Run Away Teen

Chapter Twelve: Policelady Jolene Messaged Me!

  Hey, little RATs! Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I was really busy! I spent the day shopping with Toffee, Apple, and their parents. We went into into an op shop, and I got some awesome tees, a cool pair of shorts, a pair of jandals, a necklace, and this absolutely BEAUTIFUL dress! If you go into my photo album you can see pics of everything that I bought! Luckily the weather has improved... slightly! So I got an early morning run in, a pleasant one, this time. (I had one yesterday but it wasn’t very enjoyable as it was tipping down!) So, question of the day… what’s your favourite item of clothing you own? (Add a pic if possible!)-Ever xxx (a.k.a @run_away_teen)

 Reads: 1214          Comments: 814

  The comments flow in, as usual.

  Hey Evs! It is alright if I call you Evs, right? Anywhoo, I think you’re AWESOME, and I voted for you for Years Most Inspirational Teen! My fave item of clothing is this pair of purple sequined gloves pictured below! -Aimee (a.k.a @neva-tell-lies)

 Evs? No-one’s ever called me that before… it’s awesome! And I’ve been nominated for Years Most Inspirational Teen? Where am I, Crazy Town? This is so cool! And those gloves look incredible! -Ever xxx (a.k.a @run_away_teen)

  Congratulations on your nomination for YMIT! Don’t fret, I’ll most certainly definitely vote for you! My fave outfit is this vintage dress I got from a Vintage Festival last year. I can’t fit it yet, it’s quite big, but I love it all the same! #RATs4Ever -Julliet (a.k.a @romeo_n_julliet)

 Hey Julliet! Thanks for the support! That dress is so gorgeous, I’m drooling just looking at the pic of it! -Ever xxx (a.k.a @run_away_teen)

 I grin at the usual commenter’s nice things, and actually gasp and happy dance when I hear that I’ve been nominated for Year’s Most Inspirational Teen! The comment a few down from Julliet’s, however, makes me nearly cry. And it’s not because it’s threatening or harmful or mean. It’s not even what it says. It’s who sent it.

 Hi Ever. I miss you so, so much. The newspaper-y people are starting to get on my nerves, and I swear I’ve cried more in the last 2 weeks than I have since, well, Ever! (Pun intended…) Please come home #RATs4NEver -Primavera (a.k.a @sweet-wishes-prima)

  Prima, I miss you more than I can ever tell you, just replying to your comment. But I can’t come home; you and I both know that. You’ve cried more in the last two weeks than ever before? You and me both. Look after @benson-is-awsm and @leilani-banani for me. Love you big sister! xxxxx -Ever (a.k.a @run_away_teen)

 So even Vera has found her way to my blog? Interesting… who else knows about it? I start daydreaming about everyone back home, picturing them on their phones and laptops staring gobsmacked at my posts. Quiet Ever, run away? Speaking up? Never! That’s when it hits me. The News! They might know about it! I quickly type in the address to the news website, and am not surprised to see the newest headline, Run Away Teen… The Blog. I, obviously, click on the link to take me to the article, and smile when I see they’ve spelt my name right!

  We’ve received more news from 14 year old Everleigh’s random disappearance…and discovered that it’s definitely not random at all! After evacuating her home one day, Ever started up a blog called Run Away Teen (link is down below).  She posts about her daily life on the run, the friends she meets, the places she goes. She does this in a clever way as well, never giving even the slightest clue where she may be. If you do think you’ve seen her (grey-blue eyes, looong blonde hair, pale skin, short, skinny) please contact us! Her family is getting desperate!

 They then start blabbering on about my poor, poor family, and they interview them to see if “they are coping fairly” or if they are “completely and utterly heartbroken.” To which everyone answers yes, of course, even if no one (apart from maybe Prima) gave me a second glance when I was back home. But that’s not the kind of thing you say at an interview when your daughter/sister/step-daughter is somewhere unknown to you.

  I laugh at their description of me. No one will be able to recognise me now! My clear, pale skin, is now tanned and freckled; my long hair, is now really short; and I’ve grown taller, more muscular (though slightly skinnier from lack of food). I’ve managed to pull the wool over Cadence’s and Prue’s eyes (surely they must’ve been reading the news!) so why can’t I kid anyone else? No one knows me that well, anyway!

  I emailed Cadence last night to tell her that my family and I were doing something today, and she said that was fine. Obviously I’m not doing something with my family, I just need a ‘me’ day. I go onto every social media I can think of, to see what my family’s up to, and find that several fan pages have been created for me! I comment on the ones I have accounts for, and the creators of the pages like my comments, but otherwise leave me alone. I smell my arm as I stretch for my food, and wrinkle my nose up in disgust. When was the last time I washed? Eew!

   I take some cheap soap I got from that shop, and change into my bikini before diving into the waves. I swim around a bit, before washing the layers of grime and stress off my body. I decide I should probably go in, when I feel my teeth chattering, and the goosebumps crawling up my legs and along my arms. I log back onto my laptop and rest on my now (thankfully!) dry mattress. I flick through comments of my latest post, and scream when I see it’s got almost 10,000 comments, and 15,000 views! I shiver at the comments that news people, magazine people, t.v people, and policemen have left.

  Ever, sweetie, please tell us your whereabouts, so that we can come and collect you and take you home nice and safely. Darling, no need to hold a grudge! #RATs4NEver -Policelady Jolene (a.k.a @police_jolene)

  I roll my eyes, and almost, almost type back, “Hi, Policelady Jolene. I thank you for your concern, but isn’t it rather obvious that if I ran away, there’s a reason for that? What did you expect, me to actually tell you where I am? Well, even if I did know, I’d never tell you! #RATs4Ever -Ever.” But I know that I’m going to be in enough trouble with the police as it is, when I get home, so no need to wind them up.

  I decide to do something childish, and search up my name on Google. Unsurprisingly, information and photos do pop up, but so does something else. An advertisement. About christmas. I look at the date on my laptop, and my eyes widen. How did I not notice that there is only a fortnight until christmas? I close my laptop, deciding that I’ve spent way too much time on it today, and head off to the small row of shops I saw on my first day at the beach.

  Time to go Christmas shopping.