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( This is one of my first stories written in first person... xB; Just a head’s up; I also had to take some away from the start to make it shorter, so it’ll be confusing. This story ended up five pages long on Word, with about half of it removed. @-@
One last warning-- if you don't like cursing or anything like that, I'd advise that you don't read it, since this is from an angsty teen's point of view. )
“Damn,” I mumbled, shoving the huge sunglasses back up over my eyes. Why do sunglasses have to be so ********’ big? “Damn it, damn it, damn it… huh?”
In my idiotic whining fit, I didn’t really notice the café that sat in front of me. “s**t, how do I always run into one of these?” I asked myself, blinking. Just to make sure I hadn’t walked all that distance for nothing, I looked at the sign. Thank God. Sunset Café.
Looking around, I had no idea where I was, nor what time it was. Maybe I should just check the time inside the café; it wouldn’t hurt to check the time while having a mocha, now would it?
Now that I had my mind made up, I was going inside the unknown café, I stormed in and looked around. Okay, that’s good. No creepy gay dudes, and no rude bastards. Well, not that I could see. Everyone looked pretty calm here—just sitting around and sipping coffee while talking quietly amongst their friends. I had to admit, it seemed pretty boring. Well, whatever. It’s not like I was going to spend the rest of my life there, so I just sat myself down at a table and impatiently waited for a waiter to show up.
“May I take your order, miss?” A man said, walking up to me with a pen and paper in hand. His Spanish accent was so damn heavy I could barely understand him, but considering that he was dressed like a waiter and had a notepad, I could easily assume that he was a waiter.
“I’ll just have a mocha,” I said, picking up the untouched menu on my table and handing it to him. All he did was nod, grab the menu, jot something down on his notepad, and walk away.
“M’kay… you go do that.” I said under her breath, putting my feet on the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a couple of people staring at me like I was some circus animal, but I just rolled my eyes and decided that they didn’t like the way I acted—but did I care? Hell no.
After what seemed like an eternity, a different waiter came up and handed me a mocha.
“That will be three dollars, would you like me to charge you now or after the meal?” he asked, a bill ready in his hand.
s**t.
I stuffed my hand into the pocket of too-small Abercrombie jacket, and frowned a bit. ‘Oh my God,’ I thought, my mind racing. ‘I didn’t leave it all the way back at home, did I?’ I swallowed, and then squeaked out an answer. “Um… I’ll just take it after.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He replied obediently, walking away in the same stuck-up style as the guy did before.
What was I planning to do? Split, before finishing my mocha. But first…
I glanced quickly at the clock, and my eyes widened. It couldn’t already be four in the morning, could it? I guess it was. Since this was a 24/7 café, which is probably why it was named Sunset Café, it could’ve been any time at night.
How long had I been gone for? I had left my house at around ten at night, when all of those idiots that consider themselves my family were asleep, so that would mean I had been wandering around aimlessly for six hours. I shuddered at the thought, and realized how cold I was.
With extreme bitterness, I took one last gulp of the warm coffee, and sneaked off into the bathroom. I had done this too many times before when I couldn’t pay for something—go to the bathroom, stay for a couple of minutes, and sneak off. In small places like this, it was pretty damn easy. There wasn’t that many people, which means that the security was a bit low.
Regretfully, I exited the bathroom, hands stuffed in my pockets, and began to tip-toe out of the café. As soon as I opened the door, a voice rung out—one that I definitely hadn’t expected.
“Ella?” Tanya said, glancing up from the magazine she was reading, and blinking. “Oh my god, that is you, ******** goes my cover.
I began to walk faster, but I felt a hand drop down on my shoulder. I spun around, and saw Tanya staring at me with her cold blue eyes.
“Ella, why are you wearing a blonde wig? Or, is it a wig?” She tugged on it, and it came flying off. My dyed black hair fell right out of the wig, and I blinked. At least I still had my sunglasses.
“Ella…” Tanya said slowly, raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing in Connecticut?”
“Connecticut?” I choked, feeling something rise up in my throat.
