Running Away

Chapter 3: Goodnight, Sweet Girl

I woke up blindly in the middle of the night, tossing and turning.

I didn't want to leave the couch, still believing I was at my foster parents' house, and they would yell at me for "waking up my sister." I looked around for a sign that anyone else was awake.

I really didn't want to be alone.

I pulled out my phone, almost ready to text Lydia to see if she was up, but once I checked the time, I immediately put the phone down.

It was 1:47 AM.

Then I remembered. Barbara and Adam. They were ghosts, and ghosts didn't have to sleep. I crept upstairs to the attic, and quietly knocked on the door. I knew they were awake, but I didn't know if Charles, Delia, or Lydia could hear me.

"Lydia? Is that you?" Barbara said from behind the door.

I whispered, "It's me. Diesel. I can't sleep."

Barbara opened the door and let me in. Adam was working on some model and it looked like Barbara was sorting through some photo albums. Barbara said, "Diesel, honey, it's 2 in the morning. What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just not used to sleeping in an unfamiliar environment. I don't get to go on vacations with my parents, so I'm not used to hotels and things like that."

"Ah, you're a homebody!" Adam laughed.

"Not really..." I said shyly. "I would love to go on vacation, but there's no way plane tickets could've cost less than $10." I laughed. "I'm home alone most of the time. I can't even do sports or talent shows or school plays because my parents refuse to pay the fees. Well, I did do a play. I just asked for financial assistance, the school offers that for sports and activities, and they gave me the costume for free. But then my parents found out and I got in HUGE trouble with them."

Barbara looked at Adam. "What sports would you like to do?"

"I really like musical theater. I would try to find bootlegs, I mean slime tutorials, if I was able to access YouTube. My parents won't let me use the TV in the house."

Adam said, "Well, we'll chat tomorrow. Time for you to go to bed." Adam gestured for me to go back to the couch, and I was almost about to, but Barbara stopped him.

"The couch was the reason Diesel couldn't sleep!" Barbara angrily whispered at her husband. She turned to me, opened her arms, and said, "Diesel, do you want a hug?"

I nodded and crawled into Barbara's arms. She wrapped them tightly around me and kissed my head. It felt cold, given she was a ghost, but I didn't mind. I loved hugs, but I didn't get them often because of my troubled past.

Barbara stroked my hair and started singing softly to me. When I started to fall asleep, I heard Adam walk over and kneel down next to me.

"Goodnight, sweet girl." they said at the same time, just as I drifted off to sleep.