𝐔𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲| 𝟏𝟖+

𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬

"Okay, that's all my clothes," I huff, placing my hands on my hips.

"Are you sure this is all you're taking? You don't want to take anything else?" Clara asks, zipping up my last suitcase.

Clara and I met about four years ago at a bar here in Longbeach, California. A man had been harassing me and she came over to him, punching him square in the face. We've been inseparable ever since.

"Yeah, I'll buy new things with the money I've been saving these past few months."

Grabbing the suitcase, I roll it across the hardware floor, out of the bedroom, and into the living room, where the rest of my stuff is waiting to be loaded into the rental car.

My life quickly crumbled within a matter of weeks. I found out my fiancee, Aiden, of three years, had been cheating on me with his assistant.

How cliche.

Then yesterday happened.

My only option was to run as far as I could. After telling Clara about what happened, we came up with a plan. I was going to start over and move to New York, where no one could find me.

I sold my car and got a new phone and number. I did everything I could to leave my past behind me.

These past six months have been difficult for my mental health. Around February, Aiden started acting weird and was getting angry about every little thing I did.

At first, I thought it was the stress over planning our wedding, but then he snapped one night. He started punching walls and throwing things around. I knew then he wasn't a man I wanted to be married to and that I needed to get out. When I tried to end our relationship, he slapped me around, calling me a bitch and saying that if I did leave him, no one else would want me.

So I've been stuck ever since.

When I first told Clara about his physical and emotional abuse, she talked some sense into my head and helped me come up with a plan to leave and start over. But things changed in a matter of minutes yesterday. An accident happened.

"I'm gonna miss you. What am I supposed to do when I want to get severely drunk on a Friday night?" She asks sarcastically with a smile.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, we hug each other tightly. Tears began to fill my eyes as I thought about our time together. If I hadn't had Clara to help me, I would have most likely found a different way out.

"I'm sure you'll find someone else to do shots with." I mumble in her ear.

Pulling away, she gives me a thin lip smile, her eyes full of tears. "It won't be the same without you."

Looking at my watch, I read the time, 11:34 A.M.

"I should go if I want to be in New York before anyone notices. I want to be as far away as possible from here."

Grabbing my bags, Clara heads out the door first, giving me a moment to myself. Looking around the open-floored apartment, I release a breathe of relief.

I was finally getting out of this hell hole after being stuck for so long. Even though Aiden and I's relationship was toxic and abusive in the end, he was the love of my life at one point.

Closing the door behind me, I lightly jog to the trunk of the rental car where Clara was loading the bags she brought out and tossed the last suitcase inside before shutting it.

"This is it," I say, my heart beating rapidly. Though I was excited to start over, I was still scared. What if our plan didn't work or if I was found? Fear took over my whole body as my palms began to sweat, the worst outcomes playing over and over in my mind.

"Hey. I can see you freaking out inside. Everything will work out. Okay? Now, give me one more hug."

Squeezing me in her arms, she rubs my back in a comforting manner, "It's going to be okay. Stick to the plan and lay low for a little bit."

Pulling back, she grips my face between her hands and looks deep into my eyes, almost as a mother would when speaking to her child.

"You. Got. This." She says before dropping her hands.

Nodding my head, I wipe away a tear that started to slowly fall down my cheek.

"I'll call you when it's safe to."

Walking to the driver's seat, I climb in and roll down the window after cranking the car.

"Make sure you use a pay phone when you call, and it's okay if you don't get to for a while. I understand." She demands in a soft but stern tone.

"I love you," I say softly as another tear falls down. Blinking back her tears, Clara wipes her nose with the back of her hand.

"I love you too. Now get the hell out of here."

Rolling the window up, I make sure I have what I need—my old phone, passport, and social security card, as well as my new ones.

Waving at her one last time, I start to back out of the driveway.

Clara watches with her arms folded over her chest, tears streaming down her face. I pray to god that nothing happens to her because of me. She was the only person I had left in my life.

Once Aiden and I had started dating, he slowly convinced me that my family was toxic and that I didn't need them. He told me that I only needed him. Eventually, I let his words get to me and I pushed them out of my life. They didn't want anything to do with me after I treated them the way I did.

Then I met Clara, who also had no one. When Aiden would get drunk and pass out, she'd come over, and we'd talk on the porch telling each other everything.

She became my new family.

After driving for about 2 hours, I took the exit as planned. Clara had found a small town that barely had any civilians in it. There was a creek where I could toss my old phone and other belongings that I needed to get rid of.

After taking a few dirt roads, I found a stone bridge covered in vines and dirt. Not a single person was around. It was just me and nature.

Placing the car in park, I grabbed what I planned to toss and closed the door behind me. Checking the road, I double check that no one else was watching.

This is it, the last of him. Except it wasn't, the scars I have on my body and the recent bruises he gave me will be a constant reminder of him. He will always be there no matter what I do to get rid of him.

Dropping the phone on the stone beneath me, I repeatedly stomp my foot on it, watching as it cracks more each time I do. Ensuring it no longer works, I pick it up and toss it into the water, disappearing in seconds.

One by one, I tare each page of my passport into tiny pieces and sprinkle them into the fast pace moving water that rushed beneath the bridge.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and lean my head back. I think about what's about to come—my new future. I was no longer going to think of him. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

I was a new person—a new woman.

And the past is in the past, for now.