Reckless.

0. Prologue

I've been driving for two hours and I'm starving. Food is all I can think about at the moment... a cheeseburger sounds nice. I sigh and turn up my radio, realizing that I only have four dollars to my name. I spent all my money on my hotel room and breakfast so I'll just have to stick this out. This whole plan to run away and start over seemed like a good idea but now I'm just nervous. New people, new surroundings, being on my own. I mean Aunt Wendy said I could stay with her but she's always smoking a cigarette or sleeping, she'll be no help. I'd rather stay there than be homeless though so I'm on my way there. Hopefully she has food.

I run my hand through my hair and start sucking on my bottom lip nervously as I make a turn down her block. Her house is a pretty peach color with white doors and windows. She's outside, on the phone and smoking a cigarette. Her hair is gray but you can tell she dyed it. She's skinny like a twig, always been that way. I haven't seen her since I was 12 but nothing changed. I smile to myself and get out the car after parking it.

"Aunt Wendy," I say approaching her.

She flinches and turns around. She starts cheesing and tells the person on the phone she'll call them back later. "Hi baby girl, how you been?"

"I'm breathing so I guess I'm good," I smile a little and give her a hug. "How about you? Everything good around here?"

She sighs and shoves her little hands in her pockets. "I guess. It's pretty calm around this area but don't go too far from here. It gets dangerous trust me. There's been a lot of shootings and robberies."

"Really? Wow. Well I don't plan on going far anyway. I just wanna focus on graduating this year and hopefully going to college far far away."

"Good," she kisses my cheek and smiles. "Go inside and chill, I'll get your bags."

"Thank you Aunt Wendy." I smile back and step inside. A nap was highly needed, I feel like I've been driving all my life. As soon as I spot a couch, I flop down on it and kick my boots off. When my head hit the pillow, I was already sleeping.

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I wake up to Aunt Wendy shaking me, whispering my name over and over. I blink several times before rubbing my eyes and looking up at her. "How long was I sleeping?"

She chuckles. "A while baby girl. Like 4 hours."

"4 hours? What the hell..." I sit up and look at the clock. It's already 8pm. "I didn't know I was that tired."

"Well you were driving for a long time. Come eat some dinner, I cooked up a little something for you." She shoots me a friendly smile and strolls off into the kitchen.

As soon as she says that I remember that I'm dying of hunger and hop off the couch, practically flying into her kitchen. It smells like Italian food, my favorite. She cooked spaghetti and meatballs with her special sauce that I loved when I was a child. My mouth is watering at this point as I take a seat at her table and wait for her to serve me. She chuckles at me while pouring spaghetti onto my plate. After she's done, she opens her fridge and I'm stuffing my face. "This taste so good Aunt Wendy, I really missed your cooking."

"Aw thank you sweetheart. What you want to drink? Pepsi or Sprite?"

I swallow my food and choose Pepsi. She pours me a glass and sits across from me. "You not eating?"

"No," she grins. "I haven't been that hungry lately. Just been eating bread and drinking hot chocolate."

I frown. "That's not very healthy. You're already skinny as hell. You need to eat proper meals. You know like breakfast, lunch and dinner."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm aware."

"So make yourself a plate," I look at her with a straight face.

"No thanks Mom, I'll eat later but not right now." She chuckles and rests her face on her hands, squishing her face up. She actually looks like a teenager right now, with her dyed hair and slouching figure. Aunt Wendy always had a baby face, that's why she was always pretty to me. Olive green eyes, perfect skin, tiny nose, plump lips... hell I wanted to look like her at one point and I still feel like that now.

I drop the whole eating thing and shove another forkful in my mouth while rolling my eyes. "What school am I going to?"

She sighs and looks at her nails. "Lincoln High. I don't really like it but it's the only high school in this small ass town."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's in a bad neighborhood. A lot of bad kids go there. Kids with fucked up homes and parents that don't really want them or care about them, it's a damn shame," she shakes her head and continues to pick at her nails. "I mean don't get me wrong, they're definitely good kids that go there that's doing good and doesn't do drugs or anything like that but it's best if you just focus and not get caught up with the bullshit. You can make a friend or two and bring them over but just make sure they have goals and good intentions."

I nod and take a sip of my Pepsi. "I wasn't planning on making friends anyway to be honest. I just wanted to go and pass all my classes and graduate."

"Good," she smiles. "Now go take a shower and try to go back to sleep so you won't be tired in the morning. You have to be up by 6."

"Okay."

She kisses my forehead, "goodnight Junebug."

"Goodnight," I laugh.

She leaves the kitchen and strolls up the stairs. I look down at my empty plate and sigh, thinking about how life is back home. My mom and dad are probably scared and looking for me but I could careless. It's time to leave all those bad memories behind and start fresh here. It may not be the best place but it's something. I have somewhere to rest my head, shower, and just to think. It's quiet and that's what I need right now.

Peace and quiet.