Now, I know that Connecticut isn’t that far by car from New York, but by foot? You wouldn’t believe how far it was by foot. By car, it was a two hour drive, which would mean that I had to get a car drive straight back to New York right now to get back to home in time.
“Yeah, Connecticut.” Tanya said easily, shrugging. Obviously, she doesn’t know me all too well—I had walked to Connecticut.
“Yes, well,” I said in a snobby tone, hoping that she still wouldn’t recognize it was me, “Do you have a car, miss? I am an actress from New York City, and I came by here for some coffee. Could you please drive me back by six in the morning?” Let’s see if those acting classes paid off.
“Well, Miss Actress,” Tanya mumbled, beginning to pace around me. “If that’s the case, then why do you have black hair like my friend Ella?”
“I… a lot of people have hair like this.” I said defensively, shoving the sunglasses back up on my nose. Apparently that action got Tanya’s mind working, since she pulled them off and smiled deviously.
“I saw your purple eyes in the café. That’s the only reason that I knew it was you. Oh, and by the way that you put your feet up on the table. Classic Ella.”
Damn.
“Well, I, um…” I stuttered, thinking of another excuse. “Fine, you got me. Look here, I don’t want to be in Connecticut. I walked here. Look, do you have a car?”
“Well, yeah,” Tanya said, raising an eyebrow. Probably wondering how I got in Connecticut. “But there’s one problem… I only have a learner’s permit.”
“If you drive carefully, you won’t get caught.” I said with a shrug. “So where’s your car? Hey, what are you doing in Connecticut, anyway?”
“My car? In New York. And I’m visiting my Grandma.” Tanya mumbled, crossing her arms. “We could use my parent’s car, but—”
“’Kay, then, let’s use your parent’s car.” I said, beginning to walk away.
“But we could get caught! Or even worse, arrested!” Tanya complained, running after me.
“Yeah, and I could get grounded for running away.” I said blankly. “If you won’t drive, then I will. I know where your Grandma’s house is.”
“The girl who failed driving school? Let you drive? No.” Tanya said stiffly, shuffling uncomfortably. “Fine, I’ll drive. It’s not like I have much of a choice, anyway.” I smiled.
“Damn right,” I muttered, walking away once again.
“How are we going to get in the car?” Tanya inquired, trying to open one of the locked doors.
“That’s easy.” I responded, “Do you have a hammer?”
“What?” Tanya asked, a blank look on her face. What, was this girl stupid?
“We’re going to break one of the windows then hotwire the car.” I replied with a roll of my eyes. I could see her face stiffen, and her shake her head.
“No, Ella. We can’t.” Tanya said, crossing her arms. “I won’t partake in anymore of your illegal acts.”
“That’s very bold of you. Now, give me one of your shoes.” I said, looking down at my shoes. High heels aren’t very good for breaking windows, especially when they cost you a fortune.
“What?” Tanya asked, taking a step away from me.
“If you won’t give me a hammer, then I need a shoe.” I growled, getting fed up with the sheer idiocy of my friend.
“What?” Tanya repeated, taking another step back and tripping over herself. Thank God she was wearing Vans slip-ons, since I just stole one of her shoes and broke open the window when she was about to get up. Tiny glass shards fell everywhere, and a couple fell in my hair. Instead of complaining about it, I just ruffled my hair a bit and called it good.
“H-Have you done this before?” Tanya spit out, standing up on one foot. At least she was smart there, since that way she wouldn’t step on the glass. “And that window breaking was a bit loud, don’t you think?”
“A couple of times.” I said with a grin, reaching my hand in the window and unlocking the car. I climbed in, and shut the door quickly. I reached for the wires, and began to hotwire the car. “And yeah, it was loud. From what you tell me and through my experiences, though, all your family seems like heavy sleepers. Remember when I put whipped cream in your hair while you slept, right? Yeah. You have to be a pretty damn heavy sleeper.”
“But whoever said that everyone else were heavy sleepers?” She questioned, crossing her arms. God, that was the stupidest question today. I looked up at the sky, and sunrise was already beginning. Oh, s**t.
