The Stranger

Chapter 17.

get•a•way
noun
an escape or quick departure, especially after committing a crime.

I never thought I'd be here..

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As I awakened, I became unfamiliar with my surroundings which caused me to panic. "Where am I?!" I screamed out. I was in the backseat of a vehicle; I leaned up glancing out of the window and noticed it was pitch black outside. Oh my goodness! I looked at the driver, and saw that it was Tray, based off his neck tattoo. He turned his head to the side, revealing his perfect jaw line to me. "Relax, Dazie." He said in a mellow tone.

"Relax?! How can I possibly relax?! Where are am I going? Oh my gosh.. my parents! Where is my phone and belongings? Tray answer me!" I said in a frenzy while patting myself down. "Yo.. slow the.." He caught hisself before finishing the sentence, releasing a sigh. "Please, calm down. I already spoke to your peoples. They know where you are and where you're going." He finished. I exhaled deeply. "Can you tell me where I'm going?" "First of all, we." He said as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Okay, where are we going?" I asked in a nicer tone. Perhaps my panicking wasn't making the situation better or easier for him to talk to me. "I'm glad you asked." He said sarcastically. "We're going to a hotel for the night." I scrunched my face up while shaking my head left to right. "And my parent's were okay with this?" I asked in confusion. "Chill.. I know how to speak to parent's. I told them you had a last minute project." I lifted both of my hands up. "Okay, okay. You know what you're doing apparently."

"You know.. I had the craziest dream, that you and Oscar got into a fight." I said, giggling. "That's crazy, right?" I continued. Tray looked at me in the rear view mirror with dagger eyes and back onto the road. "It wasn't a dream." He replied harshly. My smile faded into concern. "What do you mean it wasn't a dream?" I asked nervously. "I said, what I said. It wasn't a dream." "W-w-well.. what happened?" I asked while twiddling my fingers. "I'll explain everything later. Right now, you need to rest and I need to focus on getting us to this hotel."

"Why are we going to a hotel if Oscar is okay?" I asked. I started to feel in my spirit that Tray harmed Oscar, and now we were on our way to "lay low". "Why all of a sudden you care if Oscar is okay? Why you ain't checkin' for me?" He asked. It's not that I didn't care about Tray's well being. I guess I still had a slight attachment to Oscar; hopes that he really isn't a bad guy. "Why are you coming at me like that? You know I care for you, Tray." I replied.

"Could have fooled me." He said while scoffing. I decided that the best thing to do in this situation is to remain quiet. I didn't want to cause an argument with emotions running high on both ends.

After a quiet drive, we arrived to a Holiday Inn 20 minutes later. "Grab yo stuff." He said. I could tell he was still upset. I grabbed my belongings, which were stuffed in the truck and followed behind him to the entrance of the hotel.

"Welcome to the Holiday Inn!" I glanced up and noticed a pretty brown skinned woman, probably in her early twenties, eyeing me and Tray. "Wassup?" Tray replied back to her. I felt a slight emotion of jealousy in my bones. I couldn't figure out if it was because she was prettier than me or that she was eyeing Tray like a piece of candy. "How may I help
you?" She said in a cheery tone, as she ran her fingers through her black bob. She didn't pay me any attention, it's as if I was invisible. "We'd like a room for a night." I said, making myself noticed.

She slowly turned her head towards my direction, and shot me a fake smile. "Suurre, allow me a moment to look up one of our available rooms." She scrunched her nose up as she began to type on the keyboard. I glanced at her name tag: Sandruh. I scoffed at the spelling of her name, and proceeded to browse around the hotel lobby. "I show we have a room on the first and third floor. Which floor would you prefer?" She asked, eyeing Tray again. Tray was busy staring at the lobby television; which aired a basketball game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City. "First is fine," I said replying for Tray.