Run to Me

Get in

You stepped off the bus and took as deep of a breath of air as you could. Your asthma and the smells that came from long trips on charter buses never mixed well. It wasn't kind to your clothes either and you realized you reeked. You were super excited to explore rural Washington and hopefully find someplace to finally plant roots, but you needed a shower first. You watched as the bus shut its doors and crawled back onto the road, leaving that familiar smog in its wake, and hopefully taking your broken past with it. 

Thankfully, the bus had dropped you off right across the street from a convivence store. You would be able to get a snack and hopefully some information on where the closest motel was. The streets of this sleepy town seemed to be completely empty and you jogged across the street, the jingle of a bell welcoming you inside. You were quick in picking out a snack cake and the largest bottle of water you could find, but meandered through the aisles a bit, thankful to stretch your legs. You eyeballed the candy greedily, knowing you needed to save what little cash you had left for the motel. Growing up the way you had, stealing became a necessary skill. You had never stolen anything other than what you needed, but standing there starring at the truffles on the shelf, you felt like you needed it. A treat after the cross country ride in a stuffy bus. You looked over the shelf and to the cash register, the teenager at the counter distracted by his phone. You quickly pocketed a handful of the chocolate and stuffed them in the inside pocket of your bulky coat.  You walked away quickly, going up to the counter and placing your items in front of the cashier. He put down his phone and started ringing it up. You pulled a few crumpled bills from your pocket and handed them to him, smiling. He stared back at you and handed you the change wordlessly, pushing your snack towards you and returning to his phone. 

You stood there still, which did not phase him, so you cleared his throat to get his attention. He sighed and turned to you. 

"What's up?" he asked, barely tearing his eyes away from his screen. 

"Uh I'm not from around here and need to find a place to stay. Can you tell me how to get to the nearest motel?" 

He leaned over the counter and pointed back towards the way you had come. 

"Its about 8 blocks down. A straight shot, its on the corner of Rumel and Howard."

You nodded and smiled at him again, this time though he got a closer look at you. You were hopping he didn't smell you.

"How old are you? Where are your parents?" he asked, suddenly realizing you may be a runaway.  This was something you heard often, looking much younger than your actual age.

"I'm 20. I can show you my ID," you said, taking your back pack off your back. 

He shook his head and went back to his phone, not interested any further. You thanked him and left, the bell ringing once again. It had begun to drizzle and the sky was grey, but you felt so warm and excited. This could really be the start of the life you always dreamed of. The town still sleepy and grey, held so much more to you. You opened your snack cake and began to cross the street, towards the motel. Suddenly a blaring car horn screamed, followed by the feeling over your body being rocketed into the sky. You rolled over the hood of a car and onto the damp pavement of the street. Your snack cake laid crushed in your hand and your head buzzed, your body crying. Thankfully the car must have been going pretty slow, but it seemed to have come out of nowhere. You slowly opened your eyes and saw a blurry image of a person standing over you.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" the voice was sweet and concerned, but sounded like it was under water. 

You blinked, trying to adjust your vision. Thankfully it only took a moment and your vision cleared enough to see the beautiful woman hovering over you. Red hair stuck to her lips and her eyes were full of fear. You stared at her, shocked by the whole thing before realizing you never responded.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." you said, pushing yourself to sit up and wincing.

"Oh no no. Don't sit up. Where are your parents? I'm so sorry. I can call them for you."

You shook your head carefully, pushing yourself onto your elbows. 

"I don't have parents. I'm 20, but I don't have anyone to call. I don't have family or anything like that."

The woman's face fell and softened. She looked around her at the abandoned street and then back to you. She got closer to you and brushed your hair behind your ear before touching your forehead. You winced and drew in a ragged breath. You reached back into your back pocket and got your inhaler, taking a puff. 

"Where were you headed? Is someone expecting you?" she asked, suddenly appearing very interested in you. Which didn't seem strange since she had just hit you with her car.

"No. I was just heading to the motel down the street. I needed a place to stay. I'm new here," you said, pushing yourself into a sitting position, your head spinning a bit.

"Well, why don't you come to my house? I could get you cleaned up and make you something better than a snack cake. The motel bathrooms are really gross and I have medical training, so you'd be able to get patched up and have a hot shower. Come on, get in."

Everything you learned growing up was not to trust people, especially strangers. But maybe it was because she was so beautiful and gentle, that you smelled like a sun cooked fish, or the fact you were still disoriented from being run down mid snack. You nodded and she smiled, helping you up and into the passenger side of her car. She took your bag and threw it in the backseat before getting in and buckling up. She looked over at you and smiled.

"My name is Diane by the way," she said as the car lurched forward. 

"Y/n, I'm Y/n" you replied. She put a hand on your leg and squeezed it. 

"Well lets get you home then Y/n."