Don't Run Away

Chapter 20: Everything About U

Once Valerie had gotten Dalton’s text, she went to her closet to pick out an outfit for the day. Dalton said to dress comfortable, so she kept that in mind as she looked through the tons of clothes she had. She put her recently black-dyed hair into a high ponytail as she stood in her closet and looked around. She had around twenty minutes to get ready. After a few minutes of looking through everything, she finally had an outfit ready.

She went into her bathroom and got out of her sweats and tank. She put on black skinny jeans and a white ruffly top that left her shoulders and part of her arms exposed. She put flat boots that were really comfortable. After getting dressed, she moved onto her makeup. She applied some concealer then started on her eyes. She used three shades of gray, making her eyes look a bit smoky. She also applied some clear lip-gloss. After taking another look in the mirror, she knew she was ready. Then she saw it. Her scars.

They were on both of her arms from the last time she cut, which was about two weeks ago. You could barely notice that she had scars, but they were there. If she hadn’t cut so deep, there wouldn’t have been a scar, but sadly, she did go deep. Suddenly she felt self-conscious for wearing the shirt she was. It left her scars out in the open. She shook her head. It’s not like anyone will notice them. You wouldn’t be able to tell I have cuts unless you took my arms and looked. I’ll be fine.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket with a text. She pulled it out and saw it was from Dalton.

Dalton: Outside. :)

Valerie smiled before putting her phone into her pocket. She went to her front door and peered out the peephole. Sure enough, Dalton was outside the guys’ SUV while on his phone. Valerie took a deep breath before opening her door and stepping outside. As soon as the door was shut, Dalton’s head snapped up. He was dressed in black skinny jeans, a white shirt that faded to gray at the bottom, a fingerless glove, a chain hanging on his belt loops, and of course, his black converse.

“I thought you guys were recording this entire week non-stop.” Valerie said as she reached Dalton.

He shrugged and put his phone back into his pocket. “We got let off for the day. I thought we could hang out. We haven’t much since you moved out.”

“Yeah, it feels a bit weird not being around you guys all the time. So what did you have planned for today?”

“I don’t have anything planned, really. We could go to the movies, City Walk, the beach, or anywhere you wanna go.” Dalton said.

“Well I haven’t been to a park here in L.A. since I moved here…” Valerie pointed out.

“Then let’s go to the park,” Dalton grinned. He opened the door to the passenger’s seat and helped Valerie in. Next, he went over to the driver’s seat and got in. He started the car and exclaimed, “TO THE PARK!”

Valerie’s house was fairly close to a park, so the drive wasn’t very long. In a matter of minutes, Dalton was pulling the car into a parking space. He hoped that there weren’t any fans in the park that day. He really wanted to have a day alone with Valerie. The two of them got out of the car and walked across the grass to the park. Surprisingly, there weren’t many kids there today. They saw a few, but they were off on the monkey bars and climbing trees rather than on the swings. They took their chance and went to the swings before the kids there could beat them to it. Dalton smiled. Now that they were at the swings, kids won’t bother them. They would be too intimidated by Dalton and Valerie simply because they were older.

Dalton and Valerie sat in swings next to each other. Dalton pushed himself and he was off. Valerie attempted to do the same, but failed. She frowned. “I never learned how to push myself.” She said.