My aunt drew the line when the cops brought me home and my then boyfriend’s mom lodged a formal complaint with our school and law enforcement, after he got hurt during our last adventure.
That was my strike three with disobedience.
To be clear, we snuck into the dam after hours, and security didn't feel like giving us a warning—not with my reputation and not when I was with the son of the mayor. I couldn't even hold it against him. I dragged him there, craving an adventure of my own. He was completely innocent if we didn’t count the heavy make out session and his fingers slipping between me and my underwear.
The tall, slender woman with hooded eyes, and the kind of nonchalant air that could knock you over, handed me a piece of plastic doubling as an electronic keycard and debit card to pay for my meals. I tucked it in my back pocket absently. I was not focusing on staying but escaping. They could keep the doors locked all they wanted, as long as I wasn't locked behind them.
My dad’s heavy hands landed on my shoulder as she ghosted her way out of the room. She moved like she hovered above the ground, and I couldn't even tell how, because her legs were covered by the length of her dress.
“Okay, kiddo, this is it. You're gonna be on your own, but the school knows the deal. I'll call when I can, so keep your phone on you.”
I couldn't force my eyes up further than our shoes between us. Ironically, we were both wearing boots. Mine were rooted in rebellion and his in order.
I hate goodbyes with so much passion it crippled my heart. After saying goodbye to my last boyfriend, I vowed to cage my heart. I shoved the organ in a box, filed it deep below my lungs and threw away any idea of a key. I had to start protecting myself. This new home didn't seem to yield any promises of permanence either, not when it was my senior year and I had dreams to be in California, not Seattle.
“Dad…” was all my dry voice choked out.
He pulled me into his broad, solid chest and held me to him as my eyes welled up and I held my breath. He finally pulled away after what seemed like longer than a typical hug, and he couldn't resist tousling up my hair like I was still his little broken girl who lost her mom too young and couldn't manage to find stability.
“No boys. Seriously. Aunt Dee really let that slide.”
I pulled the delicate skin under my eye with my pointer finger, wiping the tears away before they were spotted and smeared with makeup that wasn't waterproof.
“I'm almost eighteen, old man. I can date. You're the only person who thinks that way.”
He saluted me in the doorway as he typically did every time he left for some secret mission and location. As he created distance between him and me, I heard him shout loud enough for it to echo. “I mean it, no boys! I'll hunt them down personally, and you know my aim is aces.”
I couldn't help but chuckle as I still wiped away stray tears. I thought I'd be used to goodbyes by now. I had plenty of practice, but they never got easier.
The mattress was wrapped in plastic, and it made an obnoxious noise as I sat down and wilted. My beat up Doc Martens were no longer white but stained with every kind of dirt from at least six different states. I was a walking road map, and I grew to like my shoes collecting pieces of where I had been.
I didn't even bother to unpack this time. I simply laid my suitcases down and threw my duffel on the dresser meant to be mine. I closed the door to the room, barren and all, before I went to investigate my surroundings.
My dad joked that I was surveying the land, mentally marking threats, and doing exactly what he does on a much more precarious scale. He loved finding small things connecting us since I was my mama’s shadow. It made him feel important so I never harped on it. Small victories.
Arianna
I transferred in a few months into my senior year, which meant everyone started classes and most likely fell into their groups already. I would be the odd one out, finding certain classrooms and trying not to eat lunch alone outside, until someone took pity on me.
I roamed around with nowhere to be, since it was the weekend and knew no one in this God-forsaken town. The campus was large and reeked of old money. The buildings looked like churches with the moldings and stone appearance.
They mocked us - out living us all.
The Seattle overcast created a strong sense of doom that didn't help brighten my mood one bit. I looked up at the light gray sky, cursing my existence and questioning the chain of events leading me here out loud.
“If you keep doing that, people are gonna think you're crazy. Don't want you stealing my role around here.”
The slender, brooding, raven-haired boy sat up against his elbow from the laying in the lush grass. His eyes were strikingly green with flecks of dark emerald. I squinted, trying to pinpoint any signs of imperfection but his skin was smooth and glazed with a brush of bronze. His pile of necklaces weighted his neck like chains, and my eyes scanned down the length of his barely buttoned red shirt that had a black palm trees pattern on it. The ends flew open threatening to detach the only button holding his shirt around his body.
“The only ones here who are this quiet are the nerds… or you're the new girl the school's been buzzing about.”
His words crashed down around me, breaking the thick layer of fog he induced around functioning.
“The latter–new-always new,” I responded.
His gaze fell down to my beat up shoes. A snort shook his body, as he said, “At least something about you is new.”
My peculiar set of eyes, a hue of violet rimming the ocean blue, darted down to meet his. “Can't say your brand of fashion is my favorite either.”
He took inventory of me, looking at my expression, as the sass slipped out of my mouth, for any insecurities. He wasn't going to find a hint of apprehension.
I struggled to find the shame in the words I said—that was the problem with my silver tongue.
He stood up pushing a hand out between our bodies and offering his name: “Austin-resident crazy. Empath. Running back.”
I looked at his hand, debating if I was going to go down this road again - for the fourteenth time - of having to say goodbye again in a quick nine months when we all chose separate colleges. An ache as heavy as all my other goodbyes made me painfully aware, and I locked my heart away before I looked down again.
“Look, I'm only here for nine more months ‘til college. There's no point of getting to know me.” My hands were up, and I even backed away to drive it home—a clear warning to stay away from me. I was heartache waiting to happen at the ring of a relocation phone call.
He stepped forward anyways, pushing his hand out even further. I noticed the rings, all big and bulky like they were heirlooms, not just jewelry. “Nine months is a long time. You want to be miserable? Come on.”
Who shook hands anymore? Who was this guy, and why wouldn't he give up?
I sighed, letting my shoulders bounce, before I pushed my hand to meet his.
“I’m Arianna. You should feel accomplished.” I stopped talking as soon as his palm touched mine to yelp out an “Ow!” instead, when the shock sizzled against my palm.
He looked up at me devilishly. “Well, isn't that a sign? Besides, I'm supposed to be showing you around campus, and Mr. Alba would lose it if I actually blew you off.”