SHORT STORIES

Escape

   I slowly pushed the door open and crept in, trying not to alert my mom to my presence, but of course she heard me anyway. She came stumbling down the stairs, a half-empty bottle of wine in her hand. My guess was that was not her first of the day.

   "Hey, sweetheart, how was your day at school?" She came closer and hugged me, and I stiffened.
  
   I pulled away. 'What do you want, mom?"
  
   She scoffed. "I can't just ask my daughter how her day was to be nice?"

   "No, you can't. You always do this when you want something, so what is it?"
  
   She sighed. "Fine. I need money."

   "For what, more cigarettes?"

   "Yes, I ran out yesterday."

   "Absolutely not. I'm not giving you my money so you can waste it on cigarettes and alcohol instead of food for us, or keeping the house."
  
   Her eyes burned with anger. "Oh, so you think you're the adult now? You think you can waltz in here like you own the place and disrespect me? I'm the adult, I give you food, shelter, the clothes on your back, and you are supposed to do what I tell you!"

   "I'm more of an adult than you are! You've been acting like a child since dad left. I'm the one keeping us alive, keeping us fed, so excuse me for wanting to keep the money that I earned to keep us from ending up on the side of the road in a cardboard box!"

   "GO TO YOUR ROOM!" She screamed, nearly dropping her wine in her rage. I stormed up the stairs and to my room, slamming the door behind me.
  
   I flopped onto my bed and groaned into my pillow, knowing I had homework but too tired to get up and do it. Just a few minutes lying here and I'll get up....

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   I bolted upright, not sure why I had awoken, until I heard it-a small tap tap. I glanced at my alarm clock. The face read 1:34 a.m. Damn it, I thought. I fell asleep.
  
   I slowly got out of bed and crept to my window, opening it and peering down. Below me, my best friend Emma had her arm cocked back to toss another pebble at my window.

   "What are you doing here? It's one in the morning, Em."

   "I know, I know, I'm sorry for waking you, but could you come down here please?"
  
   My eyebrows drew together in concern. Emma never showed up this late and asked me to come down unless something was really wrong. I slipped my shoes on and threw on a sweatshirt before creeping past the door to my mom's room, down the stairs, and out the door.
  
   I slipped through the shadows to where Emma was leaning against the wall. She was wearing a hoodie, and the hood was covering her face, shrouding it in darkness.
   "What's up? Is something wrong?"

   "Yeah." She tugged her hood down and looked up. I gasped, chills going through me.
  
   Her right eye was bruised, yellow and purple smudging across the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, as if she had been crying, and her lip was split and bleeding slightly. I took her chin gently in my hand and twisted it back and forth, searching for more damage.

   "Who did this to you?" I whispered.
  
   She looked down and didn't answer.
   "Em, please. Answer me."
  
   She didn't look up, but I could just barely hear her mumble, "My dad."
  
   Fire rushes through my veins and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to break her dad's nose, but I took her hands and she met my eyes.

   "I can't go back there, August. I can't."
  
   Her voice was weak and shaky. My heart broke for her, and in that moment I made my decision. My eyes hardened with determination.

   "You don't have to. Wait here." I let go of her hands and turned, striding quickly back into the house.
  
   I hated to leave her out there, but I couldn't risk her coming inside and my mom waking up. I crept as quietly as I possibly could up the stairs, stepping over the one that creaks, and into my room, closing the door.
  
   I dragged my largest duffel bag out of my closet and started packing. I threw clothes, shoes, a blanket and a few books into it before zipping it up, just barely getting it to close. I grabbed my backpack from beside the door where I dropped it earlier and dumped the contents out onto my bed. I grabbed my phone, a charger, and headphones and putting them into it before remembering my bear. I didn't go anywhere without it. I stuffed it in and ducked under my mattress to find it. Please still be here.
  
   I rooted around for a minute before my hand brushed something cool and papery. Thank you, Jesus. I stood back up with my hand full of slightly rumpled 20 dollar bills. I stuffed them in the front of the bag and zipped it closed, throwing it on my back and picking up the duffel. I'm almost out of the door when I spot it.
  
