Run Away Teen

Chapter Seven: I'm Popular

 The sounds of voices a many wake me up from my dreamless slumber, a nice change from the birds singing at dawn assisting my wake up. I peer out of a smashed window and sigh, staring at a happy family. A teenage girl tumbling along the beach; cartwheels, handsprings, flips. Her little sister trying to copy her; giggles, forwards rolls, skips. A mum, laughing, a dad, chuckling, and a dog, barking his head off excitedly.

  Staring at them, I get this sudden urge to leave the cottage for a little while, and go buy something. I lift up a loose floorboard and stuff my bag, including everything but my wallet, the kind of wallet that hangs around your neck, in it, moving the mattress over the floorboard. There. Now nobody can find my things.

  I wait until the depressingly happy family has skipped away, a bundle of laughs and smiles, before I slip on my slightly damp Converse and plod out of the house, wallet around my neck. I reach a row of small shops just 10 minutes from my new home. Home. My rotten, run down shed seems more homely than the place where I used to live, where my family is. They say home is where the heart is. I guess that explains a lot.

  I walk into a small shop. It’s one of those shops that sells absolutely everything, even though the shop’s barely the size of kids’ playhouse. I pick a bottle of Pump water out of the drink fridge, and a packet of chocolate chip biscuits. I hand the lady at the counter my money, and she peers at me with a strange look on her face.  

  “You look familiar...do I know you?” she asks.

  I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Sorry,” I whisper, with a ghost of a smile playing on my lips.

  I pick up a free complimentary newspaper on the way out, and read it on the way ‘Home’. I unfold the front page and scream.

 Girl Gone From Home, the title reads.

  Ever-Lee Gabbard, aged 14, has disappeared from her own home. I read the first sentence and roll my eyes. Trust them to spell my name wrong. At least they pronounced it right. My eyes flicker back to the paper.

 “I went to wake her up one morning, and she wasn’t there. She hadn’t even tried to disguise the fact that she wasn’t in bed,” Dana Grey, Ever-Lee’s mum, tells us. Dana then called the police, who rushed right over, and have started up a search party for the young teen.                 

“I searched her room before the police could wreck it, and found her laptop, and Box Of Memories, gone,” 16 year old sister Primavera Gabbard (model for Sweet Wishes) informed us. We haven’t got much information at the moment, but we’ll keep you up to date!

  Underneath the short story is a picture of me. Luckily it was after Prima had forced me into a dress for year 8 graduation, so you can’t tell what my usual clothes are. But you can see my pale features clearly, and my long, long hair. Oh my gosh. When I ran away, I hadn’t thought about the fuss it may stir. I certainly never thought that I’d end up in a newspaper! And front page news as well!

 I run the rest of the way home, scared that someone may recognise me. What do I do to hide myself? I fret, pacing the cottage floors, back and forth, back and forth. I decide to pull my laptop out, and post my first proper entry on my blog. The whirr of the laptop calms me, until I’m calm enough to think straight.

  I log into my blog, and start type it up. Once finished, I sit back and stare at it proudly.

  Okay. I promised that I’d do a proper entry tonight, but I’m feeling the need to blog. So, I’m posting during the day. Guess what? I’m famous! I went to a shop today, and found myself on the front of the newspaper! They totally spelt my name wrong (they called me Ever-Lee, it’s Everleigh. Gosh, get it right!) but it still scared me to death. I mean, if someone recognised me, I’d have to go back home. Which I don’t want to do, by the way. -Ever xxx

 Views: 0         Comments: 0

  Perfect! I realise with a shock that I haven’t checked my emails today, and open them up. Nothing exciting. No-one’s even thought to email me, asking if I’m even alive, or where I am. I mean, I know my mum and ‘The Man’ aren’t exactly the brightest crayons in the box, but surely they can put two and two together and get four? I’ll say this in a mathematical way: Ever gone + Laptop gone = Ever’s got her laptop. Honestly!

 Now that that’s over and done with, I just need to deal with my hair. My hair is kind of a distinctive; it’s not something you forget immediately. I’ve had complete strangers ask to touch my hair, and had little girls ask if I’m a princess. No jokes. So, first off, my hair is so pale, it’s basically white. It’s this pale blonde colour, 100 percent natural. Secondly, I put it in the most intricate plaits and styles I can think of. That kinda captures people's attention. And finally, there’s the length. I’ve been growing my hair since I was five, and have only had the occasional trim in between then and now. It reaches halfway down my bottom when it’s loose. Hence the princess questions.

  What am I going to do with it? I’ve looked after it so well, and I swore I’d never cut, dye, or bleach it. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Without thinking, (I know that if I think, then I’ll talk myself out of this), I grab a pair of scissors from my bag, and cut my hair. I gasp, as long, blonde locks float around my ankles. I can’t believe I just did that. I grab the small mirror from my bag, and gasp yet again, at the sight of my hair. I must’ve cut 3 quarters of my hair off. I brush through my now shoulder blade length hair, and tie it up into a ponytail. There. Now no one will recognise me. Gosh, I don’t even recognise myself! I’ve never worn a ponytail in my life. “Too boring,” I always told people, which was the half truth, but also, my hair was just too long.

 I log back on to my lappie, and see I’ve got an email. I read it, and nearly shriek with excitement; I’ve got my first comment on my blog! On today’s entry, someone with the username fishouttawater. I click on the link to see the comment, and smile when I see that it’s positive, that she’s not telling me I should go back home, that I’m stupid.

 Hi, @run_away_teen. Good luck gurl! I actually saw you in the papers today! And starting up a blog about it...ingenius! I tried running away last year, but got caught. You can do it! -Courtney xxx (a.k.a @fishouttawater)

 I reply instantly.

 Thanks so much for the support, @fishouttawater! means so much! Hope your life improved after running away! (Was scared you’d say I shouldn’t run away, that I should go home) -Everleigh xxx (a.k.a @run_away_teen)

 I turn off my lappy and change into the clothes I’ve decided to use as pyjamas (a singlet and some leggings...it’s summer!) and wonder where this “Courtney” lives, and why she ran away…