Forever Running

Forever Running | Chapter Four

"Running away from your problems is a race you'll never win."

ILIKETOQUOTE.COM

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I stared at Julie hard and all the thoughts that I had when Mrs. Stein found out was coming back. Mrs. Stein. Did she tell her? Did Mrs. Stein tell everyone? How did Julie know?

"So...umm...I ordered a new wooden nightstand a few days ago...so I want to pick it up." Julie said uncomfortably. I snapped back to reality.

"Oh! You did? Okay. I'll go get it." I said in hurry. I went the back of the store and looked for a nightstand with the name Martinez stuck on it. Soon enough I found it and brought it back to the counter. Julie's eyes were still stuck on the counter when I returned. I suddenly felt concerned.

"Here's your nightstand." I said softly as I passed it to her. She looked up and grabbed it from me. She fished out the bills from her pocket and payed for the stand. When the transaction was done, Julie remained in the store, her eyes still on the counter. It felt a little awkward so I thought I might ask her some questions.

"So how is it at school. Did I miss anything cool?" I asked with a large amount of uncertainty. Her eyes remained on the counter.

"No. Nothing cool happened" she answered. Something seriously wrong happened to Julie. Maybe it has something to with me leaving school.

"Umm...is everything okay?" I asked.

"Destiny, what happened to Brook?" Julie asked suddenly. Her eyes finally met mine and they were a little watery, like she was going to cry. Her question and sudden curiosity took me by surprise. Instead of answering I asked why it was so important.

"Sorry I'm asking, but its kinda scary," Scary? What's she talking about?

"One day she was here in the neighbourhood, at school, working here," Julie said pointing to the counter, "and now she's gone. It's almost like she disappeared, and nobody did anything about it. What happened?" Julie repeated.

I felt my jaw clench, and I narrowed my eyes. Why did any of this concern her? What happened to Brook was a long time ago. We got over it. Done. Why does Julie need to bring it up now?

"Destiny...I'm really sorry for asking. But I need to know." She said looking at me hard.

"Why?" I said harshly.

"Because she was gone right after your dad was laid off from the factory. If your dad was still working there then maybe she would still be-"

"Enough." I interrupted. My head was spinning and my hands were shaking. Why did she so desperately need to know what was going on in my life? For God's sakes, couldn't she leave me alone?

"Is she dead, Destiny?" She asked.

I don't why I did it or what made me do it, but I slapped Julie so hard across her face that I'm sure the people standing around outside the shop heard it. Her head whipped to the side and a sharp yelp came from her mouth. Her hand moved up to her cheek by reflex, then she slowly turned her head in my direction. The anger inside me vanished instantly, and was quickly replaced by fear. She closed her eyes, let out a shaky breath, and lowered her hand, calming herself down. I saw a stream of tears falling down her face and red palm print on her left cheek. She looked at me for a second and I saw the pain behind her eyes. Then she turned around and ran for the front door.

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The strange and emotional workday had finally ended, so I walked back home. When I stepped into my home I saw Alania at the dinning table doing her homework. Troy was sitting on the couch again, looking up like all the answers of life was posted on the ceiling.

I walked further in and I didn't see dad and I'm sure mom was still at work. I walked into "my" room and laid on my bed. I let my mind wonder and think about my awkward/violent encounter with Julie. It wasn't long until Troy walked into the room.

He walked over to my bed and sat on the edge. He looked at me strange for a while and finally spoke.

"So what's with you?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked sitting up properly.

"You didn't go to school this morning," he said. "When did you start skipping?" he added.

I stared at him dead in the eye. "I didn't go to school 'cause I'm not allowed to anymore." I explained the whole conversation mom gave me to him. Troy's dark hair covered most of his face but I swear I saw his eyes widen with every word I said. In the end he looked down and stared at the old carpet.

Finally he looked at me and said, "I'm sorry."

His apology was a slap to the face. Where did that come from? I cocked my head and when he saw me do so he turned his head back down and sighed.

"I was supposed to run the store, not you. You should be in school and working hard, soon going off to college . You were supposed to be a good role model for Alania. Do the things Brook and I couldn't."

He took a breath, then continued, "The worst part is that mom and dad lost total faith in me. Dad didn't even ask me if I could work for him, he knows I would only mess things up." Troy looked at me again and repeated, "I'm sorry." He stood up and walked out of the room leaving me alone completely baffled.

Troy apologized? Troy apologized?! My mind was having way too much trouble processing what happened today. What did Troy say about Brook? Right, I was supposed to do something they couldn't. Why is Brook suddenly being a strong piece of my life even though she's gone?

She ran from home three years ago when she turned fifteen. The years where everyone in our family was happy. Our dad cracking jokes every minute, mom always baking, Troy always smiling and laughing. Even Alania was much happier. But ever since the factory failure, everything went wrong. Brook had way too much stress on her shoulders from being the oldest sibling, from watching the rest of us while mom and dad working. On top of that she had to keep up with her schoolwork and maintain a good reputation. She couldn't take it any longer.

Brook left when we least expected it but we knew it would eventually come. She was suddenly moody, rude, inconsiderate, and a giant ball of rage. Brook eventually cracked and left us with just a note saying that she was leaving us and never coming back.

We all thought it was just some stupid teenage flaw, until several weeks had gone by and no word from Brook. We quickly started loosing hope and many people began to wonder what had happened to her.

Our family acted as if nothing had happened, but her runaway was a great loss for all of us. That's when Troy stared to act different. He lost his smile and his laugh. He became hard and lost all his dreams and ambitions for life. He couldn't keep up with school, or our family. He even gave up on his friends.

He and Brook had a connection that only they would understand and when Brook left, so did Troy.