the permanent escape

chapter seven ~ eden

I open my eyes and look around. I'm sitting in the bed. I vaguely remember falling asleep on the floor last night, so I don't know how I got here.

Wow... I escaped... I'm finally out. But I'm not really in the best situation here either.

I look down and see that the blanket is on me. I remember being upset and throwing it off the bed; if I was asleep on the floor, shouldn't the blanket be on the floor?

I turn my head to the side and realize that the other bed next to mine is empty. I then realize I can hear the shower running.

This hotel has a TV, so I don't see why I can't use it. I reach over and grab the remote to turn on the TV.

I surf through channels until I find one that I want to watch. It's been so long since I actually watched TV.

I find a random program that looks vaguely familiar and turn it on. I just stare at it. I really don't have much better to do. I don't have anything to pack or anything to take care of.

And I feel like shit. I'm in pain from being attacked last night and I'm in pain from everything else that happened. And last night wasn't the best for me mentally either.

Another ten minutes passes by when I hear the bathroom door open. 

I feel myself get tense. Is Blake still mad about last night? Is he gonna be pissed about the TV? Is there something else for him to be mad at? I have no clue what to expect.

He walks out of the bathroom, wearing a black shirt, dark gray jeans, and the same jacket from last night. He glances at me as he walks toward his bags, placed on the other bed.

"Good morning," he says.

I sigh. "Yeah, what's good about it?" I ask.

Before he gets the chance to do whatever he was going to do, he turns around and stands across from me.

"I would really like for today to not be a repeat of last night," he says.

"It's not even that," I reply.

"Well, what is it then?" he asks.

"I don't–"

"Remember, we're gonna be in the car together for the next several hours. And if we're at another hotel tonight, we'll be in the room together as well. See, I don't have the money to get you your own separate room. So I'd like to have this resolved before we leave this room. I don't feel like spending the next few days arguing with you."

"I–I just..."

There's so much I could say right now...

"I'm just having a hard time right now," I say. It's pointless to bring up my actual concerns to him.

He nods. "Look, I know things can't be easy right now. And I agree with you. It's hard; it's gonna be hard for a bit. But you're out of there, and I think it's important that we focus on the task at hand, which is getting you to your dad," he says.

I have no idea what I should say. I can't just let him think that last night was ok. It's going to be a very long trip otherwise.

"I–You were really mean last night. You were nice, and then you were mean. That wasn't easy, going from one crazy situation, to another... much less dangerous but still crazy one," I say.

He nods. "So, I tend to lose track of it more than I should, but I'm aware that I can come off as a bit abrasive. I'm going to be honest with you; the behavior you showed me last night is genuinely frustrating to me. That's all I'm gonna say about that."