Growing Pains | BOOK 2

1:10

April 13th, 1994. 10:23 A.M.

With a bloated stomach and swelling pulsed ankles, I sunk deeper in the booth seat. I felt as if the button on the pants I wore were about to burst open, I stared lovingly at the man across from me. "Weak." Dallas jeered, finishing off his third plate of double chocolate pancakes. I had no clue how he could handle it, without exploding, "Shut up." I giggled back, tossing a napkin at him. He glances over his shoulder in irritation at the football match, "Man. This cr*p never ends." He moaned, sick and tired of the peoples screams. "You'd think a manly man, like yourself would love these sorts of things."

"Blah." He stuck his tongue out in disgust. A sudden loud groan from a dozen people, alerted us to the television once again. In bright red text, the words 'BREAKING NEWS' stroll across the screen and over the air waves. All eyes were now on the reporter, "A stolen car from Atlantic City has been found with a weapon in the backseat, covered in blood. County Police confirm the DNA matches that of the homeless man murdered in Ohio last night. The car was dumped a mile from a diner, where another car was stolen, presumably by the same culprit. Witness have come forward stating the perpetrators were a young man and woman, who were seen driving also the main highway..."

I nearly fainted on the spot; they were speaking about us. Dallas craned his head to me, "Act cool." He gritted between his teeth. "...Suspects believe to be Dallas Winston and Bianca Cruise, aged 19 and 17. Bianca's parents fear for her safety as she is a minor and believe that Dallas is a mentally ill and illegal substance user. The pair were last scene in Atlantic City after a family argument which has now been resolved..." I gulped down the bile reaching my throat. Dallas swore under his breath, on top of the murder, people were now coming forward with ridiculous allegations. I knew one was correct, about the illegal substances. "...Concerned oldest sister, Amy Randle has spoken out today to reports..."

Amy appeared on the screen with Steve in front of their new home. They must've gotten married after the whole thing, they held onto each other for support and I couldn't believe my eyes. Her eyes had tears, she cries, "Bianca please return home. We all miss you and promise to revolve everything that went wrong. You didn't do anything wrong." The reporter returns to the screen, "...Family friend, Paul has also spoken with police on the efforts to find young Bianca..." Now Paul appeared on the screen. I almost fell off the chair, I wanted to strangle him as he spoke, "...We want to know you're fine and healthy." The interviewer on scene starts to ask Paul questions, he listens and nods, "Was Bianca acting differently before running off?" Paul rubs the back of his neck, "Well, Yes. I could tell she had something on her mind, she became short fused and irritable."

Dallas turns back to me, thinking it was all over. He had his back to the television when the reporter spoke again, "If you've seen any of these two. Please call the number below the portraits." He whipped around so fast that the cup of coffee shattered on the ground, it didn't even faze either of us. I almost spat my own coffee out all over Dallas. All around us people reached for their phones, waitresses pushed to the wall phone. Dallas was fast, he jumped to his feet and ripped my arm out of the diner. The car whipped out of the lot, swerving back onto the highway, where Dallas floored it. I held onto the sides, trying to balance myself as he snagged past cars. I was really exhausted from all this escaping.