“Look,” I snapped, glaring at her. “Every wonder why you got in trouble for drawing moustaches on them and putting whipped cream in their hair while they slept when you didn’t do anything? Yeah. I did that.” She gawked. What was so amazing about that? “Now, are you going to help, or not?” I asked, the engine roaring.
“No!” Tanya exclaimed stubbornly, staring at me like I was crazy. “You’ll only get grounded if you get there home late, but for this, you could get arrested!”
“You don’t understand, Tanya,” I said frowning. “That’s the least they’d do. I’m the perfect child to be sent to a foster home and never get picked up since I’m too old and not that girl-next-door type of kid everyone wants. I’m not perfect, not anywhere near.” I put my hands on the steering wheel, and Tanya pushed me over and into the passenger seat.
“I’m driving.” She said coldly, looking behind her and backing up. “Though it would’ve been much easier to break into the house and grab the car keys.”
“Yes, probably.” I said with a shrug as she began to drive away. “But it’s much more fun this way.”
I’m not sure what time it was when we got pulled over by a cop for speeding, but it was light out, for sure.
“Ma’am, do you know how fast you were going?” He asked, and Tanya gave me a nervous glare. I shrugged, and looked at him.
“Yes, we do,” I said to him, “And she’s extremely sorry. See, we’re a tad late for work, so we thought that if we went a bit over the speed limit it wouldn’t hurt.” I guess this was a failed attempt to seem older, since he didn’t really seem to fall for it.
“A ‘bit over’? You were going eighty in a thirty-five zone.” He retorted in a lecture-like tone, one that teachers give me so much that it drives me insane.
“Yes, and we’re extremely sorry.” I said, creasing my brows and frowning.
“Well, I’ll let you off with a warning, but you should consider yourself lucky.” He said with a sigh. “I should charge you for reckless driving. Now, I just need to see your license, miss…” Tanya gave me another glare.
“Floor it,” I mouthed to her, and she just stared at me. “Just floor it!” I mouthed again, hoping that the police officer couldn’t read lips. He apparently couldn’t, since he just stood there like an idiot, waiting for Tanya to magically produce a driver’s license.
Giving me a regretful glare, Tanya looked at the officer, and floored it.
The cop just stood there, but as I looked behind us I could see him saying something into a walkie-talkie and climbing into his car. s**t, what had I got myself into?
“Dammit, Tanya, go faster!” I yelled, knowing that a police car was much faster than this tiny Porsche that her parents owned.
“I’m going as fast as I can!” She whined, pressing the pedal down as hard as she could. Damn, we were going so fast, probably too fast for safety.
“We are definitely going to jail…” I mumbled, covering my face with my hands. “And after that, I’m going to a foster home…”
“You finally realize that?” Tanya asked, swerving out of the way so she wouldn’t run into a cat. Since she knows me—if she ran over a cat, I would be whining and, probably, crying the entire car drive home.
“Yeah…” I whispered, looking out of the window. I could hear the sirens, and I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this one.
“Giving up?” Tanya asked, glancing at me momentarily.
“Yeah.”
“Not even one last battle?”
I paused, and thought. “One last battle, if you’re up of it.” I replied with a grin.
“Sure, just tell me what to do.” Tanya said, pressing on the pedal as hard as she could to get away from the police. I whispered something in her ear, and she shook her head. “Ella, you idiot! That’s dumber than this idea!”
“Do you want to get arrested?” I asked, looking at the ditch next to us.
“No, but we could get killed!” Tanya shouted, and I just shrugged.
“Fine…” I said, turning the wheel towards the ditch for her.
I’m not sure when I woke up, but I did. It was dark out, which would mean that the police had either entirely missed us in the ditch, or they thought we were dead and, being heartless bastards, walked away.
“Tanya?” I said groggily, rubbing my head. “Are you still alive?” I looked around, and saw no one. Was she found by the police, or did she wake up before I did and leave me? I glanced around the woodland setting once more, and caught sight of her still lying on the ground. “Tanya?” I repeated, standing up, but immediately sitting right back down. God, I was so dizzy.
