Runaway

Chapter 28

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~Uploaded August 29th, 2014

Fall came faster than I would've liked. I've never really been one for cold weather, which is why I preferred heading inside the second I saw a single leaf change colour, then curling up on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa and watching some movie. Ah, those were the days.

But I was beginning to suspect that the citizens of Silver Creek had never heard of sleeping in. I was really considering installing a lock on my bedroom door when Andie came barging in one cool morning.

"Andie", I grumbled before she could even fully enter the room. "If you're here to ask me to babysit Dylan, or to give you a ride to school, or to even walk Hobo this morning, then you can just forget about it and leave."

"Long day at work yesterday?", Andie asked instead as she sat on the edge of my bed.

"You have no idea." Minnie hadn't hired Cassandra after all, and the evening rush had only gotten worse. "She didn't seem very qualified for the job", Minnie had said, and considering it didn't take much to qualify for hostess, I was thinking that was pretty bad. So I had gone to bed on a nearly empty stomach with a headache and fatigue gnawing at my bones like an annoying tick.

"I see." I pulled the covers over my head and waited for Andie to go away. As much as I considered her a close friend, she was one of the last things I wanted to see this morning.

"Why are you still here?", I asked after she made it very clear she wasn't going anywhere.

"Do you know what tomorrow is, Dani?", she asked. I pushed the blanket aside and propped myself up on my elbow.

"Please don't tell me it's Dylan's birthday", I said, remembering Nolan saying it would be his birthday soon. "I'll feel terrible if it is and I don't have a gift for him."

"No, it's not until the 17th. I think even your birthday is before then. Tomorrow's Halloween!", Andie exclaimed. I stared at her, unblinkingly.

"And...?"

"Uh, hello? Halloween? Free candy, dressing up, pranks?" I did remember the guys saying something about wreaking havoc on Halloween. That was the only thing I was looking forward to.

"I fail to see what you're so excited about." I sat up fully and let my feet dangle over the edge of the bed. "Too much candy is bad for you and dressing up is for little kids."

"Oh, boo", Andie pouted. "You're no fun. What happened to the Dani that let Dylan push her around in a shopping cart?"

"That Dani was lost somewhere at Walmart a week ago." I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "I'm guessing you want me to help you pick out a costume for some party you're going to?"

Andie surprised me by shaking her head. She seemed to like going to parties, being the social butterfly that she is, even though she admitted to not remembering half of them. "It is for a costume, but not for a party this year. I was going to go to one, but I got uninvited at the last minute." She forced a tight smile. "It's nothing, really. Now I'm just going to spend the night with friends."

For the first time, I saw a side of Andie that wasn't always smiling or a little ball of sunshine. She seemed hurt, as if that party had been something important to her.

"Andie", I said as gently as I could, even though the rest of me felt like growling like a lioness. "It's not nothing. That party was important to you, wasn't it?"

"Well I wouldn't say important..." Andie looked down at the floor.

"You can tell me you know. I'd like to know what's eating at you so badly."