Scratched

Eight

EIGHT

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The plane ride had been eventful.

I had never been on an airplane before and I had to say it was rather terrifying. I know the statistics—of course, but that did nothing for me. It could always happen. Ever since I had watched Castaway I had never felt right about planes. Not to mention the day music died. Ritchie Valens had only been on a plane a handful of times and then he was going down in one. So to say I was uncomfortable was an understatement—I was incredibly uncomfortable. But I had managed to survive it.

I stared out the window as the plane came closer and closer to the city. It's funny. I've never left Riverview one day in my life. The times I had gone out of town had always been with my mother. I wasn't sure how to handle this. I'd never considered I might be sheltered, but as I approached the city the thought became more and more apparent to me. I had been sheltered. I'd never had to do much on my own or make my own way. I wasn't a child. I did know how to do things but as far as taking steps to be self-sufficient—it'd never happened.

I didn't know much about Lechston. It was one of those cities you always hear about. A big tourist hub, but you never know more than the surface. It was where stars lived and dreams were achieved. This was the place where you went to become famous. And I had every intention of getting there. It was just a matter of how to get there. Maybe by the time I'm in college I'll be closer to figuring out howd I get there from here, but for now I was just playing it day by day.

As I climbed off the plane, arriving at the Lechston airport I nearly kissed the ground. I restrained myself though. I grabbed my bags and then I was heading out of the airport, and that's when it hit me. I should have known as soon as I reached the airport that I was being stupid. I had only been thinking of leaving and music. In all of this I had neglected to consider the current reality, which was I had no house and pennies for money. I'd really screwed myself on that.

But there was hope.

I had a friend in the city. When I was a junior she'd gone to Riverview. We'd instantly liked each other. Like attracts like, right? And she'd been all into the stuff I was. She'd moved out here to pursue an acting career. It hadn't occurred to me until now to call her up. Thinking this, I dug out my phone. I plopped down onto a nearby bench. I quickly put her number, waiting for her to pick up. After a few rings she did. "Yeah?" she said through the phone.

"Hey, Kaia! It's Piper."

"No way! Piper! What're you doing?"

"I'm in Lechston. Can I pay a visit?"

"Of course you can!"

She rattled off an address and directions of how to get there. After that I hung up and made my way there. Lechston was a big city—it was easy to get lost. It took me about an hour but I finally found what I was looking for. I looked up at the shady building. It was run down looking and was in a bad part of town. Looks like she's living the good life.