“Mm… whaaat?” I heard her say, her eyes still closed.
“Get up,” I ordered, staring at her. “we have a concussion, you shouldn’t sleep.”
“Fine…” she mumbled, sitting up. “Are we dead?”
“That’s a dumb question,” I said, rubbing my head. “Of course not. Now, see if you can stand up.” I stood up myself as a model, but I felt like sitting back down. I could barely see, but I managed. Though, I doubt that I could walk.
“Fine…” Tanya repeated, standing up. She didn’t seem dizzy at all; lucky her. “Can I sit back down now?”
“No, you might fall back asleep.” I said, stretching. “Wake up. I know you’re a heavy sleeper, but we’re going to have to get back home.”
“That’ll be a b***h to explain to your parents.” Tanya stated with a silly grin.
“That’s an understatement…” I mumbled, taking one step forward. Okay, that wasn’t all that hard, was it? I took another step, and smiled. I felt like a baby taking his first steps, since it was such an accomplishment for me. Tanya walked over to me, obviously not as injured as I was, since she walked in a perfectly straight line without seeming dizzy at all.
“Okay, so where do we go?” Tanya inquired, trying to touch her toes. She looked funny while trying that, since she wasn’t flexible already, but when she has a possible concussion it’s even funnier to watch.
“That’s easy…” I said, swallowing. “Home.”
Now we were more lost than ever. It was already beginning to get light out again, so I assumed it was past five in the morning—both of our parents must be worried sick.
“Can we stop for food? Or something?” Tanya whined hoarsely, and that made it obvious to me that I was hungry, too.
“Do you have any money?” I asked, glancing at her. After that incident at the Sunset Café, I was going to be more careful about checking to see if I have any money.
“Yeah, enough for some fast food or something. Only if we order off the dollar menu at McDonald’s, though.” Tanya responded, checking her pockets to see if she did in fact have enough money.
“How much do you have?” I asked, glancing around for any place to eat.
“Eight bucks. And a couple of dimes.” She said immediately, giving me a curt nod.
“Okay.” I said, and a Starbucks caught my eye. I was so damn tired of all these cafés, but what other choice did we have? The good thing was, a Starbucks around means that we’re either closer to New York, or maybe even in New York.
“There’s a Starbucks!” Tanya exclaimed, pointing directly across the street from the Starbucks I saw. As surprised as I was, I did see a Starbucks there. Maybe I was still dizzy, and was seeing double. Though, I didn’t feel dizzy…
“Um, okay,” I said, a bit puzzled. Then again, that points to the suggestion that we were in New York, since stuff like that is around The Big Apple all the time. Tanya grabbed my wrist, and dragged me inside.
Once we were inside, she ordered a blueberry muffin for us to share, since she didn’t want to waste her “precious money” on more food. Oh, well. At least it was enough to fill me up until I got home.
I ended up just picking out a few blueberries to eat, since Starbucks’ muffins taste terrible. Normally, I don’t like blueberries, but they tasted much better than the pastry. I probably should’ve eaten something more, but I didn’t have much of an appetite, despite what my stomach told me.
“Ready?” Tanya asked, grabbing her jacket and standing up.
“Uh-huh.” I said, popping one last blueberry in my mouth. I had the same questions shoved in the back of my mind the entire time—were we safe, or were the police still after us? Would I still be sent to yet another foster home, or would my so-called “parents” forgive me for this? Would they turn me in?
Oh, ******** had never thought of that.
I realized that Tanya had been talking the entire time I was spacing out, so I slipped back into reality and listened.
“—You’re house is only a couple of blocks—” I heard her say, but then I just glared at her.
“Tanya,” I said, wishing that I had never had a single bite, since the food might just come right back up. What a waste. “We can’t got to my house. We just can’t.”
“What?” Tanya asked, oblivious to my concern about being turned in. My family would want to know where I was, I’d tell them, and then I’d to jail time as an adult—I was only a couple of months away from being eighteen.
