I looked out the window at the buildings and trees rolling by. They hardly looked like trees and buildings at all, mostly because of how fast Grayson was going. Cara had her window open and was sticking her arms out of the window, giggling as an obviously nervous Aviv, tried to pull her back inside.
"How long have you guys had this car for?" I asked Preston who was sitting next to me.
"A billion trillion gazillion years." He grinned rummaging through his backpack, looking for the Sour Patch Kids he was unaware I had stolen. They had given me a spare backpack Aviv had been holding onto. They said they found it in their favorite thrift store around where Preston used to live.
I learned a lot about these kids quickly, mostly because they were all open books. I think they were happy to have a new person join them too. I learned that Cara and Aviv were the first ones who ran away in the group. They lived in an orphanage in Carlsbad, California, and were bullied by the girls there because of her webbed toes and because she was smaller than all of them. Cara said Aviv didn't talk until about a week after they left, and that was the reason she got bullied.
"What's wrong with you stupid? Cat got your tongue?" That's what Cara told me they said that to her a lot. Cara was the only one who helped her when she would get bullied.
They met Preston in an old pawnshop 4 years later, working for an awful man who paid him hardly anything. That meant Preston had to live in the closet that held all of the cleaning supplies, without the owner knowing. When Cara and Aviv were looking for food they had broken in through an unlocked back door and found Preston sleeping in the closet.
"We asked him to come with us and he basically ran out." Aviv said laughing.
"How did you guys find Cameron and Grayson?" I asked them. Grayson spoke up. "Like I told you how I was kicked out they found me wandering around downtown Las Vegas. We found Cameron in Las Vegas too," he said, and then he paused and looked at Cameron. Cameron shook his head. "I don't really want to talk about how they found me." He said looking back at me.
I raised my eyebrows. What could have Cameron done that made him not want to talk about his past? He seemed like the most innocent in the group...but it wouldn't have surprised me if there was some dirt on him. On any of them. And I was almost certain there was. This group seemed like open books...but also seemed to lie or be cautious about what they would tell me. It seems like I'm going to with them for a while...so do I just have to trust them anyways?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was late at night. After we had our conversation about how the group was formed the mood died down. It was 8 pm when they had told their stories to me and I was still exhausted from the night I had had before. After awhile we had dinner and played Uno, but from what I could tell they didn't seem like they lied to me the whole time. Most of us went to sleep around 1 am, and Cameron and Grayson stayed up to take turns driving.
Around 4 am was when I felt a big bump in the rode that jolted me awake. I stretched out and I heard my back crack. God, this dress is so uncomfortable. I need to use the little amount of money I have in my wallet to get some new clothes the next time we make a stop. My mom has probably discontinued my credit card but that's fine, I don't want her money anyway. Suddenly I heard car doors opening up all around me. I stayed completely still, even though I don't know why. But they hadn't had woke me up...so I was tempted to know what was going on. When I had heard the car doors had shut, I pressed my ears against the side of the car and did my best to listen to what they were saying.
"Is she awake?" I heard Aviv ask. "No," Grayson said calmly. "She didn't sit up and those car doors are really loud." I then heard a collective sigh, and I pressed my ear against the wall harder.
"I don't like keeping secrets from her," I heard Aviv say quietly. "She's so nice...I think we can trust her.
"We don't know that." Cameron hissed. "Remember Deane?" I crinkled my eyebrows in response. Who is Deane?
"He's right Aviv." I heard Cara say. I could tell she felt as sad as Aviv was sounding.
"We cannot make that mistake again. He nearly exposed us. If Arwen did-" Cara was saying but then Aviv cut her off. "But she wouldn't! He was different! Arwen is different! He wasn't like Arwen. Arwen has been through different things. I feel like she knows us and I feel like she's supposed to be here!" Aviv shouted.
I had never heard Aviv shout before. And judging from the silence no one else had either. The silence outside of the car walls lasted so long I almost thought all of them had disappeared. Until I heard the car doors open again, and Aviv sat down next to me, and cried.
•••••••
YOU ARE READING
THE RUNNING - juiceofthemoon 🌘
Teen Fiction"What do you mean mother?" I asked. The wind started to grow faster around them, my cocoa butter 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 s...
