Fugitive (ON HOLD)

IV

I walk back into the house, bumping into multiple bodies as I try to find Ashton. He's standing over by some girl, a red cup filled with God-knows-what in his hand. I march over to him and get in between him and the mystery girl. He looks at me with a slightly annoyed expression but I ignore it.

"Ash, we have to go. Now. Don't ask questions, just come on," I call over the music, my arms crossed.

It takes Ashton a moment to understand what I'm saying, and I blame the alcohol for this. Once he does register my words, his face takes on a look of confusion.

"What?" he asks, his head tilted to the side slightly. "Why?"

I huff, rolling my eyes. I want to explain but then again, I wasn't sure why I wanted to leave so suddenly myself. Maybe it was just to get away from the place where I met a criminal or maybe it was because I was afraid that criminal was coming back. Either way, I wanted to leave.

"Look, Ash, I'll explain in the car. Please, just come with me." I plead, losing my patience. Ashton stubbornly crosses his arms with the cup still in his hand.

"Tell me or I'm not moving."

"Ashton, really! Come on!"

"Claire, I'm serious! Why do we need to leave? Your mum isn't gon-"

"For Christ's sake, Irwin! I'm trying to get the hell out of here because I saw Michael Clifford not even ten minutes ago!"

At this news, Ashton's face pales. That should make him hustle a little bit. No amount of alcohol could make him stay anywhere in the same building as the guy that wants to kill him.

"Shit..." Ashton mutters, running a hand through his brown curls. "Oh shit. Why didn't you say so?! Is he still here? You know what, I don't care, come on!" he says, gripping my arm tightly and weaving through people in order to find the exit. "Damn, I wasn't expecting..." he mumbles as we get to the door. I frown.

"Expect what? And wait a second, we can't leave yet, what about Luke?" I questioned, unwillingly following Ashton back to his car. He unlocks the door and sighs.

"He left a few minutes before you came to warn me about Clifford," he explains, getting in the car. I follow his lead, now more than glad to go back home. I sigh and lean back against the seat of the car. As long as everyone was safe, I could relax. Clifford's gone. I'm going home. Rachel's party's going fine. All my friends are unharmed.

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When Ashton drops me off back home, it's 1:47 in the morning. Unlike most teenagers would be, I'm dead tired. On a normal day, I'm asleep by 12 am because I need my sleep that greatly. I wave to my curly haired friend and I stealthily make my way back to my window.

I jump up to reach it and I shimmy my way through the little space I made for myself. I land perfectly on my feet and I look around my room. It's quiet and calm, the complete opposite of where I just left. As I change into my pajamas, I wonder what everyone is doing at this very moment. Rachel's probably doing what she always does, socializing with everybody she runs into. Sami probably left with Luke and right now they're doing God-knows-what. Ashton's most likely home by now and he's blasting whatever music he decides to play while his parents bang on his bedroom door.

I, however, will be taking myself to bed. I have a test tomorrow and I need as much rest as I can get. I should really go over my notes once more before I doze off but I can't bring myself to do it. After dressing in my pajamas, a tank top and some sweat pants, I climb under my sheets and almost instantly, I'm snoozing.

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I feel awful. My alarm goes off as it usually does at 5:30 AM and I immediately regret last night's endeavors. I got about three hours of sleep. If I fall asleep during classes, I don't think I'll mind too much today. Sleep is, as I say all the time, very important.