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twilightx28

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            After David told me I was on the news and that my family had been looking for me, I passed out. I didn’t know what happened after that.

            I woke up in a strange room with a cold compress on my head sprawled out on a bed on top of the covers. I took the compress off of my head, blinked my eyes a few times to focus them and then looked around.

            It  looked a little like my room at home.

            Some band posters, a couple of sketches tacked to the walls, a few photographs of friends and family tacked onto the mirror. But the family ones look recent. In all the pictures, David looks exactly as the same as he does now, only maybe a year or so younger. I wonder what his story is…Way more interesting than mine, I’m willing to bet.

            I swung my legs over the bed.

            Some one knocked on the door. I looked toward it and saw a Jonas Brothers poster.

            The door cracked open and David stuck his head in. When he saw that I was awake, he came in.

            I just noticed how incredibly good looked. The dark must’ve masked his features a little bit. He wasn’t exactly gorgeous, but he wasn’t bad. Not bad at all.

He had brown wavy hair that looked shiny and soft, and pale blue eyes that looked strangely amazing. I never liked blue eyes…Until now. He was 5’7’’, maybe 5’8’’, and he just seemed to glow.

            “So did you enjoy sleeping in my room? I had to sleep on the couch, thank you very much,” he joked.

            “This is your room? Huh…,” I looked around again. “Jonas Brothers? Really?”

            He scoffed. “You have a problem with the Jonas Brothers?”

            “Actually no,” I shook my head. “I love them, but you liking them is very surprising. Guys usually hate them.”

            He laughed. “I like them. Mar bought me a CD last year and they’re actually pretty good once you get past the ‘Boy Band-Pretty Face’ thing.”

            “Hey, I happen to like the ‘pretty face’ thing.”

            He looked down and gave a soft chuckle. He shrugged out of a really worn brown leather jacket and then I noticed what he was wearing. A big black t-shirt and baggy jeans, but it somehow suited him. He looked like he was trying to be a tortured artist, but succeeded.

            He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

            His closeness made me realize that I still smell.

            I stood up and he looked confused.

            “Can I use your shower?” and he laughed again.

            The shower felt amazing. It was the first source of hot water I felt in 5 freaking months and, believe me, I took advantage of it. I was in there for maybe an hour and a half before the hot water ran out.

I stepped out, wrapped myself in a towel and started to use another to dry my hair. I looked in the mirror and saw that my usually dull and knotty red hair was now shiny and clean and straight and I smiled at my reflection.

I used a hair brush I saw on the side of the sink and brushed it out. I pulled out all of my hair considering I didn’t know whose brush it was and I didn’t want them to get angry. I dried off the rest of my body and wrapped the towel around me again.

I walked back into David’s room and realized my first mistake. He was still there, only he was lying on the bed with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed looking at the ceiling.

I was wearing a towel.

            Shit.

            He hadn’t noticed me yet, so I turned around slowly and walked back out. Before I had the door closed he said “I have your clothes.”

            I opened the door and walked back in. He was watching me and pointed to a pile of folded clothes at the foot of the bed. I recognized the top one as my shirt that I was wearing.

            “Mar washed them while you were in the shower.” He smiled.

            I blushed, ran over to the bed, grabbed my clothes and ran right back out the door. Right before I closed it, I heard him laugh.

            I went back into the bathroom and put on my now clean and warm bra, underwear, shirt and jeans, checked to make sure that my hair was alright, and walked back into David’s room.

            He was now up and picking up stray things off of the floor and fixing the pillows and sheets.

            “I can make a bed ya know,” I startled him. “You don’t grow to be almost 15 years old without knowing how to make a bed.”

            He looked me up and down again. “You really are 14, aren’t you?” he asked.

            “Umm, yea? Why would I lie about it? If I wanted to seem older, I would’ve said 16.”

            “I guess,” he muttered. Then he just stood there.

            “So how old are you?” I asked.

            “Almost 16.”

            My mouth dropped. “Are you serious? You could definitely pass for 19.”

            He laughed.

            More silence.

            Something dawned on me. “Wait,” I said. “Last night you said you were me 3 years ago. If you’re only 15…You were 12 when you ran away?” The last part came out in a whisper. That was a shock.

            He smiled and nodded. “Yep. Mom was a bitch. Dad was dead. Brother was off at college. I was alone. No friends and no family that cared, so I took off. Then Mar and Jason saw me one night and took me in. Been here ever since.”

            He put up is arms and gestured around the room.

            I mouthed a “Wow.”

            “I know,” he said. “So what’s your story?”

            I took a deep breath. “Mom kicked me out. A lot of family drama, ya know? One moment she’s all nice and everything, then the next she just told me to leave. And I did. I left that house with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. Hitched-hiked here…Wait,” I stopped. “Where am I, exactly?”

            “Fall River,” he said plainly, as if that made any sense to me.

            “Which is…?” I trailed off.

            “Massachusetts.”

            I shook my head. “I’m sorry,” I said still shaking my head. “I thought you said Massachusetts.”

            “I did.”

            I whistled. “Damn. I got far.”

            He nodded.

            “So what happened?” I asked. “Last night, I mean. I remember you saying that I was on the news. That my family was looking for me. That’s all I know.”

            “Oh,” he said. “Yea, you passed out. I carried you back here and Mar told me to put you in here. You didn’t know they were looking for you?”

            I shook my head again. “I’m in a completely different state. I’ve had no contact with people for 5 months except the occasional person I asked for money. I had no clue…”

            “Are you gonna go back?” he asked.

            I looked at him. “You’re not gonna make me? Will anyone make me? If I have a choice, then no, I won’t go back. Not yet anyway.”

            He smiled. “No one will make you go anywhere you don’t to. Mar and Jason are good people. If you don’t wanna go home, they won’t make you.”

            I sighed and went to sit next to him on the bed.

            “I guess I kinda have to,” I said. “If I don’t go home, where can I go?”

            He laughed as if it was obvious.

            “Can you tell me what’s so funny?”

            “Andrea,” I liked the way he said my name. “You can stay here. Mar already asked if you needed a place to stay. She and Jason would be more than happy to put you up. You just need to carry your weight.”