   Sitting on my nightstand is my favorite picture ever, the best moment of my life. It's a picture of me and Emma, five years old, taken just after we met. In the picture we're stacking blocks, trying to see how far up it can go. I picked it up, smiling at how young and cute we were, before tucking it into the backpack and tiptoeing back down the stairs.
  
   I swiped a few granola bars out of the cabinet and the keys off the counter before slipping back outside. I walked around to where Emma was waiting, her hood back up, foot tapping.

   "Oh good, you're back. I was starting to think you left me." She chuckled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

   "Never. Come on." I grabbed her hand and led her around to the driveway, where my mom's old car was sitting. Emma looked confused, finally noticing the duffel and my backpack. I popped the trunk and start shoving the duffel bag in.

   "What are you doing? What's all this?" She asked.

   "We're getting out of here." I shut the trunk as silently as possible and opened the passenger door for her. "Get in."
  
   She looked shocked and stared at me. "But what about school, and your job, and your mom, and-"

  "Screw school. I was failing anyway. I can find another job, and my mom has not done a single thing right for me since my dad left. She can suck it. Now are you getting in or not?"
  
   Her eyes widened in surprise, but she got into the car without argument. I walked around and slid into the driver's seat, throwing my backpack into the backseat.
  
   I turned to Emma. "Buckle up, because as soon as I start this car, I'm gunning it, or my mom will catch us. She can run surprisingly fast for a drunk."
  
   She obliged, and I took a deep breath before starting the car and switching on the headlights. The light glared into the second story window of my mom's room, and I briefly saw her silhouette standing at the window before I threw it in reverse and backed out of the driveway. I sped down the road and made my way down to Main Street before checking the rear view and breathing a sigh of relief. Mom hadn't come after us, at least not yet. We had to go somewhere where she couldn't possibly track us. I quickly typed a location into the GPS and started following the directions.
  
   As we left the city limits, I turned the radio all the way up and rolled the windows down, screaming the words as we sped down the road. It took a few minutes, but eventually Emma started singing with me, and then she started laughing. I hadn't heard her laugh in...god, it had been ages since I'd last heard that beautiful, pure sound. It filled me with so much joy and relief that I nearly started crying.
  
   We only stopped once, to get gas and pick up snacks, and before we left I brought Emma to the bathroom to clean her face and patch her up a bit.
  
   As I was gently wiping blood from her lip, she murmured from her perch on the countertop, "Why are you doing all this for me, August? You had a life back at home. You had friends, a job, everything. Why did you throw it all away?"
  
   I stopped for a moment and looked up at her.

   "Because. I don't really talk to my old friends anymore, the only person I talk to is you. I really didn't like my job at all and even if I did, even if I had the best job and the best friends and all the things I could ever want, I'd give it all up for you." I went back to cleaning her lip to avoid eye contact as I said quietly, "You're my everything, Em."
  
   She didn't say anything, but I could feel her face warm up under my touch.

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   A few hours later, we had gotten breakfast and were driving along the coast when the sun started to rise. I pulled over and we climbed onto the roof of the car. We sat in silence for a while, just soaking in the sunlight as it glinted off the hood of the car and warmed our skin. I grabbed Emma's hand and gently squeezed it. She turned to look at me.

   "Thank you, August. You saved me, I don't know how much longer I could've stayed there."

   "No one deserves to live in that hellhole. I'm glad we got out of there."
  
   We turned back and watched the sun for a few more minutes, until she said, "I hope we can do this all the time."
  
   I looked back to her. "We can do this every morning if you want. We can do anything now." I turned back to the sun. "We're free."
  
   Emma touched my cheek and slowly turned my face towards her. "And I can finally do something I've wanted to do for years."
  
   I whispered, "And what's that?"
  
   She gently pressed her lips to mine, her scent quickly surrounding me, her lips intoxicating me, her touch lighting me up. I couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything but her. I grabbed her face with my hands and brought her closer, holding her in my arms as we broke the kiss.

   "Christ, I love you, August Miller. I love you so much."
  
   She leaned her head on my shoulder and we continued gazing at the sunrise, my hand in hers once again. We were finally safe. We had each other, and the prospect of infinite kisses and sunrises in our future.
  
   We were young, and in love, and for the first time in our lives, we were free.