn't that early.
"Where have you been?!?" She screeched as I walked in the door. "Look at your disheveled dress!" She yelled at me. "Your make-up is smeared all over your ugly face. Ugh, what did I do to deserve a daughter like you." I sat down on the couch brushing out my hair as she yelled. "You can't call yourself a mother. A mother would be here for me." I said sternly crossing my arms. Her face twisted and she snarled at me pulling her ugly bleached bun tighter, and pulling down her slutty leather dress. "I'm making a living. Would you have a roof over your head if it wasn't for me??" She snarled. I got up from the couch and walked over to her taking her cigarette out of her mouth. "I would have a much better life if it wasn't for you." I said dropping the cigarette to the ground and grinding it into the musty carpet with my bare foot.
This time I was really on a roll. "I'm tried of you treating me like shit. For what? You sit around on your ass and drink all day. Then you go to "work" or whatever you do. I don't even know what your job is anymore. And you smoke in here, you leave bottles everywhere, you leave these god forsaken cigarette butts all over the goddamn house. What do you hate about me?? What did I do to you??"
My mom sat there shocked not able to speak. "I hate you because you're the one who does nothing."

"What do you mean??" I asked. The wind started to grow faster around us as it burst through the open door, my hair whipping around my head like tree branches, smacking my peach colored cheeks.

"I mean-" my mother started, millions of tears coming out of the sides of her eyes. "I don't want you here. Don't you see? You have no benefits to me. I hate you. You're a mistake. You were never supposed to be here. In my life. I can't afford to have something like you in my life. Go find a new family. I'll make sure no one will remember you. Now go."

"Go where?!?" I screamed. She wasn't wrong. This was the only home I had now. I had ditched Lauren...we definitely weren't friends after what happened tonight. "Anywhere!!!" She screeched. "I don't care! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" She continued to scream those words until I ran out of the house and all the way down the block, out of her sight.

~

I walked down the streets of downtown Milwaukee, barefoot, in my tight red dress holding nothing but my phone, and a couple of tampons in my clutch. I don't know how long I walked...minutes, maybe hours. It felt like an eternity, for every step I took I got further and further away from life. From home. I had nothing now. No one. I was loosing energy fast, and eventually I sat down right in the middle of the sidewalk just crying, pink mascara streaming down my face and neck, my hair an unruly, tangled, mess, my throat as dry as a gravel road in the summer. My heart ached for love, for a family, for a sister, for a brother, for a friend, anyone to come and save me from this misery of silence and lonliness. My body crumpled into a ball on the sidewalk, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

~

"Guys I think she might be dead." Said a quiet little voice above me. A girls voice, maybe. "Shut the fuck up Aviv. We checked her pulse. Its slow but fine. You were there. That's completely illogical." Said a much stronger voice, that varied in pitch moving up and down with voice cracks. "Ew Grayson. Stop using words like "illogical". Said another girl's voice. This time it sounded almost sassy in way. "It is completely fine to use big words Cara you're just too stupid to understand." The guy who I think might've been Grayson snapped. I curled my fingers and coughed. "HAH I TOLD YOU SHE'S ALIVE." The Grayson guy yelled in my ear. "Can y'all just not." Another boy, with the same sassy tone as the other girl said. "Calm the fuck down." He said placing his sweaty palm on my cheek and smacking it lightly. "Hey. Hey wake up girl." He said as my eyes slowly opened, to reveal a fuzzy image of six teenagers smiling down at me.