Wait.
That was it. Perfect.
“I was afraid of being turned in by someone,” Ella explained in a hushed voice, “But I don’t have to go back, now do I? My birthday’s in March, so why don’t I just leave my family a bit early?”
“But… you don’t have a job, nor any money?” Tanya said, and I sighed.
“Damn, you’re right.” I admitted regretfully, crossing my arms. “Then let’s just not tell anybody about this little incident, okay?” Tanya blinked.
“I don’t see why it’s such a big deal.” She said stiffly. “we didn’t do anything bad.” I rolled my eyes, and slapped her across her face.
“Didn’t do anything bad? God, you’re dumber than I thought!” I shouted at her. “I ran away. We stole a car. To make things worse, we drove that car without a license, and once we got pulled over we ran. We could go to jail, goddamn it!” Tanya frowned, and sighed.
“Let’s take this conversation away from a Starbucks… where there’s about a million people.” Tanya mumbled, grabbing my arms and forcing me out before I could protest. She shoved me against the hard wall of the outside of the Starbucks. “What are you, crazy? You know I’m not good at keeping secrets!”
“Well,” I said, thinking. Damn, she was right. She told the entire tenth grade who I liked two years ago, when I was fifteen. What other secrets of mine had she told? There’s when she was so damn close to telling my parents about all the times I had skipped class, but I managed to keep her quiet. “Can’t you keep a single secret? Even your own?”
“No…” Tanya said, releasing her grip from my arms and I got off the cold wall of the Starbucks. “Not a secret of mine has been keep. ‘Some secrets were meant to be told’.”
“Damn, Tanya, don’t quote Fall Out Boy.” I whispered, thinking. “You can’t be that big of a snitch, can you?” She nodded.
“I can.” Tanya said sullenly, shrugging.
“Well, then,” I said, smirking. “If you want to quote Fall Out Boy, fine with me. I will then, too. ‘Snitches and talkers get stitches and walkers’, if you get what I mean.” Tanya swallowed so hard that I could hear it.
“I get it. ‘Kay. I won’t tell anyone.” Tanya said quietly, looking away. “Let’s go home.”
“Oh, right. Tanya?” I said, looking at her as when began to walk again. “One more quote from Fall Out Boy, okay?” Tanya nodded intently, listening. “Two, actually. ‘I’m sorry my conscience called in sick again’, and ‘Your remorse hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, simply the ones that don’t care’.”
Tanya nodded once again, and we began our walk home.
“You what?”
Well, at least the response from my mom was a calm one.
“Oh my God, Cinderella Rainia Waver! I simply cannot believe you! Grounded!” I glanced at Tanya, a glance that you could either read as a smug one, or one that said, “I told you so”. “Grounded for a month! No, two! The police said that—”
Oh my God.
“The police were here?” I asked weakly, my knees trembling.
“Yes!” my mom said, turning to look at me. “They were! They explained the whole story!”
“The whole story? What would that exactly be?” I asked, trying to remain as calm and collected as possible.
“They said that you drove away when they asked for a license.” My mom bellowed, staring at me coldly with her hazel eyes.
“My foot slipped, and I tried to slow down but my car wouldn’t.” Tanya lied, shrugging. “Then, when I finally got it slowed down, we drove into a ditch. I’m so sorry!” I gave Tanya a quick thumbs up when no one was looking.
“Oh.” My dad said, popping his head into the room. “So you weren’t running away or anything?”
“Nah…” I said, much more calm. “We were going out for morning coffee, and Tanya offered to drive for me, since I’ve failed every single driver’s test I’ve taken.”
“Oh…” Now it was my mom’s turn to say that. Wow, I guess those acting classes had paid off. “That’s a relief. But… the police said that you were dead!” I couldn’t help but smile at that comment. I knew that those idiots would be fooled by the ditch trick.
“Why don’t we celebrate Ella and her little friend’s safe return with some cupcakes?” My little sister, Anna, asked, walking into the room. “I’ll make them.”
Grinning, I said, “That would be wonderful.”
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