Ruins of a Teenage Underground

Ruins of a Teenage Underground (Chapter 4)

What do you bring with you when you know you're never coming back? A lot of socks and underwear, probably. And a toothbrush. I'd already left everything behind once before, but last time I'd only had a single flannel shirt to bring. Now, I had two years worth of stuff here. 

It was easier packing the first time.

In a way, I felt like I was seven again, packing for a sleepover. Except this time, no one was going to stay up all night watching movies with me, or eat waffles with me in the morning. My mom wasn't going to pick me up and scold me for staying up too late, either. It was still a rough realization, even though I'd had almost two years to come to terms with it.

My phone beeped in my pocket, and I frantically rushed to silence it before it woke Cory up. It was a new text message from Turner, who was literally in the next room over. Lazy ass.

Half an hour. Are you ready? :)

Half an hour. Thirty minutes. 15 minutes twice. 18,000 seconds. 5 minutes six times.

I was not ready.

People had it way worse than me, and I knew that. There was starvation, and disease and war. But even though people may have had it worse than having a dead family and no friends, it didn't change the fact that I still had what I had, and what I had sucked. I needed to leave.

I yanked on my hoodie, wrapping my favourite scarf around my neck for good measure. I shoved a few last minute things into my backpack, including the key for the flat in case Turner's plan didn't work out for me, and also a bottle of rum because I may or may not have had a slight drinking problem. At least I could admit it.

T minus 30 seconds until go time. Meet me on the fire escape.

Taking a deep breath, I shut off my phone and shoved it in my pocket. With one last look around my room, I opened the sliding glass door and stepped out on to the balcony. I could see Turner below me, standing on the metal fire escape stairs. I hoisted myself over the edge of the balcony, and swung, landing with a massive crash beside Turner.

"That was quite the exit." Turner grinned, readjusting his backpack as we tried to descend the stairs quickly yet quietly.

"What are you going to tell Cory when he realizes I'm gone?" I asked, trying to catch up with Turner and his gargantuan strides.

"I'll figure it out. All you have to worry about is getting to where we're going."

I fell quiet as we ducked through alleyways and backyards, making sure to stay as invisible as possible. I wiped my nose on my sleeve and sighed as Turner pulled himself over a chain link fence, landing gracefully on the other side. I had no choice but to follow him, landing in a heap.

"Wait. Shh." Turner said, holding an arm out to stop me, just as I stood up. Due to our height difference though, it just ended up being a really painful karate chop to the boob. "Do you hear that?"

Craning my neck towards the street in front of us, I tried to focus in on something other than the hum of the streetlights around us. It was unsettling, seeing such a busy city entirely empty. We were utterly alone, surrounded by nothing but concrete covered in the ghosts of graffiti that they couldn't quite erase, and some lonely looking shoes hung over a telephone wire, twirling sadly in the breeze.

"I don't hear anything."

He grunted, taking one last glance around us before darting across the street, into an empty park. He motioned for me to hurry, just as a car's headlights swept across where I was standing. I could hear Turner curse from across the street, his waving getting even more frantic as the car got closer.