Gone

"Hey, Mom, I have a study session with Meredith today at the library, and after that I'm going to spend the night at her house. Is that alright with you?" I asked nonchalantly, leaning against the archway into the kitchen. My mother turned to me, blue piercing eyes attempting to look past my poker face. Six months ago, I would've bent under the pressure of her calculating stare. Now, however, it was easy to simply stare at the bridge of her perfect little nose and not let any emotions out.

That's how I've been since Christmas. Emotionless. At least around my family.

My mother sighed, adjusting her white blouse and perfectly cut pencil skirt. "I suppose so. Be back before ten tomorrow, though. I have a brunch to go to with Caroline, and I need you to be here with Larson so he doesn't break anything valuable." She dropped her gaze, returning to the Sudoku puzzle she was doing at the kitchen table. As soon as her focus was drawn back to her puzzle, I slipped an envelope on the kitchen counter, Mom written on the back in my swirled handwriting.

I rolled my eyes and stood up tall, peeling my back from the wooden archway; I hated having to babysit that devil child I called my brother, but I responded with a clear, "Yes, Mother," before turning on my heel to carefully parade up the grand staircase to my bedroom, dodging Larson, who had taken to setting up an entire World War II battlefield in the front entryway of the house, right in front of the stairs.

As soon as I got upstairs, I yanked off my heels and undid the elegant bun that my hair had been twisted into, letting my curly red locks fall free down to my shoulders. I hopped into my room, quietly shutting and locking the door, changing into a pair of skinny jeans and a lace shirt to make it look as natural as possible. I grabbed my large purse and shoved in my high school sweatshirt, green and silver flashing as I stuffed it into the bottom of my bag. I glanced around the floor of my perfectly spotless hardwood floor, anxiously looking for my pair of converse, before eventually giving up and settling on a pair of sheepskin boots, also carefully hiding them under all of the rubbish in my purse.

A pair of flats went on my feet, and I was down the stairs and out the front door, leaving the enormous mansion I called 'home.' Hopping into the car in the driveway that was the closest to the road, I turned the key, hit the gas, and was gone.

Gone, driving to what my mother thought was the library, but was actually the old park in the neighborhood of a certain someone that my mother would kill me if she saw me with. Gone, leaving behind my pretentious life of wealth and fashion for something that, until that fateful Christmas day, I had never even known was a real thing. Gone, forgetting about any consequences that may erupt from this act of treachery against my family.

I parked the car on the side of the street, quickly changing my shoes and pulling on the sweatshirt, then taking off the lace shirt underneath it and slipping it off. There. That felt much better.

Each breath shot out in a smoky mist in front of me, my nose chilling in the crisp November air. My blue eyes scanned the park in front of me, until I finally caught the gaze of someone waving from the window of the rundown treehouse and grinned, happiness and excitement filling me from head to toe. The person vanished from the window and reappeared at the base of the tree, running straight towards me, his shaggy brown hair bouncing with every step he took.

He slowed as he approached me, stopping when our faces were only a few inches apart. He grinned mischievously, until I pulled down on his flannel shirt, bringing his lips down to mine. All of my stress from my family disappeared in an instant, all I could think about were his lips on mine, the hand on my cheek, and the way that this was a hello, not a goodbye. After this, there would never have to be another goodbye.

"Now why'd you have to do that?" The boy whispered, resting his forehead against mine. His hand snaked down to grasp mine, and we stood in silence for a few moments, just soaking in the fact that this was our last time in this little park, meeting here, unbeknownst to my parents.

I smiled, tugging on his hand as I walked to the back of the car, popping the trunk open. Inside were two premade suitcases and a license plate, along with a couple of screwdrivers. "Look what I got," I said smugly, picking up the license plate and showing him. "Who knew Meredith had so many contacts, am I right?"

Meredith, my closest friend, lived a life just like my own: wealthy and well-supported, but trapped in a life she didn't want. When I had informed her of our idea, she was instantly in on it; she was fed up with being someone she didn't know, much like myself.

The boy chuckled, his arms wrapping around my waist from behind, resting his head on my shoulder, kissing the base of my neck. "Remember a few weeks ago, when we thought none of this was possible? But now, now it's actually happening. We're doing it, Jesse. We're going to be free."

He spun me around in his arms, swiftly ducking down to plant another kiss on my lips. "Did you give your mother the envelope?"

My mind, however bubbly and filled with joy it was, crashed to a halt, reality finally beginning to sink in. "Yeah, I did. I have no idea when my mother will read it though, so we better go, before she freaks." My mother was going to open that envelope, see the $50,000 check for the car and the letter explaining what we're doing, and go completely insane, for why on earth would her perfect little daughter do such a horrible thing as to completely defy her family, fall in love with a poor boy from the slums, and break the law?

We hopped into the front seats of the car after I slammed the trunk shut, driving off towards Meredith's house, where we were picking her up before getting away from this miserable life. She was sitting on the front porch of the large estate, picking at a piece of loose string on her suitcase. Her beach blonde hair shined in the late sunlight, and the second she heard the car drive up, she was on her feet, dragging the suitcase and a handful of papers and cards towards us. I rolled down the passenger window as Meredith approached it.

"Jezebel! Leo! I was wondering when you were going to get here, you're fifteen minutes late," Meredith scolded playfully as Leo got out of the driver's seat to put Meredith's bag in the trunk. When he returned, we all got comfortable, keeping our seat belts unbuckled and lounging across the seats, well at least for Meredith. I propped my feet up onto the dashboard and threw my arms up, reaching out to ruffle Leo's hair with one hand.

"Let's get out of here!" Meredith laughed, shoving Leo's arm. He hit the gas pedal, and we were off. Out of this sick little town, with its sick, pretentious people.

After about an hour, Meredith handed us cigarettes, then lit them for us. We cracked our windows and I turned up the music, which was blaring out Avril Lavigne. Doing things that neither Meredith's nor my own parents would ever tolerate. In fact, the sole purpose of smoking for us was to spite our parents from our past life.

We continued for a while, eventually finding where we would be free. Meredith hopped out of the car to switch out the license plates for us, since her contact had taught her to do that when she obtained the plate in the first place. Now, when they found the car, it would take a little longer to find the true owner.

The second she was in and had shut the door, Leo backed up the car, farther away, so the point where the land dropped off got wider and wider in our view.

"You ready to get out of here?" he said, turning to smile at me. I nodded, as did Meredith, who rolled down her window, gripping the old license plate in her hand.

Leo slammed on the gas pedal as hard as he could. The car roared and sped up, digging its back tires into the dirt before launching itself forward. As we went airborne, we whooped with happiness and excitement, Meredith throwing the old license plate out the window, watching it fall with us. She quickly rolled up the window as we fell, plummeting in this car to the ground, hundreds of feet below us.

We were gone.