Rules of a Rebel

Chapter 26: No Flashbacks

Rule #40: No Flashbacks 

Never Think about the Past

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At first, I wander around the neighborhood, my heels clacking against the concrete. But I make sure to avoid my own house. Considering all the missed calls and texts I have from not just my own family, but my cousins and aunts as well, it's safe to say that it's a complete mess. I click one of the voicemails from my mother. 

"Peyton, if you're not home in the next ten minutes, I swear to god I will come out there and get you myself -" 

I delete the voicemail and turn off the phone. The screen fares goodbye to me before turning black. A sound of annoyance comes from behind my throat. I inhale the night air, letting the chill settle in my body until steam no longer comes out of my ears.

I sit on the curb in front of a house I've never seen before.

Is it wrong to hate my family so much? I ponder, staring up at the sky. The moon is full, but clouds cover the sky, so the only presence it shows is a faint silver glow. Why am I the only one who seems to be the outcast? Why is it always me that gets yelled at? That storms out of the house?

I exhale.

An hour has passed. But I still don't want to go home.

So I settle for the finished treehouse in Archer's backyard. His family laughs over a board game from the front porch. None of them notice me as I climb up the rope ladder. It shivers in the wind. I sit on the edge of the treehouse, dangling my legs off the edge.

Black and blue waves crash against the shore. My fingers are turning numb. I sneeze. 

"Meow."

I turn around.

Lucky sits at the corner of my treehouse. Her eyes are hooded, as if she just woke up from a very long nap. I wait for her to leave, jump out to whatever branch she came from.

She doesn't.

Instead, she walks towards me until we're directly sitting next to each other.

"So, you finally show up, huh?" I say."You haven't come back to get food in a while. Well, I guess that's for the best. What if my grandmother had met you? She has a gun, you know."

I open one eye to look at her.

Lucky stares directly ahead. The only answer I get is a simple of the tail.

"You probably already knew that, didn't you? That's why you didn't come."

She looks at me then. Her eyes are different than before, deeper, as if I'm staring into an abyss. I've always believed that animals are smarter than humans let on. Right now, I feel like she's wiser than my family put together.

Unable to help myself, I stroke her hair. 

This time, she doesn't flinch or go away. Instead, she just closes her eyes and relaxes at my touch. Her fur is different than the other ones in the shelter, more wild and oily. I wish I could give her a bath.

We stay there for another hour. 

Eventually, sometime in the middle, I begin to doze off. When a noise startles me awake, Lucky's gone. I sneeze. The wind's too cold so I move to the back corner, huddle up and close my eyes.

The next time I wake up, there's presence on my right shoulder. 

It's Archer. 

He's fast asleep and snoring. And that's not all. From the looks of my arm, he's drawn some animals on my arm. How did I not wake up earlier? Blue ink depicts a picture of kitten merging into a tiger. There's a blanket over us too, with a picture of Toy Story on the front. I spot a picnic basket filled with nothing but brownies in the corner.