"Where did you come from?" Adèle asked Clark.

"He does that." I told her.

Clark's gaze shifted over to me and I moved toward the ladder, taking a deep breath before I began my descent, which would most likely have the same pain as the first time. I was mostly right, my arm stung, just not as much. By the time I reached the ground my arm was throbbing again, but I pushed the pain away.

"This is why I didn't want you talking to her. I knew she would pull something like this." Clark said, giving Adèle a death glare as we walked out of the barn, stopping at pasture. Resting his arms on the fence, he asked me, "Why did you have to go talk to her?"

"I just thought that maybe she was misjudged. That she was like one of those bad girls who were only bad as a cover or because of a bad past or something."

"If this is all a cover then, she's really dedicated to it to screw up her life, get kicked out of school and then run back home when things don't go the way she wants them to."

"Clark..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Clark!" Yelled Madiba from the house, where he stood with the door wide open.

"What!" Yelled Clark back, agitated.

"Come here!" He shouted.

After protesting for a few moments, Clark gave in and walked into the

"Aw, is someone having boyfriend troubles?" Said Adèle with mock sympathy as she stood leaning against the barns' door which stood wide open, as she looked at a newspaper.

"No." I said, uncertain if I was.

"Looks like it." She replied.

"It isn't. He'll come around. He always does."

"But, he won't. At least while you're around"

"What?"

"Well, it just so happens that I read the paper, Princess." She waved the paper around as she spoke, and walked toward me. She handed me the paper whose headline read:

Royal Imposter On The Loose

$10,000 prize for the capture of the imposter
Dangerous, approach with caution

$6,000 for Clark Imari for his involvement and abandoning his post
Dangerous, approach with caution

Below the price for each of our captures were our pictures, followed by a lengthy article.

"Now, you wouldn't be on the run with the Princess' face, if you weren't that imposter that the paper mentions, so since you're betraying my country and blah, blah, blah, I'll have to call the police. But you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No."

"Good. Here's the deal. You leave and never come back, and I don't call the police and get you both arrested. Got it?"

I shook my head.

"Fine. You stay here, police come for you and your boyfriend. You go, no police. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. Why would I ever be okay with that?"

"You wouldn't. But, you don't have a choice."

My face fell as I realized that she was right. No matter how much I disagreed with what she was doing, I would always have to leave. That, or be arrested, which equals almost certain death. "Oh."

"Good, you get it, your shoes and a coat are by the door."

"Uh, I didn't come here with a coat."

"Look, I may be kicking you out into the world, but the least I can do is give you a jacket."

We walked into the house until we found the front door, where a winter coat and my heels awaited me. As I put on the black coat and heels, I asked her, "What is it you want? Maybe I can get it for you." I didn't think she would change her mind, but I had to try. I have no place to go, no way to eat.

"Oh, it's not something you can get. It's something I can get with you gone. So I want you to leave." With one swift motion, she opened the door. "Oh, and don't even think about telling someone about why you left. It'll just end badly for you. And Clark."

I took a cautious step out of the house and onto the porch. Suddenly, I jumped as the door banged shut behind me. I stood there on the porch for a moment, pondering what to do. I took one last glance at what was supposed to be my safe haven where I could see Adèle in window next to the door making a 'shooing' motion with her hands. After surveying the neighborhood, I stepped off of the porch and into a large puddle on the sidewalk from a downpour last night.