New Found Glory

"Matty," I whisper, paranoid that he might be hiding in the shadows, listening, "I need a place to stay, just for tonight, please."
"Katey, you can't, you don't understand I have this guy round," Matty stutters.
"It's fine," I shrug, glad that he can't see the tears welling up in my eyes. I need a place to hide, I need to go somewhere new. I need to get out of this relationship. My name is Katey, and I don't know what I'm doing, stranded in the middle of nowhere, escaping him. I need out. I need home.

Jonathon was my best friend. "Jon and Katey," they used to say, "partners in crime," and I'd never really known what life would be like without him. I still don't know what life is like without him. He taught me so much about life, and the way the world works, sometimes he acted like a complete know-it-all but hey, nobody's perfect. Eventually we became an item, nothing changed, we still hung out together perfectly normal. Last year we moved in together, and that was when Jon disappeared. Well, he didn't really disappear, I guess he just changed, until eventually every single bit of Jon in him had changed, and he was totally different. I didn't notice it at first, he started coming home later and later, he lost his passion for the earth and nature, he stopped caring about me. It wasn't until the first time he hit me that everything snapped into place. I was low, lower than I'd ever been before, I went to an anonymous group therapy class nearby, that was where I met Matty, I didn't like him romantically at all, he'll, he was just a friend who helped me through some truly hard times. And I helped him, he was flamboyant, gay and extremely confident, his glamorous Hollywood lifestyle gave him the façade of happiness. So why did he need the group? He fucked up, his career was constantly going up and down the drain, drugs took his happiness and relationships gave him serious anxiety. For the time being Matty was just a friend, but as Jon hurt me more and more he became a place to crash for the night, for a while I knew what it felt like to have a friend again. Then Jon found out, he grew jealous of my friendship with Matty and told me I was never allowed to leave the apartment without his permission, he took my phone, my keys and my credit card and he burnt them. I wasn't allowed human contact, Matty eventually came to my house and found out, he wanted to go to the police. I wouldn't let him, Jonathon deserved a second chance, I told myself, Matty didn't argue, though I knew how bad he wanted to report it, he hated seeing me hurt, sad and low. He hooked me up with a phone, so that I could call him anytime he wanted, and even gave me his spare key, "incase you ever leave this dump," and for a second I truly believed in hope, hope that one day I would leave and my life would be fine and dandy. I would spend all day fantasising about my escape, it took three months for the day I finally did. It took three months until today.

"I can't believe Matty won't let me stay!" I shout at the empty street, I make my way down the dark, eerie streets, flinching at every noise, trying not to make a sound, hoping I won't see Jon.

And that's why I'm at the bus stop, I'm waiting for the next bus and I'll see where it takes me, I'll change my name, start a new life, maybe I'll get a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, because me and Jon were over from the very first time he hit me.

Swoosh.
Cars fly past, the bus finally arrives, I get on taking out the emergency Oyster card Matty gave me. The bus driver glares at me awkwardly, and I shift my vision to the passengers. The passenger. A short, wavy haired girl sat at the back of the bus. I look around, the bus is empty, there's so many places to sit, I look at the girl. She has a sleeve of tattoos on one arm, her khaki-green crop top shows the top of a stag tattoo on her side. Jon would never let me have tattoos. Her hair is cut into a shoulder-length bob and her lips are painted a beautiful shade of dark red. Her eyes are so big, sweet and innocent. She smiles at me. And in that moment something inside me clicked, something inside my body made sense for once, and I knew that I was attracted towards her immediately, something drew me towards her, was it fate? I took a deep breath and let fate guide me to the back of the bus, to sit next to her.

"Hey, you know a place called Ruislip?" She asked.
"No," I answered, still in a trance at her beauty, "is that where you're going?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Should I go there too?"
"What's up blondie, don't have a plan? Where do you think you're going?" She teased.
And I don't know what came over me, but an overwhelming amount of love, happiness, sadness and anxiety came over me and I burst into tears, she cuddled me and I told her everything, I told her all about Jon, about Matty. She comforted me, and by the end of the ride I was wearing her dark red lipstick.
Her name was Grace.

***