Going Nowhere At Full Speed

Chloe had spent the last thirty minutes going through every single article of clothing that she owned, trying to figure out what she should wear on her date with Kris. She glanced over at the clock that sat on her side table to see it say 5:30. That meant that she had an hour and a half until Kris was supposed to show up.

She started going through all of her shirts once again, trying to find one that wasn’t too casual, but also one that wasn’t too dressy. She sighed as she realized she wasn’t going to be able to make a decision by herself.

She walked out into the living room and out the front door, not caring that she was still in her robe after taking a shower. She walked next door and knocked on Ava’s door. She could hear footsteps coming towards the door, and a few seconds later, Ava opened the door. “Hey,” she said smiling before she saw that Chloe was in a robe. “Um, I don’t know if that’s the appropriate attire for your first date with Kris,” she joked.

Chloe glared at her. “Ha ha,” she said sarcastically. “That’s the problem, though. I have no idea what to wear!” she exclaimed.

“Chloe, calm down,” Ava said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the apartment, shutting the door behind her. She dragged Chloe back to her bedroom and opened the door to her closet. She walked inside and started pulling different articles of clothing out.

“What about this?” Ava asked, showing Chloe a nice black shirt.

“Umm,” Chloe hummed. “I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.

“Okay, what about this one?” Ava said, holding up a dressy, pink shirt.

“No,” Chloe said.

Ava glared at her. “Chloe, you’ve got to pick something!”

“That’s just it! I can’t pick. I’m so nervous that he’s not going to like what I wear or something,” Chloe told her.

“You do realize that Kris isn’t going to care what you wear, right? And, since you can’t decide, I’m picking for you. And, you’re wearing this,” she said, pulling a casual, blue dress.

Chloe looked down at her arms, which still had light bruises on them. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ava cut her off. “It’ll be fine. No one will even notice them!” she assured her. “Now, go put this on!” she said, shoving her towards the bathroom door.

Five minutes later, Chloe came out in the dress, and she spun around in a circle for Ava. “So, how do I look?” she asked nervously.

“You look amazing,” Ava told her. “So, are you planning on leaving your hair down or putting it up?”

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Chloe admitted. “What do you think?”

“Leave it down,” Ava said.

An hour later, Ava had left to go to work, and Chloe nervously sat on her couch, waiting on Kris to arrive. As soon as she heard a knock on the door, she jumped up and ran over to the door. She tried to compose herself before opening the door. “Hey,” she smiled when she saw Kris wearing a black dress shirt and pants with a light blue tie that matched her dress perfectly.

“You look beautiful,” Kris told her, making Chloe blush.

“Thanks,” Chloe said. “You look very handsome yourself,” she added as she heard her cell phone ring. “Sorry,” she apologized as she walked to the table and pulled her phone out of her purse. She looked down at the number, and her face immediately turned white.

“Chloe? Are you okay?” Kris asked, walking over to her.

“It’s my dad,” she whispered.

“Don’t answer it,” Kris ordered, knowing that if she did, she would only be worse off. He saw her glance back down at the phone, and he repeated, “Chloe, don’t pick it up!”

“I have to,” she told him quickly. “If I don’t, everything’s going to be worse,” she said, flipping her phone open and holding it up to her ear. “Hello?” she whispered.

“Chloe,” her father said in a calm voice, which scared Chloe even more. “I need you to tell me where you’re at.”

“I can’t,” she told him.

Dirk’s voice immediately changed, anger rushing through it. “Damn it, Chloe. You do realize that you are under eighteen, right? That means that I am still your legal guardian, and you have to do what I say. And, I am telling you that you need to either get your ass home by tomorrow morning or tell me where the fuck you are so I can come get you and bring you home,” he told her.

“I can’t,” she repeated, not being able to say anything else out of fear.

“Chloe, if you just tell me now where the hell you are, I will go a hell of a lot easier on you when I see you. Because, if I have to track you down, I swear, I will beat the shit out of you, and you won’t even feel like ever moving again, let alone running away!” he screamed, and Kris looked at Chloe in shock.

Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Kris snatched the phone out of her hand, snapping it shut, and pulling Chloe closer to him.

“Kris,” Chloe cried, the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

“Shh,” Kris tried soothing her. “It’s going to be okay,” he told her.

“No, it’s not, Kris,” Chloe argued. “He’s going to find me.”

“Chloe, I’ve already told you he’s not going to find you. Brent won’t let that happen, and I won’t let that happen,” he assured her. “I promise. Besides, how is he going to be able to find you? It’s not like anyone’s going to tell him. The only people that know you’re here are Brent, Ava, me, and the guys on the team. You know none of them are going to tell him anything!”

“You’re right,” Chloe said, nodding her head, trying to convince herself that it was true. Kris continued to hold her a little while longer until Chloe moved her head to look up at him. “I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“For what?” he asked softly.

“For ruining our date,” she told him.

“It’s not ruined,” he said, shaking his head. When she looked up at him with a confused look on her face, he explained. “We’ve just got a change of plans. I’m sure you don’t really feel like going out now, do you?” he asked.

“No, not really,” Chloe admitted.

“So, why don’t we just stay in and watch some movies or something?” Kris suggested.

“Sounds good,” Chloe smiled while the two of them walked over to the couch, getting nicely situated on it.