The Old Tuck Shop

SEVEN

I had decided.

I was going to leave.

Tonight.

I cautiously got out of bed and started making my way towards my navy backpack.

I looked at Ton, who was sleep talking an entire novel. Some nights I've had a conversation with him, but it only lasted a few minutes. But one night, I couldn't sleep yet again, so I peered over and saw him chatting, as usual, he was babbling "Don't leave, Ellie, I need you." Over and over again. Now Ellie wasn't just some random character in his dream or something, she was an actual person who happened to live here. She had curly, ginger hair and dotted freckles. I realised there and then that he fancied her. Throughout that week, he persisted to seduce her in his sleep and I continued to make fun of him for it. In the end, he finally confessed, and finally had the courage to ask her out, which she declined, unfortunately.

Ouch!

I carefully unzipped my bag, which gave out a huge ripping noise. Ton stirred a bit but turned back to face the wall. Phew!

I put on my (very manly) slippers and dressing gown and made my way down to the kitchen.

When I arrived, I quickly started to raid the cupboards and fridges, grabbing the necessities - a few bottles of water, a slab of cheese, a few slices of bread, a chunk of steak that I wrapped up in kitchen paper, and, of course, the most important, chocolate.

On making my way towards the door, I was startled by the sound of footsteps.

Crap.

In the blink of an eye, the light switch was flipped on.

I gulped, fearing the worst.

"Finn...what the hell are you doing up? You scared the absolute shit out of me," the figure said.

It was Marley.

Marley was two years older than me, with dark skin and a frizzy afro. Considering we didn't really talk a lot, we were quite close. I remember once when Ton and I had a massive argument (about Agatha again) he gave me advice and helped cool me down. He was like a big brother to me.

"Um...just having...a...um."

He scanned me up and down.

"A midnight snack!" I said, quickly picking up an apple and crunching it between my teeth.

Shit, that hurt!

He rubbed his face with his hands, and let out a huge yawn.

"Same, same," he replied, grabbing a bag of cheese and onion crisps from one of the cupboards.

Opening the packet, he looked at me curiously.

"Eating for two are you?" he joked, pointing at my backpack.

I laughed, nervously.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, I'll give name suggestions for the baby tomorrow," he chuckled, grabbing a bar of chocolate.

"Yeah, I'll tell you who the mother is," I joked back.

I watched him walk back to his room.

"I can't believe that worked," I said to myself, wiping sweat off my forehead.

On changing into my clothes and folding a small blanket, I began to fear that Ton would wake up at any point and catch me.

Which, to my delight, he did.

"Finn, what are you doing?" he stirred, stretching his arms.

I ignored him and carried on packing.

"Finn."

I continued to ignore him.

"Finn, I know you're there, I'm not stupid." He adjusted his eyes to the darkness.

I proceeded to ignore him.

"Finn!-" he yelled.

"Shush," I whispered, clasping my hand around his mouth.

"Oh, so now you hear me?" he chuckled, reaching for his phone and turning on his torch.

The light was blinding.

"What are you even doing, why are you packing?-" he stopped mid-sentence.

I looked at him mournfully.

"Come on, you can't be serious," he sighed, "you're not running away." He widened his eyes and sat up in bed.

"I am serious. What you said earlier, it made me think," I said, putting on my hoodie.

"About you running away?" he snickered, "Finn, I was joking...I didn't actually think you would try and do something so stupid."

I nodded, looking at him sternly.

He climbed out of bed.

"Finn, you know I didn't mean that I was just angry. You couldn't seriously have thought of doing something so ridiculous."

"I have thought, and I am serious."

"This is officially the stupidest idea you have ever had. Congratulations," he scoffed.

"I'm going to find her," I muttered under my breath.

"Who?" he asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

He stopped for a moment.

"The girl at the window?" he added.

I kept quiet.

"Are you actually being serious," he laughed, "Finn you can't be serious."

I proceeded to stay quiet.

"This has to be a joke," he laughed. "Finn, you were eleven."

"And?"

"Well for starters... You couldn't even tie your shoelaces... Never mind fall in love," he sighed.

"It's not funny, I'm going to find her..."

"No, let me tell you what is funny, the fact that you think that you can find a girl who you were so-called 'in love' when you were eleven," he interrupted.

I shoved him to the side.

"You don't even know if she's still living in the area! For all that matters, she could be in freaking Hawaii, sipping Pina Coladas whilst dipping her feet in the pool."

I ignored him.

"I thought we were true friends, true friends don't do this to each over!" I said, walking towards the window.

"Yeah, well, friend, I hope you find the love of your life," he mumbled.

"Look... I don't want to leave it on this... I don't care if you hate me afterwards... But I can't stay here anymore," I said, and Ton sighed.

"I feel...Trapped... You have to understand that... There's no place here for me," I added, making my way to the window.

"But anyway... Thanks for everything."

He looked back at me and smiled.

I made my way down the brick wall and landed on the grass below me.

Slowly, I saw Ton look down at me.

"Good luck Romeo," he chuckled.

I waved up at him, walking towards the front gates.

My heart pounded with every step.

Every step would lead me closer, and closer to the girl in the window.