I continued walking. Gosh, why did running away have to be so boring? I began saying some not-so friendly words. I was able to keep myself from cursing, though. This was my own decision to run away, so I would have been cursing at myself. I took a deep breath and sighed. I had been traveling for three weeks, but I had still found no end to the stupid forest. Frustration overwhelmed me, and I screamed in anger. My voice echoed all around me.
I walked for about another hour, still spitting out unpleasant words. Suddenly I heard a noise and stopped in my tracks. Was that a car horn? No, it couldn't be. I was in the middle of nowhere. Then I gasped. I heard it again. I ran desperately up a hill. When I reached the top, I was looking down at a town of houses, streets, cars, and people. Lots of people. A smile spread across my face. No one would find me here...that is, if people were still looking for me. My smile faded at the thought that people might have given up on me. I thought about all of the pain I had caused my family.
"They have no pain." I thought. "They're better off without you, Cashmere."
I managed to get down the other side of the hill without injuring myself. I was walking casually down a sidewalk, though it wasn't easy with people staring at me, a twelve year old girl all alone covered in dirt and leaves with a t-shirt full of sticks strapped to her back. Not something you'd see everyday. I heard a scream and looked to my right. A girl that looked about 14 or 15 was running across a yard in my direction. She had a backpack over her shoulder and had long brown hair. She was wearing converse, jeans, a t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. From behind a building cam a group of kids around her age, yelling and shouting,
"Get her!" a boy who looked like the leader said. They raced by me, but I wasn't sure why. The girl hadn't gone that way. I looked forward, but the girl was gone. Then I felt breathing on the back of my neck. I turned and gasped. The girl was standing behind me. "Sorry." She mumbled, putting her hood up. She walked past me and into the crowd of people.
"W-wait!" I said. The girl stopped, then continued walking way. I ran towards her, but she began walking faster. "Wait!" I repeated. The girl was running now. I had to sprint just to catch up. When I reached the opposite side of the sidewalk, the girl was nowhere to be seen. I turned around and there she was, leaning on the side of a building.
"What..?" I whispered. "You with them?" She asked, voice lower then I expected.
"Who?" I asked.
"Right. Act like you don't know who I"m talking about. You don't expect me to believe you, do you?" She said plainly. I blinked at her.
"Um...no? I mean yes? I mean...ugh! I don't know! I just need someone to talk to! I haven't seen another human in weeks, three I think! I've been along, hungry, wet, cold, dirty...and I finally found civilization! I need to ask someone where I am, who I am, but all I get are sneers and people treating me like I won jerk of the year! I just want to go home!" I cried, tears pouring down my cheeks. I buried my face in my hands and when I looked up again, the girl was right in front of me, looking stunned.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to..." I sniffled.
"No, it's okay." She paused, then said. "Your name doesn't happen to be Rosie, does it?" I hesitated.
"No, it's Cashmere." I said. She looked a little relieved, but at the same time, a little disappointed. "Why? Did you-"
"No," She snapped. "Forget I said anything?" She looked me up and down, then seemed to relax. "So...you're not from around here?" she asked.
"No, I just got...lost..." I lied. She nodded.
"The name's Mac." She said .
"Mac?" I asked. Wasn't that a boy's name?
"Yeah, the real name's Macy, but I hate it, so everyone calls me Mac. And just a warning, I'm a girl, but despise pink, sparkles, dresses, and makeup. Macy? That's way to girly for me. If you call me Macy, I swear I'll gut you like a fish." she said. I gulped.
"Great. I'd actually appreciate it if I lived to see the sun tomorrow, so..." Mac smirked.
"I get it. So how long have you been in town?" She asked.
"Half hour...at the most." I replied.
"Oh, you got a place to stay?" He asked. I shook my head.
"I don't have any money." I mumbled. She thought for a moment.
"I suppose you could stay at my place." She blurted. My eyes widened. "Really?" I asked. "You mean it?" She nodded.
"Why not, my mom won't care." She said.
"She loves guests. We also happen to have an extra bedroom-" She stopped herself. "Our-er- guest room. Yeah, for guests." I hesitated, then agreed to stay.
