fun ; phan

thirty seven

As soon as I get the message from Phil, I don't question it. I want to get out of this place; I'm 18 now, it's legal. I have to, actually. I don't know what Phil's planning, but I have high hopes. I shove a few pairs of jeans and some t-shirts into my school bag, which I emptied the previous contents of onto the floor prior to now, also packing socks and boring shit like that. I don't have any precious possessions to pack, so there's nothing else I need, honestly. I now realise that I'm still in pyjamas, along with Phil's jacket, as always; because it makes me feel safe, but I don't care enough to change.

I slip on my shoes over my bare feet, and throw my phone charger into the bag, swinging it over my back and carefully turning my doorknob to get the hell out of here. When I push the door, it doesn't budge. Locked.

I internally scream, looking around for another way to get out. My only option is the window; I'm on the 4th floor. What's life without a little risk, though? I move back to the other side of the room, only dimly lit by the glow of the moon pushing through the window, and I crack it open, feeling a gush of wind hit my face.

I stare down at the drop, and I don't know much about maths, but that's a long way. How I'm going to do this, I don't know, but I pull myself up and onto the window frame, quite hard due to my height; or, lack of height. Without any other thoughts, I throw my bag down to make this easier. It takes a few seconds to reach the ground, which scares the living shit out of me.

There's a window ledge on all of the windows, meaning I have something to stand on, and there are bricks sticking out, which gives me something to hold onto. The first part is the most terrifying, gripping onto one of the overhanging bricks, sliding off of the window ledge and managing to drop down onto the one below, a crash loud enough to wake up whoever's in the room. 

I repeat that again and again until I'm only a floor away from the ground, but it's still high.  Suddenly, I realise I've been being too loud, because a light switches on, and the front door opens, someone looking around for the source of the sound; spotting me. I jump off the ledge, tumbling onto the ground, but stand up straight away, ignoring the searing pain, grabbing my bag off the ground and making a run for it.

10 minutes of running, and I'm pretty sure they won't be following after me. I slow down into a fast-paced walk, thin material of my pyjamas making this whole ordeal slightly more uncomfortable. When I reach Phil's, he's outside of the house, putting stuff into the car.

"Dan!" He shouts, but it's only a whisper, yet still a shout. He wraps his arms around me, and I melt into the hug, but I pull away as soon as he touches part of where I fell where I jumped.

"Sorry! What did I do?"

"It's n-nothing, I just- I had a bit of a fall."

"How come?" 

"Uh, my door was locked, and I was on the 4th floor, so getting from the window to the ground was a bit difficult." I say, and he pulls a concerned look.

"I'll take care of you later, but I wanna get out of here as soon as possible. First, I need you to agree, though."

"What's the plan?"

"I have everything we need, and Melissa's credit card which is fucking stacked with money. It's all in the car, and we're gonna get out of here. Just drive away and forget it all."

"Sounds like a plan." I agree blatantly, not thought needed for the action. "But where's Melissa?"

"Dead." He states, no sense of remorse in the words, which makes sense.

"I put down the back seats and lay down a bunch of duvets and pillows so we can sleep in the back, and it's comfy, and stuff." He explains, opening the boot of the car to show me. I nod, and make my way into the car, ready for whatever's to come.

Maybe running away with someone who I've been friends with for less than a month is a bad idea. actually, it definitely is; but it's the best bad idea I'll ever have.