Sabrina's wish seemed to stick, because August of that same year Daryl drove the two of them to their first day of school in Merle's old pickup truck. They pulled up to the gates of Mountain Grove High School at approximately 7:40 in the morning. The bell wouldn't ring until 8am, but Sabrina was nervous about finding her classes.
"I might throw up." She said dramatically and Daryl rolled his eyes at the red headed girl sitting in his passenger seat. Still he reached over her lap and began to crank the window down. His shoulder was sore, a product of being thrown across the room by his father. Sabrina noticed the way he winced but said nothing, knowing it would put Daryl in a sour mood.
"Yer fine," He mumbled, before grabbing a cigarette from his front pocket. Daryl put the thing between his lips, cupping one hand over the end to light it. He could see Sabrina scowling at him from where she sat, but she said nothing.
The two of them sat in near silence, listening as the radio played Zombie by the Cranberries. This was the beginning of a new chapter for Sabrina. If she wanted to, she could load up on as many extra curricular activities as she wanted just to get out of the house. Most likely though, she wouldn't. The redhead had grown fond of her time with Daryl, especially now that he was able to drive them around.
Well, technically he only had his permit. Will Dixon didn't give a rats ass what his sons did though. In his mind they were good for nothings. So as long as Daryl drove slow and followed the law, unlike his brother Merle, they were fine to drive the truck. Per Sabrina's rules of course, Will, as mentioned before, never cared. Sabrina didn't want to risk Daryl getting in trouble with the law. He was too good for that sort of thing. At least in her eyes, most of the town viewed each of the Dixon's like they were the rats that brought the bubonic plague.
"This'll all be over soon won't it?" Sabrina asked exiting the truck. Daryl, ever the gentleman, grabbed her backpack from the truck bed and slung it over his shoulder; right next to his own.
"Sure." Daryl said, taking a final drag of the cigarette then stomping it out on the ground. When they approached the doors of their school, Daryl held it open for the red head to enter first. She nearly ran into an upperclassmen as she stared at her schedule, but Daryl veered her to the left at the last second. "What's yer first class?"
"History." She said, smiling widely. How the girl was so excited about coming to school? Daryl had no clue. Maybe it was for the same reason he still even came. To get out of the prison known as his house. Here, his father couldn't come bursting through the door to beat on him for no reason. With Merle being gone, that was happening more often than not.
Despite the way his shoulder ached something awful, he worried for Sabrina instead. He could take care of himself, he had been since his mother had passed. The boy hadn't noticed any fresh bruises on her skin this morning. Just an old one that was takin an awful long time to heal. Though, he sent a silent prayer to whatever was watching over them, thanking it for keeping Sabrina safe.
"Killer," Daryl said, leading the redheaded girl to her first class. "Not great first thing in the morning but it could be worse, could be chemistry."
That's where Daryl was heading after dropping Sabrina off. He'd be back here when the class ended to walk her to her next one too. Even if it meant a tardy for himself. Anything he could possibly do to ease the girl's feelings of fear. She lived with enough of that at home. He'd probably be late, but that was nothing new. Teachers didn't expect much of him, they never had and never would.
"Alright, this is you." Daryl said stopping in front of her classroom door. Multiple students were already gathered inside, and only a few desks were still available. "I'll be right here when you get done, and we have the same lunch so don't even worry about that neither."
"Okay." Sabrina said nodding. Reluctantly, Daryl handed her her backpack. Almost as if he was worried she'd crumble under the weight of it. She still might honestly.
A couple months ago, Sabrina had confided into Daryl that her parents hardly ever went to the grocery store anymore. She'd been living off of bread and the various condiments that lingered in her fridge. Her strength wasn't all there, and on his hunting trips Daryl had been trying to catch something extra to give to her. That didn't always work out though.
"Hey, I'll see you in a bit," Daryl said, taking in the frightened look on Sabrina's face once more. "Alright?"
"Okay," Sabrina said again. Her fingers closed around the strap of her backpack and she turned away from him without a second glance.
Daryl made sure she had taken a seat, observing as her red hair wove in and out of desks before finally deciding on one next to the window in the middle of the classroom. He smiled to himself, making sure she was still fine before heading to his own class.
+
"I can't believe how close it is." Sabrina said as the pair walked back to Daryl's truck that afternoon. The bell had just rang, and the hallways were full of teens just trying to get home.
The pair of them though, always looking for a reason to not be home were taking their sweet time. They stopped at Daryl's locker, a polaroid of the two of them stuck to the inside with a piece of putty he stole from Mr. Davis' room. Sabrina's eyes lingered on it for just a moment, she remembered that day clearly. It was the first time she and Daryl had gone to the lake alone. She was sitting on top of Daryl's shoulders, red hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. Some stranger had taken it, saying it was a picture perfect moment. Daryl shoved his textbooks inside, before handing Sabrina the jacket she got tired of carrying around during lunch.
"How close what is?" He asked, slamming the locker door shut and spinning the lock a few times. With a blink, the picture was gone and Sabrina found herself staring at where it just was.
"Freedom!" Sabrina said, nudging his side. The girl's head was always in the clouds. Maybe that's why Daryl had always stuck by her side even after all of these years. She gave him some sort of hope for a better future.
With both of their shitty home lives, they didn't have much to look forward to. Daryl needed Sabrina's positive outlook and hope for life just like Sabrina needed Daryl to keep her grounded in reality.
"Alright lady liberty." Daryl said, holding the door open once more as they exited the school. Sabrina looked at her friend and scowled. The boy couldn't help but laugh as she pouted her lips and squinted those green eyes. "Calm down there."
"I'm serious Dare." Sabrina said, crossing the parking lot. Daryl grabbed her backpack gently to keep her from walking out in front of a car. "In the next four years both you and I can leave, I can get a job next summer to start saving up. When I'm eighteen I can move out. You could too. Hell, we could even move out together! We could get one of those homes down at the trailer park. We can go anywhere we want. Hell, we don't even have to stay in Georgia if we don't want to."
Daryl had never really thought about it like that. His entire life, he'd been floating around aimlessly. He didn't have a plan for the minute he turned eighteen, like Sabrina. He figured he'd just be following Merle around like he'd always done. But Merle had recently joined the military, and Daryl didn't know when his brother would be back.
"I s'pose you're right." Daryl said, pulling a cigarette from his front pocket and mimicking his morning routine. Sabrina threw her bag into the bed of the truck, and hopped into the passenger seat. Her feet went up on the dash immediately, as if she owned the thing.
Daryl supposed that the red head did. That passenger seat would always be reserved for her, no matter what. It was her rightful spot, always would be. Sabrina threw her arms up in the air dramatically and leaned backwards over the seat to put her weight onto him. The boy caught her easily, staring down at the girl. He turned his head to blow the smoke, so as to not get it in her face, then turned back to her.
"We can do anything we want, nothin' is keepin' us tied here." Sabrina told him. Her voice didn't waver, instead it had that light airy tone that it had when her head was in the clouds. Daryl had grown to love that tone of voice, it was the one that always managed to give him hope. It was the tone of voice she used when she knew she'd get something, no matter what life threw her way. "In four years."
"In four years." Daryl mimicked, and Sabrina quirked an eyebrow up.
"So you're in?" She said, as if she couldn't believe that her best friend in the entire world wanted to go along with some half formed plan to leave and never come back.
"Yeah, I s'pose so." Daryl said, turning over the engine to the truck. "Ain't got nothin' better to do than keep you grounded and humble."