California

She walked cautiously around the abandoned playground and checked her watch. She sighed softly before slowly approaching the small, rope ladder. Instead of climbing onto it like children had earlier that day, she jumped up onto the hard wooden surface. She turned around and watched as cars flew down the road without any worries; any care. Her eyes were searching for a brown, rustic looking truck and praying not to see a silver Volvo. When she noticed none of the cars were in view, she climbed across the large playground slowly, memories of her childhood flowing back to her.

"Tracie, come on! I wanna slide on the slide!" a girl at the age of seven squealed, running towards the long, yellow slide that called to her.

"Come on, I wish you would stop calling me that! My name is Trace!" a boy at the age of nine whined, chasing after the girl.

"Not to me. You are Tracie. You are my Tracie and mine only," she laughed as she climbed up the two small steps that led to the slide.

"I am not anyone's Tracie," he muttered as he followed her slowly, rolling his eyes behind her back.

"Yes you are. We talk about this everyday. Now just be quite and go down the slide with me," she laughed as she flopped down on the edge of the slide. He simply rolled his eyes and plopped down behind her, throwing his thin arms around her tiny frame. Within seconds, they both thrusted forward, causing a rush of wind to fly past them as they slid down the steep slide, giggles filling the air. As soon as they reached the bottom of the slide, they both fell to the ground, hugging each other, giggling.

"Come on, Trace, time to go home," a man hollered towards where the two children were giggling.

"I gotta go home. See you tomorrow, Ray," Trace slowly spoke as he calmed down from fits of laughter.

"My name isn't Ray, it's Raychel," the girl mocked as she got up, getting rid of any dirt that were on her pants.

"Haha, funny. But you are Ray. You are my Ray and mine only," he smiled as he waved a small goodbye, running towards his dad.

Raychel smiled as the memory ran through her head, remembering the petty memories that kept her from going insane.

Moments after fading in and out of memories, the sound of a loud motor floated throughout the air. She smiled softly and ran quickly towards the small tunnel. She threw her body inside and curled her knees into her chest.

"Ray? Ray, where are you?" a male voice whispered fairly loudly. She smiled and stuck her head out of the tunnel.

"In here, Tracie," she whispered quietly, waving her right hand out of the tunnel. Moments later, she heard a small crunch of footsteps creeping closer to the tunnel. Soon enough, she saw a shadow appear in the tunnel's entrance and climb in slowly.

"God this is too small," Trace groaned as he tried his best to get comfortable.

"No, you're just too tall," Raychel giggled, watching him suffer with the size of the tunnel. He growled and glared towards her playfully.

"How long do you think you can stay out tonight?" he whispered, placing his body next to hers. She checked her watch again and sighed.

"I think I'm safe for about thirty minutes. And I can't come see you for the next few days. Mom decided to take time off work for some 'vacation'," she sighed once more, placing her head on his shoulder.

"I hate this. I don't understand why your mom hates me to the extent of never letting me and you see each other," he mumbled, placing small kisses on the top of her head.

"I'm not sure," she mumbled, nuzzling her head into his neck.

Raychel's breathing against his neck caused Trace to shudder. Every night, they would escape their house, simply to spend thirty minutes with each other. With Trace leaving with his dad every week and Raychel being grounded until she's able to leave, this was the only way.

"You know, I had a dream last night," he whispered, resting his head on top of hers and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"And what was this 'dream' about?" she asked, her eyes fluttering shut. She wasn't falling asleep; she was simply embracing the small amount of time they were able to share.

"I had a dream that me and you ran away. We just up and left Texas and moved to California. And when I woke up, I thought about it…" he started, leaving the rest of his sentence to blow through the night like the wind. Raychel leaned up and looked at him.

"What are you implying, Trace?" she questioned, moving directly in front of him.

"We should just leave for California. Leave tonight. We can forget everyone here and everything. I think we could make it by morning," he whispered, stroking her cheek with his thumb. She moved away from his touch and glanced at him.

"I don't know, Trace. I don't want my mom to go on a crazy search party and end up finding me. I couldn't picture it," Raychel shuddered at the thought.

"Listen, I talked to a few of my dad's friends. They all said that since we're seventeen years old, we could leave home. We could leave notes for our parents, even though my dad already is suspicious of me leaving, and just go," Trace explained, trying his hardest to convince Raychel to come with him.

Raychel looked into her hands, hoping the right answer would show up in her hands, but knew that it wouldn't happen. She thought the idea was amazing, and she felt that it was the right idea, but the consequences were something she wasn't sure she was prepared for.

"What about Mason and the rest of our friends?" Raychel brought up. Sure, she wanted to leave, but she loved her friends more than life itself. Even if the number was very small, she still loved them.

"Well, we'll leave Mason a not and throw it in his window, since he keeps his window open all the time. For the others, they can find out. All that matters to me is us," he replied, embracing her hands in his softly. She looked at him, a weak smile on her face.

"I'm still not sure…"

"We can run to your house first. We can pack your clothes and other necessities, and quickly write the note. Then, we can go to my house, do the same thing, and leave," he explained further.

"You have this all planned out, don't you?" she asked, lightly giggling. He smiled and nodded, his face turning back to seriousness.

"C'mon Ray Ray," he pouted. She giggled again and looked up at him. She glanced at her watch once more and sighed.

"If we wanna be there by morning, we better start leaving now," she sighed out. He widened his eyes and hugged her tightly.

Dear Family,

Thank you for taking care of me for seventeen years. You've made me into the person I am today. But I can't stay here anymore. I hate not being able to see Raychel everyday. Dad, you know how I feel about her. It sucks that we have to sneak out at midnight once a week just to see each other for thirty minutes.

I will try to keep in contact, but don't bet on it. You know I love you guys, but I want to save Raychel from her family and possibly herself.

Mom, I know you say we're fools, but we're fools in love. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I love Raychel.

Dad, you know everything going on. I'm glad you trust in me. It means a lot.

And Miley, take care of the family for me.

I'm not too far away, but far enough.

I love you guys.

- Trace

I'm gone… for good.
Don't go looking for me cause you'll most likely fail.

Raychel