Runaways

Trigger Warning: Car Crash

For years it was all just a joke, something stupid we said to pass the time. Daydreaming of a life that was yet to come. 

“It’s all fun and games” We said deep down we knew it was something more. Something pulling us in. We convinced ourselves that it was a joke until that night. Something clicked in our minds and the pieces of what felt like a lifelong puzzle were put together.

We sat on the swings outside of my old elementary school. The summer breeze sailed by as the sun set and the street lamps turned on. We were friends, best friends some people would say. Yet Liz still missed her old hometown and I grew up here where everyone knew each other. So when a new student joined our freshman year it wasn’t a surprise she was popular. Luckily we clicked and spent almost every weekend with each other. 

“Are you listening to me?” Liz snapped her fingers in my face, her face illuminated by the setting sun.

“Yeah I am, I was just thinking” I clarified.

She looked at me with a smile, “Anyways, like I said before we should get out of here and go somewhere.” She kicked her feet swinging a bit before stopping to look at me.

“Where? Where would we go?” I grabbed the chain to my own swing and leaned back a bit considering our options.

“I don’t know we could go anywhere” She paused looking off into the distance before returning her gaze to me, “We could travel across the country, go to Oregon or California if you feel like it.”

“That's a ways away.” I looked at her as she began to protest.

“That’s the point to get out of here and go as far as we can.” She stood up and twirled a bit. “Just think about it, we could go to Oregon and then go to Cali, visit LA and then even loop around and go to New Orleans. Hell we could even go to South America or Canada. Anywhere just not here.” Liz sat in the grass.

“We don’t even have a car, do you expect us to hitchhike?” I looked at her smiling as I joined her in the grass lying down.

“We could find one I’ve got two grand in my bank account. Do you think that’s enough?” She asked laying down with me and looking over.

I laughed, “Liz, where are you going to buy a car?” I looked at her.

“Somewhere, come on, you know it’s possible. I’m just saying if we left it would just be us no parents, no other people, just us and the endless road.” She said waving her hands in front of us, making me laugh again, “Come on we both know you don’t like your parents and mine are cheating on each other” She sat up, “Nobody would care if we left.”

“You don’t know that,” I said, trying to make a point.

“Yes I do, I mean seriously my parents are too busy fighting to notice I’m gone and your parents are never around anyways.” She paused tilting her head looking at me, “All I’m saying is don’t be surprised if one day I’m gone, off somewhere FAR away.”

“Well we’d need a car to do anything” I stood up walking back to the swing set sitting down.

“And we’ll get one. I say we work and save this month to get a car and then we’re gone,” She joined me on the swings again, “It’ll be easy! Just think about it” She leaned closer to me, “We'll be gone by the end of the month.”

“What about school?” I looked at her as she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“School really? You’re worried about school? Since when did you do that? And when did your dreams ever link to school?” She teased.

“We have two years left Liz, maybe we should just see it out.” I shrugged watching as she kicked the dirt.

“No, we leave this month. You’re just making excuses, you know you don’t care about school, if anything I should be worried about it.” She paused, sighing, “I mean tell me when was the last time you got straight A’s and your parents didn’t harass you about your grades?” She asked knowing she made a point as I looked to the ground.

“Probably never.” I say looking back up to meet her eyes.

“Exactly so we go” She stood up grabbing my hands pulling me up with her.

“We get a car” I looked her in the eyes, the final bit of the sun on the horizon reflecting in her green eyes.

“We save up for the month” She smiled, bringing her hands to the sides of my face.

“And we go.” We both said in a whisper. A secret between the two of us. A bond, a promise.

We stuck to our plan, saving up for the month and finding a car. We sat in her bedroom, a cozy and inviting space. 

“We leave tomorrow,” She said, sitting on her bed with me.

“We leave tomorrow” I repeated, looking up at the stars illuminated on the ceiling by her projector. It casted a dark purple glow across the room. We could hear the faint sound of her parents downstairs cleaning up from dinner, talking about their day. Liz got up and moved to her closet by the window opening it up and pulling out a suitcase. 

“What should I bring?” She looked at me, opening her suitcase.

“Anything you want you said we’re not coming back right? So everything?” I joked sitting up watching her walk back over to her closet.