When we arrived, I looked up. The ceiling sagged, and some windows were cracked, but it was still a nice place. She led me up the stairs and through the first door on the right. there was a small bed against the far wall, a bookshelf, a couple boxes full of old papers and books, and cat hair and soda cans littering the floor. On the left, there was a closet and a mini fridge.
"I'll give you some time to unpack your...oh, you don't have anything." she mumbled. I nodded. "Yea..." My voice trailed off.
"I didn't bring anything on my...hiking trip." I covered.
"Alone?" she asked.
"Uh, yes? Well, the woods are near my house, so I go sometimes for a couple of hours, and I a...got lost. Yesterday." I stuttered.
"Yesterday? I thought you said-"
"I was delusional! Just tired, that's all. I got lost yesterday." I repeated. "So where do you live?" She asked.
"Oh, near the western border of Texas." I replied.
"What!" She asked. "You're in New Mexico!" She replied. Breath taking moment right there. It did make sense, though. I had been walking for about 13 hours everyday for three and a half weeks. But if Mac thought I got lost yesterday...
"Macaroni?" Called a voice from downstairs. Mac groaned. "Sorry, my mom calls me that sometimes. It gets really annoying. She must've just gotten home from work. Come on, she always brings extras." Mac said. Relief flooded over me. She seemed to have forgotten about our conversation already. "Right, extras...wait...what extras?" I asked. Mac ignored me, she had already disappeared down the stairs. I pursed my lips and followed. "Hey mom." Mac said. "Hey, honey. Listen, I have great news. I-" That was until she saw me. I reached the bottom of the stairs and she smiled. "Well, hello there. Mac...?" He voice trailed off. "Right, sorry. This is Cashmere. I met her on the way home from school. She's lost and needs a place to stay." Mac explained. "Why of course, you can stay here until you can contact your parents." "Oh no, Ma'am...I mean yes, I am lost but I can't talk to my parents. I er- got in a fight with them before I left to go...hiking!" I stuttered. I didn't want to lie but I had no choice. I can't let them know the truth...what is the truth? "Oh, okay." She said. "You can still stay here until you can figure something out. And you can call me Jain." Her mom said. I smiled. "Coo.." She looked about thirty years old and had brown hair in a ponytail. She was thin and had a loose suit on from her work. I probably shouldn't have just trusted them, since I had met them a couple of minutes ago, but somehow I knew I could trust them. "Well, Mac. How was school?" Jain asked. "Same as always." Mac muttered. Jain pouted but then smiled. "I have something that will cheer you up!" Jain said picking up a bag from the kitchen counter and pulled out a giant cookie. Mac grinned. "Really, I can have it?" She asked. Her mom nodded. Mac took the cookie and then offered me half. Only then did I realize how hungry I really was. I ate it in about 0.3 seconds. "Oh my, you must be starving! We'll have to go to the store and buy you food and clothes..." Her voice trailed off. "Mom, can we afford it?" Mac asked. Her face lite up. "That's what I was going to tell you before! I got a pay raise today!" She said. Mac grinned. "Come on, Cashmere." Mac said. "Lets go fix you up."
We spent all afternoon shopping and by the time we were done, I didn't even recognize myself. I word boots that laced up to my knees, black jeans, a t-shirt, and a black leather jacket like Mac's. I liked it and all, but I coulddn't seem to fight the feeling that it was wrong. We finished up with cheeseburgers, french fries, and chocolate shakes. "Thank you so much for everything." I said."Oh, of course." Jain replied. "You needed it." Mac then walked me back to my room and helped me unload all my new stuff. Something was bothering me. All of my clothes seemed dark. Not anywhere was there a yellow shirt, an orange hat, pink shoes. Just black, some brown, and a little bit of dark blue. "Thanks again. I feel like I'm at home." I said Mac smiled and tossed me a coke from the mini fridge. I opened it and it fizzed over. Mac and I laughed. "I feel so close to you already. I feel like I could stay forever." I explained. "You can, it's okay." Mac smiled. "You're family now."