Run Off

'What's for dinner?', Adam asked his mother, while flinging his bag onto the sofa.
'I've ordered Chinese', she replied, without looking up from her knitting needles.
'Again?' They had had Chinese for the last three days.
'I like it.' His mother shrugged. 'If you wanted something else, you should've told me earlier.'
Adam scowled at her.
'How was school?', she asked.
Adam grabbed one of the take-out containers and slumped into the cushions.
'You don't wanna know', he replied and took a bite of his orange chicken.
'It can't have been that bad', she said.
Adam said nothing.
His mother looked up and saw his troubled face.
'What's the matter?', she asked.
He let the container sink to his lap and took a deep breath.
'Look', he said, 'you remember Mr Fisher, right?'
'The guy from your gym?'
'Yeah. I met him today.'
'So?'
Adam didn't know how to tell his mother what had happened.
'Erm...I...I kinda messed up', he finally said.
His mother looked blankly.
'What do you mean, you messed up?', she asked.
'I didn't think, it was such a big deal...', said Adam defensively.
'What on earth are you talking about?'
'Fine', said Adam. 'He caught me...well...stealing.'
'WHAT?' His mother jumped to her feet.
She spent the following twenty minutes yelling at her son.

Needless to say, Adam was grounded. Four weeks with no computer, no phone and no friends.
'You'll have plenty of time to think about what you did', his mother had said.
And here he was, sitting on the edge of his bed, thinking. What had he done, exactly? It had all started with his friend Lucas telling him about his plans for the summer. They had always been friends, from the very first day they had met. So when Adam had learned, that Lucas would leave the town to live with his father, he naturally had been devastated.
'It's a five hour trip to our new home', Lucas had said. Adam hadn't known what to reply. The next, and the last, time they had seen each other was on the day of Lucas' departure.
Adam had not really been the same since then.
How else should he have gathered the money for the bus ride to see his best friend again? His mother didn't earn enough to give him allowance. And when he had seen Mr Fisher's wallet lying in the locker room, he had decided to take a closer look at it. Who could have known that the old bloke would come in, just when Adam was about to open the wallet. He hadn't even taken anything at that point, but Mr Fisher had freaked out when he had seen his wallet in Adam's fingers.

Adam stood up from his bed. He had made up his mind. As soon as his mother went to bed, he would sneak out of the house. He emptied his gym bag onto the floor, took a few t-shirts, boxer shorts and socks out of his closet and carelessly threw them into the bag. In the top drawer of his desk he found a couple of chocolate bars, which also went into the bag, along with a half-empty bottle of soda, his favorite comic book and the little money he possessed. It would hardly be enough to pay for the whole way, but he would figure that out later. His mother had taken away his phone and he didn't know where she had hidden it, so he would have to get by without it. He closed the bag and hid it under his bed, in case his mother came in. Then he lay down on the bed and waited for his mother to go to sleep.

A few hours later, Adam was on his way to the bus station, a hood over his head and the handles of his gym bag clutched tightly in his fist. It was a cold November's night and a thin layer of snow had built up on his shoulders. His heart was racing with a mixture of excitement and fear.

After a while he saw the lights of the bus station ahead of him and sped up his steps, slipping slightly on the freshly fallen snow. He reached the entrance of the building and was greeted by the warmth and the light, that immediately surrounded him. Apart from an older couple sitting quietly on a bench and a man reading a book in a corner, there were no other people in the hall.
Adam went over to the ticket machine and looked up the time for the next departure. He only had to wait ten minutes and he would be off to see Lucas.

Adam's heart was still pounding long after the bus had left the station. He had managed to sneak inside, while the driver had helped another passenger with their luggage. He took one of the chocolate bars out of his bag and stared out the window. It was the first time, he travelled all by himself.

The rattling noise of the driving bus made him sleepy and so, after finishing his late night snack, he slouched deeper into his seat, covered himself with his jacket and closed his eyes, almost immediately drifting into a dream.

When he woke up, the bus had already reached its destination. Adam stuffed the candy wrappers back into his bag and got out of his seat. The driver was busy with the luggage again, so Adam had no trouble getting off the bus unseen. It was still dark and still cold, but the ever growing excitement warmed him from the inside. He found a city map and was relieved to see, that Lucas's house wasn't too far away from the bus station.

As Adam was walking down the deserted street, careful not to slip on the snow, the sky began turning a pale grey. In the windows he passed, lights were being switched on and he could see people starting their days. He wondered, whether Lucas was up already. He couldn't wait to see his surprised face when he turned up on his doorstep. His excitement grew with every step as he counted the house numbers. He should be there in a few minutes.

And there it was! Light flowing out of every window, Lucas's house stood waiting for him in the quiet street. In the driveway Adam saw a black limousine, through the kitchen window he could make out the shape of a man making coffee and from an open window in the second floor he heard Lucas's favorite rock band.
He ran the last steps to the front door and rang the bell with a huge grin on his face. The door was opened. It was not Lucas, nor was it Lucas's father. In the door frame stood, a steaming pot of coffee in his hand, a police officer. 'Adam', he said, 'your mother is very worried about you.'