Runaway

.07

It’d been a little under a year and a half since she’s been gone. I never tried contacting her again and she never tried contacting me. No one was able to get her on the phone after I told Jack that day that I’d been able to talk to her. Jack was pissed that he wasn’t able to talk to her; I think Jack’s still slightly angry that he never got to hear her say goodbye.

But as I look around at everyone, I know we’re okay. Savannah leaving was to be expected. She was supposed to take off for college in a few months anyways. We’d have gotten a proper goodbye then but probably wouldn’t have seen her after that. In a way, Savannah taking off was a blessing. It inspired all of us to be more.

I’m waiting patiently for Mrs. Dumont to call my name so that I can get my diploma. It’s only my high school diploma but…I’m heading to one of the major colleges in Kansas in the fall. Out of state tuition is going to kick my ass, but college will be worth it in the end. I had never been able to agree with her on that before but now I could.

“Oliver Kidwell,” Mrs. Dumont said into the microphone. I stood and grinned at the obnoxious cheering of my family. Everyone else just clapped as I was blinded by the flashes of the cameras going off. I switched the tassel on my cap as I walked off the stage with my diploma in hand.

I pointed to my mother and father and held up my diploma only to come up short. Savannah sat beside Mother and James with a massive smile on her face. Her hair was short but styled for the occasion. Her eyes…they glowed brighter than the auditorium lights. She looked beautiful in a soft pink dress.

I blinked.

She was still sitting there.

I closed my eyes and rubbed them hard until little dots filled my vision. Then I opened my eyes to be blinded by black spots and colorful circles here and there.

She was still there.

I sat down in my seat and stared at the diploma in my hands. Mrs. Dumont said her congratulations once she was done, and we were free to go. Normally we were supposed to go to the stage and get our congratulations from those that wouldn’t be at our little gatherings, but Savannah was here in Mansfield and normal just got boring.

I stood and climbed back through empty seats to get to my family who was still gathering their things. Natalie saw me first. Jack caught sight of me second. Then it was just collateral damage from there. I landed right in front of Savannah with a frown, dropped my diploma in James’s bear paws, and took her into my arms. Her response was tentative at first, and she was tense like she hadn’t been touched in a while.

And who knows? Maybe she hadn’t been touched in a while. Savannah was a very hugger and relied heavily on affectionate touches, but hugging her now in this tentative state was the oddest feeling in the world. Yet as I hugged her, everything came crashing down on me. The way she smelled was just as sweet as before; the way she molded against my body was sweeter than any intimate moment we’d ever shared; the way a few strands of her blossom orange-red tickled my nose had never felt so good; and the way her skin felt beneath my calloused palms was beyond desirable. Savannah’s hug was pure ecstasy to a user that had been in rehab for too long.

Savannah was a drug. And right now, it wasn’t the kind of drug that made you better.

I wanted to pull away and grab her face in my hands and kiss her soft, pink lips. This wasn’t the time or the place for it. There was never going to be a time or a place for a kiss to be shared between them again. Savannah made that clear.

Finally I pulled away and looked at her face. Her eyes were a mixture of blue, green, and brown with a slight twinge of gold. They were the perfect oddity that happened to be dull now. All of the running she’d been doing from country to country had worn her out. Maybe she was homesick because there was no reason for Savannah to be home otherwise.