Treason is Very Beautiful, chapter 2

I woke up the next morning and threw on jeans and a Misfits shirt. Another day, one more kid at summer school afraid of me.

I heard "Nobody Likes You" across the room. I ran to my cell phone. Sheena.
"Hello?"
"Chevy!"
"Hey. What?"
"Tell me again!"
"I can't. I don't have time."
"Oh. Right. But still..."
"I've told you like, a million times already!"
"I know, I know. But still..."
"Fine. Whatever."

I sighed and reluctantly told her yet again about the call yesterday. "Wow," she said when I was done, "Are we really that good?"
"Obviously."
"Awesome. My parents said I could go."
"Nice."
"How about you?"
"Ummm..."
"Chevy..."
"I kind of sort of didn't ask them yet."
"Gah!"
"I know, I know. They've just been so agitated lately."
"With what?"
"Me, my brothers, work, each other."
"Oh. Sounds like a 'no' to me."
"I know. But what are we gonna do?"

We thought a minute. Sheena screamed, "I know!"
"What?"
"Let's take the bus."

I could tell by the sound of her voice that she had that evil little smirk of hers running across her face. I smile grew across mine as I thought of the old, dirty, abandoned short bus that we found and hot-wired. "Let's do it."

I hung up with her to call Joe. When I told him that we wouldn't be needing anything that he had set up for us, he sounded a little disappointed. He wasn't too crazy about a bunch of immature, rebellious kids driving a run-down short bus halfway across the country.

I hung up the phone and slowly set it down on my desk. I put my hand on my forehead. Shit. I'm running away. I've thought about it a lot, but I never thought I would actually go through with it.

"Shelby!" Mom yelled from the front of the house, "Are you ready?" "Uh, yeah!" I yelled. I quickly pulled on my Vans (the skateboarding shoe not the checkered ones) and ran out the door.

I went through that day of summer school just like every other one: Scaring the crap out of the preps in the class. I love doing that. It makes my day. I'm really not that scary, though. Yeah, I know. I'm tall, listen to rock and metal, wear black clothes and black nail polish, and have really heavy eye make up on. Shit. I am scary.

That night, I went to bed earlier than everyone else. I walked into my room, put on my shoes and my Beatles hoodie, and hopped in bed to wait. I waited for everyone to slowly go to bed as I watched the digital alarm clock by my bed.

I heard the hall door open and footsteps lead to the room next door. Timmy, my younger brother. 10:30.

I while passed by and all was quiet. The street lamp outside my window made an eerie shadow on my wall. The hall door opened and startled me. Heavy footsteps led down the hall to my mom and dad's room. Dad. 11:00.

I waited and waited for what seemed like forever, even though it was only about ten minutes. I drifted off to sleep. Catching myself, I woke back up. I waited. Finally, for the last time, the hall door opened and Mom (who was the only person left) walked to her room. 11:30.

I waited another twenty minutes to make sure that everyone was asleep. I got out of bed, grabbed my skateboard and backpack (which were under my bed) and crossed the room towards my window. I slowly lifted the glass and put one foot outside.

I ran back to my desk and grabbed my CD player and case. I put the case inside my backpack and put the earphones over my ears. I pressed play, and put the player in the CD holder. I walked out the window with "Maria" buzzing in my ears. I walked down the driveway and stopped at the mailbox. I sighed and turned around towards my house. On the outside, it looks pretty small, but inside it's not.

God, there's so many memories here. Good and bad. I blew a kiss to it and turned.

I threw my skateboard on the ground. Kick, push. Kick, push. I glided toward the end of my street toward the stop sign. That's where I had waited for the bus to arrive every day. Bye.

I road past all the houses lined on the street. My heart pounded. What the hell am I doing? Is this right? I think so, even though all my life, my opinion never really mattered. Well, it's time for a change.

I rode to the end of the subdivision. I stopped. I sat down by the sign that said "Magnolia Bend", cracked open a book, and waited.