“Well we're gonna need money obviously,” She pulled out a metal box from under her bed and removed a wad of cash from it, putting it in the suitcase. “These are my tips. I think there is at least two hundred dollars here,” She moved back to the closet and grabbed some of her clothes, bringing them over to put in the suitcase. I watched as she folded them up and carefully put them in the case. “So I think I'll pack a few dresses and then I’ll just do pants and shirts so it doesn’t matter where we go. How’s that sound?” She looked at me waiting for an answer.

“Sounds great, I kind of did the same thing” I said thinking about what I packed in my bag.

“Why don’t we leave tonight I mean we have everything, the car works let’s just go tonight” She suggested continuing to pack.

“We could, but first we have to get out of here past your parents with your mega case over there” I joked picking on her.

“Shut up” She laughed, her laughter was warm and soft. “I just want to be prepared.” She continued to pack her clothes into the bag carefully making sure to pack them securely.

“We’ll leave tonight preferably after your parents go to bed” I suggest.

“Yeah that sounds good but we might be here for a while waiting.” She said getting up, moving across the room and taking some stuff out of her dresser.

“Do you want help?” I asked standing up.

“Sure,” She said, handing me some clothes to fold.

We finished packing the suitcase diligently and waited for her parents to finally head off to bed. We laughed and joked around for an hour until we heard her parents walk past the room and go into their own. Then carefully we carried the suitcase down the stairs to the front door.

“Here, open it slowly,” Liz said, watching as I slowly turned the knob to the front door and opened it carefully to stop when it creaked.

I opened the door enough for us to slip out with the suitcase and closed it behind us. “Now we just have to get to the car.” I said walking down her driveway next to her.

“We’re so close” She laughed, “We’re gonna do it, We are really doing it” She giggled, grabbing my hands and turning to face me. Liz looked at me, her face illuminated by the street light. Her eyes always amazed me with how bright they could shine in such a dark area. I watched her eyes look down to my smiling lips before meeting mine again as she hugged me. “Let’s get out of here.” She whispered in my ear before letting go and grabbing her suitcase.

We walked down the road together talking about the places we would go. The sights we would see Liz talked about her love for Oregon and I talked about my love for the sea. 

“So we go to Oregon first and then we’ll travel down to Cali and follow the coast. I don’t know we’ll go wherever the road takes us, right?” She said smiling.

“Right” I replied, “There’s the car” I said looking at a small patch of gravel on the outside of the junkyard. The car stood there. It was a small gray Subaru rusting on the bottom, most of the paint chipping off. Liz ran over and opened the trunk putting her suitcase in before closing it.

“Let’s go. We have our stuff. I’m ready, you're ready?” She looked at me.

“Of course Liz” I laughed getting in the driver's seat of the car. The only one who knew how to drive. Liz got in the passenger seat and excitedly buckled up.

We drove out of the town and soon out of the city taking highways and back roads when it got too crowded. 

“To the west coast” Liz said looking out the window watching as the cars passed by.

The moon was overhead, the only light to the highway other than the lights of the passing cars. Liz soon fell asleep in the passenger seat soft snores coming from her as the car moved along the road. I reached in the back seat, opening my duffel bag and feeling for my phone.

“Liz wake up, can you grab my phone?” I nudged her awake glancing between her and the road.

“Yeah , yeah what for?” She asked half awake, reaching into the backseat searching my bag.

“I was gonna see if we could stop somewhere and get something to eat. We didn't eat dinner with your parents so-” I said, waiting for her to find my phone. 

“I don’t see it in here” I heard her shuffling through my bag as she continued to look.

“Are you sure?” I looked back for a second reaching into my bag as I turned the wheel just enough to send us off the road.

The car veered to the right catching the gravel off the concrete. The wheel jerked out of my hands completely turning the car around as I pressed on the gas to put us back on the road. The car got onto the road only for me to realize we were going in the wrong direction as our car slammed right into the front of a truck.

I opened my eyes, pain shooting through my body. I could see the faint colors red, and blue far away; everything was blurry. I tried to sit up to which I was met with a burning and sharp pain in my abdomen causing me to lose my breath and lay back down. I looked around trying to find Liz to see any trace of her. The taste of metal and blood flooded my mouth as I looked around coughing causing the pain to become worse.

“Liz.” I called out as loud as I could with no answer.