Chapter 4

118 3 1
                                    

I wake up and roll over on the air mattress Jess blew up on her floor. My stomach hurts worse than it did last night. I drank way too many energy drinks.

"Indie? Are you up yet?" I hear Jess yell from downstairs. I slowly roll off the air mattress and stand up. I walk downstairs to see that Jess's mom has cooked us a huge breakfast of French toast and sausage, my favorite.

"I know these are your favorite foods, Honey. I hope you're hungry!" Her mom says hugging me. I actually am really hungry.

"Aw, thanks! You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, Indie, I'm going to miss you so much! Who's going to keep Jess out of trouble?" Jess rolls her eyes.

"I'm more worried about who's going to get Indie in trouble! You need to have some fun every now and then, even I I'm not there to be a bad influence!" Jess says grinning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we eat, I go home to spend some time with my mom. I agreed to have my mom pick Jess up on our way to the airport so I could say goodbye before I leave for Georgia.

When I get near my house, I start walking faster. Then I see Jerry's car is in the driveway. I have to get my mom out of that house somehow so we can spend the day together. How? I start with walking into the house.

"Where were you all night?" a loud voice booms when my stepdad sees me.

"Out." I spat.

"Don't use that attitude with me!" he yells walking towards me so that we are only a foot apart. He looks down at me. I used to be afraid of him, but not anymore. Now I just look at him with pure hatred.

"Mom?" I yell looking past him. He pushes me into the wall.

"I'm talking to you!" he yells. Behind him I see my mom step into the room. I hope she knows what I'm thinking. I run to the kitchen getting Jerry to follow me while my mom slips out the door. I run around our small apartment as much as I can to give her some time.

"Get over here, you little bitch!" he yells chasing me. I run to my room and am glad to see my mom has already packed every single one of my belongings into several suitcases. I lock the door behind me. That should give me a few more minutes before he busts it down. I push my dresser in front of it for some extra time. There are six suitcases sitting on my bed. Three are full of books. Two are clothes and shoes. One is full of the rest of my stuff. I open my window and set two at a time outside then climb out the window like I've done hundreds of times before. My mom helps me get my stuff in the car and then we are off to enjoy the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mom and I have a wonderful day driving around and stopping at places we used to visit before Jerry. Eventually, though, our time is coming to an end. We drive over to Jess's and pack up all my new clothes. Then we begin the long drive to the airport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going to miss you so much! Do you promise to call me on your first day?" Jess asks, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course! Be careful, okay?"

Jess nods quickly. A few tears escape my eyes and Jess is crying now. I look at my mom.

"You can't go back to him." I say sadly.

"Indigo, I'm not." she whispers smiling. What? Did I just hear her correctly? She nods and I gasp.

"W-where?" I stammer.

"I'm going to Oregon. He won't find me there. I will not put you in danger. We can talk when I'm sure he's given up on finding me!" she says and then my mom starts to cry. I hug her tightly for a long time. I hug Jess one last time before getting on the plane and finding my seat.

This is the beginning of my new life. My new life without him. My new life without my mom. I start to cry. My new life without Jess. I cry and cry until I fall asleep.

Spots of IndigoWhere stories live. Discover now