Run Away

Chapter 24

"I don't know. Maybe she needs someone without the baggage I have. I mean she has enough problems. Plus I can tell that Lance isn't going to let me just walk away from this." The words registered in my brain and I slowly blinked my eyes open. My room was empty and the sun was streaming through the window. Someone was talking outside my door.
"Oh come on. Don't be stupid! She obviously likes you and she's strong enough to figure this out. Lance doesn't have some kind of inhuman hold on you either. You can make your own choices." Sierra fired back. I heard a thump and could tell she stomped her foot. Obviously her and Garrett were having an argument. I heard him sigh softly.
"Fine. I'll drop the subject for now. I'm just worried."
"And there is absolutely no reason you should be. She isn't going to leave just because you have problems of your own." She reassured him. I wondered what they were talking about. Garrett had never opened up to me and all I had got was that he must have had a bad past. I wished he would talk to me, but we had only been together for a few weeks and he probably felt I had enough stuff going on in my life right now. I crawled out of my cozy bed and stretched. After my episode last night, I was left feeling groggy and slightly grumpy. I decided a hot shower would probably do me good. A text lit up my phone.
Sierra: Should we go out for supper tonight?
Sierra: we are coming home to get you. Why aren't you answering?
I realized that they were from last night and must have just come through. I ignored them and headed to the bathroom. I took a long hot shower, trying to get the exhaustion away. I was left feeling clean but tired as ever with a small headache pounding behind my eyelids. I stood looking in the mirror and decided that today I was going to look my best. I hummed a little song as I dub through my closet, in a better mood despite my headache. Yesterday had been spent feeling sorry for myself. Today I needed to get my act together and actually find a solution to my many problems. I had to plan my next step. I pulled out my favourite shirt in the world. It was a white crop top with the words Be Free on it and I wore it when I wanted to feel confident. I paired it with a pair of jean shorts that were a little shorter than I normally wore. After blow drying my hair, I curled it into loose waves and even added a little mascara to my eyelashes. When I looked in the mirror, I smiled at my reflection. I looked confident and like I could take on the world. Smiling, I headed downstairs, following the delicious aroma of coffee.
"Good morning sunshine!" Sierra sang as I walked into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table swirling an iced coffee drink around with a straw. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she had Capri leggings and a tight purple tank top on. She looked comfy, but ready to do anything.
"Good morning!" I smiled.
"You look great sweetie. Oh and there's some iced coffee for you on the counter." She nodded her head towards the counter and I thanked her before going over there. I pulled myself up onto the counter and let my legs dangle as I sipped my coffee. I munched on a bag of grapes as I sipped, enjoying the fresh ocean breeze drifting in from the open screen door.
"Where Garrett?" I asked curiously. Sierra's face fell a little before she masked it with a smile.
"He's out surfing with Jordan. I think he needed a little guy time." I didn't question her but I wondered what was bothering Garrett so much. Just then the door swung open and the two boys came laughing into the kitchen. To my surprise, they were in their trunks, but were dry and not showing any sign of being in the water. Garrett took one look at me and stopped short, then a small smile crossed his face.
"Dang babe." He smirked as he came over to me and positioned himself between my legs. I giggled at him and flicked his nose. He wrinkled it in dissatisfaction and then grinned.
"Hi." I said still giggling a little.
"Hi. You're sure looking great. What made you feel like dressing up?" He asked as his eyes took me in happily. I shrugged.
"I don't know. I was down and out all day yesterday so I decided that today I needed to get my act together and actually start planning my next step. I wanted to feel confident I guess."
"Well I wish you would feel confident more often." He whistled softly and I laughed.
"Oh stop. By the way, Sierra told me you guys went surfing. You don't look like you went in the water though." I stated.
"Nah. The water was kinda wild and we didn't feel up to it. We mostly just talked." He shrugged and I didn't question him further.
"So what should we do today?" Sierra asked from the table.
"You know, I was thinking that I need to plan where I'm going next. I need to figure out my next move. I'm not gonna find Tessa just sitting here, and well that's what I'm here for." They all nodded, but Jordan looked a little apprehensive at the thought of going somewhere else.
"So what?" He asked.
"So maybe we can take today to plan a little? I'm kind of a organization freak." I admitted. And you're trying to get over that. A little voice in my mind echoed. I ignored it and watched their reaction. They all seemed to agree so I jumped off the counter to get my laptop. Soon we were all crowding around the table, making plans.
*****
"I just think that we should see more of California since we are actually here. I've always wanted to see it." Sierra frowned at the map and pulled her hands through her ponytail. We were having a slight disagreement. I wanted to go elsewhere and everyone else wanted to take their time here.
"I agree with her babe. This isn't only about you finding Tessa. We talked about this. This is for you to find yourself and make good memories while you are at it. Why don't we just go with the flow more? Take our time?" Garrett reminded.
"I just... ugh!" I was frustrated and I put my head on the table closing my eyes against the pounding headache I had. We had been at this for hours and gotten nowhere. I thought about their words and realized that they were right, but I had to fight down the part of me that needed a plan, that needed to keep going. It was my instinct to plan every single detail out but I tried to push that aside. I sat up and smiled at them as they watched me worriedly.
"You know what? You guys are right. I need to have fun while doing this too. Why don't we stay here for a few days and then we can take off and travel California. Just wherever we decide we want to go, we can go. And if we change our minds halfway through, we can turn around. Just go with the flow?" Everyone seemed to agree and we finally settled on leaving in three days. A weird kind of excitement filled me at the thought of drifting along with no plan whatsoever. Just us, doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.