CRIMINAL.

CHAPTER 5

I wake up before the sun is even up.

I read the numbers on the clock next to the T.V. The blaring, red numbers read 5:13.

The third day of being here. So far, I'm not hurt or dead. I'm alive and in one piece.

I look around.

Ricky is still asleep, his hair in his face, his eyelashes fluttering every so often. He looks so beautiful when he's sleeping. Not so dangerous.

Everyone else must be asleep too. Ricky told me that everyone doesn't get up until 9:00 , 10:00, or 11:00 if they had a long night which is either battling other street gangs or just partying.

I have four and a half hours to get this done.

I've been planning this ever since the first day.

I quickly drop to the floor, freezing in case Ricky stirs or makes a noise. When he doesn't, I take action and crawl towards the kitchen.

I slowly get up from the floor and walk towards the screen door. The screen door is old and it's hinges are all rusty, so it doesn't make any noise anymore, thank God. Luckily, the keys are on the counter and I snatch them up. I try reach key, jiggling it around in the lock until I finally find it and open the door slowly, making sure no creak comes from it.

I push open the screen door and gasp at the sudden coolness of the air. It's must've rained last night while I was sleeping because the air takes on a musty, earthy kind of scent and it's pretty humid outside. I take a step outside onto the sidewalk, feeling the dampness of the stone step beneath my bare feet.

I'm finally out.

I'm going to get out of here.

But...do I really want to get out of here?

Do I really want to leave Ricky?

Seeing him wake up and seeing me gone brings an ache to my stomach and heart.

Am I doing this because it's what Mom would want?

What Kristen would want?

What my friends would want?

What Dad would want if he was still living with us?

What about what I want?

What I want is to stay with Ricky.

I finally realize that now.

I could've left the first day, but I didn't. I tried to hide the fact that I wanted to stay here, but I can't hide from it any longer.

I sit down the steps, running my fingers through my hair.

If I go back, they probably wouldn't even know I was gone. My friends will just assume I got lost in the party, met some guy, slept with him, and stayed with him for a couple of days. They wouldn't even know I was gone. And if they did, sure, Mom would come up here and take me home, but afterwards, in a month or two, everything would go back to normal.

Mom would still be working all day, no matter if I'm kidnapped or not.

Dad wouldn't even speak to us on the phone.

Kristen will keep growing everyday, still chewing that strawberry gum she always chews.

Nothing would change.

Nothing at all.

I probably wouldn't be on the news or in the newspapers.

Everything would just go back to normal.