Run

C H A P T E R F O U R

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Leah Russo, I said you are going and that's final!" My mom yells at me. I groan and shove my head into my pillow. She's been really irritable the last two days without my dad here. I just really hope he comes to his senses soon.

"Now get up, I don't want you to be late." I reluctantly get out of bed and stomp over to my closet like a five year old. She's making me go to school. She says that 'no daughter of mine will be a dropout'. But who knows if I'll even be here by the time graduation comes around?

The thought sends a shiver down my spine. It's been three days already. I keep getting more and more nervous. My mom tries to tell me that everything will be alright, but I can see the doubt in her eyes.

I hurriedly pull out a pair of faded jeans and a random t-shirt, not caring if it doesn't match. I brush my long brown hair and decide to leave it down in its natural waves. I was always envious of girls with really natural curly hair, I always had to spend hours trying to get those perfect curls. But once I found out that curly hair is almost impossible to tame, I learned to love what I have.

I grab my backpack which my mom so graciously packed for me, before she even told me I was going to school, and hurry down the stairs. And to add to my embarrassment, I have to take the bus.

Not that there's anything wrong with the bus, but I'm a teenager. I know how to drive. But apparently she doesn't want me to get lost. She's being super over protective, and I understand why, but I'm eighteen years old, I do know how to take care of myself.

"Bye, mon. Love you!" I shouted as I walked out the door. I just can't wait to get this day over with.

--fast forward through school--

"How was your day, honey?" My mom asks as we eat supper. How was my day? Well, let's recap shall we. To start off, I was the only teenager on the bus, thus, I was forced to sit next to some weird little boy who insisted on showing me his Pokémon card collection.

Secondly, I was late for my first period class and when I got there, I realized that this school enforced uniforms, so I stuck out like a sore thumb all day. And I could hear girls snickering about me whenever I walked through the halls. So yeah, I guess you could say that my day wasn't that great.

"It was fine." Well, what she doesn't know won't kill her. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her that my day was awful. She's been under a lot of stress these last few days and I don't want her worrying about anything that she doesn't need to.

She sighs and sets her fork down and pushes her chair back from the table.

"Look," She says. "I know going back to school isn't exactly ideal for you right now, but it's for the best." She says with finality. And even though I know I shouldn't argue with her, I can't help but voice my opinion.

"No, the best thing for me to do would be for me to stay home and spend time with my family. Because who knows how long I actually have left with you guys?" I was almost yelling when I finished and I prepared myself for whatever yelling I was going to receive for raising my voice.

But instead, she just sat in her chair, staring intently at the floor. She didn't look at me, she didn't yell at me. She just sat there, with a guilty expression on her face.

"You're right." She says. My eyes widen slightly at her. "You should be spending time with your family. Your whole family."

My whole family? What does that mean?

"What do you mean?" She sighs and stands up from the table.

"Leah, your father came by today. He said he's sorry."

My father. The man who wanted to give me away to some psycho just so he could save a little trouble.

"I don't care. I'm not going to accept an apology from him. A sorry won't cut it."

"Leah," She tried to grab my arm, but I jerk away.

"I'm going out. I'm not hungry anymore." I silently slip on my shoes and make my way to the door. I couldn't stay in this house at the moment. And as much as it pained me to say it, I couldn't stand to be in the same house as my mom, either.

There's always something with them. They get in these, moods. Moods where they wouldn't talk to me, even as a little girl. They said nothing was wrong; said that it didn't concern me. But I have a feeling that I was the reason for those moods. And I think that's what my dad's going through right now.

I make my way through the hallway and to the door. But right when I open it, I see my dad standing on the other side, giving me an expression that I couldn't decipher.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"We need to talk."

********

A/N

Hey, remember me? The author who promised she would update every Friday? Uh, yeah. I lasted three chapters. And this chapter is really short. I'm sorry, but seriously guys, I swamped. Completely and utterly swamped. I have so much homework to do and I don't even want to think about doing it. Anyway, sorry again for not updating last week.